Guilty soldiers to face sanctions: Military chief

Erwida Maulia | Thu, 04/30/2009 3:53 PM | National

Indonesian Military chief Gen. Djoko Santoso said here Thursday sanctions would be surely imposed on those found guilty causing soldiers riot in Sentani army base in Jayapura.

He said Army chief of staff Gen. Agustadi Sasongko was currently in Jayapura to examine the incident and question soldiers involved in the riot, and would bring those found guilty into legal process and even military court.

US sees RI as important ally in evolving new foreign policy

Lilian Budianto , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 04/30/2009 3:20 PM | World

US President Barack Obama’s 100-day-old administration has “re-energized US foreign policy with a fresh diplomatic approach” in a movement that “re-established the leadership” of the super power amid global tensions, a spokesman for the Indonesian president said.

Spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said on Wednesday Indonesia holds the new US administration in high regard, but added it might be too soon to define political achievements made under the pledge of “soft diplomacy” toward Arab nations.

An Inquiry and Action Needed After Mutiny

Copyright: Jakarta Globe

A real voice of Indonesian military personnel, they are just human who care with other human being regardless different ethnicity.

Jakarta Globe April 29, 2009

Editorial

Nothing is quite so unsettling as news of a military mutiny. Reports on Wednesday that a battalion of soldiers took over a commander’s office, fired guns into the air and terrorized residents near Jayapura, the capital of Papua, brought back terrible memories. Just over a decade ago, after former President Suharto stepped down from office amid rioting and economic collapse in May 1998, Jakarta was plagued by rumors of military unrest and potential mutinies. Investors pulled out, many people fled the country and ordinary citizens were terrified. The picture of instability those days painted of our society battered economic growth and harmed Indonesia’s image for years.

Fortunately, since that time the Indonesian military has undergone a dramatic transformation. It has pulled out of politics, lessened its involvement in the economy and begun transforming itself into a professional fighting force.

That is why news of the mutiny in restive Papua is so disturbing. Several hundred soldiers from a battalion in Jayapura went berserk, firing off guns and smashing Army property. Witnesses said the soldiers blockaded their base, searched journalists and seized a photographer’s camera. Journalists on the scene said they had to hide from rampaging soldiers and feared for their lives. Residents were bullied and commander s briefly lost control of the situation. Police said they were unable to intervene because it was an Army matter.

Self-Disclosure in Free West Papua Campaign

The current love-hate special autonomy in Papua and West Papua Provinces debate is focused on the issue of territorial integrity and self-determination. It appears that many people are maintaining the position that by acknowledging the truth, by self-disclosing the Free West Papua Campaign which is supported by several members of UK Parliamentary has jeopardized democracy, security and Papuan people’s future safety.

It is fear that makes Free West Papua Campaign embrace lies and cover-ups. They don’t have faith in the power of truth and compassion to move. And so they put their faith in the power of deceitful practices. There are so many facts that will disclose the manipulation of Free West Papua issues before the eyes of UK dignitaries. Please check carefully their thousand propagandas on the internet.

Police blame group for election attacks

The Jakarta Post

April 25, 2009

by Dicky Christanto

Recent bomb attacks linked to the legislative elections in
troubled Papua province may have been orchestrated by a single
group, police said Friday.

They said a forensic laboratory report showed that explosive
materials used in both bombings were the same.

Polling on West Papua

ICRC Papua Branch Office Was Illegal, Ministry Says

Jakarta Globe 24 April 2009

The government suggested on Friday that the International Committee of the Red Cross was operating in Papua illegally because the agreements governing its operations in the country did not cover the troubled province.

Teuku Faizasyah, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also denied that the request to close the international organization’s office in Jayapura, the capital of Papua, had anything to do with the ICRC’s visit to prisons in the province, as reported by various media outlets on Friday.

US suggests some autonomy for Indonesia’s Papua

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says Indonesia needs to allow “a degree of autonomy” in its Papua province.
Clinton said the Obama administration would raise the subject with Indonesia.
A low-level insurgency seeking to break from the central government has been waged in Papua since Indonesia took it over from the Dutch in 1963. About 100,000 Papuans, or about a sixth of the population of the impoverished territory, have died in military operations.
Clinton said Wednesday the province “needs to be supported in its efforts to have a degree of autonomy.”
She was responding to a question at a congressional hearing by Rep. Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, American Samoa’s nonvoting delegate to Congress and a frequent critic of Indonesia.

Debriefing Nicolaas Jouwe, 18 april 2009

18 -04- 2009
Mr. Nicolaas Jouwe (sr) gave his report and talk about his vision on West Papua. He was talking about the Indonesian special autonomy,  peaceful dialogue with Indonesia, and the future of West Papua.

Report from the Netherland

Police seek people behind Papua poll violence

Mustaqim Adamrah , THE JAKARTA POST , JAKARTA | Sat, 04/18/2009 2:21 PM | National

The National Police is intensifying the search for those responsible for a string of violent events that rocked Papua around election day.

The police has named five suspects who were allegedly involved in the arson attack on the rector’s building at the Cenderawasih University last Thursday, one of them identified by his initials as SW.

“We have learned that SW *is among those* who set fire to the Cenderawasih University. We’ve also known who ordered him,” National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said Friday at the State Palace.