Irianese backed in quest for policy change
Irianese backed in quest for policy change
JAKARTA (JP): A retired Army general, a human rights campaigner and a number of activists have found many shortcomings in the government's policy on Irian Jaya, especially in the area of human rights.
At a seminar on Transformative development and Human Rights in Irian Jaya organized by the Forum for National Concern of Human Rights in Irian Jaya, participants heard first-hand accounts from Amungme tribespeople alleging rampant human rights violations in their home province.
Maj. Gen. (ret.) Sembiring Meliala, a former Trikora Military Commander, who oversaw Irian Jaya and Maluku, said the government's development policy has caused envy among the Irianese tribe as they lose out in competition for employment, both in public and private sectors, to better educated migrants from other provinces.
Both sectors should accommodate as many Irianese as possible to allow them greater participation in development, so that they have a better sense of becoming part of Indonesia, he said.
"Never give the impression that Irian's natural resources are for people from other provinces," said the former member of the House of Representatives.
Sembiring said the natives could turn hostile to the government if they feel they have been unfairly treated in cases of land acquisition.
Some of the criticism during the seminar was aimed at PT Freeport, the giant American mining company which operates from Timika town in the Irian Jaya hinterland.
Asmara Nababan, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights, said that during a visit to Freeport last year during the course of an investigation, he was shown a long list of what the American company has done to improve the welfare of the Irianese.
"But the natives hardly feel the benefits because the facilities are provided without PT Freeport asking them what they actually need," he said.
Asmara was a member of the commission team sent to Irian Jaya last year to investigate allegations that 16 civilians were killed during military operations in and around Timika. The investigation confirmed most of the allegations and the military has so far court-martialled four people responsible for some of the killings.
Asmara also noted a tendency for people from other provinces to look down on the Irianese people.
"You know why natives in Wamena often cover their koteka (penis gourd) when a stranger passes by? They are afraid the chauvinist will tap his cigarette ash into it," he said.
Reverend Daud Palilu, who works in Irian Jaya, said tribes around the Freeport operation, such as the Amungme, Ekari and Dani, feel that they have been robbed of their land and their basic rights trampled on in the name of development.
Respect of human rights should come first if the government wants development in Irian Jaya to succeed, Palilu said.
"People have complained that the military treatment is harsher now than that in the 1970s," he said. "They say that the military treatment of natives is often inhumane."
He recalled an incident in 1977 in which scores of Amungme tribespeople were killed for rebelling against the presence of Freeport in their midst. "Ever since then, people have been terrorized and labeled trouble makers if they dare to protest. The question is, should the government sacrifice indigenous people for a foreign company?" he asked.
The seminar also heard representatives of the Amungme tribe who have been in Jakarta for the past week alerting the government of their misgivings about the presence of Freeport.
The representatives, "Mama" Josepha, Bartolomeus Nagal, Porogolamum and Tom Beanal, said that the presence of PT Freeport and Indonesian soldiers who guard its operation have brought more environmental and social conflict to the natives. (pan)