wfn.org | WCC addresses serious human rights situation in Papua,

["Sheila Mesa" <smm@wcc-coe.org>]

Indonesia at UNCHR

World Council of Churches
Update, Up-02-11
For Immediate Use
17 April 2002

UN Commission on Human Rights:
WCC addresses serious human rights situation in Papua,
Indonesia

cf. WCC Press Release, PR-02-12, of 18 March 2002

The following is the full text of the oral intervention by
Martin Doolard on behalf of the Commission of the Churches on
International Affairs of the World Council of Churches (WCC/CCIA)
to the 58th Session of the United Nations Commission on Human
Rights on Tuesday, 16 April. The Intervention came under Item 11.
- Civil and Political Rights:

On behalf of the Commission of Churches of International Affairs
of the World Council of Churches, I wish to address this
Commission on the growing environment of repression in Papua,
also known in Indonesia as Irian Jaya.  

Last year, I drew the attention of this Forum to the serious
human rights situation in Papua. On the contrary as I speak here
today, nothing has changed. According to the information received
by the churches, as well as local and international human rights
NGOs, the situation has worsened. Since the much-proclaimed
reform period (1998-2001), the number of reported cases of
extra-judicial killings have reached an all time high of 136;
there have been 838 cases of arbitrary detention, and torture;
also there is an increase in the number of cases of human rights
defenders receiving death threats and destruction and burning of
property by sections of the Indonesian Security Forces.(1) The
Indonesian Authorities have not responded favourably to the call
for dialogue by the people of  Papua.  

The repressive measures adopted by the Indonesian Government
include a crackdown on the peaceful demands of the Papuans to
exercise their right to self-determination, mistreatment, torture
and killings of civilians. The abduction and murder on 10
November 2001, of Theys Eluay, a moderate Papuan leader, is
evidence of the methods used by the Indonesian government to
suppress the people.  

The abduction and killing of Mr. Eluay was a well-planned
politically motivated action. His assassination has to be viewed
in light of several documents and statements(2) issued by Jakarta
that outline strategies for a brutal crackdown on the people's
demand to exercise their right of self-determination. This policy
has resulted in widespread human rights violations,
systematically planned and executed, targeting civilians, and
group leaders in the entire region of  Papua.  

The Indonesian Government despite repeated assurances has failed
to establish a legally constituted and credible enquiry team to
carry out the investigation. The official National Enquiry
Commission (KPN) established by the Indonesian President is not
legal and does not have the authority to investigate the state
institutions involved in this incident. The military enquiry team
(PUSPOM TNI) was established as part of the strategy to get rid
of the evidence and to protect military's involvement in the
murder of Theys Eluay. The findings of both the enquiry
commissions have determined that the killing of Theys Eluay was
an ordinary crime.  

They refuse to acknowledge that it was an extra-ordinary crime
that has implications for the institutions of the state. The
churches and the NGO community in Papua as well as in Indonesia
have raised the concern that they apprehend the actual
perpetrators of this crime may never be brought to justice.  

Mr Chairman, the large majority of the people in Papua view the
assassination of Mr Eluay as a deliberate act of the state
authorities to silence him and to be a warning to others who
subscribe to similar viewpoints.  

We urge this Commission to use its influence on the Indonesian
Government to stop the repression against the Papuan people and
not to suppress their demand to exercise their right to
self-determination. We also urge the Commission to call on the
Indonesian Government to establish a credible, legal, independent
enquiry team, that includes international human rights experts,
to investigate the involvement of state institutions in the
assassination of Theys Elauy and bring the perpetrators to
justice.  

Finally, we appeal to the Commission to call on the Indonesian
Government to invite Special Rapporteurs on Summary Executions
and on Torture to visit Papua.  
_______________

(1) These figures were obtained from the 2001-Year report of the
Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy (Elsham-Papua),
Jayapura, West Papua.   

(2) These documents include the following: 
- on 9 June 2000, a secret document was issued by the Ministry
of Home Affairs / Department of the Interior in Jakarta,
outlining the strategy of the Indonesian Government, concerning
their intention to crack down on independence movement in Papua;
- on 16 August 2001, in a speech, the President of Indonesia
ordered the Minister of social and political affairs to crack
down on separatist movements in West Papua.  

For further information, please contact Karin Achtelstetter,
Media Relations Officer
Tel:  (+41.22) 791.61.53, Mobile:  (+41) 79.284.52.12

**********
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now 342, in more than 100 countries in all continents from
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