Several thousand people representing various tribes from all over Papua attended the Third Papuan People’s congress from 17- 19 October 2011. Organisers had informed the Jayapura police of the gathering as required by law. At the peaceful gathering, participants reportedly raised the prohibited Morning Star flag, a symbol of Papuan independence, and made declarations of independence. During the period of the congress there was a build up of an estimated 500 military and police personnel surrounding the venue.
On the afternoon of 19 October 2011, the final day of the congress, military and police units approached the venue and started firing shots into the air to break up the peaceful gathering. This caused widespread panic among the participants who began to flee. As they fled, police units from the Jayapura City police station and the regional police headquarters fired tear gas and then arbitrarily arrested an estimated 300 hundred participants.
Police and military officers allegedly beat participants with their pistols, rattan canes and batons during the arrest. The bodies of two participants, Melkias Kadepa, a student, and Yakobus Samonsabra, were found near the area of the congress with bullet wounds."
In response to this statement by Amnesty (read the full statement here) the President of Indonesia told the press that he was open to dialog with human rights NGOs:
TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono asked the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Djoko Suyanto to explain the position of the government of Indonesia to the Amnesty International-regarding problems in Papua. The president made this response to allegations by Amnesty about human rights violations and demands political prisoners be released.
"I hope that Minister Suyanto will act as a coordinator with the relevant officials to engage in dialogue with Amnesty International. Explain the basic position and policy of our approach. Thus, there will be no misunderstanding, misconception, or other matters that are not necessary the case," the president said when opening the meeting plenary cabinet at the State Secretariat Jakarta, Thursday, October 27, 2011.
The president said Indonesia is an open and democratic country with a policy that could be accounted for. If there is an error on the part of the military and police officers, the law will be enforced. Similarly, if an error or a violation was made by others.
"For the sake of justice must also be enforced, and (given) the same legal sanction. The law must also be enforced, security must also be kept. It's very clear and in a variety of occasions when I met with many world leaders, I explained all this," he said.
Matter of government policy, the president compared Indonesia's actions with the hundreds of people in New York who were detained by local authorities for shutting down streets with demonstrations, and riots that also occurred in England some time ago. Detention of people because they act against the law, is happening around the world.
Because Indonesia is also a state governed by law, the President requested this position be explained to non-governmental organizations and nongovernmental organizations. "I hope what I have to say, is that this could be communicated to Amnesty International and other NGOs. Dialog with us, Indonesia is very open to discussing these allegations," he said.
This is a quick translation I did of this article. The original, in Indonesian, is here.
