Amnesty calls for release of students arrested over Morning Star graduation march

 https://www.indoleft.org/news/2024-05-08/amnesty-calls-for-release-of-students-arrested-over-morning-star-graduation-march.html

Amnesty calls for release of students arrested over Morning Star graduation march

CNN Indonesia – May 8, 2024

High school students wearing Morning Star shirts during parade in Dogiyai – May 6, 2024 (Polda Papua

Jakarta – Amnesty International Indonesia is urging the police to release a number of high-school students who were arrested for wearing Morning Star independence flag attributes during a parade in Nabire, Central Papua.

Amnesty International Indonesia Executive Director Usman Hamid said based on information they received, at least six students were arrested by police during a senior high-school (SMA) graduation celebration on Monday May 6.

"We call on the authorities to immediately free all the students who were detained for no apparent reason and carry out a fair investigation of teh acts of violence that allegedly occurred", said Hamid said in a written statement on Tuesday May 7.

According to Hamid, the arrests were accompanied by alleged acts of violence by police against students which is unacceptable. He said the expression of happiness through a peaceful procession is not a crime.

Hamid is also of the view that the symbol of the Morning Star represents a cultural expression, so it should not be a reason for the authorities to arrest anyone without due legal process.

"The police and the government should emulate Gus Dur's [former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid] approach towards indigenous Papuans. Cultural symbols such as the Morning Star flag were accommodated because it's a peaceful expression", he said.

Based on information obtained by Amnesty, the students celebrated their graduation by holding a parade on a main road while wearing their school uniforms.

Some of them drew motives of the Morning Star flag on their uniforms, which the authorities see as being a symbol of the Free Papua Organization (OPM).

A similar celebration was also carried out by SMA students in Dogiyai regency.

But the celebration in Nabire ended with the arrest of the students accompanied by alleged violence by the authorities. So far, the identity of the six arrested students is still unknown. The students were said to have been taken to the Nabire regional police station.

CNN Indonesia has contacted the head of Papua regional police public relations division, Senior Commissioner Ignatius Benny Ady Prabowo, to ask about the arrests in Nabire, but as of this report being written he has not responded.

Earlier, Prabowo said the police had asked for clarification regarding the students' parade wearing the Morning Star attributes. "We have asked for clarification from the Dogiyai Polres [district police] related to photos of the event that were circulated on a WhatsApp group", said Prabowo on Monday.

Meanwhile, quoting from by Detik South Sulawesi, Dogiyai police chief Police Commander Sarraju said the long-march by the Dogiyai 2 State SMA students was indeed to celebrate their graduation. He claimed that the police who were on patrol in the area were prohibited from entering the school.

"Indeed (on Monday) morning at around 9.30 am our officer conducted patrols and monitored the announcement of 12th grade graduation at the Dogiyai SMU [State High School] 2 led by Second Police Inspector Agustinus Rirey and officers", he said on Tuesday.

"But when they wanted to enter the school grounds to appeal to students not to carry out the parade or long-march they were prevented by several students standing guard at the school gate", he added.

The police, he said, are looking into the actions of the Dogiyai 2 State SMA students who celebrated their graduation wearing clothes with pictures of the Morning Star flag. The school principal and four teachers have already been questioned over the incident.

"The Dogiyai police criminal investigation unit has conducted a clarification with the school principal and teachers, as many as four people, in relation with yesterday's incident", said Dogiyai district police chief Police Commander Sarajju.

Sarajju said that Dogiyai 2 State SMA school principle Fredy Yobee has apologised for the incident claiming that he and the teachers did not have prior knowledge of students' actions. (yoa/kid)

[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Amnesty Desak Polisi Bebaskan Siswa Papua Dibekuk Imbas Bintang Kejora".]

Source: https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20240508063801-12-1095237/amnesty-desak-polisi-bebaskan-siswa-papua-dibekuk-imbas-bintang-kejora

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1) TPNPB OPM Requests Govt to Open Access for Human Rights Agencies to Papua

2) OPM Seeks Jokowi's Responsibility for Military Raid in Papua's Pogapa

3) News: Scottish Friends of West Papua launched in Scottish Parliament

4) Morning Star graffiti expressions lead to students and teachers at SMAN 2 Dogiyai dealing with the police

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https://en.tempo.co/read/1866228/tpnpb-opm-requests-govt-to-open-access-for-human-rights-agencies-to-papua

1) TPNPB OPM Requests Govt to Open Access for Human Rights Agencies to Papua  

Translator Najla Nur Fauziyah

 Editor Laila Afifa 

10 May 2024 18:15 WIB  

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Movement(TPNPB OPM) asked the Indonesian government to open access for human rights agencies, both national and international, to Papua. This request was the result of an aerial military attack that was said to have burned down three civilian houses in Pogapa Village, causing them to flee to Sanepa, Bilae, and some other villages.

"The Indonesian government (shall) immediately open humanitarian access to national and international human rights agencies to investigate civilians affected by the armed conflict in Papua," said TPNPB OPM spokesperson, Sebby Sambom, in a written statement to Tempo, on Thursday, May 9, 2024.

TPNPB OPM requests the Indonesian government to guarantee the rights of civilians in refugee camps and vacate civilian houses and government buildings used as military posts in Intan Jaya and areas of armed conflict in Papua.

The attack which was said to have been carried out brutally was reported by the Ogobogo Battalion Commander and Operations Commander Keny Tipagau as well as TPNPB OPM soldiers on the battlefield in Pogapa, Intan Jaya, Central Papua. It was carried out after an armed group attacked the Homeyo Sector Police headquarters and Military District Command Post 1705-05/Homeyo from April 30 to May 1, 2024.

TPNPB OPM asked the Indonesian government to take responsibility for the burning of three civilian houses. They asked the Indonesian government to open access to human rights agencies to inspect directly the situation and the refugees resulting from the armed conflict in Pogapa Village.

According to Sebby, the Indonesian government under the leadership of President Joko Widodo or Jokowi and the TNI Commander has deployed military helicopters since the 4th and 5th of May as a retaliatory attack.

"In this case, the President of Indonesia and the TNI Commander (shall)immediately clarify the report in accordance with international humanitarian law standards," said Sebby.

HAN REVANDA PUTRA

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https://en.tempo.co/read/1866057/opm-seeks-jokowis-responsibility-for-military-raid-in-papuas-pogapa

2) OPM Seeks Jokowi's Responsibility for Military Raid in Papua's Pogapa

Translator

Dewi Elvia Muthiariny

Editor

Nabiha Zain

10 May 2024 11:28 WIB

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Movement(TPNPB OPM) said the Indonesian Military (TNI) conducted a brutal and massive aerial attack on residential areas in Intan Jaya, disregarding humanitarian law in the war against civilians.

Sebby Sambom, a spokesperson of the TPNPB OPM, said the deployment of national military troops in Pogapa Village, Intan Jaya, Central Papua, was in pursuit of the TPNPB and had caused extensive damage to the village's civilian infrastructure.

“[Public facilities are damaged] as a result of the brutal aerial attack by the TNI helicopter without guaranteeing [the safety of] the local residents during the operation,” Sebby said in a written statement received by Tempo on Thursday evening, May 9.

According to him, the Indonesian government, under the leadership of President Joko Widodo or Jokowi and the TNI Commander, has deployed military helicopters since May 4, 2024, in pursuit of the TPNPB Regional Defense Command (Kodap) VIII Intan Jaya after the armed group attacked TNI-Polri troops in Pogapa Village.

“In this case, the Indonesian President and the TNI Commander should immediately clarify [their actions] following international humanitarian law,” Sebby added.

The TPNPB launched an attack operation against the national military in Intan Jaya from March 30 to May 5, 2024. “This resulted in the death of an Indonesian intelligence officer and the burning of a school,” he claimed.

Sebby stressed that the Indonesian government must immediately take responsibility for the burning of three civilian houses in Pogapa during the military attack and allow access for humanitarian agencies to see the conflict situation. He also mentioned that residents had vacated their villages.

IKHSAN RELIUBUN

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https://www.ulmwp.org/news-scottish-friends-of-west-papua-launched-in-scottish-parliament?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3lu-xt1xwSRH4Mi6N6RZYkDiXGKkbwLKxqa8ooB56Y7pkMhCbriiG2XGA_aem_Ab3OqpTaX46c-6dGz4MLIOurEK9r8YXaG1OPl8VZYTdiVVHW4Za6QTRT72I1VmuRYHVkZNY09cyb4iLZyLJmMuGO

3) News: Scottish Friends of West Papua launched in Scottish Parliament

May 10, 2024 in News

Event attendees supporting the SFWP launch

A new Scottish chapter of the International Parliamentarians for West Papua (IPWP) launched yesterday (10th May 2024) at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.

The Scottish Friends of West Papua launch was hosted by Bill Kidd MSP, and addressed by ULMWP President Benny Wenda, ULMWP Prime Minister Edison Waromi, and IPWP Chair Alex Sobel MP.

The meeting was the fourth held as part of a new IPWP campaign to increase the pressure on Indonesia facilitate a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights fact-finding mission immediately. Previous meetings in the UK, EU, and Dutch Parliaments highlighted Indonesia’s ongoing refusal to allow the UN into West Papua. Alongside these Parliamentary hearings, the IPWP has launched the Brussels Declaration accusing Indonesia of blocking a UN visit and calling for urgent international intervention.

Indonesia first invited then-High Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein to West Papua in 2018, but have continually failed to make good on that promise, despite over 100 UN member states calling for a visit to happen. In the six years since, over 100,000 Papuans have been internally displaced by Indonesian military operations, with at least 1200 civilians dying as a result.

President Wenda spoke about the progress of the campaign for a UN visit, as well as the current military escalation in West Papua. Alex Sobel discussed the importance of Parliamentarians signing the Brussels Declaration, along with the IPWP call for the creation of a Special Rapporteur for Indonesia.

ULMWP President Benny Wenda: “As I speak to you now, West Papuans are living under a shadow. We are scared of the future under new Indonesian President, the war criminal Prabowo Subianto. For West Papuans, this means the ghost of the dictator Suharto is back. Prabowo has never been held accountable or punished for his atrocities in East Timor and West Papua. He has committed massacres and never apologised. In his election campaign, he said that he will pursue a military approach in West Papua. We know that the situation will only get worse under this rule. 

West Papua needs short-term friends and long-term friends. We hope that Scottish Parliamentarian can join the Interantional Parliamentarians for West Papua and add their voice to the growing cry for a UN Human Rights visit to West Papua. We have been isolated and voice for a long time and we need supporters to speak for us. Just like the Basque and Catalan Parliaments, we hope the Scottish Parliament can make their own call for a UN visit to West Papua.”

Any Scottish Parliamentarian who wishes to sign the Brussels declaration should contact office@ipwp.org.

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A google translate.

Original Bahasa link.

https://jubitv.id/ekspresi-coretan-bintang-kejora-berujung-siswa-dan-guru-sman-2-dogiyai-berurusan-dengan-polisi/

4) Morning Star graffiti expressions lead to students and teachers at SMAN 2 Dogiyai dealing with the police

In 2024, students will repeat the action of crossing out Morning Star patterned clothes or unfurling the Morning Star flag in a number of places in Papua.

9 ei 2024 in News   0 0 0 Writer: Hengky Yeimo - Editor: Syofiardi

68 /Nabire, Jubi TV– The expression of scribbled clothes after graduation with the Morning Star motif is nothing new in Papua. Almost every year at the graduation celebrations for middle and high school students, there are always expressions of scribbled clothes with Morning Star motifs. Apart from that, students also often accompany teachers or school principals.

Events like this are commonly carried out by Papuan children to express their pride after hearing their graduation results. This kind of phenomenon occurs in almost all of Papua. The students' expressions always resulted in serious action from the local police, such as arrests, beatings and interrogations.

In 2024, students will repeat the action of scribbling on clothes with the Morning Star motif or unfurling the Morning Star flag in a number of places in Papua. Based on information gathered by Jubi.id, celebrations like this took place on Monday 6 May 2024 in Dogiyai Regency, Nabire Regency, Deiyai Regency, Timika, Sorong and Yalimo. The celebration took place after the announcement of the graduation of high school students.

In Deiyai, students of Deiyai 1 Public High School, Central Papua Province, after hearing the results of the National Examination and being declared 100 percent passed, they unfurled the Morning Star flag in the school yard for a group photo. This photo went viral on social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, X, etc.

Meanwhile in Nabire, the capital of Central Papua Province, a number of high school and vocational school students, after hearing the announcement of their graduation, took to walking on the main road. Some of them painted white uniforms with pilox paint with a Morning Star motif.

Their action resulted in their forced dispersal by the police. Some of them were even beaten, dispersed with gunfire, and 14 students were arrested. Including a student at Satya Wiyata Mandala University. The incident in Nabire received a serious response from the Papua Justice Talent Legal Aid Institute (LBH-TKP) which is based in Nabire.

LBH-TKP Director Ricardani Nawipa said that as many as 14 Nabire students were detained by the Nabire Resort Police (Polres Nabire) while walking in groups on the main road celebrating graduation. They walked from Kali Bobo to Bumi Wonorejo. The 14 students were released on Tuesday (07/05/2024) evening after undergoing examination at the Nabire Police.

"There were 14 students who were released at 23:40 Papua Time, while Darius Goo was detained until 03:00, dawn. Darius Goo, a student at Satya Wiyata Mandala University (USWIM), was also arrested separately in Bumi Wonorejo. "Darius was the victim of the wrong arrest, but the police officers beat him until his face was battered, this is an unlawful act," said Nawipa to Jubi via WhatsApp telephone, Wednesday (8/5/2024).

The students who had just graduated, said Nawipa, were arrested on the grounds that they had crossed out their clothes with the Morning Star motif and the logo of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) organization.

"At that time, these students' younger siblings were negotiating with the police, but they (the police) insisted on breaking up the students' convoy on the grounds that the Morning Star flag and the KNPB organization flag had been painted on their high school uniforms," he said.

Nawipa, as the students' legal representative, said that police officers shot the students using tear gas and allegedly fired live bullets when dispersing the students.

"From the reports we received from the students, it was that during the arrest incident, some of them had injuries as a result of beatings and when carrying out the investigation, the Nabire police also examined 14 students by asking the students to take off their clothes, asking for the students' cellphones and other accessories," he said.

According to Nawipa, the students were arrested for questioning, but he considered that the police's actions had violated the Criminal Procedure Code.

"The students and students were arrested for questioning and this action violated the Criminal Procedure Law Number 8 of 1981," he said.

Based on information obtained from the students, said Nawipa, the Nabire police carried out illegal arrests.

"We ask the police to stop illegal arrests without documents as regulated in the Law on the Police Code of Ethics, Number 02 of 2002," he said.

Nawipa asked all parties, including the Police in Nabire, to understand the rights and obligations of Indonesian citizens. The right and obligation to express one's opinion to the public as regulated in the 1945 Constitution.

"The 1945 Constitution in article 28 has stipulated the right of citizens and residents to associate and assemble, express their thoughts verbally or in writing, and so on, so, this section must be understood by all parties, do not take the judge into your own hands," he said.

5 Teachers of SMAN 2 Dogiyai examined 7 hours

Meanwhile, in Dogiyai Regency, Central Papua Province, as a result of the expressions of the students of SMAN 2 Dogiyai, they carried out a graffiti action on their uniforms with the Morning Star (BK) flag motif after hearing the graduation on Monday (6/5/2024), and paraded the school principal Fredy Yobee on the main road with a sedan chair resulted in the questioning of five school teachers, including the principal of SMAN 2 Dogiyai.

“That's right, we were questioned on May 7 2024. We were examined from 09.00 to 15.00 Papua Time. We were questioned for 7 hours, the place was at the Dogiyai Police Station. "We were asked for information by the Dogiyai Police regarding the spontaneous action carried out by the students of SMA Negeri 2. We were asked about that and it was clarified by the principal," said a teacher to Jubi by telephone.

He said that the five teachers consisted of the principal of SMA Negeri 2 Dogiyai, the deputy principal, the Chairman of the National Examination Committee, and the teaching teachers. "We were asked by the police for information regarding the activities of children who scribbled clothes with Morning Star motifs and paraded around Moanemani, Dogiyai Regency," he said.

Meanwhile, the Head of SMA Negeri 2 Dogiyai Regency, Central Papua, Fredy Yobee, in a video uploaded to the tiktok account @humasdogiyai with the name @humaspolresdogiyai presented five teachers of SMAN 2 Dogiyai. In the video, Yobee clarifies the incident.

"I came to provide clarification regarding the parade carried out by the children of SMA Negeri 2 Dogiyai, that the parade that was carried out was not carried out by us teachers or the principal who encouraged them to do this, but it was their spontaneity or their initiative or they felt proud. or what, we don't know," he said.

Regarding the student from SMAN 2 Dogiyai carrying him on a chair and taking him to the main road, said Yobee, it was not his intention to ask the student to carry him.

"I was also told to climb onto a chair that the students had made. Yesterday I avoided that, but the children, they put me on a chair and went around several streets," he said.

Yobee explained that at first he thought that was where they were going. I didn't know either, so I found out after they went around the streets that there were several roads in the capital of Dogiyai Regency.

"What happened was not the will of the teachers or the principal, but it was purely their initiative and their own spontaneity," he said.

Yobee said that regarding the picture or writing regarding the Morning Star flag, he did not order them to do this action.

"We were surprised when the children wanted to hear the announcement of their graduation results. We are honest, when we wanted to convey the graduation results, we conveyed it to them ourselves and then to the students' parents. "If we knew there was graffiti like this, we wouldn't have held a farewell event," he said ending the conversation in the video published by the Dogiyai Police Public Relations. (*)

This article has been published on jubi.id

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The Papuan Police sent the Cartenz Peace Operations Task Force to Intan Jaya

 A google translate.

Original Bahasa link

https://jubi.id/polhukam/2024/polda-papua-kirim-satgas-operasi-damai-cartenz-ke-intan-jaya/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2D90-A-vn25r5wy-jIQHsBAGYgKPnqB_xZwZmQFu5Lhsm7n6X5O8Tpu_A_aem_ARejVYUJD_kzwGTyVVA47M9artmpeY5KC_tPxJe1mfmPs4mZZQNgGDDba82N5YI-GFwmOYc9KAhlO_WkBxmJvjyW#google_vignette

The Papuan Police sent the Cartenz Peace Operations Task Force to Intan Jaya

These tactical and technical steps were taken in an effort to comprehensively handle the capital city of Intan Jaya after the TPNPB-OPM attack

May 3, 2024 in Political, Legal and Security Affairs

  0

Author: Alexander Loen - Editor: Alberth Yomo

Jayapura, Jubi – A total of 20 Cartenz Peace Operation Task Force personnel were sent to Intan Jaya Regency, Central Papua Province following the attack on the Homeyo Police Station on April 30 2024 which resulted in the death of a teenager named Alexsander Parapak. Not only that, this Task Force will also investigate the burning of the Inpres Pogapa Elementary School building on Wednesday 1 May 2024, and the attempted attack on Koramil 1705-05/Homeyo on 2 May 2024 by an armed group suspected of being the West Papua National Liberation Army Free Papua Organization or TPNPB -OPM. This was conveyed by the Head of the Papua Regional Police, Inspector General Mathius Fakhiri in Jayapura City, Friday (5/5/2024).

“We hope today can be calmer. I am also trying today to be able to add additional personnel assistance and our helicopter can land safely because yesterday it couldn't come in. "So today we are adding strength to take action," said Fakhiri.

Fakhiri said that if additional personnel had arrived at Intan Jaya, his party would take tactical and technical steps in comprehensive handling of Sugapa, the capital of Intan Jaya. With the hope that in the future there will be no more disturbances.

"Our helicopter is under maintenance and the other is in Boven Digoel. Our personnel have also been shifted there. "When we arrive there, we will immediately take security measures together with the Intan Jaya Police," he stressed.

Police Chief Fakhiri admitted that he had received reports that in Intan Jaya there had been disturbances in security and order (kamtibmas) such as shootings. Government services will certainly be disrupted and paralyzed. However, he asked the government to continue providing services to the community.

"The only survivors are Polri and TNI personnel and the task force assigned there. "Meanwhile, other civil servants chose to leave to protect themselves," he said.

Commander of the Joint Regional Defense Command (Kogabwilhan) III, Lieutenant General TNI Richard T.H. Tampubolon said the joint TNI-Polri apparatus had succeeded in cracking down on the TPNPB-OPM movement in Intan Jaya. "TPNPB has disturbed security and tried to control the Homeyo area for three days in a row, causing fear among the local community, some people even fled to protect themselves," said Richard.

According to Richard, the armed disturbances and arson carried out by TPNPB also paralyzed community activities in the area. "Today the TNI-Polri security forces have succeeded in carrying out an action against the TPNPB group in the Homeyo District area," he stressed.

Richard said the joint TNI-Polri apparatus assigned to Intan Jaya involved the Habema TNI Operations Command (KOOPS TNI) unit and the Nanggala Damai Cartenz Task Force. The results obtained from this operation are that the Homeyo District is gradually recovering from TPNPB's sporadic actions.

He assessed that control of security is very meaningful for the smooth and conducive situation in the lives of local people in carrying out their daily lives and activities. "The firm crackdown operation against OPM in the Homeyo District area is an effort to create regional security that will support all processes of accelerating Papua's development," he said.

Komnas TPNPB spokesperson Sebby Sambom in a written release said that TPNPB Region VIII Intan Jaya troops managed to shoot 4 members of the Indonesian military and burn down an elementary school building on May 1 2024. "TPNPB-OPM Kodap VIII Intan Jaya Brigadier General Undius Kogoya is responsible for the deaths of 4 "TNI-Polri members and an empty back car," said Sambom.

According to Sambom, the shooting incident occurred at 12.05 WIT afternoon in Enarotali Regency, precisely in Bibida Village. The incident started when members of the TNI-Polri entered without permission so we shot them. We hope that we don't blame the people of Enarotali.

"We are also ready to carry out operations in Enarotali, Deiyai, Dogiyai and Nabire districts, these 4 areas are the TPNPB-OPM operational areas. "We convey this because Prabowo Subianto and top Indonesian military officials have agreed to discuss law enforcement, so before sending TNI-Polri troops, prepare the coffins of your members' bodies and then send them," he stressed. (*)

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1) OPM’s Bomanak accuses UN of failing to uphold decolonisation role over West Papua

2) The TPNPB News-Per 2 Mei 2024

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https://asiapacificreport.nz/2024/05/02/opms-bomanak-accuses-un-of-failing-to-uphold-decolonisation-role-over-west-papua/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3lB_aI6wr_Vr-RHCu63BxJt-ckJzr0TYAm60x3t7UiGiTXJhAF047xeDk_aem_Ace6ttp5cInnhCH4ip9fSGFIzO6oFKZ7Xnv9ynFukXFPtJ3jEQyTvrJPPamANY973YN8c2e_WqfTU7Bf4rXKua5t

1) OPM’s Bomanak accuses UN of failing to uphold decolonisation role over West Papua 

By APR editor -  May 2, 2024

A West Papuan resistance leader has condemned the United Nations role in allowing Indonesia to “integrate” the Melanesian Pacific region in what is claimed to be an “egregious act of inhumanity” on 1 May 1963.

In an open letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Organisasi Papua Merdeka-OPM (Free Papua Organisation) leader Jeffrey P Bomanak has also claimed that this was the “beginning of genocide” that could only have happened through the failure of the global body to “legally uphold its decolonisation responsibilities in accordance with the UN Charter”.

Bomanak says in the letter dated yesterday that the UN failed to confront the “relentless barbarity of the Indonesian invasion force and expose the lie of the fraudulent 1969 gun-barrel ‘Act of No Choice'”.

• READ MORE: OPM leader’s open letter condemns Australia’s ‘treachery’ over Papua
• West Papua accusations fly at Australia, US
• Other West Papua reports

The open letter follows one released on the eve of Anzac Day last month which strongly criticised the role of Australia and the United States, accusing both countries of “betrayal” in Papuan aspirations for independence.

According to RNZ News today, an Australian statement in response to the earlier OPM letter said the federal government “unreservedly recognises Indonesia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over the Papua provinces”.

The White House has not responded.

The OPM says it has compiled a “prima facie pictorial ‘integration’ history” of Indonesia’s actions in integrating the Pacific region into an Asian nation. It plans to present this evidence of “six decades of crimes against humanity” to Secretary-General Guterres and new Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.

The open letter states:

May 1, 2024

Dear Secretary-General Guterres,

I am addressing you in an open letter which I will be releasing to media and governments because I have previously brought to your attention the history of the illegal annexation of West Papua on May 1st, 1963, and the role of your office in the fraudulent UN referendum in 1969, called an Act of Free Choice and I have never received a reply.

After six decades of OPM letters and Papuan appeals to the UN Secretariat, I am providing the transparency and accountability of an “open letter”, so that historians of the future can
investigate the moral and ethical credibility of the UN Secretariat.

May 1st is a day of mourning for Papuans. A day of grief over the illegal annexation of our ancestral Melanesian homeland by a violent occupation force from Southeast Asia.

Indonesia’s annexation of Western New Guinea (Irian Jaya/West Papua) on May 1, 1963, is
commemorated in Indonesia’s Parliament as a day of integration. The photos on these pages on these pages show a different story. The reality these photos portray is, in fact, one of the longest ongoing acts of genocide since the end of the Second World War.

An invasion and an illegal annexation not unlike Nazi Germany’s annexation in 1938 of
its neighbouring country, Austria. The difference for Papuans is that the UN and the USA were co-conspirators in preventing our right to determine a future that was our right to have under the UN decolonisation process: independence and nation-state sovereignty.

A very chilling contradiction — the Allies we fought alongside, nursed back to life, and died with during WWII had joined forces with a mass-murderer not unlike Hitler — the Indonesian president Suharto (see Photo collage #2: Axis of Evil).

Some scholars have called the May 1, 1963 annexation “Indonesia’s Anschluss”. Suharto and the conspirators goal of colonial invasion and conquest had been achieved through
the illegal annexation of my people’s ancestral homeland, my homeland.

General and president-in-waiting Suharto signed a contract in 1967 with American mining giant Freeport, another company associated with David Rockefeller, two years before we were to determine our future through the aforementioned gun-barrel UN referendum project-managed by a brutal occupation force. Our future had already been determined by Suharto, David Rockefeller, Henry Kissinger, and Suharto’s friend, UN secretary-General U Thant. U Thant had succeeded Dag Hammarskjöld who had been assassinated for his controversial view that human rights and freedom were absolutely universal and should not be subjected to the criminal whims of either tyrants like Suharto or a resource industry with views on human rights and freedom that resembled Suharto’s.

I do not need to give you a blow-by-blow history for your edification — you already know the entire history and the victim tally — 350,000 adults and 150,000 children and babies. And rising. You are, after all, a man of some principle — Portugal’s former prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002, as well as a member of the Portuguese Socialist Party. And presiding as Portuguese prime minster during the final years of Fretilin’s war of liberation in East Timor, a former Portuguese colony invaded by Indonesia in 1975 with anywhere up to 250,000 victims of genocide. Please explain to me the difference between the Indonesia’s
invasion and “integration” of East Timor and Indonesia’s invasion and “integration” of my homeland, Western New Guinea (West Papua).

Apart from the oil in the Timor Gap and the gold and copper all over my homeland — the wealth of someone else’s resources promoting the “integration” policies pictured over these pages.

As a member of a socialist party, you might be attending May Day ceremonies today. I will be counselling victims and the families of loved ones who have been “integrated” today. Yes, the freedom-loving Papuans are holding rallies to protest the annexation of our homeland . . .  to protest the failure — your failure — to apply justice and to end this nightmare.

The cost of the UN-approved annexation to Papuans in pain and suffering: massacres, torture, systemic rape by TNI and Polri, mutilation and dismemberment as a signature of your barbarity. Relentless barbarity causing six decades of physical and cultural genocide, ethnocide, infanticide, and wave after wave of ethnic cleansing.

The cost to Papuans in the theft and plunder of our natural resources: genocide by starvation and famine.

The cost to Papuans from the foreign resource industry plundering our natural resources: the devastation of pristine environments, whole ecosystems poisoned by the resource industry’s chemical toxicity, called tailings, released into rivers thereby destroying whole riverine catchments along with food sources from fishing and farming — catchment rivers and nearby farming lands contaminated by Freeport, and other’s. A failure to apply any international standards for risk management to prevent the associated birth defects
in villages now living in contaminated catchments.

That we would choose to become part of any nation so brutal defies credibility. That the UN approved integration should have been impossible based on the evidence of the ever-increasing numbers of defence and security forces landing in West Papua and undertaking military campaigns that include ever-increasing victims and internally displaced Papuans, the bombing of central highland villages a current example? Such courage! Why are foreign
media not allowed into my people’s homeland?

Secretary-General Guterres, future historians will judge the efficacy of the United Nations. The integrity. West Papua will feature as a part the UN Secretariat’s legacy. To this endeavour, as the leader of Organisasi Papua Merdeka, I ask, and demand that you comply with your obligations under article 85 part 2 and sundry articles of your Charter of United Nations which requires that you inform the Trusteeship Council about your General Assembly resolution 1752, with which you are subjugating our people and homelands of West New Guinea which we call West Papua.

The agreement which your resolution 1752 is authorising, begins with the words “The Republic of Indonesia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, having in mind the interests and welfare of the people of the territory of West New Guinea (West Irian)”

Your agreement is clearly a trusteeship agreement written according to your rules of Chapter XII of your Charter of the United Nations.

The West Papuan people have always opposed your use of United Nations military to make our people’s human rights subject to the whim of your two administrators, UNTEA and from 1st May 1963 the Republic of Indonesia that is your current administrator.

We refer to your organisation’s last official record about West Papua which still suffers your ongoing unjust administration managed by UNTEA and Indonesia:

Because you also used article 81 and Chapter XII of your Charter to seize control of our homelands when you created your General Assembly resolution 1752, the Netherlands was excused by article 73(e), “to transmit regularly to the Secretary-General for information purposes, subject to such limitation as security and constitutional considerations may require, statistical and other information of a technical nature relating to economic, social, and educational conditions in the territories for which they are respectively responsible other than those territories to which Chapters XII and XIII apply”, from transmitting further reports about our people and the extrajudicial killings that your new administrators began using to silence our demands for our liberty and independence.

We therefore demand your Trusteeship Council begin its unfinished duty of preparing your United Nations reports as articles 85 part 2, 87 and 88 of your Charter requires.

West Papua is entitled to independence, and article 76 requires you assist. It is illegal for Indonesia to invade us and to impede our independence, and to subsequently subject us to six decades of every classification for crimes against humanity listed by the International Criminal Court.

We know this trusteeship agreement was first proposed by the American lawyer John Henderson in 1959, and was discussed with Indonesian officials in 1961 six months before the death of your Dag Hammarskjöld. We think it is shameful that you then elected Indonesia’s friend U Thant as Secretary-General, and we demand that you permit the Secretariat to perform its proper duty of revealing your current annexation of West Papua (Resolution 1752) to your Trusteeship Council.

I look forward to your reply.

Yours sincerely,

Jeffrey P Bomanak
Chairman-Commander OPM
Markas Victoria, May 1, 2024

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2) The TPNPB News-Per 2 Mei 2024

Shared by: Sebby Sambom (Jubir TPNPB)

Pasukan TPNPB Wilayah VIII Intan Jaya Berhasil Tembak 4 Anggota Militer Indonesia Dan Bakar Satu Gedung Sekolah Dasar Pada 1 Mei 2024

Manajemen Markas Pusat Komnas TPNPB telah terima laporan resmi dari Panglima Komando Wilayah Pertahanan VIII Intan Jaya Brigadier General Undius Kogeya dan Pasukannya bahwa mereka telah melakukan tembakan di Mobil Patroli TNI/Polri Dan berhasil tembak 4 anggota Pasukan teroris Indonesia, Dan juga telah berhasil gedung bangunan Sekolah dasar karena Sekolah gedung bangunan Sekolah ini digunakan oleh militer Dan polisi Indonesia, Dan juga anggota TNI yang menjadi guru- guru di Sekolah tersebut.

Silahkan ikuti laporan TPNPB wilayah VIII Intan Jaya dibawah ini!

TPNPB-OPM

Tentara Pembebasan Nasional Papua Barat-Organisasi Papua Merdeka Kodap VIII Intanjaya Brigjen Undius kogoya bertanggung jawab atas tewasnya 4 anggota TNI-POLRI beserta satu mobil belakang kosong.

Kejadian baku tembak terjadi pukul 12:05 siang kabupaten Enarotali kampung bibida hal ini bermula anggota teroris TNI-POLRI masuk tanpa ijin sehingga kami tembak untuk itu kami harap tidak boleh salahkan masyarakat Enarotali, juga kami siap lakukan operasi di kabupaten Enarotali, deiyai, dogiyai dan Nabire di mana 4 wilayah ini menjadi daerah operasi TPNPB-OPM Dan hal ini kami sampaikan karena Prabowo Subianto dan petinggi militer Indonesia telah sepakat bicara penegakan hukum, maka sebelum kirimkan pasukan teroris TNI-Polri persiapkan Peti mayat anggota mu lalu kirim, jadi saya juga minta kepada TPNPB yang ada di 4 wilayah ini segera bersatu dan ambil komando untuk melakukan operasi melawan teroris TNI-Polri

Sampai Papua merdeka demikian TPNPB masih dalam siaga 1. Informasi lanjut akan menyusul.

Info lanjut pasukan kodap VIII Intanjaya yang di komandoi Keny Tipagau dan aprianus bagubau berhasil bakar sekolah dan rumah tempat jualan milik TNI-Polri di pogapa pada pukul 08:10 pagi.

Hal itu di lakukan lantaran kios-kios tersebut milik TNI-Polri juga, Dan Keny Tipagau minta warga sipil segera kosongkan kampung pogapa kecamatan homeyo.

Laporan lanjut Untuk situasi Enarotali akan menyusul.

Penanggung jawab: Brigjen Undius Kogoya

serta pimpinan di Paniai dan Ilaga.

Demikian siaran pers Manajemen Markas pusat komnas TPNPB, Dan diteruskan kepada semua pihak oleh Jubir Komnas TPNPB Sebby Sambom.

Dan terima kasih atas kerja sama yang baik.

The TPNPB News-Per 2 Mei 2024

Shared by: Sebby Sambom (Jubir TPNPB)

TPNPB Region VIII Intan Jaya Forces Succeeded In Shooting 4 Indonesian Military Members And Burned One Primary School Building On May 1, 2024

The Management of the Komnas Central Headquarters of TPNPB has received official reports from the Commander of the Defense Regional Command VIII Intan Jaya Brigadier General Undius Kogeya and his Forces that they have fired at the TNI/Polri Patrol Car And successfully shot 4 members of the Indonesian terrorist Army, And also successfully built the building of elementary school because of the School this school building is used by the Indonesian military and police, and also members of the TNI who are teachers in the school.

Please follow the report of TPNPB region VIII Intan Jaya below!

 

TPNPB-OPM

West Papua National Liberation Army-Independent Papua Organization Kodap VIII Intanjaya Brigadier Undius Kogoya is responsible for the death of 4 TNI-POLRI members and one empty rear car.

The firing incident happened at 12:05 pm Enarotali district bibida village this thing started terrorist members of ARMY-POLRI entered without permission until we shoot for that we hope we can not blame Enarotali people, also we are ready to conduct operation in Enarotali, deiyai, dogiyai and Nabire district where these 4 districts become TPNPB-OPM operation area And this we convey because Prabowo Subianto and the Indonesian military chief have agreed to talk law enforcement, then before sending the terrorist army TNI-Polri prepare the coffin of your member and then send, so I also ask TPNPB who are in these 4 regions immediately unite and take command to conduct operations against TNI-Polri terrorists

Until Papua gets independent TPNPB is still on standby 1. More information will follow.

More info on the VIII Intanjaya kodap army that was commanded by Keny Tipagau and aprianus bagubau managed to burn down a school and a house where the sales place belonged to TNI-Polri in pogapa at 08:10 am.

It was done because the kiosks belong to TNI-Polri also, And Keny Tipagau asked civilians to immediately vacate pogapa village homeyo sub-district.

More reports on the Enarotali situation will follow.

In Charge: Brigadier Undius Kogoya

and the leaders in Paniai and Ilaga.

Thus the press release of the TPNPB Komnas Central Headquarters Management, And forwarded to all parties by Jubir Komnas TPNPB Sebby Sambom.

And thank you for good cooperation.

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