Dozens arrested and military carnival held on West Papua's Independence Day
As Papuans across the region celebrated the 58th anniversary of West Papua’s Independence on Dec 1, Indonesia deployed more troops, conducted military training, and arrested Papuans who carried the Morning Star Flag, as well as a man who painted a mural depicting the flag in his house.
Voice of Papua’s newsletter team spent a week monitoring the news ahead of and during the celebration of West Papua’s independence day. (We know-we spend a lot of time in front of our laptops because we are freelancers, aside from Arnold Belau, the chief editor of Suara Papua).
Yesterday was a historic day that is rarely described in Indonesia’s history school textbooks— that’s why you need to click this link. On this day, West Papuans commemorate December 1, 1961, when they were granted their freedom by the Dutch.
As the article outlines: the Dutch administration "supported the emergence of a small, educated group of indigenous leaders. This led to the formal declaration of independence on December 1, 1961".
It’s a very complicated history, but there’s an article beautifully written by Indonesian journalist Dieqy Hasbi Widana about the Sacred Nationalism in Papua (Fyi, the article is published in Indonesian). It started with the journey of Izaak Samuel Kijne, a pastor who christened West Papuans across the region. He was both a missionary and a respected figure among West Papuan who is widely known for his support to the struggle of the people. This research paper mentioned that the church has played an important role in the beginning of the movement. Read the article here.
For English readers, here is an article from Papuan writer Leonie Tanggahma on the history of the Morning Star flag. You can also read this essay about the Papuan Political Manifesto of Dec 1 by Bernard Agapa, a lawyer, activist and Suara Papua team member who passed away a few days ago. (Rest in peace, brother)
Speaking about the Morning Star flag is not just a symbol of history. Ahead of celebrations and protests on December 1st, the Indonesian government conducted an operation to arrest activists and ordinary Papuans who carried the flag ahead of and during the commemorations.
Before we update you on the Papuans who were arrested and interrogated on December 1st, there’s another thing we want you to pay attention to: Indonesian media have described the Dec 1 as the anniversary of the Free West Papua Movement (OPM) or West Papua National Liberation Army. You can find it easily in Tempo, Kompas, Kumparan, and of course, Detik. Well, Tirto has done a great job by lambasting these media saying that, “Hey, Dec 1 is not OPM’s anniversary, you’re welcome.”
OK, here is the list:
On November 21, Ricky Karel, a Papuan who painted a mural depicting the flag in his house and then posted it on Facebook was arrested by the police. Later, he was charged with Electronic Information Law.
On November 25, Deputy Chairperson of West Papua Student and Youth National Solidarity, Pilipus Robaha’s house was reportedly visited by the police. On Tuesday, 26th of November, he was arrested by police in Jayapura. The police stated that Pilipus was arrested after a letter of invitation to attend the commemoration on Dec 1 at Trikora Field mentioned his name as the organiser, circulated in social media. After 24 hours, he was later released. He is not alone. Executive Director of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua Markus Haluk was interrogated for six hours by Jayapura police for a similar event.
On November 27, eight Papuans were arrested after carrying 29 Morning Star flags with them. Meanwhile, a group of West Papuans managed to hold a protest carrying the Morning Star flag, but were eventually dispersed by the police.
On November 29, Jakarta’s Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) sent at least 900 more troops to West Papua to conduct massive military exercises in West Papua. More troops were seen in the streets across the region, from Wamena, Timika, Deiyai, Dogiyai, Boven Digoel, Manokwari and Jayapura. Hundreds of troops were seen parachuting in Jayapura and Wamena, making the cities appear almost like a war zone.
Human rights lawyer Veronica Koman shared several photos on Twitter showing increasing military activities in West Papua, as well as police breaking up December 1 rallies in other Indonesian cities. Veronica has been pursued by Indonesian police for 'spreading hoaxes', related to her tweet updates on incidences between West Papuans and security forces. Despite her criminalisation by the government, many international news outlets continue to use her as a main source for news on West Papua.
Papuan activists described the military activities and training as scaremongering. Indonesian top officials also made an appearance, with the Chief of the Indonesian military and the Minister for Security stationed in West Papua for the past few days.
On November 30, there was conflict near Freeport mine, Timika. A shooting reportedly took place in Mile 60. A Couple of weeks before the celebration, Freeport area was closed for ‘safety reasons’.
On December 1, during the celebration, Indonesian National Police arrested four Papuan students who wore traditional attire, Koteka, while carrying Morning Star flags, The university students attended a Sunday morning service in a church in Abepura, Jayapura. The police said they were arrested for both carrying the flags and painting their faces with the Morning Star. Police also arrested 34 Papuans (including children) who were allegedly celebrating the Independence Day.
A Papuan student dormitory in Surabaya was reportedly surrounded by security forces from the early hours of the morning. Also in Merauke, the security forces surrounded the National Committee of West Papua (KNPB) office.
Despite the circumstances, Papuans in other parts of the region managed to celebrate to commemorate the independence day. In Manokwari, the celebration went well, under the watchful eyes of 600 state apparatus. Hundreds of Papuan celebrated independence day in a football field in Mapia. In Dekai-Yahukimo, Papuan held a Sunday morning prayer to commemorate the independence day.
What we read (bonus):
Do you know that up to 7,000 West Papuans live in refugee villages in Papua New Guinea? Guardian contributor, Jo Chandler, unveils the story of Papuans fled to the border of PNG after an uprising by Melanesian nationalists in Jayapura in February 1984. At least 11,000 Papuans were walking a thousand miles to save their lives, trekking on foot or navigating the coast in outrigger canoes. Read the article here: Refugees on their own land, Guardian.
This announcement from Google is super important. After Bellingcat, an independent investigative site, published their findings on a pro-Indonesian propaganda bot network, there have been some interesting developments. After Twitter and Facebook announced that they have removed dozens of accounts, Google has now decided to terminate one advertising account and 28 YouTube channels spreading misinformation on West Papua. Read more here.
That’s a wrap for this week. We will come back in mid-December.
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Ps: We would love to hear from you about the new version of the newsletter. Email us at voiceofpapua@protonmail.com. Also, we plan to translate articles written by Papuan writers and journalists. If you have any recommendations about which articles we could translate, please let us know.