Protests increase against heavy military presence in Papua

Protests increase against heavy military presence in Papua

Ridwan Max Sijabat and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Papuans have continued protesting the presence of security forces
in villages across their troubled province, which they say has
caused them to live in perpetual fear, despite the four-year
implementation of the autonomy law.

Two members of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) from
Papua, Ferdinanda Ibo and Max Demetow, joined the chorus of
protests during an interactive dialog between the government and
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) here on Friday.

They said the government needed to address Papua's most urgent
problem: That the majority of Papuans continue to live in fear
due to the mobilization of military and police officers across
the province.

"The military has even deployed more personnel to Papua," said
Ferdinanda.

The two said Papuan people were unable to voice their
political aspirations freely and that villagers living in remote
areas were restricted in their movements for fear of being
branded separatists.

"Many people have been shot dead, arrested, or branded
separatists after speaking about politics or protesting
government policies," Ferdinanda added.

She said the security authorities treated Papua as a military
operation zone and the indigenous population was subjected to
intimidation.

Papuans could no longer be treated as "animals" because their
fundamental rights had been guaranteed by the special autonomy
law, she said.

"The Papuan people's right to live humanely and freely, free
from intimidation and arbitrary actions must be guaranteed and,
therefore, security authorities must abide by the special
autonomy law in maintaining security and order," she added.

Max said Papuans had accepted the special autonomy status as
they believed the government would give them back their rights.

Late last month, villagers living near the provincial capital
of Jayapura also opposed the mobilization of hundreds of troops
to their areas.

Their protest was lodged by the Mamberamo Tami tribal council
in a letter through the Democratic Alliance for Papua (ALDP) in
Jayapura.

In a recent press conference, the Coalition of Civil Society
for Tribal Communities, including a number of social
organizations, said the growing opposition against the military's
presence was due to local residents' past experience of
intimidation by troops.

Local NGOs, including the pro-independence West Papuan front,
have reported that the deployment of soldiers to Papua began last
year, when the Indonesian Military unveiled a plan to establish
battalions in the regencies of Jayawijaya and Merauke. One
battalion comprises between 700 and 1,000 soldiers.

In a recent hearing with lawmakers in Jakarta, defense
minister Juwono Sudarsono said that up to 2010, some 15,000
troops would be sent to Papua.

Earlier, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Djoko Santoso said he
planned to heighten the Army's strength in several areas
bordering Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea.

However, TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said on Friday his
office was yet to approve the plan to establish the third
division of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad),
which would likely be based in Sorong, Papua, as reportedly
proposed by the Army.

"Indeed, we are only considering developing the territorial
command in that vast territory," he added. Kostrad currently has
two divisions -- one in Cilodong, West Java, and the other in
Malang, East Java.