Protester killed at independence rally in West Papua (Updated story, photos added)

Reports today (August 10) confirm that it was the Indonesian police who shot the local man Opinus Tabuni yesterday at remote highland city of Wamena in West Papua.
The UN World Indigenous People Day event where the shooting occurred, was attended by 20,000 West Papuan people, who had travelled mostly from the Baliem Valley and neighbouring highland areas. Many visiting community leaders from other regions of West Papua attended the rally, including the Goldman Peace Prize winner Mama Yosefa Alomang and speakers from Dawan Adat Papua.
Reports say at the end of the rally Indonesian police and other security forces with a water cannon, which had been on standby outside the rally, moved in to disperse the crowd. The four flags had been raised at the end of the ceremony. These flags were the Indonesian National flag, the United Nations flag, the SOS flag saying Papuan people are in danger and the banned nationalist symbol the Morning Star Flag.

After the flags were raised the police reportedly moved in and started firing into the surrounding buildings and into the ground in front of the crowd.
Opinus Tabuni who had been sitting near the fence of the Santa Thomas Catholic Senior High School (SMU YPPK) was killed with a bullet. Photos of Opinus Tabuni (see above) show bullet puncture wound on his left side.
The body of Opinus Tabuni was kept at the Tribal Council Office (Lapago) in Wamena before being transferred to the hospital. A request has been made to the Chief of Police in Papua to view the body.
The local police Chief, Lt. Col. Paulus Waterpau, denied in the media that his police officers were involved in killing. Waterpau made the claim that Mr Tabuni ‘might have been accidently killed by protestors’ with spears in the crowd. An Indonesian military officer Lt. Col. Gandry in Wamena also claimed in the media that military had fired warning shots before the crowd become hostile. He reported that the dead man could have been shot or killed by an arrow.
Paula Makabory from Institute for Papua Advocacy & Human Rights said today, “The Indonesian Police also have the audacity to deny they have killed this man when he was shot in front of everyone. Indonesian Police and Military have been immune from prosecution in West Papua if they use violence to kill or torture our people .”
Two other men were reported also seriously injured by Indonesian security forces. It was reported that one man who was shot and critically injured. Human Rights workers are searching for this man and it is feared that Indonesian security forces have removed him.
Witnesses reported that the other man was severely beaten by police using their rifle butts. The family of this man report that he is missing.
Paula Makabory continued, “This incident is a clear indication that the Indonesian police believe that unfurling the Morning Star flag is enough justification to shoot at people in a peaceful rally.”
“This police action could easily have escalated into conflict and lead to deaths of many West Papuan people. There were 20,000 people at the rally many of whom were armed with tradition spears and bows & arrows. If they had the people reacted forcefully to the Police shooting there would have been a major catastrophe. It is a credit to our people that they continued to react peacefully to such provocation. The police wanted to trigger a conflict.”
After the shooting it is reported that non-Papuans (Indonesian) inhabitants of Wamena and surrounding areas have moved to Police and Military compounds because of the perceived risk of retaliation from local people.
There are said to be about 10,000 people from the surrounding mountains still in Wamena today (Sunday August 10).
For further information contact:
Paula Makabory +61 402547517
Source & photo credits: Institute for Papuan Advocacy and Human Rights

Statement by Institute for Papuan Advocacy and Human Rights, Saturday 9 August 2008:

Reports from Wamena this afternoon state that there has been a fatal shooting at an event to celebrate UN Indigenous Peoples Day. Reports say that rally event involves 20,000 local people.
The man who was shot is identified as Mr Opinus Tabuni, age 35. Mr Tabuni is said to have been shot in chest and killed after Indonesian security forces fired into the crowd at about 3.45 pm today.
Mr Tabuni is said to have been an organiser for the Tribal Council in the Wamena region (Lapago) and appears to have been coordianting the event.
The demonstrators have raised four flags. These are the United Nations flag, the Indonesian flag, the West Papuan Morning Star flag and the SOS emergency flag.
The demonstrators are said to be refusing to move from the site of the demonstration until there is now International intervention in West Papua.
For further information about the demonstration is available from contacts in Wamena.
- Markus Haluk, Lapago Tribal Council member, +62 852 44442502
- Agus Alua, Chairman, Papuan Peoples Assembly (MRP) +62 816 43333084
and
Paula Makabory, Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights on +61 402547517 in Australia.
Source:
Matthew Jamieson
Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights
PO Box 1805, Byron Bay NSW 2481 Australia
matthew@hr.minihub.org
Tel +61(0) 418291998

Front PEPERA Papua Barat statement: A West Papuan was Killed During Celebrate International Indigenous People Day

About 20.000 indigenous people communities in Wamena, West Papua flew their national flag, Morning star and the Union's flag in Celebrate the International Indigenous People day. One resident, named Otius Tabuni was reported shot by Indonesia Police.
When this news was reported, the situation in Wamena was still tense. The TNI and Republic of Indonesia State Police apparently everywhere with complete war material. This peace action was repressing by Indonesia National Army (TNI) against the community member of indigenous people. Crew of Media online kabarpapua.com reported that West Papua Indigenous People in Wamena demanded the right to self determination from Indonesia that colonised that territory for 47 years.
This action was carried out in the spirit of the UN resolution of No. 49/214 the date, on December 23 1994 that adopted a declaration that gave the right for indigenous people all over the world, including the right of indigenous people to self determination.
Once more, although Indonesia active to become part of the Human Right Council of UN, but Indonesia continued to violate and disobedient the Universal Human Rights of UN. West Papua indigenous people are needing the international solidarity action to release one of 370 millions traditional communities in 70 countries of all the worlds in the matter of demanded their political right.
For further information contact:
Lemok Mabel: +628134472829 (Chairman of Papua Traditional Council for Wamena, WP)
Benny Wenda: +44(0)7791629782 (Koteka Tribal Assembly in England)
Victor F. Yeimo: +6287878977398 (Front PEPERA PB for Indonesia Consulate)
Source: FRONT PERSATUAN PERJUANGAN RAKYAT PAPUA BARAT (Front PEPERA PB)

Warning shots in Indonesia's Papua, one dead

 Reuters report, August 9: A man was killed in Indonesia's Papua province after police fired warning shots when a group raised a separatist flag at a ceremony, an official said on Saturday.
Thousands of people had gathered in Wamena city to mark U.N. Indigenous Peoples' Day when the incident happened.
"After the speech, a group of people entered the field and raised an Indonesian flag, a U.N. flag, an SOS flag and the Morning Star flag," said Fadhal Alhamid, leader of the Papua Tribal Council. The Morning Star is a banned separatist flag.
"When the police saw the flag, they immediately fired warning shots and somebody screamed someone has been shot," he added.
The shot man was identified as Opinus Tabuni, 35, an organiser for the event, according to the Institute for Papuan Advocacy and Human Rights, a rights group.
Police could not immediately be reached for comment.
Separately, about 100 Indonesians from a hardline Muslim group rallied outside the U.S. embassy in Jakarta on Saturday to protest against a letter sent by 40 U.S. Congress members calling for the release of two jailed Papuan separatists.
The letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urged for the "immediate and unconditional release" of the two men.
Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage were sentenced to 10 and 15 years respectively after raising a separatist flag in December 2004 in the restive province of Papua. The letter also said it believed Papua's human rights situation was deteriorating.
"This is a matter for Indonesia and the letter reflects U.S. intervention against Indonesia's sovereignty," Farid Wadji, a spokesman for Muslim group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, told Reuters Television.
The U.S. embassy in Jakarta issued a statement saying Washington "continues to fully support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Indonesia", while also urging Jakarta to fully implement a special autonomy law in Papua.
Independence activists in Papua have waged a campaign for nearly 40 years to break away from Indonesia, while a low-level armed rebellion has also simmered, often related to disputes over the sharing of rich natural resources.
Last month, six people were arrested on charges of treason after a group hoisted a separatist flag in West Papua. (Reporting by Reuters Television and Karima Anjani; Editing by Ed Davies)

Protester killed at independence rally in Papua

 AP: Police fired warning shots to break up an independence rally Saturday in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua. One person was killed during the protest, but police denied responsibility.
Thousands gathered in Wamena, the capital of the mountainous district of Jayawijaya, to celebrate Indigenous Rights Day when a tribal group raised a
separatist flag, said Forkorus Yaboisembut, a leader of the Papuan Tribal Council and one of the organizers.
In Indonesia, raising the Papuan independence flag is a crime punishable by life in prison.
Police demanded they remove the flag and then fired warning shots, killing one man with a bullet to the chest, Yaboisembut said.
Local police Chief Lt. Col. Paulus Waterpau acknowledged one man was killed at the rally but denied his men were responsible for the death. Waterpau said many separatists were carrying traditional weapons, including spears, and the victim may have been accidentally killed by fellow protesters in the chaos.
Separately, 100 Muslim hard-liners rallied outside the U.S. Embassy in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, to protest a letter sent by 40 U.S. Congress members calling for the "immediate and unconditional release" of two Papuans jailed in 2005 for raising separatist flags.
Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage were sentenced to 10 and 15 years respectively.
"Americans should not interfere in Indonesia's internal affairs," members of the hard-line Islamic group Hizbut Tahrir chanted during the noisy demonstration, which ended without incident.
Indonesia took over Papua from Dutch colonial rule in 1963. Its sovereignty over the region was formalized in 1969 through a stage-managed vote by about 1,000 community leaders, which critics dismissed as a sham.
A small, poorly armed separatist movement has battled Jakarta's rule ever since. About 100,000 Papuans _ one-sixth of the population _ have died in military operations.