Celebrating direct election of 2 Papuan Governors

Remember, three years ago democracy has been installed in Papua and West Papua.

From Editorial, The Jakarta Post July 2006

After four months of waiting, the people of Papua and West Irian Jaya provinces finally saw the leaders they elected back in March take office Monday. Abraham Octavianus Atururi and Rahimin Katjong entered the history books as the first governor and deputy governor of West Irian Jaya. Their inauguration Monday should close the protracted debate over the legality of the province, a debate which colored the gubernatorial election there.

Day of the Broken Promise

Benny Wenda, West Papuan criminal who killed a policeman several years ago, self claimed leader of West Papuan, and a small number of West Papuans living in Netherland demonstrated opposite the Netherlands Embassy in London, to mark their protest against the New York Agreement, 15 August 1962.

Indonesia’s presidential election begins in Papua

Tue Jul 7, 2009 7:45pm EDT REUTERS

By John Package

PUNCAK JAYA, Indonesia (Reuters) – Polling stations opened in Papua, the easternmost part of Indonesia, on Wednesday, the start of voting in a presidential election that will determine the pace of reform over the next five years.

Opinion polls have consistently shown that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will be re-elected, winning a second term and a chance to push ahead more aggressively with reforms in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy that would help attract badly needed investment and create jobs.

Indonesia: Communal Tensions in Papua

The International Crisis Group has warned Indonesia of potential conflict in the country’s easternmost province due to strained relations between Muslims and Christians.  Although the situation in Papua is not as dramatic as the report suggests, all Papuan people should be very careful in understanding the potential conflict.  Our awareness of such danger can avoid misunderstanding, which will lead to a real physical conflict.

Here is the report.

Asia Report N°154
16 juin 2008

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Indonesian Papua has seen periodic clashes between pro-independence supporters and goverment forces, but conflict between Muslim and Christian communities could also erupt unless rising tensions are effectively managed. Violence was narrowly averted in Mano­kwari and Kaimana in West Papua province in 2007, but bitterness remains on both sides. The key fac­tors are continuing Muslim migration from elsewhere in Indonesia; the emergence of new, exclusivist groups in both religious communities that have hardened the perception of the other as enemy; the lasting impact of the Maluku conflict; and the impact of developments outside Papua. National and local officials need to ensure that no discriminatory local regulations are enacted, and no activities by exclusivist religious organisations are supported by government funds.

West Papua: The Truth and Lies

Free West Papua (FWP) has received information detailing the truth and lies about West Papuan criminal detainees, who are held by the Indonesian police and prison service in Jayapura, Manokwari and Timika.

Even though unfair treatment of  criminal detainees are common in many places in the world, such unfairness can not take place in Papua. We should push the improvement of treatment of criminal detainees in Papua.

Let Democratisation Spread in West Papua

West Papuan leaders have requested talks with Jakarta to discuss greater autonomy, and increased democratisation for their region, which would fall in line with positive developments throughout the archipelago. A resolution of the decades-long conflict in Papua, one of Indonesia’s richest regions, could pave the way for Papuans to develop West Papua under special autonomy and have greater say over resources that include vast forests and huge copper and gold deposits.

Time to think about the future of West Papua

Early this month in the year of 2007, a very small number of West Papuan still try to celebrate the 46th anniversary of its declaration of independence, a document that has never been recognized by any member of the international community. Yet every year separatists in the Indonesian province of West Papua raise their rebel flag and engage in traditional celebrations.

Root of Conflict and Peace Agendas for Papua

A nice article from Jakarta Post

by Muridan S. Widjojo

The meeting between Vice President Jusuf Kalla, flanked by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo AS, Minister of Home Affairs Mohammad Ma’ruf and Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, and the official leaders of the province of Papua on Nov. 24, followed by the talks with the leaders of West Irian Jaya province the next day, resulted in a positive consensus.

Freedom Inside Indonesian Democracy

What is happening right now to my people in West Papua is showing the world the true democracy where people can rely on the strength of their words to actualise ideas they have. Indonesia uses the peaceful force of democracy, development, free election and harmony.

So now, when things are turning in favour of freedom and justice in West Papua (with visits by the US Congressman Faleomavaega and the EU and UN Human Rights envoys), Indonesia openly shows the to international community that democracy is the right medicine for West Papua. However Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) and its Army Teror Wings are always turning to the only way it knows: violence and Terror.