[Kabar-Irian] News: Feb 9-15 2007

[Admin-Editors Kabar-Irian]

KABAR IRIAN NEWS

Feb 9-15 2007

TOPICS

* West Irian Jaya becomes West Papua
* Taste for leatherback eggs contributes to Malaysian turtle's demise
* Gallery hidden treasures on show - on TV
* Papua regencies want own province'
* Step change in UK-Indonesia military ties
* Peace Is Possible in Papua If
* Papuans need more than food and funds
* Australian rights groups criticise Indonesia pact
* Australian rights activists criticise security pact with Indonesi
* Strong quake jolts Papua in Indonesia
* Policeman dies in Papua shooting
* Papuans 'must benefit' from autonomy
* A policeman has been shot dead in Papua
* Indonesian police and soldiers exchange gunfire in Mulia
* Government plans to quicken slow development in Papua
* TV ad calls for West Papua human rights clause in Indonesia Treaty

---

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20070208.G06&irec=5

West Irian Jaya becomes West Papua

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura

The name of West Irian Jaya will be changed to West Papua to match the
preferences of local people, the provincial government announced Tuesday.

The chairman of the West Irian Jaya Legislative Council, Jimmy Demianus
Idjie, said the name change was announced by provincial Governor Abraham
Octovianus

Atururi to coincide with the province's fourth anniversary.

Jimmy emphasized that the name change had to be followed by solid
improvements to the welfare of the province's residents. "What's the
meaning of a name change if the

welfare of the people doesn't improve?" he asked.

Jimmy said the West Irian Jaya Legislative Council would evaluate the name
change before approving it at a plenary session.

"After that, the name change will be proposed to the central government
for approval," he said.

---

http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/administration/afp-news.html?id=070209034437.d6kktitf&cat=null

AFP News brief
Taste for leatherback eggs contributes to Malaysian turtle's demise


The mass nestings of leatherback turtles on Malaysia's beaches was once
one of nature's great spectacles but since 2000, not a single baby
leatherback has scampered to

the sea.

The demise of the iconic turtle, which many scientists say is now
effectively extinct here, is blamed on a local appetite for their eggs,
coastal development, destructive

fishing practices -- and a heartbreaking scientific mistake.

"Frankly there is very little hope for the leatherback, judging by the
nesting trends and that none have hatched for six years," said Professor
Chan Eng Heng of the

Universiti Terengganu Malaysia.

Malaysia once had one of the biggest leatherback populations in the world
and the coast of Terengganu state in the country's east was one of the 10
principal nesting sites

globally for the gentle giants.

In the 1950s, up to 10,000 female turtles struggled up the beach to lay
their eggs each year, but by 1984 this had fallen to 800 and by 2006 only
five nests were found from

two turtles, with no hatchlings emerging.

It is believed the breeding population is now too small to be sustainable.
The previously common Olive Ridley Turtle is also thought lost to the
area, and the hawksbill and

green turtles are also in danger.

Kamarruddin Ibrahim has laboured in the hatcheries of Terengganu's Turtle
and Marine Ecosystem Centre (TUMEC) for over 20 years and admits he is
bitterly frustrated

by the current situation, but refuses to concede defeat.

He hopes to resuscitate the population with a complicated egg relocation
programme in which fertilised eggs around the world would be flown to
Malaysia where they would

hopefully survive and return to breed.

"It's very expensive and difficult, but it's worked in America before and
I think there are populations in the Philippines that we could use," he
said.

"There is some hope, we've released nearly half a million hatchlings and
they will come back. The leatherback takes 30 to 50 years to reach
breeding time, they are out

there," he said.

"I admire Kamarruddin's optimism, but the figures show leatherbacks around
the Pacific are all in serious decline," said Chan.

A hatchery programme for the leatherback was begun in Malaysia in the
1960s when concerns were first raised about turtle numbers, but
unfortunately what was designed

as a helping hand turned out to be disastrous.

Turtle eggs are extremely sensitive to heat and movement. If the ambient
temperature sits above 30 degrees the offspring are almost guaranteed to
be female, but if it is

below 28 degrees it will almost certainly be male.

Early on turtle eggs were kept in open boxes to collect the sun's warmth,
but unknown to the scientists, for 30 years Terengganu's turtle hatcheries
were releasing hundreds

of thousands of almost exclusively female turtles.

"The research came out in maybe the middle 1980s, but because of distance
and knowledge we didn't know until the 1990s." said Kamarruddin.

The harvesting of millions of eggs over the years for sale in local
markets is credited as the major factor in the leatherback's decline.

Turtle egg soup is considered a delicacy in Malaysia's east coast states
and despite consumption being illegal since 1989, the egg trade continues
in Terengganu.

World-renowned turtle scientist Colin Limpus of Queensland Parks and
Wildlife in Australia lays the threat to the leatherback's survival firmly
on poachers.

"Unfortunately insufficient eggs were protected in the early decades of
the hatcheries to provide sufficient recruitment for replacing the old-age
adults in the population until

the mid-late 1980s, by which time the population was severely depleted,"
he said.

For many years, turtle watching was one of the major tourist drawcards to
Terengganu, and visitors were even known to haul themselves aboard the
egg-laden females for

rides up the beach.

But Limpus dismissed the long-held theory that the unruly tourists did
significant harm.

"Tourists didn't kill turtles and tourists didn't kill turtle eggs or
prevent nesting females from laying their eggs. After 1978 tourists only
had access to a small part of the total

nesting area. The egg harvesters had exclusive access outside the small
tourist areas," he said.

With some turtle species migrating as far as Japan and Irian Jaya,
scientists also highlight the use of drift nets and long-line fishing in
the open seas as another major

contributing factor in the decline.

"In the 1970s a lot of leatherbacks were killed by the high-seas drift
nets. They were dubbed the curtains of death," Chan said.

---

http://ararat.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=national%20news&subclass=general&story_id=555447&category=General&m=&y=

Thursday, 8 February 2007
Gallery hidden treasures on show - on TV
By Sandra O'Malley

The wonder of television will give Australians the chance to sample some
of the thousands of hidden treasures in the National Gallery of
Australia's (NGA) vast collection

which never see the light of day.

Among the gems revealed by former NGA director Betty Churcher are
elaborate costumes from the Ballets Russes - the famous Russian ballet
troupe from the early 20th

Century - and wooden West Papuan figures preserved under water for
hundreds of years.

The artistic treasure trove will feature in the 15-part Hidden Treasures
series of five minute documentaries which begins on the ABC on February
22.

New Arts Minister George Brandis launches the series at the NGA on
Thursday night.

Ms Churcher has delved into the gallery's massive collection of some
100,000 items, focusing on what the public would normally never get to see
because of their fragile

nature.

Using her insider's knowledge, she takes the viewer behind the scenes to
explore works ranging from textiles, to prints, to books and to
marionettes.

With a Thursday time slot ahead of the 7pm ABC news, Ms Churcher hopes the
series will attract more than traditional art aficionados.

"I'm trying to attract a more general audience," she said.

"I've tried to keep away from the art history lessons and keep people's
fingers away from the remote control."

The first episode will feature costumes from the renowned Ballets Russes,
the brainchild of Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev, which were almost
mistaken for rags when

they first arrived at the gallery.

"We have in this collection one of the world's finest collection of
costumes from the Ballets Russes," Ms Churcher said.

"So I thought, let's show it."

The costumes were not at their finest when they first arrived at the
gallery among two boxes of assorted items bought from Sotheby's auction
house.

The boxes - bought before Ms Churcher's time - contained items from
Colonel W de Basil's ballet company which took over Diaghilev's Ballets
Russes.

"We had no idea what was in those boxes. It could have been trash, it
could have been treasure," Ms Churcher said.

"When they got it, they opened it and they thought it was just a bundle of
rags."

But piece by piece they realised the treasure they had purchased,
carefully putting together and restoring the costumes once worn by dancers
such as Vaslav Nijinsky.

"It took years (to restore)," Ms Churcher said.

"But they're quite stunning costumes."

Other treasures viewers will see include the sketchbooks of Australian
painter William Dobell, a rare embroidered shawl from Kashmir in India and
a pair of imposing West

Papuan figures, discovered in a lake early last century.

Once belonging to British sculptor Jacob Epstein, the giant West Papua
figures were dredged from the bottom of Lake Sentani by a French
expedition in 1929.

Ms Churcher believes they date from around the 17th Century.

"The Lake Sentani people used to build their houses over the lake and they
would drive piles into the lake and where the piles came up through the
floor boards, they would

carve these (part of the pile)," he said.

The figures of a man and a woman have stayed amazingly well preserved
because they were under water.

"If wood is completely submerged under water it lasts," Ms Churcher said.

With an undiminished passion for the arts, Ms Churcher would be keen for
her next project to be a similar series of mini-documentaries taking in
treasurers from cultural

institutions across the national capital.

Brought to you by AAP

AAP

---

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20070210.G01&irec=0


Papua regencies want own province

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura

Representatives of four regencies in southern Papua met with the
provincial legislative council Friday to demand the establishment of a
South Papua province.

Some 70 representatives from Merauke, Mappi, Boven Digoel and Asmat
regencies, led by Merauke Deputy Regent Maryoto, met with councillors.

The delegation was received by the council's deputy speakers Komarudin
Watubun, Yop Kogoya and Paskalis Kossay.

Yoseph Mehuze, a spokesman for the group, said the four regencies were
acting like "a son" asking his parents' blessing to get married.

"We're ready to get married and we ask for the blessing of Papua province,
as our parent," he said.

According to Merauke regency administration official Agustina Basik-Bakis,
the idea of an autonomous South Papua has been around since even before
Indonesia's

independence.

She said the creation of the new province would help the region catch up
in terms of development, as well as shortening bureaucratic procedures and
improving services to

residents.

The four regencies demanding their own province were previously
incorporated under one regency, Merauke. Mappi, Boven Digoel and Asmat
were separated from

Merauke in a 2002 law on the formation of 14 regencies in Papua province.

Responding to the demand, legislative council Deputy Speaker Komarudin
said that if a son is ready to get married, the parents will give their
blessing, but at the same time

the parents have to ensure it is the correct decision.

He said the council would set up a special committee to discuss the
proposal. The committee's recommendation will then be passed on to the
Papuan People's Council.

However, he said the legislative council is currently deliberating the
provincial budget, and any discussion on the creation of the new province
would have to wait until the

deliberations were completed.

Representatives from Sorong regency in western Papua met with the
legislative council in the middle of January to demand the formation of a
Southwest Papua province.

However, at least one community leader, Lazarus Indow, chairman of the
Manokwari Arfak Intellectuals, said the petition for the creation of
Southwest Papua province was

incorrectly taken to the Papua Legislative Council, because the territory
in question is located in West Irian Jaya province.

"They should have conveyed their demand to the West Irian Jaya legislature
(in Manokwari) instead, and not the Papua legislature. West Irian Jaya has
its own governor

and legislature now," he said.

Papua Governor Barnabas Suebu said all petitions on the establishment of a
new province had to go through all legal procedures, as outlined in the
2001 law on special

autonomy for the territory.

The governor did not say if, in the case of the petition on Southwest
Papua, it should have gone through the Papua or West Irian Jaya
legislature.

---

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0702/S00166.htm

Step change in UK-Indonesia military ties
Sunday, 11 February 2007, 4:49 pm
Press Release: TAPOL - The Indonesian Human Rights Campaign
TAPOL press release

Potential Hawk deal signals step change in UK-Indonesia military ties

9 February 2007 - The revelation this week by Defence Minister Juwono
Sudarsono that Indonesia is considering the procurement of BAE Systems
Hawk aircraft from the

UK [1] confirms that the two countries are intent on securing a
substantial upgrade in their military relations.

“It is disturbing that the UK government and BAE Systems, are seeking
fresh deals when the UK has still not accounted for its past role as a
major supplier of arms used in

Timor-Leste and other areas of conflict,” said Paul Barber, a spokesperson
for TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign.

“It is furthermore a matter of serious concern that a country that has
immense problems with corruption is contemplating a multi-million pound
contract with a company that

until recently was being investigated for corruption by the Serious Fraud
Office in London,” he added.

“The move is dangerously precipitate given the fragile state of
Indonesia’s transition to democracy and a disincentive for urgently-needed
military reform.”

Serious questions should be asked about the impact of the possible deal on
Indonesia’s poor, says TAPOL. Half the population is living in poverty and
the government is still

paying hundreds of millions of pounds for previous arms deals.

The controversial plans for stronger military ties were first announced
during Prime Minster’s Tony Blair’s visit to Indonesia in March 2006 [2].
In November, BAE Systems

attended the second Indonesia arms fair in Jakarta [3]. Last week, Defence
Minister Sudarsono held talks with BAE Systems during a visit to London
for the inaugural

meeting of the UK-Indonesia Partnership Forum set up during Mr Blair’s
visit to Indonesia [4].

Despite embarking on a process of reform, the Indonesian armed forces
(known as TNI) continue to be implicated in human rights violations and to
resist accountability for

past abuses. The TNI has been notorious for its use of imported military
equipment in conflicts in Timor-Leste, Aceh and West Papua.


TAPOL is particularly concerned about the possible use of Hawk aircraft in
the conflict area of West Papua where Indonesian rule is strongly
contested, human rights

violations are routine, and military expansion is under way.

In September/October 2000, previously-exported Hawk jets were used to
overfly the population of Wamena in Papua’s central highlands, in a clear
act of intimidation. In

2005, British-made Tactica armoured personnel carriers fitted with water
cannons were sent to West Papua to control protests against Jakarta.

Timor-Leste’s Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR)
recently recommended that business corporations which profited from the
sale of weapons to

Indonesia during the occupation of Timor-Leste should contribute to a
reparations programme irrespective of whether the equipment they supplied
was used in specific

violations. The British company that derived the most profit - mainly
through the sale of Hawk aircraft - was BAE Systems (then known as British
Aerospace) [5], but it has

made no attempt to act on the CAVR recommendation.

The CAVR also recommended that military support for Indonesia should be
‘totally conditional on progress towards full democratisation, the
subordination of the military to

the rule of law and civilian government, and strict adherence with
international human rights, including respect for the right of
self-determination.’ The British government

has failed to respond to the recommendation and already appears to be
ignoring it.

Allegations of systematic corruption in deals with Saudi Arabia arranged
by BAE Systems were being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office until
they were

controversially halted for reasons of UK national security. Claims that a
deal in the mid-1990s for the sale of light tanks and armoured vehicles to
Indonesia by the British

company Alvis - now owned by BAE Systems - was made possible by the
payment of a massive bribe have not been addressed [6].

Last November, in a Country Briefing on Indonesia, Jane’s Defence Weekly
concluded that effective implementation of military reform remains a
problem and highlighted

concerns about the business interests of the TNI, including illegal
activities such as illegal logging, brothels, entertainment venues and
gambling. It said that uncontrolled

access to funds from military businesses has undermined civilian oversight
of the armed forces and provides opportunity for corruption [7].

In a 2005 report, Human Rights Watch found that military businesses
undermined civilian control, contributed to abuses of power by the armed
forces and impeded reform

[8].

ENDS



1] confirms that the two countries are intent on securing a substantial
upgrade in their military relations.

“It is disturbing that the UK government and BAE Systems, are seeking
fresh deals when the UK has still not accounted for its past role as a
major supplier of arms used in

Timor-Leste and other areas of conflict,” said Paul Barber, a spokesperson
for TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign.

“It is furthermore a matter of serious concern that a country that has
immense problems with corruption is contemplating a multi-million pound
contract with a company that

until recently was being investigated for corruption by the Serious Fraud
Office in London,” he added.

“The move is dangerously precipitate given the fragile state of
Indonesia’s transition to democracy and a disincentive for urgently-needed
military reform.”

Serious questions should be asked about the impact of the possible deal on
Indonesia’s poor, says TAPOL. Half the population is living in poverty and
the government is still

paying hundreds of millions of pounds for previous arms deals.

The controversial plans for stronger military ties were first announced
during Prime Minster’s Tony Blair’s visit to Indonesia in March 2006 [2].
In November, BAE Systems

attended the second Indonesia arms fair in Jakarta [3]. Last week, Defence
Minister Sudarsono held talks with BAE Systems during a visit to London
for the inaugural

meeting of the UK-Indonesia Partnership Forum set up during Mr Blair’s
visit to Indonesia [4].

Despite embarking on a process of reform, the Indonesian armed forces
(known as TNI) continue to be implicated in human rights violations and to
resist accountability for

past abuses. The TNI has been notorious for its use of imported military
equipment in conflicts in Timor-Leste, Aceh and West Papua.

TAPOL is particularly concerned about the possible use of Hawk aircraft in
the conflict area of West Papua where Indonesian rule is strongly
contested, human rights

violations are routine, and military expansion is under way.

In September/October 2000, previously-exported Hawk jets were used to
overfly the population of Wamena in Papua’s central highlands, in a clear
act of intimidation. In

2005, British-made Tactica armoured personnel carriers fitted with water
cannons were sent to West Papua to control protests against Jakarta.

Timor-Leste’s Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR)
recently recommended that business corporations which profited from the
sale of weapons to

Indonesia during the occupation of Timor-Leste should contribute to a
reparations programme irrespective of whether the equipment they supplied
was used in specific

violations. The British company that derived the most profit - mainly
through the sale of Hawk aircraft - was BAE Systems (then known as British
Aerospace) [5], but it has

made no attempt to act on the CAVR recommendation.

The CAVR also recommended that military support for Indonesia should be
‘totally conditional on progress towards full democratisation, the
subordination of the military to

the rule of law and civilian government, and strict adherence with
international human rights, including respect for the right of
self-determination.’ The British government

has failed to respond to the recommendation and already appears to be
ignoring it.

Allegations of systematic corruption in deals with Saudi Arabia arranged
by BAE Systems were being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office until
they were

controversially halted for reasons of UK national security. Claims that a
deal in the mid-1990s for the sale of light tanks and armoured vehicles to
Indonesia by the British

company Alvis - now owned by BAE Systems - was made possible by the
payment of a massive bribe have not been addressed [6].

Last November, in a Country Briefing on Indonesia, Jane’s Defence Weekly
concluded that effective implementation of military reform remains a
problem and highlighted

concerns about the business interests of the TNI, including illegal
activities such as illegal logging, brothels, entertainment venues and
gambling. It said that uncontrolled

access to funds from military businesses has undermined civilian oversight
of the armed forces and provides opportunity for corruption [7].

In a 2005 report, Human Rights Watch found that military businesses
undermined civilian control, contributed to abuses of power by the armed
forces and impeded reform

[8].

ENDS

---

http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=6069163

Peace Is Possible in Papua If ...

Feb 11, 2007 10:39 AM
	KHNL News 8 Links
	East West Center

HONOLULU (KHNL) - Peace is possible in Indonesia's troubled eastern
province of Papua, formerly known as Irian Jaya. But, according to a
recently published East-West

Center Washington Policy Studies, getting there will entail journeying
down a different road than that recently traveled in the successful search
for peace in Aceh, another

unsettled Indonesian province.

Dr. Timo Kivimäki, a senior researcher at the Nordic Institute of Asian
Studies in Copenhagen and author of the recent EWC Washington publication
Initiating a Peace

Process in Papua: Actors, Issues, Process, and the Role of the
International Community, says while peace is possible in Papua the problem
in the eastern Indonesian

province is more complex than that Jakarta faced in Aceh. He says this is,
in part, "because Papua has a larger scale of migrants and a
less-organized form of resistance."

But the roots of the problems in Papua go back over forty years. Kivimäki
says, "The main issue of contention between Papuans and the Indonesian
central administration

is related to the Indonesian rule of Papua." Papua was declared part of
Indonesia in 1945 and has been under Jakarta's control since 1963. As
Jakarta consolidated its

control over the province in the 1960's attempts to "Indonesianize" Papua
were undertaken, apparently with more than a small measure of success.
It's estimated that in

1960 the Indonesian population of the province numbered only 18,600, about
2.5 percent of the total population. By the year 2000, the number of
Indonesians in Papua

were said to have jumped to almost 750-thousand, some 35 percent of the
total population.

To make matters more complicated, Jakarta embarked on a divide and conquer
plan in the former Irian Jaya province. The province has been separated
into three

provinces, with two of the new entities (Papua and West Irian Jaya)
existing not just as a legal reality but also political ones as well,
having elected their own governors less

than a year ago. This even though the Papuan Special Autonomy Law still
recognizes the entirety of the former Irian Jaya province as one entity.

Kivimäki says that the ongoing conflict between the diverse Papuan
resistance and Jakarta's troops has killed, according to Amnesty
International and several other

organizations, about 100,000 Papuans (official Indonesian estimates of
casualties are far lower) has not helped the climate for peace.

According to Kivimäki, who played a role in the successful Aceh peace
talks, despite the continued resistance in Papua lessons can be learned,
both good and bad, from

the Aceh talks and the experience of the Papuan special autonomy
consultations of 2001 and 2002. But he points out, "the vital lessons
Papua needs to learn are related to

the identification of the actors in the dialogue, the issues to be
covered, and the possible role of the international community."

For a peace process to have a chance in Papua, Kivimäki says it would
"probably require the initiative of some courageous individuals working in
their private capacity to

assist the relevant conflicting parties and trusted external communities."
He acknowledges that even this would "probably be impossible to represent
all the resistance groups

in the negotiations," and that the Papuans would have to organize a way to
include those who "do not feel ownership toward the dialogue process." Not
an easy task. But,

Kivimäki adds the resistance movement in Papua "needs to keep in mind that
once a peace agreement is enabled, a better mobilization of Papuan
representation can be

formed mistakes made by imperfectly representative parties to peace talks
can always be rectified."

To overcome the lack of trust between Papua and Jakarta, Kivimäki says
"the attention of the international community" is required. Among the ways
the international

community could help the process, he adds, is offering the venue "of
negotiations themselves and ... the monitoring of the implementation of
any peace agreement that

emerges." And Kivimäki points out that "due to the presence of more
complicated problems than existed in Aceh related to the Indonesian and
international corporations

operating in Papua, some level of involvement or representation of these
stakeholders should also be considered."

One of the main issues to be considered in any Papuan-Jakarta dialogue,
according to Kivimäki is the question of Papua's political status. But
that is not the only one. He

says cultural grievances, including the control of immigration; economic
inequities; security concerns; and political empowerment of Papuans need
to be dealt with in any

dialogue "between supporters and opponents of Indonesian rule."

Despite the difficulties Kivimäki believes "if the conflicting parties are
willing to negotiate in good faith and if they accept each other as worthy
of dialogue, the Papuan

conflict can be resolved." This means that the government has to accept to
negotiate with rebels it has marginalized as illegal, including a variety
of militant and ideological

groups under the umbrella of the Free Papua Movement (Organisasi Papua
Merdeka, OPM).But he acknowledges "A permanent resolution requires that
both sides are able

to secure their fundamental interests, so the parties involved need to
develop lenses that enable both sides to see the settlement as a victory
rather than a defeat."

---

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20070210.F05&irec=4


Papuans need more than food and funds

Neles Tebay, Jayapura

Indigenous Papuans are supposed to be enjoying a peaceful life in Papua
province. However, their experiences under Indonesian rule create a
different impression.

At times they are forced to live as strangers or foreigners, even in their
own ancestral land.

The latest example of this is that thousands of indigenous Papuans have
been seeking refuge since Jan. 6 in Puncak Jaya regency, from an open war
between the

Indonesian Military and police troops and members of the Free Papua
Movement (OPM) rebel group under Goliath Tabuni.

The Association of Papua Churches (PGGP), after having conducted a visit
to Puncak Jaya, announced that some 2,000 Papuans had already taken refuge
in other

villages and some 5,000 were facing hunger. They were living in desperate
conditions (The Jakarta Post, Jan. 30).

They were forced to leave their ancestral land, villages, food gardens,
domesticated pigs, and church buildings, and to live as strangers in
another place.

They have been facing shortages of food and living in fear and anxiety.

Children have suffered from diarrhea, hepatitis and malaria, which are the
most common illnesses.

Four refugees have already died, namely Tanno Talenggen, 50; Laya Morib,
30; Mitiles Morib, 20; and Walia Wonda, 41.

As expected, the local government in Puncak Jaya regency and the Trikora
Military Command -- which oversees Papua and West Irian Jaya -- through
its spokesman Lt.

Col. Imam Santoso, in Jayapura, denied the church report.

The PGGP, according to the military's spokesman, gave "false information"
(The Jakarta Post, Feb. 2).

Whether the Papuans fleeing a crackdown on separatists should be
classified as refugees is debatable.

Yet, the truth is thousands of people have involuntarily left their
ancestral land. Their emotional ties with their ancestral land have been
cut off.

>From a cultural perspective, the broken emotional ties pose a serious
danger to Melanesians, including the Papuan people. A Melanesian never
enjoys a peaceful life on a

land belonging to other people. A sense of security is always found in
their ancestral land.

Thousands of Papuans are seeking refuge due to fear. What are they afraid of?

According to the local government and the military, the Papuans took
refuge in order to avoid the attack launched not by the Indonesian
security forces but by the OPM

members.

According to the churches, people were seeking refuge because they were
afraid of being attacked both by the Indonesian security forces and the
OPM.

While acknowledging the real reason must be done through a credible
investigation conducted by an independent inquiry team, past experiences
might be helpful in

understanding why the people are seeking refuge.

We can take Papuans' experience of being refugees in 2004 as an example.

Due to the military operation conducted by the Indonesian security forces
against the OPM, as reported by the church leaders, some 5,000 Papuans
from 27 villages in

Puncak Jaya regency fled the troops.

These displaced Papuans used to be afraid of entering their village or the
capital of the regency, for any Papuan who came out of the forest was
suspected and accused of

being a separatist by the Indonesian security forces.

During the military operation the whole region was reportedly closed off.
Humanitarian workers were not allowed to visit the region, and therefore
the suffering people could

not be assisted.

That is why the leaders of the churches in Papua called upon the
government and the military "to open the region to humanitarian workers."

Thus thousands of Papuans might be seeking refuge because they are afraid
of being suspected of being members of the OPM by the Indonesian security
forces, as

acknowledged by the head of Yamo district (Cenderawasih Pos, Feb. 2).

As long as the root cause of Papuan separatism is not tackled these
Papuans might continue to be suspected of being supporters or
collaborators of the Papuan separatist

group led by Goliat Tabuni.

The deployment of more troops and the establishment of more military and
police stations does not necessarily bring about lasting stability.

The central and provincial governments are facing the challenge of
providing human security for the Papuans, without which they cannot work
for themselves, participate in

the development of their villages or improve their future prospects.

The government and representatives of the Papuan people can together work
out the content of the conflict-prevention policy through a peaceful
dialog facilitated by a

neutral third party.

Whether this dialog happens depends very much on the Jakarta-based
government.

Jakarta's unwillingness to engage in a dialog with the Papuans could be
perceived by the Papuans as the government ignoring the suffering of
indigenous Papuans.

The writer is a professor at the Fajar Timur School of Philosophy and
Theology in Abepura, Papua.

---

http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2007-02-12T110003Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-287298-1.xml&archived=False

Australian rights groups criticise Indonesia pact
Mon Feb 12, 2007 11:07 AM IST145

By Rob Taylor

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australian rights activists on Monday criticised a
security pact with Indonesia, telling parliament in a submission that it
could help Jakarta brutally

put down separatist groups in the archipelago.

The pact, signed on the Indonesian island of Lombok in November, aims to
smooth often-prickly ties between the two neighbours and underline
Australian support for

Jakarta's sovereignty over restive provinces including the Papua region.

But pro-Papuan independence groups and the Australian Civil Liberties
Union told the Treaties Committee of the Australian Parliament, which must
approve the pact, that

parts of the document were at odds with the country's democratic values.

"We cannot dictate to a neighbouring nation, but nor can we hide our
colours without diminishing our nation and ourselves as individuals,"
Civil Liberties Australia chief

executive Bill Rowlings said in a submission.

The Australian parliament, he said, should insist on a yearly reporting
and monitoring role in Papua, where separatists have waged a low-level
insurgency against Jakarta

rule for decades.

"Monitoring is required to make sure that the new treaty does not
inadvertently provide a paper cover for human rights abuses in Papua,
particularly by or under the control

of the (Indonesian military)," the submission said.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said last year the pact would
lead to stronger anti-terrorism cooperation and joint naval border
patrols, as well as joint civilian

nuclear research and Australian sales of uranium to Indonesia.

The treaty was agreed following militant bomb attacks in Bali in 2002 and
2005, as well as on Australia's Jakarta Embassy in 2003, which together
killed 92 Australians and

scores of Indonesian and foreign bystanders.

But the Australia West Papua Association blamed rapacious Indonesian
security forces in Papua for instability and warned against plans to boost
military training between

Australia and Indonesian special forces.

"We believe that any aid or training given to the Indonesian military will
only be used to oppress the West Papuan people," the association said,
listing rights abuses in the

far-flung mineral-rich province.

The new pact was almost scuttled last year when Canberra granted
protection visas to 43 Papuan asylum-seekers who claimed persecution at
home by Indonesian security

forces.

Indonesia tore up a previous defence pact with Canberra seven years ago
when Australia led an international peacekeeping force into East Timor to
restore order after the

territory voted to break from Jakarta.

Rowlings said the new pact, which Canberra has hailed as a model for the
region, should contain clauses protecting Australians from the Indonesian
death penalty as a

group of Australian drug smugglers fight the firing squad on Bali.

---

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Rest+of+the+World&month=February2007&file=World_News20070213155.xml

Australian rights activists criticise security pact with Indonesia
Web posted at: 2/13/2007 1:5:5
Source ::: REUTERS

CANBERRA • Australian rights activists yesterday criticised a security
pact with Indonesia, telling parliament in a submission that it could help
Jakarta brutally put down

separatist groups in the archipelago.

The pact, signed on the Indonesian island of Lombok in November, aims to
smooth often-prickly ties between the two neighbours and underline
Australian support for

Jakarta’s sovereignty over restive provinces including the Papua region.

But pro-Papuan independence groups and the Australian Civil Liberties
Union told the Treaties Committee of the Australian Parliament, which must
approve the pact, that

parts of the document were at odds with the country’s democratic values.

“We cannot dictate to a neighbouring nation, but nor can we hide our
colours without diminishing our nation and ourselves as individuals,”
Civil Liberties Australia chief

executive Bill Rowlings said in a submission.

The Australian parliament, he said, should insist on a yearly reporting
and monitoring role in Papua, where separatists have waged a low-level
insurgency against Jakarta

rule for decades.

“Monitoring is required to make sure that the new treaty does not
inadvertently provide a paper cover for human rights abuses in Papua,
particularly by or under the control

of the (Indonesian military),” the submission said.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said last year the pact would
lead to stronger anti-terrorism cooperation and joint naval border
patrols, as well as joint civilian

nuclear research and Australian sales of uranium to Indonesia.

---

http://www.dailyindia.com/show/113531.php/Strong-quake-jolts-Papua-in-Indonesia

Strong quake jolts Papua in Indonesia

By Xinhua

Jakarta, Feb 12 (Xinhua) An earthquake of 6.1 magnitude on the Richter
scale occurred Monday morning in Indonesia's Papua province, said the
Meteorological and

Geophysical Bureau here.




The quake, which hit at 09:08 a.m. (Jakarta time), was centred 544 km
northwest of Port Moresby in Papua, at a depth of 38 km. There were no
casualty reports yet.

The Indonesian archipelago sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire where
continental plates meet, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.

A moderate 5.7-magnitude earthquake had struck northwest of the Indonesian
province of Aceh on Feb 11.

---

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20070214.G11&irec=11

Policeman dies in Papua shooting

JAYAPURA, Papua: A policeman was shot dead Tuesday in an exchange of
gunfire between police and soldiers in Mulia, the capital of Puncak Jaya,
Papua.

The shooting took place at noon and was believed to have been caused by a
dispute earlier in the day while lining up to buy kerosene.

The victim, identified as Second Brig. Yosep Keliombar, allegedly got into
a heated argument with an unidentified member of the Nabire-based army
battalion.

No details were available as of Tuesday evening on the cause of the armed
clash, which took place about two hours after the argument.

Puncak Jaya Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Jacobus Marzuki said by telephone
that the city of Mulia had not been affected by the shooting incident and
high-ranking officials

of the police and military had met.

"It was just a private conflict, not involving the institutions. A
consolidation has been made with commander of the military district,"
Marzuki said.

Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Kartono W. said that a joint press
conference on the incident would be held Wednesday, to be attended by
Papua Police chief Insp.

Gen. Tommy Jacobus and the local military commander, Maj. Gen. Zamroni. -- JP

---

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20070214.G02&irec=2

Papuans 'must benefit' from autonomy

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Merauke

Papuans must not be sidelined in the possible establishment of an
autonomous South Papua province, but should benefit from it as stipulated
in the 2001 special autonomy

law for Papua, a member of the Papua People's Assembly (MRP) says.

"Just like a farmer cultivating his farm, don't let others enjoy the
yields from the farm. It's the same as the current issue on the petition
to establish an autonomous province

in Papua ... don't let it create opportunities only for other people to
obtain positions, while Papuans just become spectators in the development
process," an MRP member

from Merauke regency, Erna Mahuse, said in Merauke on Tuesday.

According to Erna, the MRP can discuss issues related to autonomous
provinces in Papua as long as the proposal being considered does not
violate the autonomy law.

"It is not a taboo to discuss it, so long as it is in accordance with
mechanisms of Law No. 21/2001 and benefits Papuans, because the main aim
of an autonomous province

is to shorten the reins of development," she said.

On Monday in Merauke, Regent John Gluba Gebze announced the formation of a
South Papua province in a traditional procession of the Marind tribe, the
largest tribe in

southern Papua. The event was attended by thousands of people.

Gebze marked the occasion by planting a Masi tree along with Boven Digul
Vice Regent Mercelino Yamkomdow and Asmat legislative council vice speaker
Eduardus Kaise.

"The tree symbolizes our spirit to establish the South Papua province,"
said Marind tribal figure Imbuti Kasimirius Ndiken.

Gebze, a Marind tribesman, joined in the Gatzi traditional dance during
the event.

Gebze told reporters the day before the event that the establishment of
the South Papua province was a continuance of a colonial-era plan to form
territories in Papua.

The Dutch administration had divided Territory V in four regencies, he
said: Merauke, Boven Digul, Asmat and Mappi. "We just have to continue
with the plan prepared by

the Dutch."

The territorial divisions, said Gebze, had based on sociological and
anthropological aspects to form an area in which the tribes would live and
govern in one cluster under a

territorial administration.

---

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s1847147.htm

Last Updated 14/02/2007, 07:52:13

A policeman has been shot dead in an exchange of fire with soldiers in the
Indonesian province of Papua.

A national police spokesman in Jakarta says the shooting was triggered by
a misunderstanding as police and soldiers were queuing for kerosene.

He says calm has since been restored in the highland district of Mulia
where the incident took place.

The soldiers and police have returned to their headquarters.

Relations between the military and the police have been tense in some
parts of Indonesia since the police, who were under the military's command
until 1999, were given

new powers.

---

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s1847030.htm

Last Updated 13/02/2007, 23:10:05

Indonesian police and soldiers have exchanged fire in a town in the
easternmost province of Papua.

The shooting in Mulia erupted between members of the elite Brimob police
paramilitary unit and troops from an infantry battalion.

A Papua police spokesman confirmed the incident, but declined to give more
details, or say if there were any casualties.

---

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20070215.H07&irec=6

Government plans to quicken slow development in Papua

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government will speed up development in the provinces of Papua and
West Papua after an assessment found both still lacking in terms of
infrastructure and economy,

a senior minister said Wednesday.

"The development policies to be prioritized will therefore be developing
basic transportation infrastructure," Coordinating Minister for Political,
Legal and Security Affairs

Widodo A.S. told reporters after a Cabinet meeting at the State Palace.

"It is important to improve access and mobility to remote areas, and those
near the border, so that people in these areas can be reached more
easily."

Papua province shares a common border with Papua New Guinea.

Widodo further mentioned the need to develop suitable plantations and
crops in the two provinces to promote self-sufficiency.

"We are considering developing oil palm plantations, among other things,"
he said. "This will also help create employment in these areas."

Papua and West Papua are among the most impoverished regions in the
country, even though the land is rich in natural resources and major
mining companies operating

there make handsome profits.

Famine even struck Yahukimo last year after crops failed, likely adding to
a growing resentment toward the central government. The sense that
development here has been

slow, particularly compared with Java, feeds demands from the two
provinces for more autonomy over their own affairs and resources.

Papua, formerly known as Irian Jaya province, has been divided into two
provinces. There have been calls to create a third province of South Papua
there.

The second province, West Irian Jaya, was established in February 2003. On
its fourth anniversary, the provincial administration renamed the province
West Papua,

although this has yet to be approved by the central government.

West Papua Governor Abraham Atururi acknowledged the development
challenges in the two provinces, and said future strategies should also
focus on developing the local

human resources.

"Papua is said to be a land of riches; the problem is in its human
resources," he said. "We hope this can be changed for the betterment of
all."

Officials from the two provinces will meet soon in Manokwari, he said, to
discuss cooperation in implementing future development policies.


---
Embargoed: 12.30pm, Thursday, 15 February 2007


TV ad calls for West Papua human rights clause in Indonesia Treaty


A new TV advertisement promoting human rights for West Papuans will be
launched in Canberra by:
* Peter Andren MP,Duncan Kerr MP, Senator Kerry Nettle, Senator Natasha
Stott Despoja
* Clemens Runawery,an exiled West Papuan visiting from PNG
* Sonny Karubaba,West Papuan student leader visiting from PNG
* Sonia Vitro, EastTimorese asylum seeker whose father was killed by the
Indonesian military.
* Ian Melrose,businessman and human rights advocate

12.30pm
Thursday, 15 February 2007

Parliament House, Canberra


The advertisement calls for the new Australia-Indonesia security treaty to
be amended so as to allow access for human rights monitors and foreign
journalists into West Papua.



The new Australia-Indonesia Security Treaty was signed last November by
Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer and his Indonesian counterpart Dr
Hassan Wiryuda. While the treaty has been signed it is yet to be ratified
and is currently before the Australian Parliament¹s Joint Standing
Committees on Treaties.



The TV advertisement will initially be shown on commercial TV and SBS in
capital cities around the country and then be shown in regional centres.



The ads are sponsored by businessman Ian Melrose.



More information: Ben Oquist 0419 70 40 95 or

Peter Andren MP 02 6277 2341

Raina Hunter (Sen. Stott Despoja) 0417 085260

Duncan Kerr MP 02 6277 2178

Jon Edwards (Sen. Nettle) 0428 213146