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| Pacific horror: A new Catholic report has shown allegations of recent military and police intimidation, beatings and torture, kidnapping and murder in the country. |
ALLEGATIONS
of recent military and police intimidation, beatings and torture, kidnapping
and murder in West Papua, have been documented in a new Church report.
The
report documents Muslims being radicalised in the once predominantly Christian
Papuan provinces, and “very active” Muslim militias that burn down Papuan
houses.
The
report was compiled by the Brisbane Catholic Justice and Peace Commission’s
Shadow Human Rights Fact Finding Mission to West Papua, following a visit to
West Papua last month.
It
has not yet been publicly released, nor comment sought from Indonesian
authorities.
The
report documents religious, social and economic discrimination including how
the carve up of land for major development has benefited multinationals and
excluded Papuans from ownership and jobs.
It
refers to a slow motion genocide happening 250km north of Australia and states
that “the Indonesians want to replace the Christian religion with Islam”.
The
report author Josephite Sister Susan Connelly was accompanied to West Papua by
Brisbane archdiocese’s Catholic Justice and Peace Commission executive officer
Peter Arndt.
During
their fact-finding mission they interviewed more than 250 community leaders in
Japapura, Merauke, Timika and Sorong.
Sr
Connelly, a respected human rights advocate, likened her visit to West Papua to
“stepping back twenty years when I first went to East Timor”.
“The
same oppressive security presence everywhere, the same suspicion, bewilderment,
frustration and sadness,” she said.
“The
same fear. The same seemingly groundless hope.
“A
man took my hands in his and said, ‘We are in danger’. That simple statement
sums up for me the experience of the whole visit.
“The
Papuan people have lost so much, and are facing erasure as a people, merely
preserved as oddities of the past or artifacts to be photographed for tourist
brochures.
“They
realise that their land is considered more valuable than they are.”
The
fact-finding team heard many accounts of alleged military and police brutality
and murder.
“There
is clear evidence of ongoing violence, intimidation and harassment by the
Indonesian security forces,” Mr Arndt said on his return to Brisbane.
“That
is especially the case for Papuans expressing their support for particular
political points of view.
“Authorities
want to close down any Papuan efforts to promote discussion about
self-determination, and they have applied a military response to deal with the
irrepressible desire of a large number of Papuans to promote their cause for
freedom.”
Based
on his interviews across West Papua, Mr Arndt (pictured) identified the
instigators of alleged human rights violations as members of the Indonesian
army including Kopassus, police including a special counter insurgency unit,
Detachment 88, and Indonesia’s intelligence agency, BIN.
“Even
demonstrations about social issues such as access to education get broken up by
authorities,” he said.
The
fact-finding team heard many examples of how the Indonesian Government pushed
economic development, but ignored human rights.
“The Government has carved up the land and
given it for exploitation to some 50 multinational companies,” the report said.
“The
procedure is that the local government invites companies to come and gives
permits.
“People
are usually shocked when the companies come to sign a MoU (memorandum of
understanding) with them, showing them the permit and the map.
“If
the villagers don’t agree to the proposal, the company goes back to the local
government and returns with the police.”
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| Troubling times: A group holds a Free West Papua protest in Melbourne. |
In
the 1970s, ethnic Papuans accounted for 96 per cent of the population.
Today
they are a minority 48 per cent, because of the rapid migration of Indonesians
from other more populated islands such as Java.
The
report found that Papuans were now marginalised economically at the expense of
immigrants, the majority of whom are Muslims.
The
report said there was “a movement for Muslims from Indonesia to replace Papuans
in every sector”.
“The
Indonesians want to replace the Christian religion with Islam. Many mosques are
being built everywhere. They want Papua to be a Javanese Malay nation,” the
report said.
“Radicalisation
is happening in Papua, with some militias very active near the border with PNG.
“They
burn down the Papuan houses. They are recruited as illegal loggers. Their camps
and logging are well protected by the military.
“The military are certainly killing the
people, and closed access to opportunity to Papuans in all areas of life
constitutes a slow motion genocide.
“The
general opinion encountered was that Indonesia is a total failure regarding
Papua and is just another coloniser.
“The
Indonesian Government does not give opportunities to Papuan people or protect
them.
“It
was said that most Church leaders try to deal with the problems one by one, but
the whole picture should be looked at as a series of policies designed to
overcome the Papuan people.
“In
every sector of government the system is composed of Indonesian tactics to
destroy the Papuans.
“Beatings
and torture are used, but also the economic aspects of lack of opportunity, the
sidelining of the indigenous peoples, the taking over of land by companies …
are part of the plan.”
Accusations
in the report
A young, wealthy businessman poisoned in
2015. He had financially supported building an office for the National
Committee for West Papua, an independence-oriented group. He also funded
Papuans being sent to international conferences.
A Papuan woman activist arrested in 2015 by
police for holding a prayer service in support of an international conference
in London. She and her group were interrogated for five hours.
In January this year, 27 Papuan palm oil
workers were allegedly tortured by the Indonesian army’s special force
Kopassus. The men had previously complained to their company bosses after they
had not been paid for two months.
A man aged 35 who used to work for Papua’s
Freeport gold mine was kidnapped in 2015, killed, and his body thrown on the
street. There was no sign of torture and the police told his family that it was
an accident.
Police and military broke up community
activities such as prayer meetings.
In September 2015, 18-year-old Daniel
Bowgow was killed. His father was a local prayer meeting leader.
People reported they couldn’t move freely
at night to search for food for fear of being kidnapped. The military and
police use Papuan informers to let them know of people’s movements.
catholicleader.com.au
By Mark Bowling
By Mark Bowling
