[Kabar-Irian] News: Sept 7-8 2006

[Admin-Editors Kabar-Irian]

Sept 7-8 2006
KABAR IRIAN NEWS

TOPICS

* Papuan fishermen fined for trespassing
* Church leader rejects 'no genocide' report
* Abepura defendants end trial boycott
* Riot police blamed for killings
* Papuan villagers seek compensation for Ok Tedi pollution

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20060906.G06&irec=5

Papuan fishermen fined for trespassing

JAYAPURA, Papua: Seventeen Papuan fishermen, arrested by the Papua New
Guinean Police for trespassing, have been fined Rp 142

million (US$14,947) or Rp 8.4 million each.

Ignatius Kristanyo Hardojo, Indonesia's consul general in Vanimo, said in
Jayapura on Monday the Sandaun Provincial Court in

Vanimo had determined that if the men could not pay their fines, they
would be imprisoned for up to six months.

"In response to requests from their families, the fishermen have been
given leeway. They will be freed as soon as they pay

their fines."

Ignatius said the men's families were getting together money to pay the
fines. Four of the fishermen's boats were also

confiscated by the PNG governor.

Usdin Alipatong, one of the 17 fishermen, said Monday their families had
come up with about Rp 40 million.

"If we are detained for six months, we cannot earn a living to support our
families," he said, adding that their families

planned to meet Papuan Governor Barnabas Suebu to request assistance. -- JP

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http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=26649

Church leader rejects 'no genocide' report




WELLINGTON (RNZI Online): A church leader in
Indonesia’s Papua province has dismissed a report from the
International Crisis

Group which said allegations that genocide was
occurring in the troubled province were wrong.

The ICG report said Papua was

not a happy place, but neither was it a
killing field.



It said there was low-level abuse and a past pattern of grave human
rights violations but allegations of genocide by security

forces are
not well-founded.



But Rev Socratez Sofyan Yoman, who heads the Communion of Baptist
churches in Papua, says the ICG has not visited Papua, let

alone
interviewed the indigenous people and the local NGOs.

He claims the ICG continually receives misinformation from the
Indonesian military.

Rev Yoman says there is strong evidence regarding human rights abuses
and that genocide has been

happening in Papua for over 45 years.

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The Jakarta Post
Thursday, September 7, 2006

Abepura defendants end trial boycott

JAYAPURA, Papua: After refusing to attend the three previous sessions,
seven defendants being tried over a deadly March 16 clash with police in
Abepura attended their trial Wednesday at the Jayapura District Court.

The seven arrived at the court under heavy security and were greeted by
prosecutors.

Jayapura Prosecutor's Office head Jabaik Haro Munthe accompanied the
defendants from Abepura prison to the court.

"There is a good intention on the part of the defendants, so there is no need
for security officers to act excessively," said Aloysius Renwarin, one of the
defendants' lawyers.

Commenting on the defendants' earlier demand for written assurances from
Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Tommy Yacobus and Jabaik guaranteeing
their safety, Aloysius said they had dropped the issue.

"We will just do what they want," he said.

The seven defendants refused to appear in the same court last Wednesday,
Friday and Monday, after one of them was assaulted by a police officer.

Unlike previous sessions, there were no police officers in the courtroom
during Wednesday's hearing. -- JP

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The Courier Mail (Australia) (Via Joyo)
Wednesday, September 6, 2006

Riot police blamed for killings

Marianne Kearney in Jakarta

PAPUANS claim that Indonesian riot police have used an
ongoing tribal warfare in eastern Papua to kill at
least three Papuan villagers.

Two tribes armed with spears, bows and arrows and
traditional machetes have been warring since last
Thursday in Kwambi Lama, a village close to the giant
Freeport copper mine.

However, a resident of Kwambi Lama claims that the
more than 600 riot police and military sent to end the
conflict have been shooting indiscriminately into
fighting tribesmen.

The villager claims that police shot Eric Murib on
Monday, and an evangelical priest, August Wetapo, over
the weekend.

''They were killed in Kwambi Lama by police,'' Albert
Yikwa said.

He said the police killings were in revenge for a
weekend shooting incident at the Freeport mine where
anonymous gunmen damaged a Freeport vehicle.

Police deny the accusations, saying the two, plus a
third man, were victims of the tribal conflict.

''That's a lie. They died because there is a tribal
war,'' a police spokesman said.

He said that about 50 people injured in the fighting
were being treated at the nearby Mitra Masyarakat
Hospital.

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http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/bulletins/rnzi/200609071537/papuan_villagers_seek_compensation_for_ok_tedi_pollution

Papuan villagers seek compensation for Ok Tedi pollution


Papuan villagers seek compensation for Ok Tedi pollution

Posted at 3:37pm on 07 Sep 2006

Six West Papuan villages along the Fly River boarder area are seeking
damages for environmental pollution since operations at

the Ok Tedi mine in Papua New Guinea started in 1984.

The Post Courier newspaper says the villagers have written to the Office
of the Solicitor General informing it of their

intention to take the matter to the National Court.

The letter has advised that there was a serious breach of international
laws by PNG and OTML as these West Papuan villages

were protected under the Mining Ok Tedi Agreement Act 1976.

The letter claims that their case is based on international law on human
rights.

The letter says the claimants will only accept payment offers for damages
done since 1984 and nothing less.

The villages are along the stretch of the Fly River which forms the border
between PNG and Indonesia's Papua province.

Copyright © 2006 Radio New Zealand International