President's Agenda in Papua Steers Clear Of Human Rights Issue

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Statements : Press Releases

President's Agenda in Papua Steers Clear Of Human Rights Issue
By The Jakarta Post
Nov 24, 2010, 02:06

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The Jakarta Post
Monday, November 22, 2010

President's Agenda Steers Clear Of Human Rights Issue

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono arrived in Papua on Sunday to meet
with the local administration on regional revenue and to open a
national university student body conference, steering clear of the
thorny issue of human rights violations.

On Sunday evening, the President met officials from the Papua and West
Papua administrations at the Papua governor's office to discuss
strengthening the local economy.

The President and administration officials also signed an integrity
pact, reaffirming their loyalty to the country.

On Monday, Yudhoyono is scheduled to open the national meeting of
Student Executive Bodies from universities across the nation. He will
deliver a lecture at Cenderawasih University, where the national
meeting will be hosted, his official website reported.

He is not scheduled to meet with locals during this visit.

Upon his arrival, Yudhoyono and several Cabinet ministers were greeted
by hundreds of elementary school students who lined up at several
points along the roads from Sentani airport to Jayapura, Antara news
agency reported.

Officials had deployed 1,863 soldiers and police officers to provide
security for the two-day visit.

On Saturday, local police arrested nine people, allegedly members of
the West Papua Revolutionary Army (TRPB), for raising the Morning Star
(Bintang Kejora) flag.

Human rights activists said the President's agenda gave a wide berth
to reported rights violations by the military and police, thus was a
waste of time and state budget.

They demanded the President initiate dialogue with local communities
during his visit to gain more insight into solving the protracted and
extreme human rights problem in the province.

The most recently publicized case of human rights violation in Papua
was a video uploaded onto YouTube showing soldiers torturing two
Papuans.

Haris Azhar, from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of
Violence (Kontras), said Yudhoyono's visit would be futile if the
President failed to talk to local communities, including victims of
human rights violations, the Papua Customary Council, the Papua
legislature and vulnerable groups such as women.

"The President can't remain blind to issues of human rights violations
in Papua," he said.

"The central government rejected the opportunity to hold open
discussions with local communities," Haris told a press conference
Sunday.

He said Papua's special autonomy, in place since 2001, did not bring
any benefits to locals despite the influx of funds and added that the
President should address this as well.

Septer Manufandu of the Papua NGO Working Group agreed that the
central government did not treat Papuans as Indonesian citizens. "We
don't want money. We just want the same rights as other citizens
because we are part of this republic," Septer said.

He added that locals in Papua had repeatedly sought dialogue with the
President since 2008. The presidential office was frosty, he said. "A
presidential aide told us that the President did not need to talk to
us," he told The Jakarta Post.

The chairman of the Papua branch of the Evangelic Church Assembly in
Indonesia (Gidi), Lipiyus Biniluk, said he also hoped the President
would discuss special autonomy with locals during his visit.

"Special autonomy needs clearer implementation. We are open for
discussions with [Yudhoyono]," Lipiyus said, adding that native
Papuans needed guarantees from the President. (rch

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