West Papuan leaders meet in Vanuatu

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08 Apr 2008, 19:20

By Ben Bohane Port Vila, Vanuatu: THE most important summit of West Papuan leaders in their 45-year struggle for independence is underway in Vanuatu. A solemn prayer and stirring rendition of their national anthem kickstarted the gathering in a house behind the little South Seas church. Inside, West Papuan delegates from around the world are attempting what has so far eluded them in a long struggle – a unified leadership. Factionalism between political groups and within the military wing of the OPM (Organisasi Papua Merdeka or Free Papua Movement) has helped prevent regional support and internal cohesion over the years. Yet the differences have been more to do with Melanesian “Big Man” politics – read personal jealousies – than any conflicting ideology.? All agree on the need for independence and continue?to reject Indonesia’s autonomy promises. West Papua’s tribal diversity, relative poverty and wild geographic terrain has led to a number of political and military figures claiming leadership of the resistance in the past and operating fairly autonomously. The last figure with?widespread support was Chief Theys Eluay, president of Papuan Presidium Council, who was assassinated by Kompassus soldiers. Since then a leadership vacuum of sorts has seen some tension between the now-silent Presidium Council and OPM guerillas operating in the bush. Part of the Vanuatu conference seems to be an attempt to bridge the divide and bring all groups back under the OPM banner. It is being seen as the most significant meeting of West Papuans since the OPM was formed in 1964. “This is a historic meeting and the end of an eight-year consultation processm, which began in Jayapura in 2000,” says Andy Ayamiseba, a West Papuan leader whose behind-the-scenes diplomacy has kept Vanuatu one of the few countries to provide consistent diplomatic support for the West Papuans. “We are creating the ‘pyramid structure’ with one leader who can be recognised by our people and the international community.” One leader tipped as the possible head of the whole movement is Richard Yoweni, an OPM commander from the Manokowari region who, at 66 years old, is the longest serving OPM commander, having joined the guerrilla struggle in 1966 when he had returned to Jayapura following several years training in Jakarta to be a mechanic.? Although the Vanuatu government has publicly distanced itself from the summit – at one stage it said the summit was not to take place for security reasons – its President Kalkot Mataskelekele re-affirmed the all-party support West Papua enjoys in the nation when he declared at the recent resumption of Parliament: “the struggle for freedom of the West Papuan people is always in the hearts of the people of Vanuatu.” Vanuatu continues to be a lifeline for the West Papuans, despite pressure from Jakarta and Canberra. It is indicative of Vanuatu’s robust and independent foreign policy, born of its own struggle for independence from Britain and France, which it achieved in 1980.? Vanuatu was the only Pacific nation to join the Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War. It has long championed indigenous struggles in the region from East Timor to Tahiti and New Caledonia. Given the West Papuan struggle has entered its fifth decade, after 100,000 dead (according to Church and NGOs) it is not surprising that a new generation of educated leaders and student groups is providing new momentum, taking the struggle out of the jungle and into the cities and international community. Among them is Paula Makabory, a human rights activist with ELSHAM who has settled in Australia following regular threats by the Indonesian authorities. She is in Vanuatu to facilitate the summit with various leaders. “The key to this summit is unity so all Papuans can come together under one roof, one umbrella and achieve our goals. Our people at home don’t care who is the leader, they just want us to unite and be more effective,” she says. “The reality is that the Indonesian system is killing us. It’s hard to be a Melanesian in Indonesia. They are creating horizontal conflicts and creating conflict within our political elite.”? Makabory has the same quiet intensity and eloquence that her mentor John Rumbiak, former head of ELSHAM, demonstrated before he suffered a stroke some years ago due to his tireless campaigning and stress of constant Indonesian intimidation. “The West Papuan struggle is not for us to get rich, but only to have the most basic and fundamental human rights that every people deserve and that is enshrined in the UN’s universal declaration of human rights. We have always felt like orphans in our own land.” “We must be allowed to have a proper referendum so we can decide our own destiny,” argues Makabory. It was the UN’s first ever decolonisation mission and has long been viewed a farce. The plebicite it supervised – known as the Act of Free Choice – remains controversial since it was not based on “one man one vote”. Instead, the process was turned into an exercise in Cold War pragmatism by allowing Indonesia to handpick 1025 delegates to vote on behalf of 800,000 people. UN troops were pulled out and the Indonesian military allowed to provide “security”. Given the level of bribery and coercion exercised by the military, not surprisingly almost all the delegates voted for integration “with the motherland” despite widespread protests. Indonesia had begun its annexation of then Dutch New Guinea in 1962 when a young General Suharto launched “Operation Mandala” with paratroopers and naval forces to wipe out the Dutch-backed Papuan forces, the forerunners of the OPM. It is worth noting that Canberra supported Dutch plans to give West Papua independence in 1970, as Australia was itself preparing PNG for independence. Successive Australian governments, mainly Liberal, supported independence for West Papua until the New York Agreement of 1962, when the US pressured Australia and Holland to let Indonesia absorb West Papua into Indonesia, afraid a protracted war between Holland and Indonesia over Dutch New Guinea would push Indonesia under Sukarno deeper into the communist fold. With the exception of former President Gus Dur who had allowed the Papuans to have their own national summit in 2000 and has promised them a referendum in future if he is elected again, virtually every Indonesian leader continues to echo Sukarno’s catchcry of “from Sabang to Merauke” as a nationalist article of faith. While Canberra has faithfully recognised Indonesian sovereignty since 1969, looming developments in the region are likely to further complicate Australian relations with Indonesia and Melanesia. April also sees the launch of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Secretariat in Port Vila, Vanuatu – built and backed by China. MSG countries (PNG, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Fiji) are expected to grant “observer status” to both West Papua and New Caledonia. A common foreign policy platform is likely to be developed at the MSG HQ from now on and then presented to the Pacific Islands Forum. Port Vila is thus emerging as the political capital of Melanesia. Although the MSG has been around for 20 years, it seems only now to developing its teeth. Given Vanuatu?s growing political status and historically independent foreign policy approach, there may be a few surprises in store for Canberra even if relations have improved since the Rudd government was elected. As one West Papuan leader said on the sidelines of the Vanuatu summit: “It’s to our advantage that countries like Indonesia and Australia underestimate us. “They still think we are just rag-tag rebels and bushmen fighting with bows and arrows. Let them underestimate us and soon they will be shocked when they witness our next strategy.”?? Like most West Papuans Makabory believes the UN has a special responsibility to look at their case again, since it violated its own principals there in 1969.?Pacific Magazine Online/Pacific Media Watch, 7/04/08.

indonesia detains West Papua independence protesters

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Indonesia detains West Papua independence protesters

–> Submitted by WW4 Report on Sun, 04/06/2008 – 04:06. <!– The Southeast Asia Front –>

Protesters arrested in West Papua

On March 13, Indonesian police arrested twelve people in Manokwari, West Papua, during a demonstration against a 2007 law banning the display of separatist symbols, including the Morning Star Flag. The demonstrations also called for a referendum regarding the political status of West Papua and expressed opposition to the 2001 Special Autonomy Law that they claim has failed to bring improvement to the lives of Papuan people. As Human Right Watch has reported, one of the twelve arrested in Manokwari is reported to be a 16-year-old boy. As of March 25 there were reports that he had been released from custody but he may still face charges. On March 19, Indonesian security officials in Jayapura arrested four more Papuans in a similarly peaceful demonstration that opposed the same 2007 law. On March 25, security authorities arrested Eli Kaiway in connection with the peaceful demonstrations of March 13 and 19.

The 17 individuals appear likely to face trial for breaching Regulation 77/2007 and may also be charged with makar, which translates into English as “rebellion.” In the past, Papuan activists openly supporting separatism have been sentenced to a 20-year prison term for the peaceful expression of their political views.

Indonesia’s arrest and detention of peaceful activists violates the internationally recognized rights to freedom of expression and assembly as set forth in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Indonesia ratified in February 2006.

From East Timor and Indonesia Action Network, March 25

See our last posts on Indonesia and West Papua.

Towards A United Front In West Papua

By Ben Bohane in Port Vila
Monday: April 07, 2008

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The most important summit of West Papuan leaders in their 45 year struggle for independence is underway in Vanuatu.

A solemn prayer and stirring rendition of their national anthem kickstarted the gathering in a house behind the little south seas church. Inside, West Papuan delegates from around the world are attempting what has so far eluded them in a long struggle – a unified leadership.

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Factionalism between political groups and within the military wing of the OPM (Organisasi Papua Merdeka or Free Papua Movement) has helped prevent regional support and internal cohesion over the years. Yet the differences have been more to do with Melanesian “Big Man” politics – read personal jealousies – than any conflicting ideology. All agree on the need for independence and continue to reject Indonesia’s autonomy promises.

West Papua’s tribal diversity, relative poverty and wild geographic terrain has led to a number of political and military figures claiming leadership of the resistance in the past and operating fairly autonomously. The last figure with widespread support was Chief Theys Eluay, President of Papuan Presidium Council, who was assassinated by Kompassus soldiers. Since then a leadership vacuum of sorts has seen some tension between the now-silent Presidium Council and OPM guerillas operating in the bush. Part of the Vanuatu conference seems to be an attempt to bridge the divide and bring all groups back under the OPM banner. It is being seen as the most significant meeting of West Papuans since the OPM was formed in 1964.

“This is a historic meeting and the end of an 8 year consultation processm, which began in Jayapura in 2000” says Andy Ayamiseba, a West Papuan leader whose behind-the-scenes diplomacy has kept Vanuatu one of the few countries to provide consistent diplomatic support for the West Papuans. “We are creating the “pyramid structure” with one leader who can be recognized by our people and the international community.”

One leader tipped as the possible head of the whole movement is Richard Yoweni, an OPM Commander from the Manokowari region who, at 66 years old, is the longest serving OPM Commander, having joined the guerilla struggle in 1966 when he had returned to Jayapura following several years training in Jakarta to be a mechanic.

Although the Vanuatu government has publicly distanced itself from the summit – at one stage it said the summit was not to take place for security reasons – its President Kalkot Mataskelekele re-affirmed the all-party support West Papua enjoys in the nation when he declared at the recent resumption of Parliament: “the struggle for freedom of the West Papuan people is always in the hearts of the people of Vanuatu.”

Vanuatu continues to be a lifeline for the West Papuans, despite pressure from Jakarta and Canberra. It is indicative of Vanuatu’s robust and independent foreign policy, born of its own struggle for independence from Britain and France, which it achieved in 1980.  Vanuatu was the only Pacific nation to join the Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War. It has long championed indigenous struggles in the region from East Timor to Tahiti and New Caledonia.

Given the West Papuan struggle has entered its fifth decade, after 100,000 dead (according to Church and NGOs) it is not surprising that a new generation of educated leaders and student groups is providing new momentum, taking the struggle out of the jungle and into the cities and international community.

Among them is Paula Makabory, a human rights activist with ELSHAM who has settled in Australia following regular threats by the Indonesian authorities. She is in Vanuatu to facilitate the summit with various leaders.

“The key to this summit is unity so all Papuans can come together under one roof, one umbrella and achieve our goals. Our people at home don’t care who is the leader, they just want us to unite and be more effective” she says.

“The reality is that the Indonesian system is killing us. It’s hard to be a Melanesian in Indonesia. They are creating horizontal conflicts and creating conflict within our political elite.”

Makabory has the same quiet intensity and eloquence that her mentor John Rumbiak, former head of ELSHAM, demonstrated before he suffered a stroke some years ago due to his tireless campaigning and stress of constant Indonesian intimidation.

“The West Papuan struggle is not for us to get rich, but only to have the most basic and fundamental human rights that every people deserve and that is enshrined in the UN’s universal declaration of human rights. We have always felt like orphans in our own land.”

West Papua human rights activist, Paula Makabory. PHOTO: Ben Bohane.

“We must be allowed to have a proper referendum so we can decide our own destiny,” argues Makabory.

It was the UN’s first ever decolonization mission and has long been viewed a farce. The plebicite it supervised – known as the Act of Free Choice – remains controversial since it was not based on “one man one vote”. Instead, the process was turned into an exercise in cold war pragmatism by allowing Indonesia to handpick 1025 delegates to vote on behalf of 800,000 people. UN troops were pulled out and the Indonesian military allowed to provide “security”. Given the level of bribery and coercion exercised by the military, not surprisingly almost all the delegates voted for integration “with the motherland” despite widespread protests.

Indonesia had begun its annexation of then Dutch New Guinea in 1962 when a young General Suharto launched “Operation Mandala” with paratroopers and naval forces to wipe out the Dutch-backed Papuan forces, the forerunners of the OPM.

It is worth noting that Canberra supported Dutch plans to give West Papua independence in 1970, as Australia was itself preparing PNG for independence. Successive Australian governments, mainly Liberal, supported independence for West Papua until the New York Agreement of 1962, when the U.S. pressured Australia and Holland to let Indonesia absorb West Papua into Indonesia, afraid a protracted war between Holland and Indonesia over Dutch New Guinea would push Indonesia under Sukarno deeper into the communist fold. With the exception of former President Gus Dur who had allowed the Papuans to have their own national summit in 2000 and has promised them a referendum in future if he is elected again, virtually every Indonesian leader continues to echo Sukarno’s catchcry of “from Sabang to Merauke” as a nationalist article of faith.

While Canberra has faithfully recognized Indonesian sovereignty since 1969, looming developments in the region are likely to further complicate Australian relations with Indonesia and Melanesia.

April also sees the launch of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Secretariat in Port Vila, Vanuatu – built and backed by China. MSG countries (PNG, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Fiji) are expected to grant “observer status” to both West Papua and New Caledonia. A common foreign policy platform is likely to be developed at the MSG HQ from now on and then presented to the Pacific Islands Forum. Port Vila is thus emerging as the political capital of Melanesia.

Although the MSG has been around for 20 years, it seems only now to developing its teeth. Given Vanuatu’s growing political status and historically independent foreign policy approach, there may be a few surprises in store for Canberra even if relations have improved since the Rudd government was elected.

As one West Papuan leader said on the sidelines of the Vanuatu summit: “It’s to our advantage that countries like Indonesia and Australia underestimate us. They still think we are just rag-tag rebels and bushmen fighting with bows and arrows. Let them underestimate us and soon they will be shocked when they witness our next strategy.”

Like most West Papuans Makabory believes the UN has a special responsibility to look at their case again, since it violated its own principals there in 1969.

Why West Papuans Reject Special Autonomy

Thursday, 3 April 2008, 10:07 am Press Release: Free West Papua Campaign

This is why West Papuans reject Special Autonomy & demand a Referendum

Below are two very powerful statements made by West Papuan leaders from the Papuan People’s Council (MRP) and the Papuan Tribal Council (DAP) calling on the Indonesian government to release all the Papuan peaceful protesters now in police custody since the demonstrations of 3-13 March 2008 and rejecting the new law (PP 77/2007) which bans all use of so-called “separatist symbols”.

Actually raising the Morning Star flag, as Filep Karma & Yusak Pakage did in 2004, and as happened in Timika in 2007 and in Manokwari last month, has always and still is counted by the Indonesian state as “rebellion/treason”. Indonesia still uses the old colonial laws which the Dutch used against Indonesian independence campaigners in the 1940′s. This new law makes it illegal even to have a Morning Star flag on a bag or a T shirt (Somehow Indonesia and her Western friends always claim that human rights protection in Indonesia is improving?)

The Papuan People’s Council (MRP) was set up under Indonesia’s own “Special Autonomy” law for West Papua, passed in 2001. It was supposed to give indigenous West Papuans a voice directly to the Indonesian central government in Jakarta to protect their rights and cultural identity. The rights of the MRP under the Special Autonomy Law are weak. The MRP has no right to veto any Indonesian law, only to be “consulted”.

What is happening now with President Yudhoyono’s new “separatist symbols” law is a clear example to Indonesia and to the rest of the world of why West Papuans REJECT SPECIAL AUTONOMY. The central government in Jakarta issued the law (Suharto style) without even bothering to go through the formalities of “consulting” the MRP — the body which Indonesia itself set up under its own Special Autonomy Law. This is yet another example of the arrogance of the Jakarta government and its unbridled contempt for the rights and identity of the indigenous Papuan people.

President Megawati did exactly this in 2003 when she issued a decree splitting the so-called “West Irian Jaya” province away from West Papua as a whole without consulting the MRP (because at that time, the MRP it hadn’t even been set up). Now President Yudhoyono is doing exactly the same as his predecessor by issuing his new “separatist symbols” decree without even going through the motions of asking the Papuans first. Is this the famous “Indonesian democracy” we keep hearing about? This is not democracy! This is how the Colonial Office used to the rule the British Empire from London!

Also under their own Special Autonomy Law, Indonesia promised the West Papuans that they would be allowed to have and use their own symbols to express their identity as Papuans. But when the Papuans tell Jakarta they want to use the Morning Star flag, the Mambruk bird (crowned pigeon) and their anthem “O My Land Papua”, Jakarta tells the Papuans they have made the “wrong choice”. Vice-President Kalla even had the gall to suggest to the MRP that they put a cross on their flag instead of a star and use a white parrot instead of a crowned pigeon. (Maybe Papuans should suggest that Indonesia changes its flag from red & white to blue & white ..would that still be the Indonesian flag?)

Just like the 1969 Act of NO Choice, the 2001 “Special Autonomy” was a fake from the very start. It was designed as a smoke screen to fool the international community that post-Suharto Indonesia was serious about dealing with the rights, anger, fustrations and hopes of the indigenous West Papuan people. After 7 years of “Special Autonomy”, the actions of the Indonesian government (Megawati & Yudhoyono) have revealed the truth that Jakarta is not and never was serious about listening to and respecting the people of West Papua.

Nearly ten years on from the “Team of 100″ delegation of West Papuan leaders who went to President Habibie in 1999 and told him the Papuan people want independence, West Papuan leaders (including the MRP & DAP in these statements) are still asking Jakarta for INDONESIAN – WEST PAPUAN DIALOGUE to find a peaceful resolution to over four decades of conflict.

Four long years ago, President Yudhoyono claimed he wanted a “just, comprehensive and dignified solution” in West Papua. How many more years will the West Papuans have to wait …and suffer?

Richard Samuelson Co-Director,
Free West Papua Campaign, Oxford, UK.
www.freewestpapua.org

***

(And Papuan Tribal Assembly (DAP) calls for release of Peace Rally participants, see below)

M.R.P. [Papuan People's Council] calling for release of Papuans called “Rebels”

Cenderawasih Pos (West Papua)
Translated by Tapol
18 March 2008

The Papua People’s Council (MRP) is demanding the Indonesian Government release Papuan Peace Rally demonstrators calling for a refendum

MRP Chairman Dr Agus Alua M.Th, and executives Ir. Franz Wospakrik M.Sc, and Dr Hana Hikoyabi claim that Indonesian regulation No. PP77/2007 [banning the public display of "separatist symbols"] is deleterious to all indigenous Papuans.

“Aceh and Papua have been annihilated by PP 77/2007 because it clearly contradicts Indonesia’s Special Autonomy Law No. 21/2001, and of course it also contravenes the fundamental rights of all indigenous Melanesian Papuans”, the three high-level delegates told Cenderawasih Pos journalists at the MRP Office at Jayapura yesterday morning (17 March 2008: 9:20am).

“It is not funny when peace demonstrators, civilians of Papua, are continually accused of violating Regulation PP 77/2007 by holding their Morning Star flags. That is their spontaneous reaction to this regulation which they do not agree with” said the MRP delegates.

Dr Agus Alua said that PP 77/2007 was implemented by the Indonesian government without consultation with the Papua People’s Assembly Council (MRP) and the Papua People’s Representative Council (DPRDP). He said PP 77/2007, was created and legislated secretly by the government and the parliament in Jakarta, and authorizes the government, military, police and intelligence to continue violating the fundamental rights of indigenous Papuans to carry their Morning Star flag, sing their national anthem (Hai Tanhku Papua), use images of the Crowned Pigeon (mambruk bird) and so on.

Dr Alua said the MRP is disappointed that the Indonesian security forces is using PP 77/2007 against Papuans demonstrating in the peace rallies. He said the Indonesian government, especially the police, must accept that their own Special Autonomy regime guarantees the fundamental rights and protection of indigenous Papuans.

“We are very disappointed, because we, the MRP, have just returned from discussions in Jakarta with the Hon. Susilo Bambang Yudoyono and the Hon. Vice-President Yusuf Kala about how PP 77/2007 is being utilised in Papua against the people’s rights” he said. “The MRP is very worried about PP 77/2007, because it enables Indonesian National forces (police, military and intelligence) to continue their crimes against humanity in Papua” he added with some gravity.

Dr Alua reiterated that if the Indonesian government wants to create regulations like the PP 77/2007, it must be in dialogue and consultation with all indigenous Papuans. But what the government has done is abruptly abrogate indigenous basic rights, including the Papuans’ right to carry their flag, sing their song, and use images of their crowned pigeon (mambruk) bird. The MRP claims the Indonesian government borrowed lots of money from foreign countries to help indigenous Papuans, but has never helped them because the root of the problem is not ‘money’ but ‘policy’. MRP delegates explained this very clearly to the President and Vice-president during their meeting in the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on 3 March 2008. They told the two national leaders the MRP rejects the Indonesian Law PP 77/2007, and demanded the government release all Papuans arrested during peace rallies in Manokwari and Jayapura between 3-13 March 2008. (Manokwari is the capital city of the new province of West Papua, and Jayapura is the capital city of the new ‘Papua’ province).

“We told the president and vice-present not to classify peace demonstrators as rebels. The government MUST open a peaceful space for specific dialogue about this issue”, Dr Alua said.

On 27 February 2008, the MRP formally rejected Indonesian regulation PP 77/2007 (03/PIM-MRP/2008). The MRP explained its decision to Supreme Commander of the Indonesian Military in Papua (Pangdam XVII/Cenderawasih) and to the Head of Police in Papua (Kapolda) Papua during a meeting in Jayapura on 16 February 2008. The MRP also explained its decision to the President and vice-President at the meeting in Jakarta on 3 March 2008.

Dr Alua said that the MRP is the legal institution created by the Indonesian government [under Special Autonomy] to hear the voice of indigenous Papuans. It is, therefore, the government’s legal obligation to reconsider its attitude to demonstrators arrested during the peace rallies organised by the West Papua National Authority and the Greater Student Executive Council at Manokwari and Jayapura.

The MRP’s decision on 28 February was based on:

1(a) the MRP’s understanding of the Morning Star flag in terms of Indonesian law; 1(b): the MRP’s rejection of Indonesian law PP 77/2007 because it unquestionably annihilates the fundamental rights of the indigenous people of Melanesian Papua.

In attachments to the MRP’s decision concerning:

1(a) the majority of indigenous Papuans want freedom and separation from the Republic of Indonesia, with their own sovereign nation-state;

1(b) the indigenous Papua national Morning Star flag, the indigenous Papua national anthem ‘Hai Tanahku Papua/Papua is my homeland’ and the indigenous Papua national symbol the crowned pigeon;

1(c) the hundred-member delegation of indigenous Papuans, representing all Papuans, who met the third Indonesian president at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on 26 Februay 1999, and called for independence. In response to that the MPR in Jakarta, through MPR IV.MPR.1999, created the Special Autonomy for Papua and Aceh (21/2001). This was was designed to break the aspirations for independence held by the majority of indigenous Papuans.

3(b) concerning Special Autonomy law No. 21/2001 which affirms that the identity of the region of Papua is the symbolic culture of indigenous Papuans, not Papuan sovereignty. According to the MRP’s understanding of and support for the Special Autonomy law 21/2001 the Papua Morning Star flag is a symbol of the culture of Papua (Point 5). The MRP therefore requests the Indonesian government, in its application of Special Autonomy in Papua, to provide space for peaceful dialogue and to guarantee freedom of speech and expression in the use of the Morning Star flag, the anthem (Hai Tanahku Papua) and the symbolic crowned pigeon.

Point 6 with reference to Indonesian law PP 77/2007 which contradicts Special Autonomy law No 21/2007. Regulation PP 77/2007 in exactly the same way as Indonesian Presidential Decree 1/2003 issued by President Megawatisukarnoputri to create a new province now called Province of West Papua [West Irian Jaya] with its capital city of Manokwari.

Dr Alua also said that the MRP rejects Regulation PP 77/2007 because the central government created it secretly and without the legally required consultations with the MRP and the Papua People’s Representative Council.

Regulation PP 77/2007 is actually worse than Special Autonomy because it legitimises the annihilation of the indigenous Papuans fundamental rights by the Indonesian government, police, military and intelligence organisations.

Dr Alua said that Vice-president Yusuf Kala told the delegation in Jakarta on 3 March 2008 that the Papuans can use their cultural symbols if they change them a bit­ for example, he said, use the white parrot instead of the crowned pigeon, put a cross on the Morning Star flag, and so on. At same time the President, Susilo Bambang Yudoyono, said it is very important to save Papua, and have peace, and Papuans must use a persuasive approach to bring this about.

MRP Vice-chairman, Mr. Frans Wospakrik, said that cultural symbols are those known and understood by Papuans to be their symbols.

Mrs Hana Hokoyabi, also from the MRP, said that Special Autonomy was meant to have provided indigenous Papuans with a democratic space. She said she doesn’t understand why the Indonesian government, military, police and intelligence are so suspicious of indigenous Papuans. She said the Indonesian authorities should accept different ideas, which are a positive contribution to democracy in Indonesia. In this particular case, she claims the government must open space for peaceful dialogue with Papuans, and try to diminish the gap between indigenous Papuans and the Indonesia authorities.

***

Papuan Tribal Assembly (DAP) calls for release of Peace Rally participants

Mr. Forkorus Yaboisembut, Chief Executive of the Papuan Tribal Assemblt (DAP)called on the Indonesian national police to release Papuan students and youths participating in the peace rallies between 3 and 13 March 2008.

“The police must be careful not to classify them as rebels”, he told journalists from the local newspaper Cenderawasih Pos after attending at meeting at the States Province Building at DOK V, in Jayapura on Monday 17 March 2008.

Mr. Yaboisembut said participating in peaceful rallies is a basic right enshrined in the Indonesian 1945 Constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, and Article 3 of the United Nations Declaration of Indigenous Rights December 2007, which also enshrines indigenous people’s right to self-determination. He said the rally participants have full rights to call for a referendum, and the police MUST release them from jail.

Mr. Yaboisembut hopes that the government will address the roots of the problem in West Papua seriously, especially with regard to its respect and recognition of indigenous Papuans land rights, forest rights, and their social and political rights to call for independence.

He said all the problems in Papua can be solved if the authorities in Jakarta and in the provinces right down to the regency levels, desire truth, peace, and justice. Like all Papuans he himself wants a sustainable peace and stability in Papua, for the Papuan people and for their flora and fauna, whether as part of the Indonesian state or independent of it.

He said the Papuan Tribal Assembly calls on the Indonesian government to come and sit down with indigenous Papuans, politely, with peace and justice on their mind to solve the roots of the problem, not like they have down since they first occupied the territory.

This is so important he said so that the authorities don’t catch the wrong people and put them in jail as they have just done. What they are doing now is a real crime against humanity, said Mr. Ferkorus Yabousembut.

ENDS

Fidel Castro Emoh Jadi Presiden Lagi

Bas Teunissen

19-02-2008

Fidel Castro tidak lagi mencalonkan diri sebagai presiden Kuba. Melalui surat yang diterbitkan dalam edisi internet koran Granma, pemimpin Kuba ini menyatakan tidak lagi bersedia mencalonkan diri.

Sedianya parlemen Kuba mengambil keputusan tentang pencalonan ulang Castro akhir pekan ini.
Castro juga akan meletakkan fungsinya sebagai panglima bersenjata Kuba. Pemimpin pemerintah komunis yang terakhir di barat ini sudah hampir setengah abad berkuasa. Selama periode itu ia selamat dari sejumlah serangan, termasuk serangan melalui sebatang cerutu yang meledak.

Castro yang berkuasa sejak 1959 tidak aktif lagi selama satu tahun setengah karena alasan kesehatan. Raúl, adiknya, mengambilalih tugas-tugas kakaknya yang sudah berusia 81 tahun. Sejak itu Fidel tidak lagi tampil di depan umum. Bulan-bulan belakangan Castro mulai aktif lagi dam mengirim pelbagai tulisan ke koran Granma.  Karena itulah para pemerhati Kuba menduga Castro akan tetap berpengaruh di balik layar. 

Raúl Castro, menteri pertahanan Kuba, memimpin negeri itu sejak musim panas 2006. Belum diketahui apakah Raúl, 76 tahun, akan mencalonkan diri sebagai presiden. Kemungkinan juga seorang pengganti yang lebih muda akan dicalonkan. Fidel mengakhiri suratnya dengan mengatakan ia kini menjadi seorang serdadu revolusi. Ia akan tetap menulis untuk koran Granma. 

Kata Kunci: Castro, Fidel castro, Kuba