West Papua Report - February 2009

This is the 57th 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 with the East Timor and Indonesia 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@msn.com.

Summary
Unconfirmed reports indicate that Indonesian security forces may have begun sweep operations targeting villages in the central highlands following the alleged theft of four weapons from a police station by individuals claimed by the police to be armed pro-separatists. Amnesty International, noting the sentencing of still more Papuans for peaceful protests, has called for their release and an end to intimidation of peaceful dissenters. The Jayapura District Court has freed a human rights advocate but only after 15 months of detention, including a 15-month trial. President Yudhoyono, under heavy guard, visited Manokwari but failed to meet with ordinary Papuans. The Indonesian central government has significantly underfunded education for Papuans, violating national law and pledges contained in the moribund "Special Autonomy legislation. The inadequate support for Papuan education also perpetuates the inability of Papuans to compete with better educated migrants. Freeport security personnel have joined with notorious BRIMOB police units to evict traditional gold miners. In separate violence in nearby Timika, the apparent police killing of one man led to violent rioting in which four were wounded. Franciscans International has published a " Factsheet" which offers insights regarding current trends and developments in West Papua. Survival International reports indications of increased repression and State violence in West Papua, noting in part the re-emergence of Indonesian-military backed militias. The West Papua Advocacy Team appealed to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to address human rights abuse in West Papua and end assistance to an unreformed, unaccountable and rights abusing Indonesian military that is not under civilian control. Correction: The January 2009 West Papua Report, under the heading "Military Occupation of West Papua Continues Despite Absence of Security Threat," due to a drafting error, conveyed the false contention that Papuan human rights groups, religious leaders and academics had only adopted a non-violent struggle for rights "over the past decade." In reality, these groups and individuals have consistently pursued their rights through nonviolent means since the beginning of their struggle.

ETAN Responds to the Wall Street Journal

by John M. Miller (National Coordinator, ETAN)

A recent Wall Street Journal Asia editorial urged its readers to watch the “low-profile” but important issue of the U. S. military relationship with Indonesia. The Journal (“Obama's Indonesia Test,” Nov. 20) repeated the widely-discredited case that re-engagement with the largely-unreformed and unrepentant Indonesian military was the best way to promote reform and human rights. It called on President-elect Barack Obama “to stand down liberal Senators and interest groups” like the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) and Amnesty International for seeking conditions on military assistance to Indonesia.

The editorial acknowledges the obvious, stating “Indonesia's military has certainly had human-rights problems in the past,” but urges the incoming administration to forget about them in the name of building an alliance on the “global war on terror.” We have certainly seen what ignoring international human rights concerns during the Bush years has accomplished (Guantanamo, torture, “extraordinary rendition,” etc…).