Copy of TAPOL Letter Sent to British Foreign Minister
Douglas Alexander MP
18 March 2005
The Rt Hon. Douglas Alexander MP,
Foreign and Commonwealth Office,
Whitehall,
London SW1 0AA
Dear Mr Alexander,I wish to draw your attention to grave developments now taking place in West
Papua. I refer to the situation in the region of Puncak Jaya, in the Central
Highlands.As many as 5,000 Papuans have fled their villages and have been living in the
bush since September last year. They fled following land and air operations by
the Indonesian armed forces against their homesteads. Having abandoned their
homes and gardens, they have been without proper sustenance, food and clothing
for months, as a result of which many have died of starvation or
hunger-related
diseases. TAPOL last week received a copy of the names of 53 villagers who
have
died. The conditions have been made worse by the fact that the area has been
closed to humanitarian agencies. This week, we were informed of another three
deaths.The circumstances that led to this appalling situation are as follows:
Last August, an airstrip and highway were constructed on traditional land
owned
by the Tabuni tribe and local margas, and trees in protected forests were
felled. A member of the tribe, Mr Goliath Tabuni, sought to make
representations to the authorities in Mulia about the problem. However, the
security forces alleged that he was a member of the OPM who was intending to
disrupt events marking Indonesia's national day on 17 August.A manhunt was launched, during the course of which troops encountered a local
minister of religion, the Rev. Eliza Tabuni and his son, on their way to a
place of worship. When Rev. Tabuni was questioned and denied all knowledge of
the whereabouts of Goliath Tabuni, he was shot dead. His son was wounded and
managed to flee to safety. The security forces may well have committed this
heinous crime in the knowledge that killing a Christian minister is likely to
anger Papuans and incite protest.Army operations continued while the army set up thirteen posts in the area.
Besides land operations, the troops also dropped bombs which fortunately did
not explode. However, the villagers were terrified; in fear for their lives,
they fled into the bush.A Jakarta-based organisation, Solidaritas Nasional Untuk Papua (SNUP) has
monitored this situation closely.We call on you, along with your EU partners, to make the strongest
representations to the Indonesian government regarding this situation,
which is
an offence against the rights of the Papuan people. We urge you to:1. Urge the Indonesian authorities to lift restrictions on access to the
area and allow humanitarian agencies to enter and provide sustenance to the
beleaguered villagers and help arrange for them to return to their homes in
safety.2. Call for the immediate withdrawal of Indonesian troops from the region
so that the people there can live in peace, undisturbed by actions that
violate
their traditional land rights.3. Call for the recently-established Komnas-HAM Papua to investigate the
situation in Puncak Jaya, as its top priority.4. Call for the police to conduct an investigation into the killing of
Rev.
Eliza Tabuni and the shooting of his son, and for the person or persons
responsible to be brought to justice.We fear that if these serious abuses are allowed to continue without protest
from the international community, more abuses will occur, which could well
provoke Papuans into taking action to defend their rights.As you know, Papuan people have a long-standing legitimate grievance against
the Indonesian state for recognising the fraudulent Act of Free Choice and
violating their right to self-determination. Incidents like those that have
occurred in Puncak Jaya can only intensify Papuans' sense of grievance against
Indonesia. This makes action by the international community all the more
urgent.Yours sincerely,
Carmel Budiardjo
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign
111 Northwood Road, Thornton Heath, Croydon CR7 8HW, UK.
tel +44 (0)20 8771 2904 fax +44 (0)20 8653 0322
tapol@gn.apc.org http://tapol.gn.apc.org
