Papua Liberation Army sold arms by Indonesian military

West Papua Liberation Army fighters. Photo: Supplied.

A guerilla force waging war for independence in West Papua has revealed it's been buying weapons from Indonesia's military.

The West Papua Liberation Army has been embroiled in intensified conflict with Indonesian security forces in the highlands interior of Papua region since 2018.

West Papua Liberation Army fighters. West Papua Liberation Army fighters. Photo: Supplied.

A highlands regional commander of the Liberation Army, Brigadier General Egianus Kogeya, has revealed that he purchased weapons and ammunition from the Indonesian military and police.

Kogeya's fighters have claimed responsibility for numerous deadly attacks in the past two years, including the massacre of at least nineteen Indonesian road construction workers in Nduga in December 2018.

According to Suara Papua, Papua Police Chief, Paulus Waterpauw, said the circulation of firearms and ammunition remained a serious concern for the security forces, especially in the Papua Regional Police.

The military or TNI has also recognised the pattern. In February, a military court in Jayapura jailed three TNI members for hvaing supplied ammunition to armed criminal groups in Papua. One of those convicted was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Kogeya said he bought ammunition and weapons from the TNI and Police because that was their way of accessing food while posted in Papua.

He explained that usually the security forces connect with the Liberation Army for the arms sales by communicating through subordinates in the field.

After approval by their superiors, the transaction proceeds, Kogeya said.

Source: Papua Liberation Army sold arms by Indonesian military | RNZ News

Signs of influx of West Papuans to PNG

Dorothy Tekwie Photo: RNZ / Koroi Hawkins

There are signs of an influx of West Papuans into Papua New Guinea amid a protracted conflict across the border.

Since 2018, there’s been a surge of violent exchanges between the West Papua Liberation Army and Indonesian security forces in Papua province.

Thousands of West Papuans have been displaced from the conflict’s epicentre in the Highlands regency of Nduga in the Indonesian-ruled province.

Some of the displaced have fled across the border to PNG’s West Sepik province, according to Vanimo landowner Dorothy Tekwie.

“The numbers in the camps on the PNG side have increased,” Ms Tekwie said.

“On my own particular land the number of young people, young men I’ve never seen before… there is an influx of people coming in, and they feel they are able to slide back in again.”

The main international border entry point at Wutung near Vanimo remains tightly guarded by Indonesian military forces. So too now are access points in Nduga and neighbouring Jayawija regency where many of the estimated 45,000 displaced Ndugans fled to last year when conflict intensified.

However, West Papuans are generally adept at moving and living in jungle, and across mountainous terrain. Long treks are made towards the international border, much of which is too porous for either Indonesia or PNG’s security forces to comprehensively monitor.

Some Papuans who slip across the border further inland end up along the north coast in Vanimo, where Ms Tekwie’s village is located, less than an hour’s drive from Wutung.

“I don’t know how they get through, but these are mountain people, they walk and live off the land; they know how to hunt; so if it’s getting too much on the other side, they just move over here,” she said.

“After all, this is just one island. There is no brick or cement border mark fencing from one end to another, it’s just open forest.”

West Papuans who end up in villages on the PNG side are generally able to blend in easily, being fellow Melanesians. However, those who are not registered as traditional border crossers, and therefore able to travel back and forth by law, are at risk of detection by Indonesian or PNG security forces.

“I try to control who is on the land because I don’t want people to get into trouble and cause trouble for me and other clan members.

“So, I try to know who is moving in and out of my place, but there are so many young men there that I don’t know who they are.”

Ms Tekwie said that West Papuans from the Highlands region were determined to resist Indonesian rule.

Source: RNZ

Tweet

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2NYTgSM
via IFTTT January 25, 2020 at 09:15PM

Ahead of Christmas, military, police officers killed in latest conflicts in Papua

Benny Mawel, The Jakarta Post

Two military officers and a policeman have been killed during recent clashes in Papua, sparking fear among residents of the predominantly Christian region with the conflicts breaking out just one week prior to Christmas day.

In Papua’s Intan Jaya regency, two soldiers – identified as First Lt. Erizal Zuhri and Second Sgt. Rizky – were killed in a shootout with members of West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) in Sugapa district, Indonesian Military (TNI) spokesman Col. Taibur Rahman said.

The TNI soldiers, who were deployed to the restive region as part of a joint military and police security task force, were attacked when they were on duty to secure the district while its residents prepared for Christmas celebrations on Tuesday, he said.

Taibur claimed the task force had received reports from residents that members of an armed criminal group in the area had intimidated and physically abused them.

“The security staffers were intensifying patrols in the area suspected to be the group’s base when suddenly a shootout broke out and the two TNI soldiers were killed,” he said in a statement.

Taibur added that the attackers were suspected to have also been behind the shooting of three ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers, who were found dead in the district with bullet wounds to their heads on Oct. 25.

In Yahukimo, meanwhile, Brig. Hendra Saut Sibarani – a member of the Riau Police’s Mobile Brigade (Brimob) unit deployed as part of a security operation to the regency – died during a brawl with several locals on Wednesday, Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Ahmad Mustofa Kamal said.

Ahmad said the conflict broke out at Yahukimo Police headquarters after several officers reprimanded a resident for urinating on a wall next to a police post.
The resident, angered by the police’s response, reportedly initiated the brawl. “He called bystanders around the post and by the road. They formed a group and then attacked the police’s headquarters,” Ahmad said.

The Jakarta Post asked Ahmad via text message for an update on the situation in Yahukimo on Thursday. “Everything is under control. Thanks,” he replied.

As Christmas nears, these conflicts in Papua ─ which follow a string of violent and deadly incidents in the restive region since August this year ─ have caused fear and a sense of insecurity among many locals, head of Sugapa’s St. Mikael parish council John Abugau said.

He said many residents were too afraid to go about their normal daily activities and were also frightened by the sound of military helicopters patrolling the area.

“People choose to stay at home, while the helicopter flies overhead. They are frightened by just the sound of the helicopter,” he told the Post on Thursday.

He called on military officers to adopt a different approach to safeguard the area so that people could resume their normal daily activities. (vla)

Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/

Tweet

from WordPress https://ift.tt/373mfMg
via IFTTT December 25, 2019 at 07:26PM

Indonesia’s military says 2 soldiers killed in Papua clash

By Niniek Karmini | AP

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Two soldiers were killed in a clash between security forces and independence fighters in Indonesia’s restive easternmost province of Papua, the military said Wednesday.
Military spokesman Col. Taibur Rahman said rebels opened fire at troops on patrol in a village in Intan Jaya district on Tuesday, killing at least two soldiers. The village is known as a hotbed of separatist rebels.
He said the troops had been deployed to help police prevent any disturbances by separatists ahead of Christmas celebrations in the predominantly Christian region.
The shootout is the latest in a series of violent incidents this year in the mineral-rich but impoverished Papua region, where conflicts between indigenous Papuans and Indonesian security forces are common.

The military said two suspected rebels were killed in a gunbattle on Dec. 2 in Lanny Jaya district, in an apparent escalation of attacks by the West Papua National Liberation Army, the military wing of the Free Papua Movement, marking Dec. 1, which many Papuans consider to be the anniversary of what should have been their independence.

Police said they arrested at least 34 people accused of treason on Dec. 1 for attending a ceremony and raising flags with the separatist symbol. A declaration of independence from Dutch rule on Dec. 1, 1961, was rejected by the Dutch and later by Indonesia.
In September, more than 30 people were killed during violent protests by thousands of people in Papua and West Papua provinces against alleged racism toward Papuans.

An insurgency has simmered since the early 1960s in Papua, a a former Dutch colony in the western part of New Guinea that is ethnically and culturally distinct from much of Indonesia.

Papua was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 after a U.N.-sponsored ballot that was widely seen as a sham.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Tweet

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2Srkjcu
via IFTTT December 25, 2019 at 07:07PM

Gunmen attack plane in Indonesia’s Papua; no casualties

By NINIEK KARMINI Associated Press December 21, 2019 — 5:30am

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Gunmen opened fire on a small commercial plane as it landed in Indonesia’s restive province of Papua carrying nine passengers, one of the plane’s pilots said Saturday. No casualties were reported.

The attack occurred Friday in the hilly district of Puncak, a stronghold of separatists who have battled Indonesian rule in the mineral-rich but impoverished region since the early 1960s, said the Indonesian co-pilot, Purwanto Condro Usodo.

Usodo said that he and the Australian pilot, Michael Cumming, were initially unaware of the shooting and managed to land the aircraft safely at Beoga airport from the mining town of Timika until passengers told them that they saw gunmen spray the plane with bullets while landing.

Usodo said in a video obtained by The Associated Press on Saturday from a source in the Indonesian army that about 30 minutes later, the gunmen tried to shoot people who were unloading supplies and luggage from the plane. But the gunmen fled into the jungle after soldiers on the ground returned fire, while the pilots and passengers were evacuated to a security post near the airport.

It was unclear whether any of the gunmen were killed in the shootout, which lasted over three hours, Usodo said.

Military spokesmen did not answer calls seeking comment on the shooting, which happened amid an apparent escalation of attacks since Dec. 1 by the West Papua National Liberation Army, or TPNPB, the military wing of the Free Papua Movement. A declaration of independence from Dutch rule on Dec. 1, 1961, was rejected by the Dutch and later by Indonesia.

A low-level insurgency for independence has simmered in Papua since it was transferred from Dutch to Indonesian rule in 1963. The region, which makes up the western half of the island of New Guinea, was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 following a U.N.-sponsored ballot that has since been dismissed as a sham.

Indonesian military and police said earlier that three soldiers and a policeman have been killed during recent clashes in Papua, sparking fear among residents of the predominantly Christian region, with the attacks coming just ahead of Christmas.

Source: www.startribune.com/

Tweet

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2PTknju
via IFTTT December 21, 2019 at 09:13AM

Third woman elected to Solomon Islands’ parliament

A third woman MP has been elected in Solomon Islands.

Lillian Maefai registered an historic by-election win in the East Makira constituency, becoming the third woman to be elected to the current parliament and setting a new record for women’s representation in the 50 member house.

According to results released by the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission, early on Saturday morning, Mrs Maefai polled 3371 votes – over 2000 more than her nearest rival, Alfred Ghiro.

For the Solomon Islands chief electoral officer Mose Saitala, the by-election itself was already special as it was the first time the commission had trialled simultaneously running a provincial election alongside a national by-election, he said.

Mr Saitala said then to get such an historic result was the icing on the cake.

“We have elected for the first time the third woman into the national parliament. So we are having three sitting women MPs for the very first time in the Solomon Islands parliament. So that is a very, very satisfying result,” he said.

The East Makira by-election was called after the sudden death, in July, of Mrs Maefai’s late husband, Charles Maefai, a first time MP who had only been elected three months earlier.

Mr Saitala said he understands arrangements are being made to try and get Lillian Maefai to return to the capital Honiara from her constituency sometime in the next few days so that she can be sworn in on the floor of parliament before it adjourns for the year.

The other women MPs in Solomon Islands current parliament are Freda Soriacomua, the MP for Temotu Vatud, and Lanelle Tanangada, the MP for Gizo Kolombangara.

In the 41 years since Solomon Islands gained its independence from Britain, Lillian Maefai is only the fifth woman to be elected to the country’s parliament.

The first woman to be elected in Solomon Islands was Hilda Kari representing North East Guadalcanal in the 1980s. There was not a second until 2012 when Vika Lusibaea won the by-election for North Malaita, a seat left vacant after her husband Jimmy Lusibaea was convicted of a criminal offence.

Tweet

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2QgfSPe
via IFTTT December 16, 2019 at 07:07PM

Bougainville voters back independence by landslide

Voters backing Bougainville’s independence from Papua New Guinea have won a landslide referendum victory, according to results released Wednesday — a major step toward the troubled isles becoming the world’s newest nation.

Chairman of the Bougainville Referendum Commission Bertie Ahern declared 176,928 people — around 98 percent of voters — had backed independence with just 3,043 supporting the option of remaining part of Papua New Guinea with more autonomy.

The announcement prompted loud cheers, applause and tears as dignitaries soon burst into song, with strains of the islands’ anthem “My Bougainville” ringing out.
“Happy is an understatement” nursing graduate Alexia Baria told AFP, “you see my tears, this is the moment we have been waiting for.”

The historic vote caps a decades-long peace process and a long recovery from a brutal civil war between Bougainville rebels, Papua New Guinea security forces and foreign mercenaries that ended in 1998 and left up to 20,000 people dead — 10 percent of the population.

“Now, at least psychologically, we feel liberated,” said John Momis, the priest-turned-leader of the autonomous region’s government.

But independence will not be immediate, a long political process lies ahead and leaders face formidable financial and administrative challenges to turn a cluster of poor Pacific islands into a fully-fledged nation.

The result must first be ratified by Papua New Guinea’s parliament — where there is opposition to the move for fear it may spark other independence movements in a nation defined by disparate linguistic and tribal groups.

But the scale of the victory for the pro-independence side will heap pressure on Port Moresby to endorse the outcome.

“There’s no misinterpreting this result — Bougainville wants independence” said Shane McLeod of Sydney’s Lowy Institute. “The strength of the vote would seem to make it all but inevitable.”

“Port Moresby will need to quickly digest the result,” he said, “they’ll need to be ready to talk about the timetable for independence.”
Speaking in Buka, Ahern urged all sides to recognise a vote that was about “your peace, your history, and your future” and showed “the power of the pen over weapons”.
Puka Temu, Port Moresby’s minister for Bougainville affairs, said “the outcome is a credible one” but asked that voters “allow the rest of Papua New Guinea sufficient time to absorb this result”.

‘First hurdle’

In stark contrast to past internecine bloodshed, voting began on November 23 with ecstatic residents — some festooned in grass garlands — forming makeshift choirs that stomped through the streets, waving independence flags, blowing bamboo pipes and chanting in chorus.

The vote officially ended on December 7 and according to the Bougainville Referendum Commission it passed off without major incident.

Tweet

from WordPress https://ift.tt/34St9mh
via IFTTT December 12, 2019 at 07:58AM