Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Sunday, December 8, 2019
Friday, November 29, 2019
WPRA: Happy National Awakening Day! 1 December 2019
From the Central Defense Headquarters of West Papua Revolutionary Army (WPRA), the Secretariat-General Gen. WPRA Amunggut Tabi, on behalf of the Revolutionary Supreme Commander and all Officers and Soldiers around the Isle of New Guinea hereby would like express
Happy National Awakening Day!
to all citizens of the Republic of West Papua all over the world, all human beings and other than human beings!
Melanesians are jointly celebrating political developments across the South Pacific. With a series of referendum coming in Kanaky, and Bougainvillians attending the voting posts to determine their political future, West Papua is celebrating this National Awakening Day with Praise by inviting all parties to join hand-in-hand "save our planet Earth" and save this "life" by saving the Isle of New Guinea from foreign invasion and occupation, who come to steal, grab and take away all natural resources in this Island that will destroy and kill life on this Island, that will automatically kill off life on this planet Earth.
With this 58th celebrations of our National Awakening Day, I call on all Melanesians to re-claim
- Our Melanesian identity as human-race;
- Our Melanesian brotherhood and sisterhood as uniting force for our being;
- Our Melanesian integration socially, culturally, economically, and politically as we are already united racially and geographically.
Let us forget that Indonesia exists in our region as occupying and threating power with other occupying nations that have negative energy forces upon us, that have colonial mentality, rhetoric, behaviour and actions. Let us keep up our fight! Look beyond, and see: Melanesia is rising up, to save this life from global climate crisis!!!
Issued at: The WPRA Central Defense HQs
On Date: 30 November, 2019
------------------------------------------------------
Secretary-General 1,
Signed
Amunggut Tabi, Gen. WPRA
BRN: A.DF 018676
Background
Our National Identity with national flag, national anthem, national state-hood was introduced today 58 years ago in the Netherlands New Guinea Capital, Holandia, and today we are remembering that historic event that marked the birth of our nationhood as Melanesian human race in the South Pacific region.
Our Melanesian identity and Papua nation-hood will shine for the world, magnify our peaceful and joyful LIFE and Our Melanesian Way of living, in this uncertain and troubled world, and become the key solutions to the world with global climate crises.
We inherit important wisdom, knowledge and experience and we can contribute significantly to our Planet Earth and to life on this planet. We must fight to complete this struggle to free our country, in order to save the world from global climate catastrophe caused by our human modernisation projects. Melanesians inherit wisdom and way of life that can save this planet Earth that the Republic of West Papua will stand for nationally and internationally.
The introduction of our National Anthem: "Oh My Land, Papua", the calling "West Papua" as our Country and "Papua" as our national identity, the promise of declaring West Papua independence on 1 July 1970, which the colonial Dutch government failled to fulfill, the mapping of the territory of the Republic of West Papua.
It was on 1 December 1961, an inauguration ceremony was held for the Morning Star flag raised outside the New Guinea Council building in the presence of the Governor of the Netherlands Colonial Government, also the national anthem "Hai Tanahku Papua", the birds of paradise coat of arms, motto and the name of Papua Barat (West Papua) for the proposed new state. The Dutch had accepted the Manifesto except the denomination of the flag recognising it as a territorial flag not a national flag.
This history will never be deleted by anyone, with anything, in anyway. Indonesians can use mighty military power and terrorize us physically and mentally, but they will never kill the spirit that can never be killed by anyone on this planet Earth, --the spirit for a Free and Independent West Papua, a Green Government of West Papua, a sample Government for peaceful and joyful life on this planet Earth, will prevail until Indonesia is out from our New Guinea motherland.
from WordPress https://ift.tt/37Q5UvE
via IFTTT
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
Special Report: Wamena investigation: What the government is not telling us
In Wamena in Papua’s Jayawijaya regency there is a customary belief that women and children are innocent, that’s why the men have to protect them. “Humi yukurugi wene inyokodek,” said Dominikus Surabut, head of the customary council of La Pago. But if women and children become victims, he said, the men are going to fight in the afternoon and evening. “Inyawim hiam-hiam ninane uok...,” Dominikus went on.
By: Victor Mambor and Syofiardi BachyulThe Jakarta Post
This belief played a role in the events that took place in Wamena on Sept. 23, a tragedy shInrouded in mystery amid a communication blackout in the region.
According to statements from the government, at least 33 were killed in the violence, eight of them native Papuans. An armed rebel group – referred to as an “armed criminal group” by the police – was reportedly behind the atrocity. Thousands of people, both native Papuans and non-native residents, fled the town following the riot.
The police said the non-native Papuans had died in fire while some had sustained injuries from sharp weapons. The official statement said nothing about what had caused the death of the native Papuans.
On Oct. 2, security and terrorism researcher Sidney Jones of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) published a piece on Lowy Institute website, saying that “nine Papuans also died, mostly stabbed by migrants trying to fend off the mob.” Sidney told the Post on Oct. 23 that she had got the information from a hospital in Wamena.
The Jakarta Post and several journalists from Jayapura-based Jubi and Jakarta-based Tirto.id conducted an investigation in the field in Wamena in Jayawijaya from Oct. 3 to 10 and discovered what the government has failed to reveal.
One of the most important pieces of information is that more than eight native Papuans died that day and that they died of gunshot wounds allegedly inflicted by what locals call “security apparatus”, a joint force of Indonesian Military and National Police personnel.
The National Police said there had been an exchange of fire between security officers and an “armed criminal group” that day. Cendrawasih Military Command spokesperson Lt. Col. Eko Daryanto echoed the police’s statement.
The Post and other journalists talked to more than 30 witnesses in Wamena about what happened during the riot. They were native and non-native residents, including religious figures, restaurant workers, traders, students and activists who were at the location that day.
Witnesses said they first noticed a crowd numbering in the hundreds on Jl. Hom-Hom in Wamena at about 8 a.m. on Sept. 23. Some people gathered in front of Yudha Supermarket in Hom-Hom while others gathered nearby.
The protest turned violent after a young man, later identified as Kelion Tabuni, a sophomore at the Manado State University in North Sulawesi, was allegedly shot by security personnel in Hom-Hom at 8:30 a.m.
Kelion, who arrived in Wamena from Manado two weeks prior to his death, was standing among hundreds of people when he was shot. A number of people in the crowd wore high school uniforms, witnesses said. Locals living in the area said they did not recognize anyone in the crowd.
After Kelion was shot, people in his crowd carried his body while they were going on a rampage. They walked past a traders’ area called Pikhe and along the road were kiosks selling gasoline in bottles and jerrycans for motorcyclists.
The mob stole fuel and burned down houses and stores on Jl. Pikhe. Witnesses said local residents had warned the people in the houses and stores, mostly non-native Papuans, to flee to save themselves from being burned alive. Pikhe became a place of heroic tales in which native Papuans helped hundreds of non-native residents.
One such person was Obet Mabel, who, together with other native residents, helped at least 58 families reach a safe place in the city center. Obet also said he did not recognize any of the rioters.
“The [non-native] Papuans then were brought to churches near a bridge in Pikhe,” said Simet Jikwa, a pastor at the Protestant Wesaroma Church. His church, along with the Kibaid and Panorama churches, provided shelter to hundreds of scared non-native Papuans that day.
 |
| A young man who requested anonymity shows a gunshot wound on his leg. He was shot when attempting to enter Wamena via the Wouma Bridge. (JP/Albertus Vembrianto) |
‘I did not recognize a single face’
While some men carried away Kelion’s body and others set stores and houses on fire on Jl. Pikhe, some of the crowd headed for a campus in the Hom-Hom area, STISIP Amal Ilmiah Yapis, and set classrooms on fire. They also burned other properties on Jl. Hom-Hom and some non-native Papuans died after become trapped inside burning buildings.
Several witnesses said they did not recognize the faces of arsonists in Hom-Hom. They noticed that some of them wore high school uniforms, but they did not know anyone among the crowd.
The National Police said last month that the perpetrators of the arson and manslaughter were “not from Wamena”.
“We have asked [the National Police] to find out and investigate the allegation [that outside people mobilized the crowd],” National Commission for Human Rights chairman Taufan Damanik said in Jayapura.
He said the police had to explain how people moved and entered Wamena during the riot. “Where did they come from? How did they coordinate? They came from everywhere,” he said.
Obeth Alua, a Wamena resident who was on Jl. Hom-Hom on that day, said he did not recognize any of the people who gathered in the area. He claimed that Wamena, the busiest district of Jayawijaya, was a small town, and he should have recognized at least one or two of the people there.
“They said they were there for an antiracism rally. I recognized not a single one of them. And then I saw two people got shot and fell down, one man and one woman,” said Obeth, showing the Post where he stood that day and pointing to the location where he saw the shots.
Later, the Post confirmed that the man was Kelion Tabuni, but the Post could not confirm the female victim, who according to Obeth, was taken into the direction of Wesaput.
Jayawijaya Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Tonny Ananda said the student rally had been infiltrated by an armed group that led to “crossfire” between the armed group and the security forces.
 |
| Evacuees wait their turn to board an Indonesian Military aircraft at Wamena Airport in Jayawijaya regency on Sept. 28 following a deadly riot on Sept. 23. (Antara/Iwan Adisaputra) |
“During the rally, there was another mob behind the mob, and behind them there was the armed group. They were involved in crossfire from Monday to Tuesday morning,” said Tonny.
Up until this article was written, the government has never spoken about security forces opening fire at protesters.
They have, however, pointed fingers at the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), a self-determination activist group that has close affiliations to the proindependence movement.
Tonny said people from the KNPB had spread a “hoax” about a racial statement from a teacher. He said most of the perpetrators of the riot came from outside Wamena district. The police, he said, had been investigating “the groups”.
Hoax?
At the same time about 4 kilometers from Yudha Supermarket in Hom-Hom, students of PGRI high school on Jl. Bhayangkara in Wamena gathered at about 8 a.m. to protest against one of their teachers, Riris Theodora Panggabean. The students accused Riris of calling fellow student Anton Pahabol a “monkey” on Sept 18.
Michael Asso, a physical education teacher at PGRI, said the teachers had held a meeting on Sept. 21 to question Riris, but Riris denied she had made a racial statement on Sept. 18.
Debora Agapa, the deputy principal for student affairs, said nothing had happened at the school from Sept. 19 to 20.
On Sept. 21, however, students had damaged some school property. Heru, a cafe owner in Wamena, told the Post that his employee, a high school student at PGRI High School, had came home early, at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Heru had asked her and she had said one of her teachers had called a friend “monkey”, and then the students had broken the windows and computers at the school office,” she said. That evening, she left Wamena for her hometown in Yahukimo regency. Later on Monday, Michael said, someone trespassed onto the school ground and damaged a classroom.
Angry students
A teacher at another school, Kartini, told the Post that she had received a text before Monday about the rumor emanating from PGRI high school. She had heard the rumor through a WhatsApp message that called on other students to rally to protest the alleged racism on Monday.
She said not long after 8 a.m. at her school, SMK Yapis vocational high school — located next to the Jayawijaya regent’s office — a crowd, some wearing high school uniforms, others not, threw stones at the school.
Another school, SMA 1 state senior high school in Wamena, was attacked. Three teachers, all native Papuans, told the Post that about 900 students were attending class to sit a test. Sometime after 8 a.m., hundreds of students from outside “swarmed like bees” and called on the students in the classroom to rally with them. They also threw stones at the windows, hurting some of the students.
Papua Governor Lukas Enembe told the Post on Oct. 1 that he had received reports about three junior high school students, native Papuans, who had been doused with gasoline and set on fire by the rioters because they refused to join a rally. “Those who set the children on fire wore high school uniforms, and what they did was cruel,” he said. Media reports said the student victims were from SMP 1 state junior high school in Wamena.
Students that look too old
On Monday morning, police officers arrived to meet the students at the high school, a teacher said. The officers tried to calm down the students, who were angry because they could not speak with Riris, and the police asked them to settle the matter at the Jayawijaya Police station.
So they walked to the police station, and along the way they called on other students to join them, some by force.
While the students walked to the regent’s office, shops in Pikhe and Yapis campus in Hom-Hom had already been set on fire by the other crowd.
Fires were reported in many places, including at Potikelek, located south of Jl. Hom-Hom. Security personnel fired tear gas in Potikelek, witnesses said.
When students reached the regent’s office, they gathered in the front yard to wait for the regent. Local journalist Naftali Pawika said he had received information that the regent was out of the office at the time to assess the situation in Hom-Hom.
When Regent John Banua Rouw arrived, the students delivered their demand that seven school mates be released.
“They also wanted no security forces in the regent’s compound while they were there, and they did not allow anyone to take pictures,” said Dominikus Surabut, the La Pago customary chief.
Naftali said when the regent was talking to the students, someone took pictures of the students, who became angry and chased after the person. But the man left the compound in a car.
“Not long after, while the students were still in commotion due to that man, the regent’s office finance building, located at the very back of the compound, was on fire,” he said.
 |
| The principal of SMP 1 state junior high school in Wamena, Yemima Kopeuw, guides her students in dance to eliminate anxiety on the first day back at school on Oct. 7. (JP/Syofiardi Bachyul Jb) |
Fire trucks came but the students blocked the trucks, because they did not want the firefighters to extinguish the fire. Tension flared up and the students at the front yard of the compound threw stones at the regent’s office building. Chaos ensued and people ran away from the chaos.
“The fire grew bigger and, I don’t know how, caught other buildings separated from the finance office building. At the end, only one building survived,” he said.
At this time, native Papuan women and children fled the town for kampungs surrounding Wamena.
Chaos in Wouma
While fire was raging at the regent’s office, some of the crowd headed toward the airport to set it on fire, but the security forces intercepted them with tear gas. So they instead went to Wouma, where chaos broke out.
At the same time, witnesses said another crowd began to gather on the fringe of town; they were people from kampungs who had heard rumors that their children who went to school in the city center had been shot by security forces and arrested by the police.
People said the fact that Papuan women and children had fled the town for kampungs had prompted the men in the kampungs head into town.
Many students in Wamena hail from other districts in rural Jayawijaya, a regency that is home to the famous Baliem Valley. They usually stay in rooming houses in Wamena, away from their parents, during the school week.
“We heard that our children had been arrested by police and some had been shot. We also heard the students wanted to go to the airport to burn it down,” said Alex Asso, the elder brother of Yus Asso, one of the native Papuans who was shot dead in the riot.
Parents and family members of Wamena students left their villages and headed for Wamena but were stopped by security forces at the Wouma Bridge.
On the other side of the Wouma Bridge, the crowd at the regent’s office had grown larger and angrier. Mus Mulyadi, a satay restaurant owner, said he saw men dressed in high school uniforms.
“Those who set the kiosks on fire were all men who did not look like students. One had a beard this long,” he said, gesturing to indicate the length.
One witness, who requested anonymity, said security personnel had fired shots here. He was injured by one of the shots before he could reach the town.
The shots made the crowd even angrier and they set alight stores and kiosks in Wouma. Witnesses said more victims were killed here, because the mob did not bother to check whether there were people inside the buildings. Some non-native Papuans were also reportedly stabbed by members of the mob.
Data from the police and the Post’s investigation show that at least 42 died because of the riot. Thousands of people, native and non-natives Papuans, fled Wamena, some flew out of the island and went back to their hometowns in places like West Sumatra and South Sulawesi.
The Post’s investigation revealed many things that had not been published before. But still, some questions are left unanswered: Who were the crowd at Hom-Hom? Why were they there? Was any armed group involved as the police said? The dozens of witnesses did not mention seeing armed civilians.
Komnas HAM commissioner Taufan Damanik said the police and the Indonesian Military had to investigate what really happened there. "So, we don't miss any [facts]," said Taufan.
Governor Lukas said he believed the riot had been planned, not by residents of Wamena nor the Baliem Valley people. He believed the perpetrators pretended to be high school students. “This happened by design,” he said. “But we don’t know who, and it is difficult to prove.”
Whether the riot happened by design or not, it has strained the relationship between the nonnative and native Papuans in Wamena. La Pago customary council chief Dominikus Surabut said in his apology to non-native Papuans that the situation took them by surprise and “was out of their control”. He said they helped all those they could help that day, but he was sorry that they could not help all.
“Let’s build [Wamena] together. We eat from the same plate, we sit side by side, building lives. I cannot prevent [non-natives] from leaving Wamena, but for you who come back, let’s build Papua together, in particular Baliem. For native Papuans, it is our belief that when we say we are best friends, it is not only [empty] words,” he said in a video interview with the Post on Oct. 4. “Before you shed your blood, we will shed ours first [to protect you].
Shot, wounded and dead: Wamena riot death toll remains shrouded in mystery
On Monday, Sept. 23, Amandus, took his son on a motorcycle to SMA YPPK Santo Thomas senior high school in Wamena, Jayawijaya, Papua. When they arrived, his son got off and went to his class while Amandus went to park his motorcycle because he needed to meet his son’s teacher. Not long after he left the bike, he heard gunshots.
“Children were running out of the classrooms, including my son. He saw me and he ran to me,” Amandus, a resident of Pisugi district, said.
He did not quite understand what was happening. The commotion continued and he heard gunshots getting nearer the school. The students ran in panic, knocking his motorcycle to the ground. He pulled his son’s arm, ran outside the school and hid in his relative’s house not far from the school.
From the house, he peeked out. He heard people yelling amid the gunshots.
“I tried to look from the open door. Suddenly I felt pain in my thumb and my thigh. I fell. I was shot and the bullet was in my thigh,” Amandus said in Wamena.
17 reported dead from gunshots
Amandus was lucky, he was taken to the hospital immediately, received emergency treatment and was flown to the provincial capital in Jayapura for surgery. Others were not so lucky.
A young man who requested anonymity told The Jakarta Post he was shot in his thigh on Wouma bridge, when he tried to enter Wamena after hearing that high school students were being arrested and shot. He never got to Wamena and went home to treat his wound. But he was at least alive.
Naligi Wenda, Keitron Kogoya, Eles Himan, Yus Asso, Mison Lokbere, Marius Wenda, Manu Meage, Elakim Wetapo, Gestanus Hisage, Kelion Tabuni and Lawan Hesegem did not survive.
Naligi was a security guard at Yudha Supermarket on Jl. Homhom, the place where the earliest crowd was spotted by witnesses on the day of the bloody riot. He was reportedly shot near Wouma bridge, about 4 kilometers from his workplace. His family said that day he did not work but he went to Wouma on his way to the airport. He was shot dead, his family told the Post.
Keitron Kogoya suffered the same fate. He was reportedly shot near Wouma bridge. Neither he nor Niligi ever reached the hospital; that was why their names do not appear on the official list. From the killing zone in Wouma, their family members took their bodies home and cremated them as is their tradition.
“My uncle went to his campus, STISIP Amal Ilmiah Wamena, to finalize his thesis topic. In the afternoon, we heard that he was dead from a gunshot wound to the hip,” Iton Pahabol told the Post about the fate of his uncle, Eles Himan.
 |
| A man stands at the location of Eles Himan grave, one of the dead victims among native Papuans. (JP/Albertus Vembrianto) |
Eles, he said, was found by family members in Wamena Regional Hospital (RSUD Wamena). The body was dressed only in pants.
Yus Asso, a Kampung Megapura resident, was reportedly shot in Wouma. Yus was still alive when he was taken to the hospital, said his brother, Alex Asso, but he was not able to see Yus before he died. “They did not allow men to enter the hospital, only the women,” he said.
Brought home directly
Alex said the bodies of several people that had been shot were taken to the hospital. Many of those who were shot and injured did not go to the hospital for treatment because they were afraid of the police and military guarding the hospital. Most of them were afraid of being arrested if they went to the hospital for treatment. They heard stories about the police rounding up injured victims, naming them suspects and detaining them.
“Ruben Esema, a student, is now detained in Jayawijaya Police. When his family members went to take him home from the hospital after surgery for his gunshot wounds, he had already been taken into police custody,” Alex said.
A similar fate befell Anderson Uaga, a student at SMA 1 high school Wamena. He was shot in his stomach. After getting treatment at RSUD Wamena, Anderson was taken by the police on Sept. 30. He is still detained and receiving medical treatment at Jayawijaya Police’s health clinic.
Papua Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. AM Kamal said on Oct. 7 that the police had named 13 people suspects in the Wamena riot. Three are still at large, those detained have been identified only as DM, 19, RW, 18, AU, 16, RA, 16, AK, 19, DC 32, YP, 22, ES, 27, NT, 27, and SK, 40.
La Pago Customary Council chief, Dominikus Surabut, said he was certain the official data did not reveal everything. Many victims, dead or injured, were not on the official list.
The Customary Council held an extraordinary congress after the riot and collected information about eight people who were believed to have been shot dead but were not on the police list.
The Post and Jayapura-based Jubi also received information about one man who was shot dead during the riot. He has been identified as Nisaba Himan. His body was found in Pisugi with a gunshot wound in his chest.
Not on national media
From Oct. 3 to 8, journalists from the Post, Tirto.id and Jubi investigated claims by native Papuan residents that the police and the military fired into the crowd on Sept. 23. Many of them said families did not want to go to hospitals because they believed the hospitals were heavily guarded by the security forces, which for a lot of native Papuans means trouble. So, the Post went to villages quite far from the town center—Pisugi, Asotipo, Wesaput and Megapura—to verify the claims.
 |
| A family member shows the location where Kelion Tabuni was buried in Kampung Pisugi in Jayawijaya, Papua, on Oct. 7. (JP/Syofiardi Bachyul Jb) |
These claims have been largely unreported by the national media. No one has said anything about security forces shooting into the crowd.
The Health Ministry has reported 33 fatalities in the riot. Twenty-six were dead on arrival at the hospital while five died in the hospital. An additional two victims died as a result of underlying conditions or illness but the government included them in the death toll because there was a suspicion that their deaths were related to the riot.
The government released 31 names from the death toll and eight of the names have been identified as probably being of native Papuans, while the remainder appear to be of people from other ethnic origins such as West Sumatra and South Sulawesi.
The government said the causes of the deaths of the 31 were fire and stabbing. On Oct. 2, Sidney Jones from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict wrote on the Lowy Institute’s website that “nine Papuans also died, mostly stabbed by migrants trying to fend off the mob.”
Verified deaths and causes
The Post, in collaboration with Jubi and Tirto.id, however, has verified at least 11 native Papuans who died as a result of gunshot wounds. The Post received 17 names and nine were new names that were not on the government list. The eight native Papuans on the government list were verified too, and the family members have confirmed that they sustained gunshot wounds. Some were taken from the site directly to their homes to be cremated.
The National Commission of Human Rights said on Oct. 18 that it had discovered 10 additional fatalities apart from those the government published. Commissioner Beka Ulung Hapsara said the 10 people were reportedly shot dead but their names were not on the list because their families brought the bodies directly to their homes. “We still have to investigate this, it will not be easy to clarify and validate whether there are really additional fatalities outside the 33 published,” commissioner Beka Ulung Hapsara said in Jayapura on Oct. 12.
Eleven verified fatalities:
1. Ketron Kogoya (shot in Wouma, on government list)
2. Eles Himan (shot in Homhom, on government list)
3. Yus Asso (shot in Wouma, on government list)
4. Nison Lokbere (shot in Homhom, on government list)
5. Marius Wenda (shot in Homhom, on government list)
6. Manu Meage (shot in Wouma, on government list)
7. Elakim Wetapo (shot in Homhom, on government list)
8. Gestanus Hisage (shot in Wouma, on government list)
9. Kelion Tabuni (shot in Homhom, on Papua Customary Council list)
10. Naligi Wenda (shot in Wouma, on Papua Customary Council list)
11. Lawan Hesegem (shot in Wouma, on Papua Customary Council list)
Six names from the Papua Customary Council and named locally, not yet verified:
1. Nisaba Himan (shot and later found in Pisugi)
2. Inius Tabuni (shot and later found in Baliem River)
3. Beam Wenda (shot and later found in Tulem)
4. Naligin Yikwa (shot in Homhom)
5. Wenas Babingga (shot in Homhom)
6. Yandrik Wenda (shot in Wouma)
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Thursday, October 31, 2019
Investigation reveals disinformation campaigns on Papuan issues
Kharishar Kahfi - The Jakarta Post
A recent digital forensic investigation has revealed that multiple attempts have taken place in the digital world to manipulate the narrative about the protests and riots in the Papua and West Papua provinces in favor of the Indonesian government.
The joint investigation, launched by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), found at least two online influence campaigns had been “disseminating pro-Indonesian government material on the issue of West Papua”.
The Papua issue refers to widespread protests against the racial abuse suffered by Papuans, which eventually led to riots. The first of the recent incidents of abuse occurred in August in Surabaya, East Java, which triggered protests in some cities, including in Jakarta.
The second abuse allegedly occurred in Papua, where a non-native teacher at a local high school reportedly called a native student a “monkey”. The incident sparked protests and violence on Sept. 23 when mobs, reportedly made up of native Papuans, set buildings and vehicles on fire. Thirty-three people, mostly non-natives, were killed during the riots.
The Indonesian authorities claimed they limited internet access in Papua during the riots in the hope of curbing the spread of fake news. However, the digital forensic investigation found otherwise.
The findings about the manipulative narrative were made by BBC open source investigator Benjamin Strick and ASPI’s international cyber-policy center researcher Elise Thomas. The report was also published online by a United Kingdom-based investigative group Bellingcat on Oct. 11.
“The goal of both campaigns was to influence international opinion about the increasingly violent situation in West Papua, as Indonesian security forces crack down on the local pro-independence movement,” Strick and Thomas wrote in the report.
The team revealed the first campaign was operated by InsightID, an Indonesian communications firm. According to the report, the firm had been promoting pro-Indonesian government content on various websites and social media accounts aimed at international audiences.
During the campaign, the firm was also found to have targeted an opposition hashtag to influence its followers with pro-Indonesian and anti-independence content, as well as actively harass people who publicly supported independence or were reporting information that contradicted the government’s narrative on the situation in Papua.
“We have not found evidence to identify the client who has hired InsightID to run this information campaign,” Strick and Thomas wrote.
“However, based on the available facts we can conclude the client is a party which is able to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to run a ‘fake news’ information operation with the goal of influencing the international community’s political perceptions in favor of the Indonesian government’s actions in West Papua,” they added.
Findings about InsightID had been separately confirmed by Facebook, which issued a statement earlier this month saying it had identified and removed dozens of accounts and pages suspected of committing coordinated inauthentic behavior in Indonesia, primarily sharing content mainly undermining the West Papuan independence movement.
Facebook eventually found links to a local media firm, InsightID, which was said to be spending about US$300,000 on Facebook ads, mostly paid in Indonesian rupiah.
A group claiming to be InsightID later responded to the statement, saying the group worked to counter what it claimed was massive amounts of biased disinformation disseminated by the Papuan separatist movement.
“Our content is focused on messages of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika [Unity in Diversity], the unity of Indonesia and the optimistic efforts of Indonesia to resolve the problems in Papua,” it said in a statement.
The team also found a separate and smaller campaign running on the similar topic of West Papua. This one includes three “brands”, each of which has its own website and social media accounts: Wawawa Journal (WJ), Tell the Truth NZ and Noken Insight.
A notable example of an action undertaken by the campaign was the promotion of a statement attributed to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres saying he supported the Indonesian government over the brouhaha in Papua. Later, it was found that the statement had been fabricated.
Some content spread in the campaign smeared several international media outlets based in Australia and New Zealand, including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Moreover, it also targeted people who spoke out about the Papuan issue, including human rights lawyer Veronica Koman and United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) chairman Benny Wenda.
One of the domains used in the second campaign was registered by Muhamad Rosyid Jazuli, who had worked since 2014 in an organization called the Jenggala Center. The organization was originally a supporter of Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Jusuf Kalla when the pair ran in the 2014 presidential election.
Jazuli admitted to the team his responsibility for the Wawawa Journal and Tell the Truth NZ, while denying knowledge of Noken Insight despite evidence that the WJ Facebook page once used Noken Insight’s brand as its cover photo.
“Jazuli [said] that the sites and profiles were created on his own initiative by himself and friends, using personal money and were not related to his work with the Jenggala Center,” the report said.
It added that he claimed the campaigns were simply attempts to counter negative Western media coverage, rather than being propaganda or “fake news”.
Online influence campaigns are still common in Indonesia, according to a report by Oxford Internet Institute director Philip Howard and researcher Samanta Bradshaw entitled “2019 Global Inventory of Organised Social Media Manipulation”.
The report listed Indonesia as among the 70 countries it found to have organized social media manipulation for shaping public opinions, deeming it a threat to democracy.
The report said the existence of cybertroops and computational propaganda in Indonesia was aimed at spreading pro-government or pro-party propaganda, attacking opposition or mounting smear campaigns, as well as driving division and polarization.
 |
| Shouting Papua Merdeka, after High School Students in Wamena were Shot by Indonesian police and army |
The joint investigation, launched by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), found at least two online influence campaigns had been “disseminating pro-Indonesian government material on the issue of West Papua”.
The Papua issue refers to widespread protests against the racial abuse suffered by Papuans, which eventually led to riots. The first of the recent incidents of abuse occurred in August in Surabaya, East Java, which triggered protests in some cities, including in Jakarta.
The second abuse allegedly occurred in Papua, where a non-native teacher at a local high school reportedly called a native student a “monkey”. The incident sparked protests and violence on Sept. 23 when mobs, reportedly made up of native Papuans, set buildings and vehicles on fire. Thirty-three people, mostly non-natives, were killed during the riots.
The Indonesian authorities claimed they limited internet access in Papua during the riots in the hope of curbing the spread of fake news. However, the digital forensic investigation found otherwise.
The findings about the manipulative narrative were made by BBC open source investigator Benjamin Strick and ASPI’s international cyber-policy center researcher Elise Thomas. The report was also published online by a United Kingdom-based investigative group Bellingcat on Oct. 11.
“The goal of both campaigns was to influence international opinion about the increasingly violent situation in West Papua, as Indonesian security forces crack down on the local pro-independence movement,” Strick and Thomas wrote in the report.
The team revealed the first campaign was operated by InsightID, an Indonesian communications firm. According to the report, the firm had been promoting pro-Indonesian government content on various websites and social media accounts aimed at international audiences.
During the campaign, the firm was also found to have targeted an opposition hashtag to influence its followers with pro-Indonesian and anti-independence content, as well as actively harass people who publicly supported independence or were reporting information that contradicted the government’s narrative on the situation in Papua.
“We have not found evidence to identify the client who has hired InsightID to run this information campaign,” Strick and Thomas wrote.
“However, based on the available facts we can conclude the client is a party which is able to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to run a ‘fake news’ information operation with the goal of influencing the international community’s political perceptions in favor of the Indonesian government’s actions in West Papua,” they added.
Findings about InsightID had been separately confirmed by Facebook, which issued a statement earlier this month saying it had identified and removed dozens of accounts and pages suspected of committing coordinated inauthentic behavior in Indonesia, primarily sharing content mainly undermining the West Papuan independence movement.
Facebook eventually found links to a local media firm, InsightID, which was said to be spending about US$300,000 on Facebook ads, mostly paid in Indonesian rupiah.
A group claiming to be InsightID later responded to the statement, saying the group worked to counter what it claimed was massive amounts of biased disinformation disseminated by the Papuan separatist movement.
“Our content is focused on messages of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika [Unity in Diversity], the unity of Indonesia and the optimistic efforts of Indonesia to resolve the problems in Papua,” it said in a statement.
The team also found a separate and smaller campaign running on the similar topic of West Papua. This one includes three “brands”, each of which has its own website and social media accounts: Wawawa Journal (WJ), Tell the Truth NZ and Noken Insight.
A notable example of an action undertaken by the campaign was the promotion of a statement attributed to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres saying he supported the Indonesian government over the brouhaha in Papua. Later, it was found that the statement had been fabricated.
Some content spread in the campaign smeared several international media outlets based in Australia and New Zealand, including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Moreover, it also targeted people who spoke out about the Papuan issue, including human rights lawyer Veronica Koman and United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) chairman Benny Wenda.
One of the domains used in the second campaign was registered by Muhamad Rosyid Jazuli, who had worked since 2014 in an organization called the Jenggala Center. The organization was originally a supporter of Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Jusuf Kalla when the pair ran in the 2014 presidential election.
Jazuli admitted to the team his responsibility for the Wawawa Journal and Tell the Truth NZ, while denying knowledge of Noken Insight despite evidence that the WJ Facebook page once used Noken Insight’s brand as its cover photo.
“Jazuli [said] that the sites and profiles were created on his own initiative by himself and friends, using personal money and were not related to his work with the Jenggala Center,” the report said.
It added that he claimed the campaigns were simply attempts to counter negative Western media coverage, rather than being propaganda or “fake news”.
Online influence campaigns are still common in Indonesia, according to a report by Oxford Internet Institute director Philip Howard and researcher Samanta Bradshaw entitled “2019 Global Inventory of Organised Social Media Manipulation”.
The report listed Indonesia as among the 70 countries it found to have organized social media manipulation for shaping public opinions, deeming it a threat to democracy.
The report said the existence of cybertroops and computational propaganda in Indonesia was aimed at spreading pro-government or pro-party propaganda, attacking opposition or mounting smear campaigns, as well as driving division and polarization.
Report finds anti-Papua 'fake news' campaign
Kharishar Kahfi. The Jakarta Post
A recent digital forensic investigation has revealed that multiple attempts have taken place in the digital world to manipulate the narrative about the protests and riots in the Papua and West Papua provinces in favor of the Indonesian government.
The joint investigation, launched by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), found at least two online influence campaigns had been “disseminating pro-Indonesian government material on the issue of West Papua”.
The Papua issue refers to widespread protests against the racial abuse suffered by Papuans, which eventually led to riots.
The findings about the manipulative narrative were made by BBC open source investigator Benjamin Strick and ASPI’s international cyberpolicy center researcher Elise Thomas. The report was also published online by a United Kingdom-based investigative group Bellingcat on Oct. 11.
“The goal of both campaigns was to influence international opinion about the increasingly violent situation in West Papua, as Indonesian security forces crack down on the local pro-independence movement,” Strick and Thomas wrote in the report.
The team revealed the first campaign was operated by InsightID, an Indonesian communications firm. According to the report, the firm had been promoting pro-Indonesian government content on various websites and social media accounts aimed at international audiences.
During the campaign, the firm was also found to have targeted an opposition hashtag to influence its followers with pro-Indonesian and anti-independence content, as well as actively harass people who publicly supported independence or were reporting information that contradicted the government’s narrative on the situation in Papua.
“We have not found evidence to identify the client who has hired InsightID to run this information campaign,” Strick and Thomas wrote.
“However, based on the available facts we can conclude the client is a party which is able to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to run a ‘fake news’ information operation with the goal of influencing the international community’s political perceptions in favor of the Indonesian government’s actions in West Papua,” they added.
Findings about InsightID had been separately confirmed by Facebook, which issued a statement earlier this month saying it had identified and removed dozens of accounts and pages suspected of committing coordinated inauthentic behavior in Indonesia, primarily sharing content mainly undermining the West Papuan independence movement.
A group claiming to be InsightID later responded to the statement, saying the group worked to counter what it claimed was massive amounts of biased disinformation disseminated by the Papuan separatist movement.
The team also found a separate and smaller campaign running on the similar topic of West Papua. This one includes three “brands”, each of which has its own website and social media accounts: Wawawa Journal (WJ), Tell the Truth NZ and Noken Insight.
A notable example of an action undertaken by the campaign was the promotion of a statement attributed to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres saying he supported the Indonesian government over the brouhaha in Papua. Later, it was found that the statement had been fabricated.
Some content spread in the campaign smeared several international media outlets based in Australia and New Zealand, including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Moreover, it also targeted people who spoke out about the Papuan issue, including human rights lawyer Veronica Koman and United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) chairman Benny Wenda.
One of the domains used in the second campaign was registered by Muhamad Rosyid Jazuli, who had worked since 2014 in an organization called the Jenggala Center. The organization was originally a supporter of Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Jusuf Kalla when the pair ran in the 2014 presidential election.
Jazuli admitted to the team his responsibility for the WJ and Tell the Truth NZ, while denying knowledge of Noken Insight despite evidence that the WJ Facebook page once used Noken Insight’s brand as its cover photo.
“Jazuli [said] that the sites and profiles were created on his own initiative by himself and friends, using personal money and were not related to his work with the Jenggala Center,” the report said.
It added that he claimed the campaigns were simply attempts to counter negative Western media coverage, rather than being propaganda or “fake news”.
A recent digital forensic investigation has revealed that multiple attempts have taken place in the digital world to manipulate the narrative about the protests and riots in the Papua and West Papua provinces in favor of the Indonesian government.
The joint investigation, launched by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), found at least two online influence campaigns had been “disseminating pro-Indonesian government material on the issue of West Papua”.
The Papua issue refers to widespread protests against the racial abuse suffered by Papuans, which eventually led to riots.
The findings about the manipulative narrative were made by BBC open source investigator Benjamin Strick and ASPI’s international cyberpolicy center researcher Elise Thomas. The report was also published online by a United Kingdom-based investigative group Bellingcat on Oct. 11.
“The goal of both campaigns was to influence international opinion about the increasingly violent situation in West Papua, as Indonesian security forces crack down on the local pro-independence movement,” Strick and Thomas wrote in the report.
The team revealed the first campaign was operated by InsightID, an Indonesian communications firm. According to the report, the firm had been promoting pro-Indonesian government content on various websites and social media accounts aimed at international audiences.
During the campaign, the firm was also found to have targeted an opposition hashtag to influence its followers with pro-Indonesian and anti-independence content, as well as actively harass people who publicly supported independence or were reporting information that contradicted the government’s narrative on the situation in Papua.
“We have not found evidence to identify the client who has hired InsightID to run this information campaign,” Strick and Thomas wrote.
“However, based on the available facts we can conclude the client is a party which is able to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to run a ‘fake news’ information operation with the goal of influencing the international community’s political perceptions in favor of the Indonesian government’s actions in West Papua,” they added.
Findings about InsightID had been separately confirmed by Facebook, which issued a statement earlier this month saying it had identified and removed dozens of accounts and pages suspected of committing coordinated inauthentic behavior in Indonesia, primarily sharing content mainly undermining the West Papuan independence movement.
A group claiming to be InsightID later responded to the statement, saying the group worked to counter what it claimed was massive amounts of biased disinformation disseminated by the Papuan separatist movement.
The team also found a separate and smaller campaign running on the similar topic of West Papua. This one includes three “brands”, each of which has its own website and social media accounts: Wawawa Journal (WJ), Tell the Truth NZ and Noken Insight.
A notable example of an action undertaken by the campaign was the promotion of a statement attributed to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres saying he supported the Indonesian government over the brouhaha in Papua. Later, it was found that the statement had been fabricated.
Some content spread in the campaign smeared several international media outlets based in Australia and New Zealand, including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Moreover, it also targeted people who spoke out about the Papuan issue, including human rights lawyer Veronica Koman and United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) chairman Benny Wenda.
One of the domains used in the second campaign was registered by Muhamad Rosyid Jazuli, who had worked since 2014 in an organization called the Jenggala Center. The organization was originally a supporter of Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Jusuf Kalla when the pair ran in the 2014 presidential election.
Jazuli admitted to the team his responsibility for the WJ and Tell the Truth NZ, while denying knowledge of Noken Insight despite evidence that the WJ Facebook page once used Noken Insight’s brand as its cover photo.
“Jazuli [said] that the sites and profiles were created on his own initiative by himself and friends, using personal money and were not related to his work with the Jenggala Center,” the report said.
It added that he claimed the campaigns were simply attempts to counter negative Western media coverage, rather than being propaganda or “fake news”.
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Kewenangan pemerintah nasional dan provinsi di Kepulauan Solomon diuji
 |
| Laporan media mengenai upaya Tiongkok untuk menyewa satu pulau di Pasifik, telah mengungkapkan perpecahan antara pemerintah provinsi dan pusat. – Chris Pecoraro/Getty |
Kepulauan Solomon telah menjadi berita utama di sejumlah media internasional pekan lalu, termasuk di New York Times, mengenai perjanjian sewa pulau di Kepulauan Solomon.
Menelaah kesepakatan empat-halaman, perjanjian kerja sama strategis atas Pulau Tulagi, yang dipersiapkan dengan buru-buru penuh kecerobohan, antara pemerintah Provinsi Tengah di Kepulauan Solomon dan perusahaan Tiongkok, Sam Enterprise Group Ltd, terlihat jelas bahwa apa yang disetujui termasuk hak pembangunan eksklusif kepada konglomerat Tiongkok itu sebenarnya jauh di luar wewenang pemerintah provinsi.
Sumber daya mineral, perikanan, hutan, tanah – ini semua adalah ranah pemilik tanah adat, sementara pemerintah pusat hanya berperan sebagai tuan tanah secara teoretis atas lahan yang terdaftar serta pemilik bersama sumber daya mineral, yang bertugas memberikan izin usaha pertambangan.
Pemimpin provinsi itu juga kemudian dengan lekas membantah perjanjian itu setelah liputan New York Times, mengakui dalam wawancara dengan Radio New Zealand bahwa mereka tidak mungkin menyewa Tulagi, dan bahwa tidak ada apa pun dari perjanjian itu akan terjadi.
Namun, meski Xi Jinping tidak akan mungkin memerintahkan pembangunan tempat rahasia di Pulau Tulagi, proyek tersebut mungkin akan diteruskan namun dalam bentuk lainnya, terutama jika Sam Group berhasil mengamankan pendanaan di Tiongkok. Jika berhasil, kurangnya pengalaman perusahaan itu di Pasifik, dapat menyebabkan situasi yang mirip dengan Pacific Marine Industrial Zone di sebelah utara Papua Nugini, upaya pertama oleh perusahaan Tiongkok untuk mendirikan kawasan ekonomi khusus di Pasifik.
Di kawasan itu, politisi-politisi dan kontraktor setempat sedang bersengketa dengan perusahaan Tiongkok tersebut. Manajemennya bersembunyi di sebuah kantor di Madang karena pendanaan mereka dari Bank Exim Tiongkok perlahan-lahan dibuang untuk hal-hal trivial seperti gerbang yang bernilai Kina 4 juta ($ 1,7 juta).
Juga luput dari perhatian media-media besar adalah kasus lainnya, yang membuktikan bahwa kesenjangan antara pemerintah nasional dan provinsi seperti ini ada positif dan negatifnya bagi Tiongkok. Pada 17 Oktober kemarin, Pemerintah Provinsi Malaita, juga di Kepulauan Solomon, menerbitkan Komunike Auki, menegaskan adanya proses bagi mereka perihal hak untuk menentukan nasib sendiri.
Alasan yang memicu keinginan kelompok-kelompok di Malaita, untuk membentuk pemerintahan sendiri adalah karena keputusan pemerintah pusat, untuk mengalihkan pengakuan diplomatik dari Taiwan ke Tiongkok, yang dianggap sebagai proses yang tergesa-gesa tanpa konsultasi yang memadai dengan masyarakat. Di bawah anak judul ‘core beliefs and freedoms’ komunike itu tertulis kebebasan beragama, dan ‘oleh karena itu Malaita menolak Partai Komunis di Tiongkok dan sistemnya yang didasarkan ideologi ateis’.
Keputusan pemerintah nasional Kepulauan Solomon untuk beralih ke Tiongkok, telah menimbulkan desakan oleh pergerakan Malaita for Democracy (M4D) dan beberapa kelompok lain, agar Malaita dapat menentukan nasibnya sendiri, menyatakan keinginan mereka untuk menjauhkan diri dari ikatan diplomatik dengan Republik Rakyat Tiongkok, seperti yang diputuskan oleh pemerintah pusat, serta komitmennya untuk melindungi tanah dan sumber daya alam mereka dari ‘investor yang amoral’.
Aspirasi untuk kemerdekaan Malaita dan keinginannya untuk menentukan nasib sendiri ini, punya sejarah yang panjang. Pada 1940-an, gerakan Ma’asina Ruru di Malaita berusaha menuntut hak untuk menentukan nasib sendiri. Pada 1970-an, pergerakan Western Breakaway dibentuk, dimana Provinsi Barat memboikot perayaan Hari Kemerdekaan Nasional pada 7 Juli 1978. Gerakan ini lalu bangkit kembali pada 2000 sebagai Western State Movement, yang berakhir dengan apa yang disebut sebagai kudeta yang tidak diketahui oleh siapa pun. Pada 2015, Majelis Provinsi Malaita meresmikan resolusi tentang kedaulatan Malaita.
Provinsi Malaita memiliki jumlah populasi yang besar dibandingkan dengan provinsi lainnya di Kepulauan Solomon, namun ia tetap terbelakang. Hanya 4,71% lahan di provinsi ini yang terasing, ini berarti sebagian besar tanah dan SDA di Malaita berada dalam domain adat, di bawah wewenang langsung pemilik tradisional. Meskipun demikian, pemerintah pusat memiliki kuasa atas alat-alat dan proses transaksi atas lahan tersebut.
Instrumen-instrumen seperti itu sering kali lebih menguntungkan investor, sementara pemilik sumber daya dibiarkan menjadi rent seeker (pemburu rente) dan penerima royalti. Hal ini juga menyebabkan adanya jurang pemisah antara pembuat keputusan di tingkat nasional dan provinsi. Keputusan pemerintah pusat untuk beralih ke Tiongkok, dan segera mengundang investor Tiongkok ke Kepulauan Solomon tanpa masukan dari pemerintah provinsi dan pemilik sumber daya, adalah bukti kesenjangan ini.
Pemerintah Provinsi Malaita meminta MP-nya untuk datang ke Auki dan berpartisipasi dalam pertemuan tinggi pemimpin-pemimpin yang diadakan pada 16 Oktober, untuk membahas persoalan seputar peralihan ke Tiongkok, termasuk di antaranya desakan untuk menentukan nasib sendiri. Majelis Provinsi Malaita dan lima MP dari Malaita turut hadir, dan sebuah komunike dikeluarkan pada hari berikutnya. Sejumlah MP dari Malaita yang pro-Tiongkok tidak menghadiri pertemuan itu.
Desakan Provinsi Malaita untuk hak menentukan nasib sendiri ini bukan hanya datang dari daerah ini. Provinsi-provinsi lain di negara itu telah mengutarakan sentimen yang serupa, semua diakibatkan oleh pemusatan kekuasaan di tingkat pemerintah pusat, tanpa adanya kemajuan yang berarti terjadi di tingkat provinsi. Ada kekhawatiran yang masuk akal dari kedua pihak, menegaskan jurang pemisah yang umumnya terjadi di negara-negara dengan sistem pemerintahan federal.
Ketika kewenangan yang dilimpahkan ke pemerintah tingkat provinsi terbatas, ada ruang bagi oknum-oknum dari luar untuk menargetkan hubungan pemerintah nasional yang lemah, ke provinsi-provinsi yang lalu berujung ke destabilisasi. Hal ini mungkin dilakukan demi keuntungan atau sebagai langkah ekonomi yang diinginkan oleh negara.
Namun, pemerintah provinsi juga dapat menjadi sasaran yang lebih baik, karena ia lebih jarang diawasi oleh media dan diamati oleh masyarakat sipil. Faktor ini mungkin dapat menjelaskan kenapa negara-negara yang kewenangannya terpusat seperti Korea Selatan, yang juga homogen dalam hal etnik dan bahasa, secara umum lebih sulit dipengaruhi Tiongkok.
Peralihan hubungan diplomatik, dari Taiwan terhadap Tiongkok, diharapkan akan membawa pembangunan dalam berbagai sektor di Kepulauan Solomon. Pemerintah pusat harus melakukan analisis yang cermat, sebelum menandatangani perjanjian apa pun terkait pembangunan yang penting seperti ini. Legislasi dan mekanismenya harus diperkuat atau dirombak, untuk memastikan wewenang antara pemerintah pusat dan provinsi dijaga dengan baik, agar bisa melindungi kepentingan masyarakat setempat yang merupakan pemilik SDA di tingkat provinsi. (Lowy Institute/The Interpreter)
Editor: Kristianto Galuwo
Kewenangan pemerintah nasional dan provinsi di Kepulauan Solomon diuji
|
| Laporan media mengenai upaya Tiongkok untuk menyewa satu pulau di Pasifik, telah mengungkapkan perpecahan antara pemerintah provinsi dan pusat. – Chris Pecoraro/Getty |
Kepulauan Solomon telah menjadi berita utama di sejumlah media internasional pekan lalu, termasuk di New York Times, mengenai perjanjian sewa pulau di Kepulauan Solomon.
Menelaah kesepakatan empat-halaman, perjanjian kerja sama strategis atas Pulau Tulagi, yang dipersiapkan dengan buru-buru penuh kecerobohan, antara pemerintah Provinsi Tengah di Kepulauan Solomon dan perusahaan Tiongkok, Sam Enterprise Group Ltd, terlihat jelas bahwa apa yang disetujui termasuk hak pembangunan eksklusif kepada konglomerat Tiongkok itu sebenarnya jauh di luar wewenang pemerintah provinsi.
Sumber daya mineral, perikanan, hutan, tanah – ini semua adalah ranah pemilik tanah adat, sementara pemerintah pusat hanya berperan sebagai tuan tanah secara teoretis atas lahan yang terdaftar serta pemilik bersama sumber daya mineral, yang bertugas memberikan izin usaha pertambangan.
Pemimpin provinsi itu juga kemudian dengan lekas membantah perjanjian itu setelah liputan New York Times, mengakui dalam wawancara dengan Radio New Zealand bahwa mereka tidak mungkin menyewa Tulagi, dan bahwa tidak ada apa pun dari perjanjian itu akan terjadi.
Namun, meski Xi Jinping tidak akan mungkin memerintahkan pembangunan tempat rahasia di Pulau Tulagi, proyek tersebut mungkin akan diteruskan namun dalam bentuk lainnya, terutama jika Sam Group berhasil mengamankan pendanaan di Tiongkok. Jika berhasil, kurangnya pengalaman perusahaan itu di Pasifik, dapat menyebabkan situasi yang mirip dengan Pacific Marine Industrial Zone di sebelah utara Papua Nugini, upaya pertama oleh perusahaan Tiongkok untuk mendirikan kawasan ekonomi khusus di Pasifik.
Di kawasan itu, politisi-politisi dan kontraktor setempat sedang bersengketa dengan perusahaan Tiongkok tersebut. Manajemennya bersembunyi di sebuah kantor di Madang karena pendanaan mereka dari Bank Exim Tiongkok perlahan-lahan dibuang untuk hal-hal trivial seperti gerbang yang bernilai Kina 4 juta ($ 1,7 juta).
Juga luput dari perhatian media-media besar adalah kasus lainnya, yang membuktikan bahwa kesenjangan antara pemerintah nasional dan provinsi seperti ini ada positif dan negatifnya bagi Tiongkok. Pada 17 Oktober kemarin, Pemerintah Provinsi Malaita, juga di Kepulauan Solomon, menerbitkan Komunike Auki, menegaskan adanya proses bagi mereka perihal hak untuk menentukan nasib sendiri.
Alasan yang memicu keinginan kelompok-kelompok di Malaita, untuk membentuk pemerintahan sendiri adalah karena keputusan pemerintah pusat, untuk mengalihkan pengakuan diplomatik dari Taiwan ke Tiongkok, yang dianggap sebagai proses yang tergesa-gesa tanpa konsultasi yang memadai dengan masyarakat. Di bawah anak judul ‘core beliefs and freedoms’ komunike itu tertulis kebebasan beragama, dan ‘oleh karena itu Malaita menolak Partai Komunis di Tiongkok dan sistemnya yang didasarkan ideologi ateis’.
Keputusan pemerintah nasional Kepulauan Solomon untuk beralih ke Tiongkok, telah menimbulkan desakan oleh pergerakan Malaita for Democracy (M4D) dan beberapa kelompok lain, agar Malaita dapat menentukan nasibnya sendiri, menyatakan keinginan mereka untuk menjauhkan diri dari ikatan diplomatik dengan Republik Rakyat Tiongkok, seperti yang diputuskan oleh pemerintah pusat, serta komitmennya untuk melindungi tanah dan sumber daya alam mereka dari ‘investor yang amoral’.
Aspirasi untuk kemerdekaan Malaita dan keinginannya untuk menentukan nasib sendiri ini, punya sejarah yang panjang. Pada 1940-an, gerakan Ma’asina Ruru di Malaita berusaha menuntut hak untuk menentukan nasib sendiri. Pada 1970-an, pergerakan Western Breakaway dibentuk, dimana Provinsi Barat memboikot perayaan Hari Kemerdekaan Nasional pada 7 Juli 1978. Gerakan ini lalu bangkit kembali pada 2000 sebagai Western State Movement, yang berakhir dengan apa yang disebut sebagai kudeta yang tidak diketahui oleh siapa pun. Pada 2015, Majelis Provinsi Malaita meresmikan resolusi tentang kedaulatan Malaita.
Provinsi Malaita memiliki jumlah populasi yang besar dibandingkan dengan provinsi lainnya di Kepulauan Solomon, namun ia tetap terbelakang. Hanya 4,71% lahan di provinsi ini yang terasing, ini berarti sebagian besar tanah dan SDA di Malaita berada dalam domain adat, di bawah wewenang langsung pemilik tradisional. Meskipun demikian, pemerintah pusat memiliki kuasa atas alat-alat dan proses transaksi atas lahan tersebut.
Instrumen-instrumen seperti itu sering kali lebih menguntungkan investor, sementara pemilik sumber daya dibiarkan menjadi rent seeker (pemburu rente) dan penerima royalti. Hal ini juga menyebabkan adanya jurang pemisah antara pembuat keputusan di tingkat nasional dan provinsi. Keputusan pemerintah pusat untuk beralih ke Tiongkok, dan segera mengundang investor Tiongkok ke Kepulauan Solomon tanpa masukan dari pemerintah provinsi dan pemilik sumber daya, adalah bukti kesenjangan ini.
Pemerintah Provinsi Malaita meminta MP-nya untuk datang ke Auki dan berpartisipasi dalam pertemuan tinggi pemimpin-pemimpin yang diadakan pada 16 Oktober, untuk membahas persoalan seputar peralihan ke Tiongkok, termasuk di antaranya desakan untuk menentukan nasib sendiri. Majelis Provinsi Malaita dan lima MP dari Malaita turut hadir, dan sebuah komunike dikeluarkan pada hari berikutnya. Sejumlah MP dari Malaita yang pro-Tiongkok tidak menghadiri pertemuan itu.
Desakan Provinsi Malaita untuk hak menentukan nasib sendiri ini bukan hanya datang dari daerah ini. Provinsi-provinsi lain di negara itu telah mengutarakan sentimen yang serupa, semua diakibatkan oleh pemusatan kekuasaan di tingkat pemerintah pusat, tanpa adanya kemajuan yang berarti terjadi di tingkat provinsi. Ada kekhawatiran yang masuk akal dari kedua pihak, menegaskan jurang pemisah yang umumnya terjadi di negara-negara dengan sistem pemerintahan federal.
Ketika kewenangan yang dilimpahkan ke pemerintah tingkat provinsi terbatas, ada ruang bagi oknum-oknum dari luar untuk menargetkan hubungan pemerintah nasional yang lemah, ke provinsi-provinsi yang lalu berujung ke destabilisasi. Hal ini mungkin dilakukan demi keuntungan atau sebagai langkah ekonomi yang diinginkan oleh negara.
Namun, pemerintah provinsi juga dapat menjadi sasaran yang lebih baik, karena ia lebih jarang diawasi oleh media dan diamati oleh masyarakat sipil. Faktor ini mungkin dapat menjelaskan kenapa negara-negara yang kewenangannya terpusat seperti Korea Selatan, yang juga homogen dalam hal etnik dan bahasa, secara umum lebih sulit dipengaruhi Tiongkok.
Peralihan hubungan diplomatik, dari Taiwan terhadap Tiongkok, diharapkan akan membawa pembangunan dalam berbagai sektor di Kepulauan Solomon. Pemerintah pusat harus melakukan analisis yang cermat, sebelum menandatangani perjanjian apa pun terkait pembangunan yang penting seperti ini. Legislasi dan mekanismenya harus diperkuat atau dirombak, untuk memastikan wewenang antara pemerintah pusat dan provinsi dijaga dengan baik, agar bisa melindungi kepentingan masyarakat setempat yang merupakan pemilik SDA di tingkat provinsi. (Lowy Institute/The Interpreter)
Editor: Kristianto Galuwo
Monday, October 28, 2019
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Veronica Koman opens up about her West Papua advocacy
The first thing you notice about Veronica Koman (LLM ’19) are her eyes. Cool and determined, they exude razor-sharp focus as she talks about her advocacy and its personal cost over recent months.
“Now, I am a fugitive,” says Veronica, an Indonesian human rights lawyer who graduated from The Australian National University (ANU) in July.
“There’s an article saying I am state enemy number one in Indonesia. It’s been intense.”
In September, Veronica was charged under Indonesia’s controversial electronic information and transactions law for exposing human rights abuses and advocating self-determination in West Papua. If found guilty, she faces up to six years in jail.
“I knew this day was coming sooner or later. I expected this,” she says.
Although her advocacy has been mired in challenges, Veronica received a measure of vindication on 23 October by winning the 2019 Sir Ronald Wilson Human Rights Award.
Presented each year by the Australian Council for International Development, the award is given to an individual or organisation who has made an outstanding contribution to advancing human rights.
“I dedicate this award to the victims of the crackdown that began in late August in West Papua, especially the dozens who have died at the hands of security forces and the 22 political prisoners charged with treason,” she says.
“I hope this year's award will raise awareness in Australia about human rights abuses suffered by West Papuans and the decades-long denial of their fundamental right to self-determination.”
 |
Veronica’s experience as a refugee lawyer led to her being diagnosed withpost-traumatic s tress disorder in late 2015. |
Speaking truth to power
It is difficult to obtain verified information from West Papua, an Indonesian region where deadly clashes have intensified over the past decade. Restrictions on press freedom and internet blackouts are common.
Veronica has sought to fill the information void by sharing eyewitness accounts, photos and videos of protests on social media.
And the figures, like the footage, are shocking.
“The death toll now is at 53 in just two months, with more than 100 civilians injured and 60,000 others displaced. It is a humanitarian crisis, but the press ban means it isn’t getting enough coverage,” she notes.
Veronica’s advocacy has made her an online target for trolls, who have orchestrated what she describes as “a Trumpian, fake-news” campaign against her to “confuse people and create distrust”. On 11 October, a BBC-Australian Strategic Policy Institute investigationrevealed a network of pro-government bots was behind the attacks.
“These (attacks) form part of the information war on West Papua. No press freedom and propaganda creates total distortion of information. I too didn’t know about West Papua for many years, but when my eyes were open it became my personal mission. That’s why I share videos of atrocities – because it destroys the Indonesian Government’s disinformation campaign,” she explains.
Away from social media, Veronica also faces real-world obstacles; Indonesian authorities have threatened to freeze her bank account and revoke her passport, leaving her vulnerable to arrest and extradition overseas.
Veronica has remained defiant in the face of online abuse and what she calls 'politically motivated' charges.
Finding strength in the struggle
While pleased to return to her “home” at ANU College of Law during a visit to Canberra on 15 October, Veronica’s mission was to make her voice heard at Parliament House.
“I hope the Australian Government can do more for West Papua because we are seeing the darkest period in 20 years. As a minimum, Australia should push for access to West Papua for UN Human Rights officials and journalists,” she says, adding that scholarly debate is also critical to finding solutions to the crisis.
“Australia is a leader in the Pacific region. It should take up its role to push for action, because human rights should prevail over any bilateral treaty. What we are seeing now is a humanitarian crisis.”
It’s a crisis that requires diplomatic pressure and international to solve – both pillars of Veronica’s advocacy.
Seven West Papuan prisoners of conscience who were moved to Borneo from Jayapura two weeks ago.
The transfer process was in breach of criminal procedure law.
Lawyers finally got to visit them yesterday.
110 people are talking about this
She credits her studies at ANU College of Law for giving her the knowledge and skills to work with international institutions and their respective legal frameworks on the global stage.
“I think my ANU Law studies have really helped me. The foundation I gained from International Security Law and International Humanitarian Law, both of which are applicable in the West Papua conflict, has allowed me to consider the key points that need to be communicated to the UN and other humanitarian organisations,” she says.
Like any good lawyer, the driving force behind Veronica’s work is the people she represents. The importance of staying committed to the cause is reinforced each time she learns about developments on the ground, is interviewed by journalists or, as her ANU graduation offered in July, celebrates a brighter moment with allies in Australia.
 |
Veronica with Papuan graduand, Ronny Ato Buai Kareni (MDipl '19), at ANU on 19 July 2019. |
Asked her advice to law students aspiring to follow in her footsteps as human rights advocates, Veronica notes a main source of strength is often closer than you might think.
“I think students should go forward with their passion because the people whom you advocate for will show you such courage and resilience. It pushes you to keep going.
“Personally, I feel privileged because I see and learn from the West Papuans, who are very brave. It’s just so …”
Her eyes dart in search of the right word.
“… contagious.”
