No moves taken by the President SBY on holding a dialogue Statement by Yan Christian Warinussy 11 February 2014 The Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono seems to be unable to make any suggestions based on his own personal opinion as well as in his official position as the head of state to resolve the question of Papua, either by means of dialogue between Jakarta and Papua. I am speaking in my capacity as executive director of the LP3BH Manokwari after coming under pressure from various groups in Indonesia and overseas. The social-political conflict which is continuing to this day is marked by the use of armed violence by the security forces, the TNI (Indonesian Army) and the police force in many regions of West Papua. This must stop immediately and should be replaced by the willingness to hold peaceful dialogue facilitated by a third party which is both neutral and independent. As a human rights defender working in the Land of Papua, I would like to point out that this social and political conflict has been going on since the late President Sukarno issued his Tri Komando Rakyat (Triple Peoples Command) on 19 December 1961 in Yogyakarta. Since then acts of violence perpetrated by the security forces are estimated to have led to the death of around 100,000 people. It is highly regrettable that the measures provided for in Articles 7, 8 and 9 of Law 26/1999 on Basic Human Rights, Law 26 on Human Rights Courts as well as Articles 45 and 46 of Law 21/2001 regarding Special Autonomy for West Papua are [....... some words missing]. It is evident that the Indonesian government does not have the political will to seek a resolution of the grave human rights being violated in West Papua. All those responsible for these violations, particularly those operating in the field, are never called to account. In fact, some of these people are now putting their names forward as candidates for election as the head of state in the presidential election to be held later this year. These human rights violations have been occurring since 1961 and 1963, that is to say for fifty years and are now continuing in the 51st year, as indicated by civil society organisations such as the Papuan Peace Network, which could be used as indicators for preparing for a dialogue between Papua and Indonesia. As a human rights defender, I should like to make the following concrete proposals to President SBY for consideration in preparing for a dialogue between Jakarta and Papua. The suggestions being put forward on behalf of the Indonesian government by the Governor of Papua, Lukas Enembe, and the governor of West Papua Abraham Octavianus Atururi as well as their respective provincial legislative assemblies in the form of a draft for Special Autonomy Law - Plus are unconstitutional and violate the constitutional rights of the Papuan people as provided for in the 1945 Constitution, as well as Law 24/2003 on the Constitutional Court. One thing that the SBY Government and the provincial governors need to remember is that the idea of holding a dialogue as proposed by the Papuan people is something that is based on their history and the customary and cultural values of the Papuan people. This means that it is not enough for these ideas to be responded by the President by making nice remarks about dialogue while at the same time failing, to this very day, to announce any decision to start making serious preparations for such a dialogue to take place. [Translated by Carmel Budiardjo] Apologies for the delay in circulation this translation.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 18:12:55 +0000
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