US military says Indonesia trials show 'progress'

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. military is concerned over the light jail sentences given to Indonesian troops caught on video torturing men in the restive eastern region of Papua, a senior official said Tuesday.

Robert Scher, Defense Department deputy assistant secretary of state for South and Southeast Asia, also said the quick and "transparent" trial reflects Jakarta's progress in tackling rights abuses by its military forces.

The United States restored ties with Indonesian special forces last year in recognition of military reforms since the fall of dictator Suharto in 1998 and Jakarta's commitment to investigate and prosecute any future abuses.

ASEAN chairmanship helps Indonesia bring peace in Papua

Having officially assumed the chairmanship of ASEAN, Indonesia brings forth an agenda of making ASEAN a people-centered community. This has proved that the widely held cynicism that views ASEAN as merely a forum for the Southeast Asia’s government elites is baseless.
But what does this new approach really mean? What then is the role played by the government elites and notably the ASEAN Secretariat? And, with a very specific interest, does will the new agenda have any impact on Papua?

WEST PAPUA: Indonesia using PNG police to ‘harass and suppress’ refugees, says Parkop

The Governor of Papua New Guinea’s National Capital District, Powes Parkop, has accused the police of being “used by the  Indonesian government to harass and suppress” suspected West Papuan activists campaigning for independence of West Papua.

He has called on Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare to call off all operations against Papuan refugees or border-crossers in Sandaun province.

In an open letter at the weekend to Somare, he said: source here

I write to express my deepest concern and reservation against the on going police operation in the Sanduan (or West Sepik) province, otherwise known as Operation “Sunset Merona”. Since the operation began, I have received many complaints from people in the Sanduan province as to the conduct and focus of the operations. These complaints have been received from ordinary citizens in that province but more particularly from West Papuan people who live in that province either as refugees or traditional border crossers exercising their rights under the Border Agreement between the Independent State of Papua New Guinea and the Republic of Indonesia.

US military says Indonesia trials show 'progress'

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. military is concerned over the light jail sentences given to Indonesian troops caught on video torturing men in the restive eastern region of Papua, a senior official said Tuesday.

Robert Scher, Defense Department deputy assistant secretary of state for South and Southeast Asia, also said the quick and "transparent" trial reflects Jakarta's progress in tackling rights abuses by its military forces.

The United States restored ties with Indonesian special forces last year in recognition of military reforms since the fall of dictator Suharto in 1998 and Jakarta's commitment to investigate and prosecute any future abuses.

Indonesia making progress on rights: US

WASHINGTON — Indonesia's military is largely moving in the right direction on human rights despite the videotaped torture of civilians in restive Papua, a senior US defense official said Tuesday.
Robert Scher, the top Pentagon official handling Southeast Asia, reiterated US concerns that the 10-month sentences handed last month to three soldiers over the abuse in Papua were too lenient.
But Scher added: "We do see that there was progress in the fact that this was a trial that was conducted quickly" and was "open and transparent."

World View - West Papua - When Will The Brutality End?

The release of a video in late October 2010 by Human Rights Watch via the internet has once again highlighted the ongoing brutality by Indonesian Special Forces in West Papua and reveals there has been little change to the military since the occupation of East Timor. Prof Damien Kingsbury from Deakin University discusses the issue on ABC South East World View with Tim Holt.

Download this mp3 file

The sheer brutality that was inflicted on the East Timorese over a quarter of a century by the Indonesian military and their special forces Kopassus has been covered over many years thru World view on ABC South east radio.

While the violence inflicted by Kopassus in East Timor

Perpanjangan Masa Jabatan MRP Berakhir , Ketua MRP Menolak Ditemui

Selpius Bobii ketika memberikan keterangan pers mengenai berakhirnya masa tugas MRP di depan kator MRP, Kota Raja

Jayapura-   Masa perpanjangan jabatannya MRP berakhir  31 Januari  2011 , kemarin.Terkait dengan berakhirnya masa jabatan MRP yang sebelumnya diperpanjang tersebut, langsung mendapat reaksi dari Elemen Perjuangan masyarakat Sipil Papua yang  tergabung dalam Koalisi Rakyat Papua Bersatu Untuk Keadilan ( KRPBK).  Mereka secara bulat menyatakan MRP bubar dan tidak perlu  lagi ada MRP jilid II,  sebab lembaga cultural ini tidak dapat mengakomodir aspirasi semua rakyat Papua, sehingga tak heran MRP Jilid II tidak diperkenankan hadir di Papua. “,Sebab kehadirannya hanyalah   sebuah “ Boneka  Buatan Jakarta”,  sebuah ungkapan ekspresi Selpius Bobi.  Masa perpanjangan MRP dititik terakhirnya  Senin ( 31/1) menuai kecaman KRPBK yang berniat mengajak lembaga MRP ini  untuk berdialog dalam sebuah diskusi Publik yang   terbuka  untuk Umum, namun niat KRPBK tak dikabulkan unsure pimpinan MRP yakni Agus Alue Alua yang menolak menerima KRPBK  yang dimediasi Selpius Bobi Cs. Menurut Selpius Bobi kepada Wartawan, Ketua MRP tidak mau menerima mereka,  sebab  anggota MRP yang berada di kantor hanya Agus Alua sementara anggota MRP lainnya sedang tidak berada ditempat, mereka sedang menjaring aspirasi diDaerah pemilihannya disetiap  Dapil untuk maju kembali dalam pemilihan anggota MRP periode II.

Human rights activists say President lied on violations in Papua

Human rights activists in Papua deem the president's claim that no gross human rights violations occured in Papua under his administration as a complete farce. The statement was made by the president during a meeting between police and Indonesian military leaders.

The secretary general of Central Papuan Student Association, Markus Halo, said the statement undermined the feelings of Papuans who had been suffering from intimidation and torture.

Tortures carried out by three members of the army's 753 Batalion was a clear proof of the existence of human rights violations in Papua, Markus said. The three soldiers are now in trial, with prosecutors seeking up to 12 months of

BUBARKAN “MRP” BONEKA INDONESIA JAKARTA

Jayapura,berdasarkan kesepakatan bersama “Koalisi Rakyat Papua Bersatu Untuk Keadilan – KRPBK) pada tanggal 29 Januari 2011 di Asrama Nayak, bahwa dengan berakhirnya masa jabatan MRP jilid pertama pada tanggal 31 Januari ini perlu ada dialog publik antara pimpinan elemen gerakan dengan anggota MRP. Sesuai kesepakatan itu, para wartawan/i dan pimpinan elemen gerakan mendatangi kantor MRP sejak pagi tadi. Sekitar pukul 11.00, para pimpinan gerakan dan wartawan/i menemui pimpinan MRP di ruang kerjanya untuk menanyakan apakah dialog publiknya jadi atau tidak? Pada hari ini, kami tidak mau menemui kalian, karena semua banyak anggota MRP yang tidak ada di tempat – mereka

West Papua: Torturers’ light sentences cause anger

By Ash Pemberton

Anger has erupted in West Papua at the light sentences handed to three Indonesian soldiers responsible for torturing two West Papuans.
The soldiers received between eight and 10 months jail for “insubordination” rather than the more serious charge of torture, the Australian said on January 24. They will be allowed to continue their military careers.
The soldiers were filmed in an infamous video in May torturing two West Papuan men, which included one of the victims, Tunaliwor Kiwo, having his genitals scorched with a stick. Kiwo later testified that he was tortured for two days before escaping when he learned of the soldiers' plans to execute him.

Indonesian authorities had previously tried to ignore the case, and even attempted to pass off a different trial as relating to the torture video.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono added further insult when he said the incident was “minor”, the Sydney Morning Herald said on January 25.
The January 24 Jakartaglobe.com reported that Markus Haluk, secretary general of the Papua Central Highland Students Association said the trial “robs the victims and their families of any sense that justice is being [served]”.
West Papua has been occupied by Indonesia for more than four decades. There is strong support among Papuans for self-determination, as revealed by a leaked US cable released by WikiLeaks in December.
However, the independence movement faces strong repression, including a ban on flying the West Papuan “Morning Star” flag.
Despite Wikileaks revealing the US was aware of ongoing abuses by the Indonesian military in West Papua, the US government re-established military ties in July with Indonesian special forces

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Politisi AS Ingin SBY dapat Nobel

 
WIKILEAKS

SEORANG anggota parlemen (Kongres) Amerika Serikat pernah  menginginkan Presiden RI Susilo Bambang Yu­dho­yono (SBY), sebagai kandidat peraih penghargaan Nobel Perdamaian pada 2006. Ang­gota Kongres itu menyarankan pemerintah Belanda agar men­du­kung nominasi itu dengan mengirimkan surat reko­men­dasi kepada yayasan Nobel.

‘Israel must stop supporting Mubarak,’ protesters say

"People protesting feel let down by West in general, which has not spoken out harshly enough against oppression of regime."

As the government continues to closely monitor events in Egypt, protesters there have expressed anger with the Jewish state and its US ally for continuing to support the president they seek to dispossess, Cairo-based journalist Tarek Mounir told The Jerusalem Post by telephone on Sunday.
“I’ll be honest with you, protesters are angry that Israel and the US have continued to support [President Hosni] Mubarak for 30 years and that he is seen [by these countries] as the only solution to containing Islamist extremists in this region,” said Mounir, who has been working as a “fixer”