[Kabar-Irian] News: Dec 27 2007 Jan 3 2008

[Admin-Editors Kabar-Irian]

KABAR IRIAN NEWS

Dec 27 2007-Jan 3 2008

TOPICS

* Religious leaders in Indonesia’s Papua province demand halt to
development programmes
* Students, teachers make do in Papuan outback
* Christmas wishes from Papua
* Papua facts
* Globetrotter Dogma
* West Papua Report - January 2008

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http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=37204


Radio New Zealand International

The Voice of New Zealand, Broadcasting to the Pacific

Te Reo Irirangi O Aotearoa, O Te Moana-Nui-A-Kiwa

Religious leaders in Indonesia’s Papua province demand halt to development
programmes

Posted at 17:07 on 23 December, 2007 UTC

Some religious leaders in Indonesia’s Papua province say the six-year-old
autonomy law for their area

has been violated.

During talks on the province’s future, representatives from the Buddhist,
Catholic, Hindu, Muslim and

Protestant faiths said the law had been ignored over development
programmes, land rights, and by the

police.

The religious leaders said programmes in the province had split local
ethnic groups and marginalised

Papuan workers.

They have demanded a halt to development programmes at town, district and
provincial levels and insist

the national government must consider local culture properly before
undertaking development

programmes.


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http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20071223.R25

Students, teachers make do in Papuan outback

Features - December 23, 2007

Trisha Sertori, Contributor, Agats, Papua

Teaching is a hard job: Teachers go to great lengths just to stand in
front of a class of 30 or more young

minds under their care.

While finding ways to stimulate teenagers is a regular bane, the lack of
basic teaching tools such as

textbooks and computers with Internet access makes that hard job even harder.

In the remote town of Agats, Papua, which is built on stilts over a
mangrove swamp, teachers are doing

their best with the meager facilities they have -- which often includes
none of the above.

At SMP YPPK (Catholic Schools Education Foundation) Agats junior high
school, teachers battle daily

not only the seas and tides of its isolated swamp home, but also an
intermittent electricity supply that

plays havoc with the school's single computer: the Internet is not on the
learning charts.

However, this band of teachers in malaria-ridden Agats is giving their
"kids" the best education they can.

"We have around 300 students from 11 to 15 years of age. From here, they
continue to the SMA (senior

high school) in Agats," said Mateus Netenko, deputy head teacher of SMP
YPPK Agats.

"Books are a great difficulty; to obtain books. When we get them, because
of the climate, they quickly

rot," he said.

The remote school follows the national curriculum, but according to
Mateus, this is also a challenge.

"We follow the national curriculum, but it's hard. We have one computer,
rotting books and poor

infrastructure," he said. "We do our best."

The teacher prefers to focus on what can be done, rather than what cannot,
and the students are proof

of that dedication. The students all speak several languages, including
English, and are keen to succeed

outside of their isolated, sea-washed hometown.

Even with minimal facilities and equipment, the teachers at SMP YPPK Agats
are working hard to

nurture and prepare their students for the challenges that lie ahead.

---

http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20071223.R26

Christmas wishes from Papua

Features - December 23, 2007

Junior high school students at SMP YPPK in Agats, Papua have some simple
Christmas wishes for their

school: computers and a science lab.

One of the main centers of the Papuan Asmat region, Agats is a town built
on stilts and elevated wooden

walkways over mangrove swamps, and is home to around 3,000 people.

The remote town, accessible only by boat, does not have telephone lines or
the Internet; cellular phones

and the radio are the only communication systems available there.

The Jakarta Post spoke by mobile phone and SMS to three students at SMP
YPPK about their school

and their hopes for the future. All three are in their final year of
junior high school.

Fourteen-year-old Anna Maria Boreti is looking forward to going to senior
high school in Jayapura. Her

favorite subjects are Social Studies and Bahasa Indonesia. Anna Maria
hopes that Father Christmas will

direct his sleigh toward her school this year with a few educational
necessities.

"I would like our school to have computers and a science room with
equipment," she said.

Milka Tina, 14, who also plans to go on to senior high school, is an
aspiring scientist.

"My favorite subjects are English and Physics. It would be great to get
computers for the school and a

science laboratory for Christmas," said Milka.

Computers are essential tools for Arison Mbieare, whose best subjects are
Information Technology and

Communications -- a tricky choice in technology-deficient Agats.

"I enjoy learning Bahasa Indonesia, but my favorite subjects are IT and
Communications," said Arison.

"It would be fantastic to have computers at school. We need a fully
equipped science lab too. That's

what I wish for my school's Christmas present," he said.

-- Trisha Sertori (Bali)

---

http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20071223.R27

Papua facts

Features - December 23, 2007

Papua is Indonesia's most eastern territory and has an area of 422,000
square kilometers. It is bordered

to the east by Papua New Guinea, and the two Papuas together form the
largest island in the world.

More than 10,000 years ago, Papua and Papua New Guinea were joined by a
land bridge to Australia.

This ancient massive continent is known as Gondwanaland.

Due to this historical geography, Papua has many animals and birds similar
to those in Australia,

including kangaroos, echidnas, cassowaries and cockatoos.

Papua has some of the most dramatic geographical features in the world.
These include Indonesia's

tallest mountain, Mount Puncak Jaya, which rises 5,039 metres into the
clouds. Puncak Jaya is located

in the central Sudirman Mountain Range that forms the "spine" of the island.

The territory is also home to one of just three tropical glaciers in the
world. The Papuan glacier is called

the Meren and Carstenz glacier. Scientists are concerned that global
warming is damaging the rare

glacier, of which just 3 square kilometers of ice remain today.

Sloping down from the mountain range are the highlands that in turn give
way to the coastal lowlands of

Papua. Much of the coastal region is mangrove swamp; the towns and
villages there are built on stilts

over the swamplands.

The population of Papua is around two million and consists mostly of
indigenous Papuans representing

many tribes, including the Amungme, Asmat, Biak, Damal, Dani, Ekari,
Kamoro, Moni and Nduga tribes.

Around 700,000 inhabitants also come from Bali, Java, Maluku, Sulawesi and
Sumatra.

There are more than 200 indigenous Papuan languages, but the common
language of the territory is

Bahasa Indonesia.

The region is resource-rich with minerals such as copper, gold, oil and
silver. The area also has many

natural resources, including more than 40 million hectares of rainforests
and substantial fisheries.

A brief history

Papua was known as Dutch Guinea until 1962, when the Dutch released Papua
to the United Nations

Temporary Executive Authority. Indonesia then took over the region's
administration.

The island, then called West Irian, became Indonesian territory in 1969
and became an official province

in 1973, when it was renamed Irian Jaya. The name is a Biak islander word
and is thought to be the

earliest name for Papua dating back thousands of years, according to the
research of Freerk Kamma,

who wrote Kereri: Messianic Movements of the Biak (1954).

Irian Jaya was renamed most recently to Papua on Feb. 6, 2006.

-- Trisha Sertori/Sources: Various

---

http://www.theimproper.com/Template_Article.aspx?IssueId=3&ArticleId=1173


Globetrotter Dogma
By Bruce Northam

Bidding the Stone Age Farewell
Playing Naked Frisbee in Irian Jaya (a.k.a. West Papua, New Guinea)

“It is an interesting question how far men would retain their relative
rank if they were divested of their

clothes.”

-- Thoreau, Walden 1854

What is it about modern culture that makes authorities feel the need to
impose a foreign language, way

of life and religion on a people that live in communion, unashamedly nude
deep in an impenetrable

forest? In a culture where no one bothers to keep track of their age, the
well intended, but genocidal

policies of outsiders have been ravaging western New Guinea’s highland
tribes, as they slowly succumb

to alien modernization.

One force driving this aboriginal extermination is the frontiersman
psychology. Sledding to the Poles,

summiting Everest, rowing across the Atlantic Ocean, it’s all been done.
We live in an age when

uncharted earthbound exploration is virtually at an end, yet I partook in
a particularly unique adventure; I

taught naked Frisbee to natives who still dwell in the Stone Age. Someone
had to do it.

West Papua makes up the western half of equatorial New Guinea, a huge
Melanesian island that is

“Indonesia’s” least populated territory. The awe-inspiring mountain ranges
in the heart of the isle are

permanently covered in snow and ice, while low-lying areas are thick with
tropical jungles. Torrential

rivers plunge from the peaks into gorges and then race through lowland
rainforests before ending on the

coastal plains. Palm tree-lined beaches rim the island.

Accessible only by air, or by machete after a month of hacking through
steamy jungle, the highlands are

a spellbinding redoubt for our last primeval rainforests, and natives
unknown to, and unknowing of, the

outside world. In 1990, one such unidentified group surfaced. Ambassadors
of the tribe, evidently

shocked by what they saw, immediately disappeared.

I spent a month trekking in these highlands, where the intimate Dani tribe
is walled in by rugged terrain,

their villages apportioned by stone fences and crisscrossed by sweet
potato vine gardens, canals, and

steep, terraced mountainsides. The dark-skinned, Melanesian aborigines
still wear only penis gourds.

The early model jock strap is made from petrified yellow squash shells
fitted over the genitalia and

fastened skyward by thin strings tied around the waist. The women wear
only skimpy grass skirts.

To reach the Dani, I walked their prolific trails, which they use
extensively for trade. The walk took me

through lush valleys that gave way to high-endurance climbing and scaling
harrowing cliffs.

Occasionally, I pulled over to allow trios of bow-and-arrow toting hunters
to pass. Mud abounds. You

haven’t officially trekked until you’ve had a boot sucked off by a foot of
mud – although never a concern

for the barefoot Dani.

Rafts of trailblazer types have filtered in and out of these valleys since
the Second World War. Only a

few have had the fortune of befriending Ruuf, my Dani guide for the first
leg of my trek. Calm, wise and

barefoot, he leaped nimbly from log to slippery log. When I lost him, I
tracked his mud prints. A long,

mesh-like grass billum bag slung around his forehead and across his back
contained sweet potatoes, a

palm-leaf mat that doubled as a rain poncho (resembling a flight-worthy
nun’s habit), compressed

tobacco leaves for rolling cigarettes and a small bag of salt. This was
his primordial briefcase.

Unexpected downpours are common. One monsoon shower was especially
enlightening. Betrayed by

flooded boots and soaked by sweat inside my “rain-gear,” I caught Ruuf
smiling under his teepee, not a

drop of water on his petrified squash. Pausing there, I contemplated my
departure from the essential

laws of human survival; Darwinian perfection versus a mail-order misfit; a
defeated poster child of

Western survival gear. The contents of my backpack later become gifts.
Luxuries are often not only

dispensable, but hindrances.

Not long afterward, we encountered twenty local men who were resting on a
protruding bluff overlooking

a terraced valley and the thundering Baliem River. It exits the uplands
through an extensive and

spectacular gorge system emerging in the south coast lowlands. The
barefoot posse was hauling

supplies to their village thirty miles away. Suddenly, they broke into
three-part harmony a cappella, an

ancestral call to unite and energize the group. Their simple,
spirit-lifting chant reminded me of the feeling

you get when a bird hops over and sits by you in the forest – date and
time momentarily evaporate;

sublime.

Ruuf and I shared many bowls of rice. We nibbled finger’s full, caveman
like, and peered about the

forest. I heard birdcalls; Ruuf heard food. I showed him a photo of a
girlfriend. Mixing pantomime with

intonation, I inquired:

Have you ever seen the sea? “No,” he answered.
What is your favorite food? “...Sweet Potatoes.”
What do you dream about? He glanced down at the photo of the blonde woman
and grinned wide.

The man for all seasons and I parted with an exemplar prehistoric
handshake, lasting a minute,

graduating to a bicep shake, adjourning with condoning nods. I headed for
a nap in a village dwelling

and he ran off, barefoot and naked, into the jungle.

Archetypal humor

Historical documents suggest that a Greek scholar in the second century BC
created the first globe.

Over the next millennium the unknown areas shrank as explorers charted the
seas and made their way

into the interior of continents. Today, there are few unmapped patches
left like interior expanses of the

world's second largest island. New Guinea’s highlands are still largely
unexplored at the dawn of the 21st

century. The two worlds collided inauspiciously in 1605. South coast
lowland tribesmen ate the first “out

-of-towner,” Dutch ship captain William Janz. By the mid-1800s, the Dutch
had settle parts of the island

as part of their Spice Island Empire. But by 1940, no one had explored
further inland than the coastal

plains; the uplands were considered too harsh for habitation.

upland tropic natives got their first glimpse of an outsider in 1938 when
an American pilot, searching for

possible World War II airfield sites, flew over the 5,000-foot-high Grand
Baliem Valley. The pilot was

astonished to “discover” a densely populated area inhabited by agrarian
tribes of fierce headhunters

and cannibals, who engaged in almost constant warfare. Only in 1953 did
things begin to change when

a Dutch missionary settled into the area.

In 1961, the Harvard Peabody Museum sponsored a major expedition to the
Baliem Valley to document

this Neolithic culture in its pristine state. Michael Rockefeller, who was
part of the expedition,

mysteriously disappeared after he chose to stay an extra season. Rumors
spread quickly that

Rockefeller had either drowned or was gobbled up by alligators or worse,
by cannibals. His

disappearance remains a mystery to this day.

The 1970s and ‘80s saw a resurgence of missionary and foreign government
activity; the vaporization of

aboriginal hideouts, and, consequently, their innocence accelerated.
Today, uncontaminated indigenous

culture hangs on only in the remote valleys that are far removed from the
rapidly westernizing Baliem

Valley town of Wamena.

Indonesian officials, who view clothes as measure of progress, have failed
so far to convince all of the

inhabitants of the wild east to support “Operation Penis Gourd.” The
effort is designed to get them out of

their traditional getup and into Western clothing. Gourds and grass skirts
have yet to give way to clothes

for natives older than 50. The life expectancy in the region is 60 years.
When these seniors pass on,

this sartorial tradition and much of their old way of living will be
history. In and around Wamena, most

native youngsters wear clothes.

Many men and women – especially converts to Christianity – have abandoned
the traditional clothing for

shorts and skirts, which are expensive to buy. The Indonesian Rupee has
devalued their homespun

currency, the cowrie shell, into oblivion. One consequence is that
communities don torn, soiled clothing.

Once “clean” in traditional garb, they now resemble other impoverished
“third world” environs.

It’s difficult to process the rugged, amazing beauty of these Neolithic
Melanesians who discarded stone

axes for steel in the mid-1900s. They remain primitive, hunting and
gathering like our early ancestors,

spending their days as deliberately as nature. They live communally in
small isolated valleys. Radiant

and clever, they do wonders with cooked sweet potatoes and spinach, which
becomes the staple of

trekkers who don't carry in enough dried or canned foods. When was the
last time you speared dinner?

Traditionally, men fought battles and guarded the women while they worked.
The small, wiry women still

do most of the chores: raising children, pigs and sweet potatoes. Often,
they lug up to 80 pounds of

potatoes and a baby for miles up and down steep mountain trails. Women
bear the brunt of the fieldwork

while the men generally walk around, chat, pose for photos and smoke
cigarettes. Intrepid archetypes

indeed! The men also tend the squash-to-be-gourds, which they train to
grow according to the shape of

the manhood sheath they fancy.

They live in tidy, domed wood- and grass-thatched huts called “honays.”
Men and women sleep and

pass time in separate two-story huts. I was permitted to sleep, and
reflect, in honays after a village chief

consented. A whole, empty eggshell atop the roof indicates that there is a
sick person inside. Certain

bungalows are the privilege of men who've established themselves as
warriors. If you can get passed the

fleas and mice, these alpha-male sanctuaries are fertile pastures for the
imagination; all around hang

shrunken animal heads (which are considered to have supernatural powers),
spears, weaponry, and

charms.

Dani converse in very soft tones, if they speak at all. I sat with them in
a circle, puffing clove cigarettes

and noshing on soft, warm sweet potatoes. Smoke enveloped us in the dimly
lit hut, illuminated only by a

well-tended fire. A serene, Cannabis euphoria was obtained by inhaling
tobacco as deeply as the fellows

were. Knee-deep in nomadic câché, I accepted the silence as meditation in
a corner of the world where

safety pins were once fair trade for a shrunken human head. Reigning
thought in my mind during one

interlude was Einstein’s prophesy: He said he wasn’t sure about the
outcome of a third world war, but

asserted that the fourth world war would be fought with sticks and stones.
Surely, these vanguards would

endure, despite the ever encroaching New World.

Among the Dani, pigs are central to a man's economic and social status.
Their other primary concern,

wives, can be purchased with pigs (size matters, the bigger the pig the
better). One semi-functional

contribution of the Indonesian government to the West Papuan people is the
construction of bleak,

corrugated tin-roof residences. These structures are unlike anything you’d
find in a traditional village. I

met a few countrymen who awarded these climate-inefficient buildings to
their pigs and built traditional

huts nearby for themselves.

Safety pins remain a prevailing souvenir trade item. They have become
their all-in-one toolbox: surgical

implement, fishhook, necklace ornament, wood etcher, earring and so on.
Velcro is also making a

splash. A visitor probably won't be able to haul home a pig as a souvenir,
and bows and arrows aren’t

yet for sale beyond the tourist zones. Purchasing six-foot-long arrows was
one task, getting them

through airport security and onto eight different connecting planes bound
for the United States was

another. That made smuggling home a custom-fit penis gourd simple.

I had a day in church. A racquetball-court sized wooden cabin with a
corrugated tin roof, packed with

quasi-clad worshipers. My view from the rear of the cabin: women and young
girls on the left, men and

boys on the right. A lonely, dead-battery clock loomed above a makeshift
wood altar. Behind it, the

rambling missionary was the only other person wearing clothes. Seated
beside me was a man wearing

only his beige gourd, a band of greasy chicken feathers on his head and a
clove cigarette stored in the

pierced hole of his earlobe.

Patiently waiting to interact with the preacher, he inserted a
quarter-moon-shaped pig bone into his

pierced nasal septum. When their discussion began, everyone else listened
intently, the women sitting

with their net-like billum bags slung around their heads, bulging with
provisions and babies. An

unsympathetic gatekeeper declined to let people leave before the service
concluded.

During prayer, all eyes are closed and heads lowered. They cover both eyes
with one hand during

prayers in fear of going blind. First came the peek-a-boo glances at the
peculiar white man, then the

restrained chuckling. When the service ended the women rushed past me
nervously to exit the church;

many had hands missing digits. The little girls were absolutely shocked by
my presence. Then, someone

broke out a guitar and another ceremony emanated from the rear of the shrine.

I learned that the older women cut off one or several finger joints as
part of cremation ceremony when

someone in their immediate family passes on, usually a male relative. Some
women I met were missing

most of their fingers. Severing a corner of the earlobe is the
corresponding practice for men. Once

common, this fading custom lingers despite the reproach of outsiders.

In Walden, Thoreau speaks of a “realometer,” a raw, instinctive gauge to
detect our individual certainty.

Regularly, my realometer was pinned to the maximum. Likewise, foreign
visitors can beguile and

astonish the natives. Icebreakers range from donating food and medicine to
my contribution: a Frisbee.

They were riveted by this simple toy and they way it employs the basic
principles of aerodynamics.

The flying saucer captured their imagination and made them belly laugh.
Initially, I was concerned that

by introducing this game, I was further adding to the ruination of a
traditional way of life that deserved to

be preserved. But Western influence is on the rise and no doubt there to
stay. A Frisbee is harmless,

and they really enjoyed hurling it. Though my first instinct went against
introducing a non-neutral item

into their culture, unanimous glee from the children cemented the verdict.
And it isn’t difficult for them to

replicate a disc using existing items. Their rattan “place mats,” we
discovered, also flew.

A neon-blue flying disc landed in the primeval frontier and they rejoiced
wildly over it. While other

tradition-defying forces impose religion and outlander value, I tossed in
my Sputnik. Upon entering a

small village, I’d stroll into an open area, usually the courtyard in the
midst of the honay complex, and

spin the disc so it hovered and descended gradually into the waiting
huddle. Some ran to it, some ran

from it and kept on running. Perhaps the biggest single event to hit these
villages since the first explorer

donated matches. Now that’s ultimate Frisbee.

Having developed for millennia in isolation, the New Guinea natives have
many unique traits, including a

talent for throwing and launching spears. So straightaway, many of the
younger flying disc converts

advanced from having never seen one, to being able to wing it 50 yards,
using unconventional hand

techniques, or launching it upside-down.

I played sort of nude, too. At first my gourd was a discomfiture; some of
us wage a continuing struggle

against fashion. The string tied around my waist failed to hold up the
hardened vegetable case that kept

fumbling downward, and it itched. I didn’t like sprinting barefoot across
rocky fields, and I was paranoid

about injuring my scrotum. I concluded that some of them intentionally
tossed the Frisbee astray so I’d

have to run for it. They laughed at that, too.

Prevailing discontent

Although Indonesia annexed the area in 1963, the takeover has not been
universally accepted by native

Papuans, and discontent prevails in certain areas. Indonesians call their
former Dutch territory by a

different name, “Irian Jaya.” Indonesia “owns” West Papua, though the
highlanders have little in

common with western Indonesians or the rest of the world – except that
they love their families and savor

tobacco smoke.

The Dani, former cannibals, must now be the most gentle and hospitable
people on earth. Their smiles

are perpetual. Modern sorcery and witchcraft, such as mining,
deforestation, government intrusion and

insensitive tourism, threaten one of the richest civilizations and
biomasses on the planet. The Baliem

Valley is one of the few places on earth where an agrarian society is now
importing satellite dishes.

Fortunately, some tribes continue to resist contact with the outside
world, maintaining a way of life where

"literacy" by Western standards is non-existent and considered unnecessary.

Anywhere that Irian Jaya’s mineral and oil resources are exploited, the
bleaching of native tradition is

compounded. Many villages can now be accessed by road or airplane. These
pressures on tribal life are

exacerbated by an imposing influx of Indonesians, coming from other
islands as part of a massive

transmigration project, similar to China’s resolve to dilute Tibetan culture.

Let their final refuge be, I say. Thoreau suggested that a man is rich in
proportion to the number of

things he can afford to let alone. The world would be a better place if
the mountain people could continue

their indigenous, environmentally gracious and wondrous ways. Our real
crown jewel is fading. Stuck in

between two worlds, lacking economic resources, they can neither advance
nor go back. The original

inhabitants of New Guinea don’t need petrochemicals, the hammering
corruption of an alien government,

religious missions or environmental exploitation. Though, in a surge of
serendipity, they did adopted one

exegesis of the times – flying plastic.

Epilogue

It will be some time before Frisbees rival the importance of pigs in this
quiet corner of the world. Near

the end of my sojourn back in time, I entered a village and tossed the
flying disc into another curious

horde. The village chief had difficulty catching, throwing and
comprehending it, as did some of the other

elders. His discontent with the game grew when the disobedient aircraft
drifted into the pigpen, spooking

the priceless swine. The chief abruptly disappeared into the men’s honay.
In another time, it could have

cost me my head.

The sun was settling and the Frisbee fanfare winding down when the chief
reappeared. Strutting erect,

bows and arrows slung across his back, he paused in the center of the
village and drew an arrow. He

aimed skyward at the hovering disc. A second later, he pierced the
Frisbee’s heart. Crippled, it wobbled

to earth. Justice done. My realometer flared. Game over; the chief
retrieved the impaled UFO and retired

into his hut.

The wind whistled through my gourd.

Footnote: Moon Travel Handbooks' Indonesia guide was banned in Indonesia
because it told the truth.

It’s a great place to start if you want to encounter Irian Jaya. Go
to:Moon for more info.

---

From: ETAN
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2008 12:29 PM
Subject: [wp] West Papua Report - January 2008


                                            West Papua Report
                                                  January 2008

This is the 44th in a series of monthly reports that focus on
developments affecting Papuans This series is produced by the
non-profit West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) drawing on media
accounts, other NGO assessments and analysis and reporting from
sources within West Papua. This report is co-published by the East
Timor and Indonesian Action Network (ETAN). Back issues are posted
online at http://etan.org/issues/wpapua/default.htm Questions
regarding this report can be addressed to Edmund McWilliams at
edmcw at msn.com.

Summary:

* Congress Requires Reports on Access to Papua, Military Promotions,
Human Rights Accountability

* US Congressman Eni Faleomavaega criticized the Indonesian
military's (TNI) severe restrictions on his contact with Papuans
during a recent visit to West Papua.   In a public letter to
President Yudhoyono, he described the TNI as intimidating, abusing
and harassing Papuans.  He suspended his earlier pledge to work in
the U.S. Congress to support Jakarta's "Special Autonomy" plans for
West Papua

*The fate of Papuans detained for attempting to meet with
Congressman Faleomavaega is unknown.

*The Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands has urged that
Governments within the Melanesian world do more to promote a
dialogue between Jakarta and Papuans about Papuan
self-determination.

*Leading Papuan Government and non-governmental organizations have
concluded that "Special Autonomy" has failed  These groups are
calling for an internationally mediated Jakarta-Papuan dialogue to
discuss the way forward in the wake of the failure of Jakarta's
policy in West Papua.

*Papuan Religious leaders meeting in mid-December have complained
about the government's violation of the "Special Autonomy" law. The
law has been violated in development programs and land rights and by
the police. They said development programs in the province have
split local ethnic groups and marginalized Papuan workers.

*A new book compiling the life experiences of 12 Papuan human rights
champions has recently been published.

End Summary.

Congress Requires Reports on Access to Papua, Military Promotions,
Human Rights Accountability

The recently passed FY2008 Consolidated Appropriations bill (HR
2764) contains several provisions relevant to West Papua. The bill
withholds $2.7 million in Foreign Military Financing for Indonesia
until the U.S. Department of State reports on, among other issues,
steps by the Government of Indonesia to implement "plans to
effectively allow public access to Papua" and to prosecute and
punish "members of the Armed Forces... who have been credibly
alleged to have committed gross violations of human rights in
Timor-Leste and elsewhere." The law also requires a separate report
on steps taken by Indonesia "to deny promotion, suspend from active
service, and pursue prosecution of military officers indicted for
serious crimes" and "by the Indonesian military to divest itself of
illegal businesses." Among the current military officers who are in
a sensitive assignment is Col. Burhanuddin Siagian, senior commander
in Jayapura. He faces two indictments for crimes against humanity by
the UN-backed Serious Crimes Process in Timor-Leste. The law also
sets aside at least $250,000 for capacity-building grants to
Indonesian human rights organizations, including in Papua. [see
http://www.etan.org/news/2007/12app.htm for more information.]

Congressman Faleomavaega Expresses Concerns About TNI "Intimidation,
Harassment and Abuse of Papuans"

In a public letter to Indonesian President Yudhoyono, US Congressman
Eni Faleomavaega (D-AS) candidly discussed restrictions the
Indonesian Government imposed on his recent travel to West Papua and
actions of the Indonesian military there. His December 13 letter
recalled that he had originally intended to visit West Papua in
July, but that the Indonesian government rejected that plan over
what it described as security concerns.  In good faith, the
Congressman altered his trip, in support of President SBY's efforts
to implement the provisions of the Special Autonomy Law, to coincide
with the December UN conference in Bali . It was Faleomavaega's
understanding that he would visit the towns of Biak and Manokwari
and, most importantly, the capital, Jayapura.

In his letter, the Rep. Faleomavaega spoke frankly of his
disappointment: "Having already been denied entry in July of this
year and having accommodated your request to postpone my August
visit to the last week of November, I was deeply disappointed that
upon my arrival I was again denied entry into Jayapura and that my
time was reduced from 5 days to only two hours of actual meetings
with the leaders and people of Biak and Manokwari due to supposedly
security concerns." He also described other constraints on his
meetings:  "In Biak, I met with Governor Barnabas Suebu and other
legislators, traditional and religious leaders selected by the
government. During the course of our meeting, a highly respected
traditional leader, Chief Tom Beanal, was detained by the military,
as was Mr Willie Mandowen."  He noted also that "Papuans who had
gathered in the streets in Biak were denied the opportunity to meet
with us, and U.S. Ambassador Cameron Hume and I had to force our way
through a military barricade just to meet with the Papuan people who
had to walk several miles from the airport and wait in the hot sun
because Indonesian military forces (TNI) barred them from meeting
with Ambassador Hume and me."  Faleomavaega noted that the TNI only
allowed him to meet with the people in the street for five minutes
and that he was "deeply disturbed by the overpowering military
presence," which he said he believed was "completely unnecessary."

Rep. Faleomavaega described as "even worse" the military presence in
Manokwari. "Ambassador Hume and I were put in a car, without any
escort and with only a single traffic police unit in front. While we
do not require special privileges, we were very aware that our
delegation was not given the necessary escort because the TNI was
intent on deceiving the Papuans who had gathered on the streets
waiting for us."  After being driven along a circuitous back road
route which, he noted, posed risks of "acts of sabotage" the U.S.
party was allowed to meet with the acting Governor for only ten
minutes.  The meeting was terminated abruptly due to purported
weather and security concerns.  Faleomavaega wrote that "I was told
by the TNI military leaders that Ambassador Hume and I were not
welcome in Manokwari."  The TNI's hasty transport of the U.S. party
to the airport, again along back roads raised Faleomavaega's
concerns though he stressed, that he "felt no danger whatsoever from
the Papuans who were unarmed and only wanted to meet with us." He
concluded that "when I saw how heavily armed that the TNI military
was, I knew that the military had no intention of honoring the
commitment that President SBY and I had made in Jakarta in July of
this year."

The Representative described his departure from the airport:  "From
the window of the plane, I saw pushing and shoving between the
heavily armed military and the unarmed Papuans. Banners were also
raised. Whether or not anyone was hurt or arrested, I do not know
but I have requested that the Indonesian government provide me with
assurances that no arrests were made and that no one was harmed."

Congressman Faleomavaega told the media that he has asked President
SBY if he were still committed to working together to implement the
Special Autonomy Law, noting that he has earlier told the President
that he would support the Special Autonomy Law and "work in the U.S.
Congress to make sure the Indonesian government is given every
opportunity to make good on its promises to the Papuan people based
on the understanding that this is also the consensus of the
traditional, religious and political leaders of both provinces." He
then added: "However, as long as the TNI military forces of
Indonesia continue to deny Members of Congress real access to the
provinces of Papua and West Papua, especially Jayapura, it will be
difficult for me to support the goals of Special Autonomy when
clearly the Papuans in these two provinces are still being
intimidated, harassed and abused by the TNI."

"Likewise, he added, I do not consider two hours in Biak and 10
minutes in Manokwari as access. Until I am allowed to visit
Jayapura, as I have been promised, and until I am allowed to meet
with the people of Papua, as President SBY and I agreed, I cannot in
good conscience inform my colleagues in Congress that progress is
being made to implement the Special Autonomy Law which has mostly
remained dormant since 2001 and, since for the past 60 years, until
President SBY's leadership, the government of Indonesia has done
absolutely nothing to help the Papuan people who only want to be
treated humanely."

The Congressman commended the Indonesian President "for his efforts
to implement the Special Autonomy Law, but added:  "whether or not
we move forward is entirely up to President SBY and those who
control the activities of Indonesia's TNI military forces."

(Note:  Representative Faleomavaega was accompanied on his trip by
staff members Lisa Williams and Vili Lei.)

Rep. Faleomavaega's complete letter to SBY can be read at
http://www.etan.org/issues/wpapua/1207faleoletter.htm

At Least Four Papuans Arrested For Attempting to Meet with US
Congressman

Reliable sources in West Papua report that Indonesian Authorities
arrested four Papuans on November 27 in Manokwari for attempting to
meet with Congressman Eni Faleomavaega during his visit to that
town.  Those arrested were:  Niko Asaribab, Wellem Mambbo, Abraham
Ramandey and Piter Kewati.  It is not known if the four were charged
or whether they remain in custody.

International Support for Papuan Self-Determination

In late November, Solomon Islands Prime Minister told international
media that the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), an international
group of governments among Melanesian states, can do more to advance
consideration of the self-determination aspirations of Papuans in
West Papua. Sogavare recalled that the MSG guiding principles
require member countries to assist fellow Melanesian peoples realize
statehood where possible. With the opening of the new MSG
secretariat building in Vanuatu, Melanesian media speculates that
the sub-regional grouping will step up efforts to grant observer
status to West Papuans who live under Indonesian rule. Mr Sogavare
reportedly said that the MSG could do more to push for dialogue with
Jakarta on self-determination for West Papuans. "We've made it very
very plain and clear that if we have to push their agenda of course
we take it up and discuss it formally with the relevant authorities.
That is open and our charter clearly mandates us to do that."

The Failure of Special Autonomy:  Papuans Seek An Alternative

Octavianus Mote, a fellow at Yale University's Genocide Studies
Program, recently completed a briefing paper titled "The Failure of
Special Autonomy."  The paper notes that the Papuan Traditional
Council (Dewan Adat Papua), the Papuan Peoples Council (PDP),
Papuan Governor Barnebus Suebu and the Association of Central
Highland University Students (AMP) have all concluded that Special
Autonomy has failed. Throughout 2006 and 2007, Papuans, sometimes
numbering in the thousands have demonstrated to renounce Special
Autonomy and petitioned their representatives to inform the central
government that Papuans formally reject it.

Special Autonomy was conceived in 1999 by the Peoples Consultative
Assembly, the supreme law-making body in Indonesia, as a means to
grant broad powers to local government officials in West Papua.
Initial drafts called for Papuans to be given authority in all
aspects of governance, except with respect to foreign policy,
external defense, financial matters and the judiciary.  The autonomy
bill that was eventually passed by the Parliament in 2001 eliminated
much of the initial reforms.  Police and military forces continued
to operate beyond the purview of the Governor with troop deployments
strictly under Jakarta's control. The final version eliminated key
provisions related to the independence of a regional human rights
body with powers to investigate human rights crimes and present its
findings to a Provincial Human Rights Court.  Under the legislation
passed in 2001, the jurisdiction of the Human Rights Court was
extremely limited.  The court lacked the ability to prosecute abuses
by security forces and government officials.  According to the
initial drafts, a bicameral system of provincial government and an
indigenous council, the Papuan People's Consultative Council (MRP)
was to be established alongside the existing People's Parliamentary
Representative Council (DPRP).  When the MRP was finally established
in 2005, its role was limited to cultural affairs with no
decision-making authority.

While some provisions of Special Autonomy as passed in 2001 and
signed by then President Sukarnoputri in 2002 contained economic
reforms entailing some return of funds flowing from West Papua's
lucrative extractive industries back to West Papua, those funds have
been mismanaged. Much of that funding has gone to support creation
of new Provincial and District entities within West Papua which were
created by the central government despite the opposition of Papuan
officials and civil society.

In addressing the failure of Special Autonomy, Papuans have sought
direct talks with the central government to be mediated by
international officials. The model is the mediation effort employed
to address years of abuse and repression in Aceh.  The Papuan
Traditional Council, which represents 253 indigenous groups (tribes)
has called for such a dialogue, as has the Papuan People's Council.
To date, these calls have drawn no response from Jakarta.  Rather,
Jakarta officials have announced plans to send additional troops to
West Papua and to re-launch the widely condemned "transmigration"
policies which many observers regard as population engineering.  The
program, conducted under the Suharto dictatorship, ethnically
cleansed valuable parts of West Papua by forcing the relocation of
Papuans to make way for migrants organized by the Government to
populate areas with non-Papuans. [The full briefing can be found at
http://www.etan.org/issues/wpapua/1207spaut.htm]

Violations of Papua autonomy law distress interfaith leaders (UCAN)

Religious leaders in West Papua have discussed violations of the
six-year-old autonomy law for their province and sent
recommendations to various levels of government to rectify the
situation The concerns of nearly 50 Buddhist, Catholic, Hindu,
Muslim and Protestant representatives were articulated during a
workshop on Developing Dialogues to Create a Peaceful Papua, held
Dec. 3-7 in Sentani, capital of Jayapura district, 3770 kilometers
east of Jakarta. After discussing violations of the law that gave
Indonesia's easternmost province a degree of autonomy, the religious
representatives prepared their recommendations for local and central
government authorities.

Catholic Bishop Leo Laba Ladjar of Jayapura, a participant, read
aloud the concerns and recommendations at the workshop's close. The
text presented by the Franciscan prelate says: "We religious leaders
in Papua have attentively watched developments in our society,
particularly the social and political dynamics. As part of society,
we have seen several practices that violate articles of Law Number
21/2001 on Special Autonomy for Papua province."  The law, ratified
by then-president Megawati Soekarnoputri on Nov. 21, 2001, has 24
chapters and 79 articles that stipulates safeguard and empower
native Papuans in the civil, cultural, political and social spheres.
It also puts a focus on redressing inequality and injustice in the
province.

According to the religious leaders, the law has been violated in
development programs and land rights, and by the police. They said
development programs in the province have split local ethnic groups
and marginalized Papuan workers.  By dividing districts into
territories, Bishop Ladjar explained, development efforts have
reduced the people's share of ulayat (communal land) and this has
triggered quarrels among local people. The participants also charged
that possession of ulayat rights has also been given to non-Papuans.
For instance, they said, several district heads have allowed
companies run by non-Papuans to use communal land for plantations.

The religious leaders stressed that, according to Article 76 of the
law, development work should be based on socio-cultural unity, the
availability of human resources and the local economic situation,
and that Article 43 obliges the government to recognize, respect,
protect, promote and improve Papuan people's land rights, including
ulayat rights.  They also said Papuans are uncomfortable with so
many police stations and non-Papuan policemen in their midst.
According to one Protestant pastor at the workshop, non-Papuans
account for 70 percent of the police in Papua.  Participants said
Papuans complain that the police do not understand their culture and
cited Article 49, which says the national police chief who assigns
non-Papuan police must take account of local culture, customs and
laws.

The religious leaders concluded that local and central governments,
legislative members and the Papuan Assembly (MRP, Indonesian
acronym) have improperly implemented the law on special autonomy.
MRP is a cultural body empowered to protect Papuan people's culture,
customs and religion. The recommendations of the religious leaders
were sent on Dec. 10 to local and central governments, local and
central legislative councils, and MRP. They demand a halt to
development programs at town, district and provincial levels and
insist that MRP must consider local culture properly before
undertaking development programs.  The workshop participants also
called on governments, legislative members and MRP to draft and then
ratify a special regional regulation on the assignment of police,
especially the commando force, and to reduce the number of police
personnel and police stations in the province.  The religious
leaders insisted that Papuans be assured a proper livelihood on
their own land and be the "subject" of all development programs.

Note:  The above report is derived from the Australia and West Papua
Association (Sidney) Newsletter for December 2007
(www.zulenet.com/awpa/)

Papuan Human Rights Defenders Tell of Their Struggle for Human
Rights in West Papua

"The Testimony Project - Papua," a new book now available in English
and Bahasa Indonesia tells the story of Papuans' struggle for human
rights and human dignity through the words of 12 leading Papuan
human rights activists  These personal narratives detail the
indignities and suffering of Papuans over the past two generations.
Dr. Charles Farhadian, who edited the book, explains:  "The goal in
creating the book is two-fold.  First, it is crucial that Papuans
get a chance to speak for themselves, rather than being
reinterpreted or silenced for any number of reasons and by any
number of people.  By speaking for themselves, Papuans demonstrate
they are actors in their own right.  Second, it is equally important
to provide an historical document that records the lives of Papuans
at the beginning of the 21st century."

[The book is available through amazon.com, ETAN  (
http://etan.org/resource/booksetc.htm) or directly from
farhadia at aya.yale.edu ]

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