[Kabar-Irian] Irian News - 3/10/03

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- Theys' widow wants death sentence or life for men on trial
- Papua’s chiefs proposed splitting the Indonesian province into seven 
autonomous regions
- Papuans protest new provinces 
- A Papuan free for all
- PNG government warned to respect the OPM 
- Forces to be reckoned with
- Jakarta due to complain to Australian delegation over alleged support of 
Papuan separatists
- BP, World Bank Discuss Loan For Indonesian Development
*****************************

From: "Tapol" <tapol at gn.apc.org>
Sent: Monday, March 10, 2003 3:41 PM
Subject: [wp] Theys' widow wants death sentence or life for men on trial

The widow of They Eluay, the pro-independence Papuan leader who was murdered in 
November 2001, has described the prosecutor's demand for two or three years 
from the men now on trial for her husband's murder as 'unbelievable'. She said, 
as reported in Cendrawasih Pos of 10 March, that the family could never accept 
that the men had only be charged with maltreatment, leading to loss of life. 
The killing was clearly premeditated.

The trial of seven members of Kopassus is now under way in Surabaya before a 
military court. At a session last week, the prosecutors asked the court to 
sentence the men to two and three years sentences.

She said that the trial had been engineered for show. If they had only wanted 
to kidnap him, she said, he would have been hidden in a safe place. They knew 
all about his movements and actions as the leader of the Papuan people, 'This 
crime was clearly committed for state interests. It could not have been an act 
carried out on the initiative of individuals.'

'My husband was clearly horribly tortured and killed sadistically,' she said. 
But his killing is being treated as if it were an ordinary crime. As far as we 
are concerned, the men should be sentenced to death or to life imprisonment,' 
she said.

Her husband had never, throughout his life, used violence against anyone and we 
often welcomed these Kopassus members to our home, and yet this is how they 
repaid our friendship.

She denied that she and others in her family had refused to go to Surabaya to 
testify in court as witnesses because they were afraid for their security. 

She said the problem was they did not know who would cover the costs for the 
trip to Surabaya. Also, she said that it would have been difficult for her to 
face the murderers of her husband.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Radio New Zealand International
Created at 5:00 pm on 10 March 2003 
Papua’s chiefs proposed splitting the Indonesian province into seven autonomous 
regions

Papua’s customary or chiefly council will meet with the Indonesian government 
to discuss an alternative to President Megawati Sukarnoputri’s controversial 
decision to split the province into three. 

Council member, Franz Albert Joku says next week’s meeting will discuss the 
possibility of dividing Papua into seven autonomous regions, similar to what 
existed during the Dutch colonial days. 

President Sukarnoputri ordered the division saying the province was too big for 
one governor to administer. 

Her decision is seen as conflicting with the Government’s earlier decision on 
special autonomy for the province. 

Mr Joku says Jakarta’s plan fails to take into account customary land 
ownership, ethnic composition and demography. 

“The main driving force behind all these decisions is the greater empowerment 
and also recognize the distinct diverse indigenous groups spread across West 
Papua and to empower them by ensuring people have access over their land, have 
access over their forests, rivers so on the right of ownership over what is 
rightfully ours”  --Franz Albert Joku in Papua. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
Across the Archipelago
March 11, 2003
Papuans protest new provinces 

Jayapura, Papua: A crowd of some 100 students demonstrated on Monday before the 
provincial legislature against Jakarta's move to split Papua into three 
provinces, arguing it would attract more migrants to the natural resources-
rich, yet sparely populated region.

Calling themselves the Mid-Mountain People's Care Forum, the protesters, mostly 
students, argued that dividing Papua in three provinces benefited Jakarta but 
would harm locals. 

They feared an influx of migrants, reasoning Papuans were unlikely to fill all 
the new posts needed to run the two new provincial governments. 

Locals have long complained about discrimination by migrants since the region 
came under Indonesian rule during the 1960s. 

Poverty and unemployment remains a problem in Papua despite its advanced 
exploitation of natural resources. As education has been lacking, most of the 
higher-paid jobs have been filled by outsiders. 

Monday's rally was the third since President Megawati Soekarnoputri approved 
the addition of two new provinces to Papua last January. 

The move is aimed to bring better public services to the 2.4 million Papuans 
who live in a region about three times the size of Java. 
-- JP 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sydney Morning Herald
A Papuan free for all
March 11 2003
-- An independence movement in the Indonesian province of Papua threatens to 
turn into a humanitarian disaster and bring new tensions to the fragile ties 
between Canberra and Jakarta. Craig Skehan reports. 

Despite its natural splendours, cultural diversity and tragic history of 
decolonisation gone awry, Papua has not loomed large in world or regional 
affairs. But that's about to change. Papua has the potential to become as 
explosive an issue between Australia and Indonesia as East Timor.

Indeed, when John Howard was in Jakarta late last month, Indonesia's President, 
Megawati Soekarnoputri, told him that pro-Papuan independence activists in 
Australia were "hampering" the bilateral relationship.

Today, the issue of Papua is expected to be raised at an Australian-Indonesian 
ministerial meeting, and Indonesia has already flagged concern about Australian 
non-government organisations (NGOs) advocating independence for Papua.

"We know the Australian Government's view in support of our territorial 
integrity," said a spokesman for Indonesia's foreign affairs ministry, Marty 
Natalegawa. "At the same time we will make known our concern not to allow 
certain groups under the guise of democracy, free speech and the like basically 
to try to disrupt and disturb our national unity which we will defend, as would 
any other sovereign country."

Universities and colleges, NGOs and churches in Australia are all raising the 
level of public consciousness on our oft forgotten neighbour, formerly known as 
Irian Jaya. And a new book published in Australia, West Papua - Follow the 
Morning Star, detailing the history of Papua's long and bloody campaign for 
nationhood, opens a window on this mountainous land.

Pro-independence guerillas wearing penis gourds and traditional decorations 
peer out from these pages, some with the word "Merdeka", freedom, painted on 
their bodies.

In a preface to the book, the Papuan human rights activist John Rumbiak cites 
investigations which put the number of Papuans who have died during 40 years of 
resisting Indonesian rule at 100,000.

"In the face of so much suffering, Papuans have committed themselves to 
pursuing a peaceful movement towards their goal; freedom," Rumbiak writes in 
the preface. "It is a struggle for everyone living or who will ever live in 
Papua."

The launch of the book two weeks ago, by Liz Thompson, Jim Elmslie and Ben 
Bohane, coincided with a Melbourne seminar on Papua and a fundraising concert. 
The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology has come under fire for pulling out 
as the seminar venue.

As well as a veiled Indonesian Government threat that the large number of 
Indonesian students studying at the institute could be withdrawn, seminar 
organisers believe there was behind-the-scenes pressure from Canberra. 

The Indonesian Government also signalled displeasure at Australian Government 
funds going to aid organisations which it accuses of actively supporting Papuan 
independence. 

In light of the bitter diplomatic breach that followed Canberra's belated 
support for an act of self-determination in East Timor, the Australian 
Government is trying to avoid a similar conflict in Papua.

But many of the same Indonesian military officers accused of creating and 
directing violent anti-independence militia in East Timor have now been 
deployed in Papua.

The Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, argues that the international community 
has no room to move because whereas East Timor was formerly a Portuguese 
colony, Papua was part of the wider Dutch colony which became the Republic of 
Indonesia.

Australian public opinion forced the Howard Government to drop its longstanding 
acceptance of Indonesia's invasion and incorporation of East Timor. It is yet 
to be seen whether so many Australians will come to feel as passionately about 
Papua as they did about East Timor.

However, events in the western half of the island of New Guinea are already 
demanding greater public attention and engendering humanitarian concern.

The arrival of thousands of Islamic militants - mostly in the form of the 
Laskar Jihad among Muslim Indonesian migrants to the province - is one portent 
of trouble ahead. More serious still is growing evidence indicating that some 
elements of the Indonesian military are backing the jihadists, including 
through training at camps along the rugged border with Papua New Guinea.

Senior officials in the Howard Government acknowledge that there are "informal" 
links, but a number of regional analysts point to high-level Indonesian 
military sanctioning of the Laskar Jihad and other militias in Papua.

Among the prime suspects in terms of such involvement are members of 
Indonesia's Kopassus special forces.

Despite such concerns, the Australian Government is renewing aid and other ties 
to Kopassus which were severed following gross human rights abuses by the elite 
force in East Timor during 1999.

The Australian Government, in the wake of the October 12 Bali bombings and 
wider fears over al-Qaeda-linked groups using the Indonesian archipelago to 
stage further terrorist attacks, is clearly worried about developments in Papua.

For example, there is the prospect that an Indonesian military crackdown on 
dissent, which has already involved summary killings, will intensify while the 
world is preoccupied with the looming war against Iraq.

And extremists, or military-backed agent provocateurs, have already 
demonstrated a readiness to incite communal strife elsewhere in Indonesia by 
such underhand methods as setting fire to churches or mosques.

Given past experience, it could be corrupt elements of the military - seeking 
to retain control of lucrative illegal logging operations or extortion rackets 
involving big mining projects - who provoke unrest in order to justify the 
crushing of dissent.

Given that some 40 per cent of Papua's more than 2 million population consists 
of non-Papuans, mainly Muslim migrants from elsewhere in Indonesia, amid a 
Christian and animist majority, scope for widespread communal conflict is real.

Downer has on a number of occasions warned about the risk of a "bloodbath" in 
the Indonesian province if there is outside support for the independence 
campaign which has waxed and waned since the 1960s. Specifically, he has 
pointed to a danger of "civil war".

The Howard Government advocates continued international acceptance of 
Indonesian sovereignty in Papua, a recognition of Jakarta's insistence that the 
republic not be allowed to fracture into micro-states.

During a recent sweep through the South Pacific, Downer strongly cautioned 
Vanuatu against going ahead with a plan to allow the opening of a West Papuan 
representative office in its capital, Port Vila, this month.

Australia has also worked behind the scenes, not always successfully, to 
prevent Papuan activists from being included in several national delegations at 
the annual Pacific Islands Forum gathering.

In the past, Australia has pressed concerns on Jakarta's behalf with Papua New 
Guinea, even relaying requests for Indonesian troops to be allowed to cross 
over the border in "hot pursuit" of rebels.

With continuing pockets of popular support for Papuan independence in PNG, 
especially in border areas, Port Moresby has been squeezed by local 
sensitivities as well as by Jakarta and Canberra.

The PNG Government recently expressed fears that Islamic extremist militia in 
Papua could use the province as a base to strike Australian targets on the PNG 
side of the border.

In an attempt to avoid tensions with Indonesia, PNG has said this month it will 
repatriate more than 300 Papuans who have been at a refugee camp near the dusty 
border town of Vanimo for more than two years.

As happened when more than 10,000 Papuans crossed into PNG in the 1980s, the 
Catholic Church has come out strongly against such repatriations, to the 
annoyance of the Indonesian Government.

On the Papuan side of the border, there has been an Indonesian troop build-up 
during the past year or so from about 4,000 to more than 5,000 soldiers.

Professor Ron May, a regional specialist at the Australian National University 
in Canberra, told the Herald that after a period of attempting to pursue 
dialogue, Indonesian authorities had switched to a major crackdown on 
dissidents.

"If they put the lid on a boiling cauldron like that, there will be a point 
when the lid will blow," May said.

He said Australia needed to engage in open discussion about the problems and 
future of Papua, adding that other academic institutions should not follow the 
RMIT and bow to outside pressure. Likewise, he said the Australian Government 
should not attempt to curb academic freedoms in order to appease Jakarta.

Rumbiak, who is from the Papuan human rights group ELSHAM, says that rather 
than focusing on the danger of civil war, Downer should urge Indonesia to enter 
into meaningful talks with Papuan leaders.

"We are talking about a wise proposal that would take into account the 
interests of Papuans, Jakarta and the international community, including 
Australia," he said.

As well as discussion of Indonesia's plans to implement a package providing for 
greater autonomy, the issue of full independence would remain a "crucial 
question" to be addressed.

While a major pro-independence body, the Papua Council Presidium, has called 
for a "zone of peace" in Papua, there are elements of the Free Papua Movement 
(OPM) in remote hideouts who continue to call for more guns to pursue an armed 
struggle.

"That is because of frustration due to the international community remaining 
silent on the need for dialogue," Mr Rumbiak explained.

He added that it was clear that Australian communications intercepts in Papua, 
as well as intelligence information shared with Canberra by the United States, 
were providing evidence of human rights violations and links between the 
military and anti-independence militia (see breakout).

"As a member of the United Nations, Australia should not stay quiet - it should 
take such material to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights," 
Rumbiak said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The National (PNG)
Monday, 10 March 2003
PNG government warned to respect the OPM 

West Papua National Congress Chairman Michael Kareth has called on the 
Government of Papua New Guinea to be careful about human rights violations on 
its common border with Indonesia.

Mr Kareth, in a statement last week, said this following news that the PNG 
Government has given directions for troops to clean up the hideouts of the OPM 
along the PNG side of the border. 

He said: “We have been fighting for the last 40 years since 1969 because we are 
dealing with an arrogant, undemocratic and repressive Government that is not 
prepared to give up its stranglehold on West Papua because of the rich natural 
resource wealth.”

He said nothing that the PNG government did would stifle the efforts of the OPM 
to gain self-government and independence.

He said the desire would burn anew within the hearts of the sympathizers along 
the border.

He said that OPM was a buffer force keeping Indonesia away from the South 
Pacific, especially PNG and Australia and said PNG owed its quiet border to 
the ‘bow and arrow’ army of West Papua. Mr Kareth said that the Police and the 
Defence must be humanitarian and considerate in their efforts along the border.

In a related issue, the former Governor of Sandaun John Tekwie warned the 
Government not to fall prey to the ‘smiling policy’ of Indonesia.

Mr Tekwie said that the West Papua problem was no longer an internal matter for 
Indonesia.

He said that PNG must admit to Jakarta that the border issue is now an 
international issue warranting United Nations intervention.

Meanwhile, Moresby North East MP, Caspar Wollom has called on the government to 
stop Indonesian troops terrorizing the people of PNG under the pretext of 
looking for OPM rebels. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sydney Morning Herald
Forces to be reckoned with
March 11 2003
-- Islamic militants and Papuan militia are massing on the border between Papua 
and PNG, writes John Martinkus. 

Forty kilometres from the Papuan capital of Jayapura, its border with PNG has 
become a no-go area for Indonesian police and human rights workers - and home 
to Kopassus-run training camps for Laskar Jihad Islamic militants and Papuan 
militia. 

Lawrence Mehui, from the pro-independence Papuan Presidium Council, 

says that since November Kopassus has been recruiting villagers. In January it 
began recruiting people in the large transmigrant settlements around Arso, 
south of Jayapura. "There is a direct connection between the Islamic groups and 
the military because all the weapons used are military standard," he says.

Johannes Bonay, the director of Elsham, Papua's only functioning human rights 
organisation, confirms that the situation has deteriorated. 

Bonay's wife and daughter were seriously wounded on December 28 when the car in 
which they were travelling was ambushed by unidentified gunmen between the 
border posts of Papua and PNG. An Indonesian police investigation team was also 
shot at and forced to leave.

The preliminary police investigation has identified Indonesian military as 
being present when the shooting occurred. "If we analyse the reports made by 
the people and the investigation made by the police we can divine that Kopassus 
is behind this," says Bonay.

Death threats against Papuan leaders have become common. Thom Beanal, the 
successor to the Kopassus-slain Papuan Presidium Council leader, Theys Eluay, 
says, "We are getting used to the intimidation now. We get SMS all the time 
saying that we will be killed." 

The Kopassus operations extend to anyone they believe is linked to the 
independence movement. Last October a tour guide was abducted by seven Kopassus 
members at Jayapura's main airport in Sentani. He was kept in a small room at 
Kopassus headquarters and given nothing but salt water for 14 days. Deep, 
barely healed scars cross his back where he was sliced with a bayonet. His 
interrogators accused him of having links with the Free Papua Movement, OPM. He 
said that as they were doing this, they said, "You cannot get independence. 
During 2003, 2004 we will kill all Papuan leaders for independence."

Last week the Jayapura daily, Cenderawasih Post, reported all 250 Kopassus 
personnel were withdrawing from Papua, but most believe it is a standard troop 
rotation.

Elsham was among the first to blame the military for the ambush on August 31 
last year that killed two Americans and one Indonesian, employees of the 
Freeport gold and copper mine. It has also tracked the arrival of Laskar Jihad 
in Papua over the past two years, which began in the coastal town of Sorong 
where 12 training camps, guarded by the military, were identified. 

Sorong is nine hours by boat from Ambon and as the sectarian conflict there 
subsided last year 3000 Laskar Jihad members were reported to have arrived. 

Last month a Pakistani national was arrested by Indonesian police in Sorong in 
possession of 10 explosive devices. The arrest was just one in a string of 
discoveries of weapons and explosive devices there that began in 2001 when 
Laskar Jihad fighters arrived.

The establishment of Laskar Jihad and militia training camps on the border has 
increased clashes with OPM fighters. 

A PNG police operation was carried out on January 29 to ensure OPM fighters 
were not using PNG territory as a base. The operation reported the camps on the 
PNG side of the border had been vacated and the leader, Mathias Wenda, has not 
been seen since.
-- John Martinkus is a freelance journalist and writer who has reported 
extensively on Indonesia and East Timor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Radio New Zealand International
Created at 12:51 am on 10 March 2003 
Jakarta due to complain to Australian delegation over alleged support of Papuan 
separatists

Officials in Indonesia are due to complain to a delegation of Australian 
ministers this week over what they say is Canberra’s support for the Papuan 
separatist movement.

Jakarta says that Australia is favouring Papuan separatists over other 
Indonesians when issuing visas.

The Australian Associated Press says Canberra had backed a move by Jakarata to 
give the province of Papua more autonomy.

The Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, supported the measure as a way of 
satisfying the aspirations of the Papuan people and helping to stop any further 
breakup of Indonesia into tiny, unstable states. 

But Indonesia’s President, Megawati Sukarnoputri, now supports plans which 
would see the province being broken up into three.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Wall Street Journal (via Joyo Indonesia News)
March 10, 2003
BP, World Bank Discuss Loan For Indonesian Development
By Timothy Mapes 
Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Jakarta, Indonesia -- BP PLC and the World Bank are discussing the possibility 
of arranging an innovative loan to bring money for education, health and other 
development programs to the remote Indonesian province of Papua, many years 
before the British energy company's planned natural-gas facility is slated to 
begin generating revenue there.

While the discussions are at an early stage, and no specific amounts for the 
loan have been decided yet, the possible World Bank loan would effectively be 
securitized by billions of dollars in expected tax revenue and royalty payments 
from BP's planned Tangguh natural-gas project, allowing Papua to begin to 
increase its spending on social-development programs well before the project 
comes on line.

"It's an idea at this stage. But I think it's a good idea," said Bert Hofman, 
the World Bank's chief economist in Jakarta. He added, however, that 
discussions with the government of Indonesia still need to be conducted to 
determine whether such a loan would fit with the government's plans to reduce 
its overall foreign borrowing over time.

BP's $2 billion Tangguh natural-gas project is Indonesia's largest new 
investment, and BP wants it to become a model commercial project in the 
developing world. But in seeking to bring social benefits to Papua -- 
Indonesia's least-developed province -- the company has been hampered by long 
project-development cycles and some setbacks related to supply contracts. 
Although construction is slated to begin next year, the company currently 
expects that the project isn't likely to begin generating significant revenue 
for Papua until approximately 2011.

Given that delay, an independent assessment of the Tangguh project commissioned 
by BP recommended last week that BP try to arrange a bridging loan for Papua so 
that local people begin to see substantive benefits from the project in the 
near future, and will thus be more inclined to support it. It added that such a 
move could be even more important in light of recent setbacks in negotiations 
with potential buyers, such as a decision last year by China's National 
Offshore Oil Corp. to accept a smaller amount of gas than BP had hoped to 
supply.

The assessment also argued that if funds are disbursed by an international 
lending institution, there can be more oversight to assure that they will 
actually be spent on the required facilities and "are not being wasted, or 
worse, diverted through ineffective or corrupt local governments."

In a statement, BP said it had explained to all affected parties that there 
could be some delays in getting revenue from its gas sales to local 
governments, and said a special loan might be a good response to the situation.

"BP agrees that an externally financed line of credit to Papua would bring many 
benefits. However, this is a decision between Papua and the government of 
Indonesia," the company said.

BP estimates that the project could generate some $12 billion in total revenue 
for central and Papua governments over the next 30 years. It has also noted 
that when revenues reach their peak, between 2011 and 2022, the government of 
Papua itself is likely to receive approximately $225 million annually, or more 
than Papua's current total budget of $190 million.

The World Bank has previously warned Indonesia to keep a tight control on 
borrowing by its newly empowered provincial governments, and not to issue new 
debt that is securitized by revenue streams generated by a variety of resource 
projects in the country.

But Mr. Hofman noted that the potential loan for Papua could be structured to 
work around those concerns. For one, all World Bank loans are made directly to 
the central government, which in turn would then hand over the proceeds to the 
provincial government of Papua. As a result, the loan would dodge concerns 
about unrestrained and uncontrolled borrowings by provincial governments.

Previous efforts by Indonesia to sell securitized debt in world markets were 
also viewed by the World Bank and other observers as a possible way for the 
country to avoid having to submit to the discipline of an International 
Monetary Fund program. But with the World Bank itself participating in a 
potential loan for Papua and Indonesia's IMF program due to end later this year 
in any case, such concerns would be substantively diminished.
-- Write to Timothy Mapes at tim.mapes at awsj.com