The Special Representative’s concerns were previously highlighted in a statement issued following her visit.i The full report provides further details of the disturbing situation she encountered.
Incidents involving arbitrary detention, torture, and harassment
through surveillance were reported. She expressed particular concern
about allegations that when defenders expose abuse of authority or
other forms of human rights violations committed by the security
apparatus, they are labeled as separatists in order to undermine their
credibility. This places them at greater risk and must be discouraged
by the authorities, said the Special Representative.
Defenders ‘working for the preservation of the environment and the
right over land and natural resources (deforestation and illegal
logging) frequently receive threats from private actors with powerful
economic interests but are granted no protection by the police’. The
Special Representative reminds the Government that it has a
responsibility to protect its citizens against the harmful activities
of non-State actors.
This climate of fear has reportedly worsened since the Abepura incident
in March 2006, when five members of the security forces were killed
after clashes with protesters demanding the closure of the Freeport
mine, she said. Lawyers and human rights defenders involved with the
trial received death threats. The harassment of these lawyers and
defenders around the trial was interpreted as a warning to the
community of human rights defenders, who have decreased their
activities out of fear of harsh treatment.
Tight restrictions on freedom to monitor and investigate violations
Interference with freedom of movement and with defenders’ efforts to
monitor and investigate human rights violations was also reported. The
Special Representative says that she was perturbed to hear that the
National Commission on Human Rights, Komnas HAM, is prevented by law
enforcement authorities from carrying out its official duties. She was
particularly disconcerted by reports that Albert Rumbekwan, Director of
Komnas HAM in West Papua, was intimidated and threatened on several
occasions by the police and unidentified persons in the course of his
fact-finding activities. At one point his team were warned that if they
continued with an investigation they would be killed.
The Special Representative was ‘disturbed by reports that international
human rights monitors and journalists entering West Papua are subject
to tight restrictions and only a few are permitted to operate,
resulting in a scarcity of information on the human rights situation in
West Papua, mostly with regard to allegations of human rights abuses
occurring in remote areas. Despite guarantees given by Jakarta to allow
visits to West Papua, local authorities often deny access.’
Defenders threatened and intimidated
The Special Representative draws attention to several cases of human
rights defenders being threatened and intimidated during and after her
visit. They included Federika Korain, Rev Perinus Koyoga, and Barthol
Yomen of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Diocese of
Jayapura (SKP Jayapura) whose vehicle was hit by a car driven by
intelligence officers, Yan Christian Warinussy, Director of the
Manokwari-based NGO, LP3BH, who the day after meeting the Special
Representative and subsequently was subjected to surveillance from a
vehicle used by intelligence agents and received threatening text
messages linking his human rights work to the separatist movement, and
Albert Rumbekwan, who received death threats on his mobile phone.ii
The case of Albert Rumbekwan was the most worrying, says the Special
Representative. He was told: ‘You who are reporting about the human
rights situation in Papua are trying to destroy the people. You want
evidence of people being killed, I will kill your tribe, your family
and your children will become only bones to show that there is only a
zone of peace in Papua’.
Despite Government assurances that Mr Rumbekwan was given police
protection, the Special Representative said she ‘remains concerned at
reports that threats against Mr. Rumbekwan and his family persist,
indicating that the measures taken by the police are ineffective and
should be reinforced’.
Father John Jonga
A case not referred to by the Special Representative is that of
Catholic priest, John Jonga, who has been living in the sub-district of
Waris, district of Arso, on the border with PNG, for seven years. The
Jakarta daily, Suara Pembaruan, reported
on 20 September 2007 that he made a formal complaint to the MRP, the
Papuan People’s Assembly, that he had been subjected to threats and
intimidation since August 2006.
‘I described what happened to me and to the people of Waris.’ He said
he had sought protection from the local police because of the threats
and intimidation he has experienced from the military. The threats
began ‘when I described the security situation in Waris where there is
an army post located in every kampung ’ He had submitted a report (on
the situation) to the Indonesian government in 2004 but there was no
response.
During the seven years he has been in Waris, he has had many very bad
experiences, he said, but following the arrival of Kopassus (the army’s
special forces command) the situation got even worse. ‘They frequently
ask very intimidating questions such as ‘who is hiding guns?’ or ‘who
is a member of the OPM?’ or ‘do you possess a Morning Star flag?’
The chief of police of the district admitted that the number of
complaints had increased following the visit of the UN Special
Rapporteur, Hina Jilani. He told Pastor Jonga that there was little
that the police could do and advised him to convey his concerns to the
military commander of West Papua.
On 24 September, Amnesty International expressed fears for Father
Jonga’s safety, and said that ‘he had been advised not to return to
Waris for the time being’. The Kopassus commander had allegedly
threatened to kill the priest and bury him in a 700-metre deep gorge.
They accused him of spreading false allegations about conditions in
Waris to local and international NGOs and of being a provocateur and
betraying the Indonesian state.
Adverse political conditions to blame
In her conclusions, the Special Representative says she remains
concerned about the situation of human rights defenders in West Papua
and ‘believes that their ability to defend human rights is adversely
affected by the political conditions generated by the increased
military presence in the province. The non-implementation of the
Special Autonomy Law has heightened tensions that result in protest
against repressive policies and targeting of human rights defenders who
raise such issues.’
‘A climate of fear’
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