This video contains footage of a conversation between Congressman Faleomavaega and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton about political
prisoners in West Papua. The conversation happens right after Clinton's testimony about Afghanistan and Pakistan. Clinton promises
to work with Faleomavaega on the issue.
Friday, 28 October 2011
This video contains footage of a conversation between Congressman Faleomavaega and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton about political
prisoners in West Papua. The conversation happens right after Clinton's testimony about Afghanistan and Pakistan. Clinton promises
to work with Faleomavaega on the issue.
Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has been urged to launch an inquiry into Australian aid to Indonesia
About 5000 people attended the Papuan Peoples Congress earlier this month to discuss human rights issues and declare independence from Indonesian rule.
But Joe Collins, secretary of the Australia West Papua Association, said police and the Indonesian military used canes and batons to attack people.
He said six West Papuan people were killed in the incident and another six were charged with treason.
International news agencies are reporting that five people were killed but the Jakarta Globe newspaper also says six.
Mr Collins said the government should call on Indonesia to halt all military operations in West Papua to prevent further bloodshed.
"We also urge the government to hold an inquiry into how Australian aid and training to the Indonesian military impacts on the life of the West Papuan people," Mr Collins said.
He said the situation was deteriorating rapidly in the Indonesian-controlled province.
President of the Australian branch of the International Commission of Jurists, John Dowd, said Indonesia should stop denying West Papua its independence.
"There is a limit to how far you can suppress the will of a people," Mr Dowd told reporter in Sydney on Thursday.
"The main problem with West Papua is suppression."
Mr Dowd said Australia needed to do more to pressure Indonesia to stop human rights abuses in West Papua.
He emphasised the need for a free press and media scrutiny of the region.
"If Indonesia has nothing to hide, then why suppress the press?" Mr Dowd said.
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2) Legislator Proposes Jusuf Kalla to Lead Papua Peace Process
Ezra Sihite | October 27, 2011
A legislator said that a national figure such as former Vice President Jusuf Kalla should lead the initiative to solve conflicts in Papua.“We understand the problems in Papua are not ordinary crimes, there are many variables related to business, politics, separatism and public disappointment,” the head of the House of Representative’s Defense Commission, Mahfudz Siddiq said on Wednesday
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long-awaited dialogue to resolve Papua issues.
4) Papuan activists lobbying Australian government
Speaker: Octovianus Mote, Yale University's Southeast Asia Program and the International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School
- Listen: Windows Media
6) Footage of violent Papuan crackdown emerges
Speaker: Professor Peter King, University of Sydney
- Listen: Windows Media
Nethy D. Somba and Bagus BT Saragih contributed to this story
allowed to hold strategic public offices, squandering development funding and then blaming Jakarta once it fails. A discussion with Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, an expert on Indonesian internal politics, noted that it has become increasingly common to see local Papuan elites become fervent supporters of “M” (merdeka, or freedom) as soon as their term in office — along with the economic resources attached to it — can no longer be extended.Fourth, limited room for Papuan social and cultural expression and recognition of their cultural distinction will continue to be a sensitive issue. Edy Prasetyono, an expert on Indonesian security, noted that some have suggested drawing Papua’s administrative borders according to its social and cultural boundaries to achieve better security and stability in the region. However, such an incorporation of Papua’s distinct customs and culture into its local political system can potentially backfire and be used as an instrument to argue that since Papuan politics are distinct, it should therefore be separate from the Indonesian political system. For this reason, cultural expression continues to be negatively perceived by Jakarta as a potential instrument of political consolidation and mobilization of secessionist aspirations. Lastly, efforts toward dialogue have failed due to the heavy militaristic approach in Papua — often but not always emanating from Jakarta — with numerous military and intelligence operations that cannot be justified to the Indonesian public. Recent unnecessary civilian casualties showed the gap between the peace rhetoric and the unchanged heavy-handed response in Papua. In the end, Indonesia will need to carefully and gradually address the region’s five main problematic issues one by one. The five issues are interlinked, but Jakarta can — and should — identify areas that will contribute meaningfully toward peace as well as areas that will only further distance and segregate
Papua from the rest of Indonesia. Political concessions should only be made on the basis of such identification and also within Indonesia’s democratic corridors of accountability.The writer is a program director of Pacivis at the University of Indonesia, Depok, West Java.
Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has been urged to launch an inquiry into Australian aid to Indonesia
About 5000 people attended the Papuan Peoples Congress earlier this month to discuss human rights issues and declare independence from Indonesian rule.
But Joe Collins, secretary of the Australia West Papua Association, said police and the Indonesian military used canes and batons to attack people.
He said six West Papuan people were killed in the incident and another six were charged with treason.
International news agencies are reporting that five people were killed but the Jakarta Globe newspaper also says six.
Mr Collins said the government should call on Indonesia to halt all military operations in West Papua to prevent further bloodshed.
"We also urge the government to hold an inquiry into how Australian aid and training to the Indonesian military impacts on the life of the West Papuan people," Mr Collins said.
He said the situation was deteriorating rapidly in the Indonesian-controlled province.
President of the Australian branch of the International Commission of Jurists, John Dowd, said Indonesia should stop denying West Papua its independence.
"There is a limit to how far you can suppress the will of a people," Mr Dowd told reporter in Sydney on Thursday.
"The main problem with West Papua is suppression."
Mr Dowd said Australia needed to do more to pressure Indonesia to stop human rights abuses in West Papua.
He emphasised the need for a free press and media scrutiny of the region.
"If Indonesia has nothing to hide, then why suppress the press?" Mr Dowd said.
------------------------------------------------------------
2) Legislator Proposes Jusuf Kalla to Lead Papua Peace Process
Ezra Sihite | October 27, 2011
A legislator said that a national figure such as former Vice President Jusuf Kalla should lead the initiative to solve conflicts in Papua.“We understand the problems in Papua are not ordinary crimes, there are many variables related to business, politics, separatism and public disappointment,” the head of the House of Representative’s Defense Commission, Mahfudz Siddiq said on Wednesday
----------------------------------------
long-awaited dialogue to resolve Papua issues.
4) Papuan activists lobbying Australian government
Speaker: Octovianus Mote, Yale University's Southeast Asia Program and the International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School
- Listen: Windows Media
6) Footage of violent Papuan crackdown emerges
Speaker: Professor Peter King, University of Sydney
- Listen: Windows Media
Nethy D. Somba and Bagus BT Saragih contributed to this story
allowed to hold strategic public offices, squandering development funding and then blaming Jakarta once it fails. A discussion with Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, an expert on Indonesian internal politics, noted that it has become increasingly common to see local Papuan elites become fervent supporters of “M” (merdeka, or freedom) as soon as their term in office — along with the economic resources attached to it — can no longer be extended.Fourth, limited room for Papuan social and cultural expression and recognition of their cultural distinction will continue to be a sensitive issue. Edy Prasetyono, an expert on Indonesian security, noted that some have suggested drawing Papua’s administrative borders according to its social and cultural boundaries to achieve better security and stability in the region. However, such an incorporation of Papua’s distinct customs and culture into its local political system can potentially backfire and be used as an instrument to argue that since Papuan politics are distinct, it should therefore be separate from the Indonesian political system. For this reason, cultural expression continues to be negatively perceived by Jakarta as a potential instrument of political consolidation and mobilization of secessionist aspirations. Lastly, efforts toward dialogue have failed due to the heavy militaristic approach in Papua — often but not always emanating from Jakarta — with numerous military and intelligence operations that cannot be justified to the Indonesian public. Recent unnecessary civilian casualties showed the gap between the peace rhetoric and the unchanged heavy-handed response in Papua. In the end, Indonesia will need to carefully and gradually address the region’s five main problematic issues one by one. The five issues are interlinked, but Jakarta can — and should — identify areas that will contribute meaningfully toward peace as well as areas that will only further distance and segregate
Papua from the rest of Indonesia. Political concessions should only be made on the basis of such identification and also within Indonesia’s democratic corridors of accountability.The writer is a program director of Pacivis at the University of Indonesia, Depok, West Java.