Indonesian activists: Human rights protection in Papua declined in 2009

BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific
January 18, 2009

Text of report by Indonesian Tempo Interaktif website on 17 January

[Article by Maria Hasugian: 'Situasi HAM di Papua Menurun Drastis']

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and the Papua representatives of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) feel that in 2009 the human rights situation in Papua experienced a drastic decline. The country continues to ignore the protection of equality and human dignity, as well as the supremacy of law in Papua. As a result, Papuans are still a long way from experiencing justice and prosperity.

Throughout 2009, Papuans were increasingly made out to be criminals and security personnel discredited people with accusations of being separatists.

"The criminalisation of people who raised [the Morning Star] flag, the breaking up of peaceful demonstrations and the shooting to death of Kelly Kwalik are reflections of a lack of government will to carry out dialogue with the community," said Matius Murib of Komnas HAM Papua, accompanied by Kontras' Haris Azhar and Syamsul Alam during a 17 January 2010 [discussion on] human rights in Papua in 2009 and projections for 2010.

Activists were also still being monitored and sometimes experienced intimidation when investigating cases of human rights violations or while meeting with diplomats and representatives from international organizations.

The Papuan identity cannot be fully realised because the peaceful action of raising a flag is seen as a violation of the law. However, this is part of respect for culture and is a civil and political right of every person. This is guaranteed under the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which were ratified by the Indonesian Government in 2006.

Papuan people have been precluded from participating fully in the public arena due to the unwillingness of the government to implement policies to increase Papuans' participation in politics.

The inconsistencies regarding the implementation of the Law on Special Autonomy by the provincial and central governments has led to a lack of confidence from the Papuan people. The government's policies have only given rise to a wider social gap and further corruption without any significant improvements.

As such, the government needs to take notice of the study by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and outlined in the book 'Papua Road Map' (2009), which concluded that the failure to carry out development was not one dimension of the problem, but rather flowed into all public sectors such as education, health and the local economy.

At the moment there are no clear priorities regarding the protection of human rights in Papua. The government has still not formed a Special Regional Regulation for the Protection of Human Rights or a Commission for Truth and Reconciliation in Papua as a framework for the implementation of the law under the Law on Special Autonomy.

"We ask the central and provincial governments to prioritise the interests of the Papuan people," said Murib.

[A 17 January 2010 Detikcom article entitled 'Ciptakan Suasana Kondusif, Aparat Harus Ditarik dari Papua' quoted Murib as calling on the government to withdraw security personnel from Papua in order to promote a climate conducive to dialogue between the government and Papuans. "As long as security personnel remain in Papua, dialogue will be difficult," he said.]

Source: Tempo Interaktif website, Jakarta, in Indonesian 0000 gmt 17 Jan 10