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John Rumbiak - biographical
information
John Rumbiak serves as supervisor of ELSHAM, the Jayapura-based
Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy, and is
internationally recognized as a leading human rights defender. Born
on the island of Biak in 1962, Mr. Rumbiak studied linguistics at
Cenderawasih University in Jayapura in the 1980s. Since that time,
he has worked in several non-governmental organisations concerned
with human rights and development. In 1999, Mr. Rumbiak participated
in Columbia University's Human Rights Advocates Program. He is
currently based in New York City, where he serves as a visiting
scholar at Columbia University's Center for Human Rights Study. Mr.
Rumbiak also serves on the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for
Human Rights' Indonesia Support Group and as a director of the Papua
Resource Center, a New York-based non-profit organization that seeks
to raise awareness and promote cooperation on behalf of the land and
people of Papua through programmes such as human resource
development.
Under Mr. Rumbiak's supervision, ELSHAM has been at the forefront of
efforts to establish Papua as a Zone of Peace, an initiative
involving Papua's governor, legislators, police and navy commanders,
church leaders, and other members of civil society,. ELSHAM also
has carried out high-profile human rights reporting and advocacy.
The cases that it has investigated and reported on include: the
Indonesian military's brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrators in
Biak (July 1998), implications of military operations in the
Mapnduma hostage incident (August 1999), extrajudicial killings and
torture in Nabire (May 2000), police raid on Papuan student
dormitories in Abepura (December 2000), police operations and human
rights violations in Wasior (August 2001), the assassination of
Papuan community leader Theys Eluay (November 2001), killings and
other crimes within the Freeport copper & gold mining operations
area (August 2002).
Through this work, ELSHAM has gained international recognition as
the leading credible source of information regarding human rights
conditions in Papua. The organization is regularly consulted by
Jakarta-based diplomats, government officials from North America,
Europe, and the Asia Pacific region, international human rights
organizations (e.g., Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch) and
major Indonesian and international media outlets (e.g., Agence
France Presse, Associated Press, British Broadcasting Corporation,
Kompas, The New York Times, Reuters, Suara Pembaruan, Tempo, TVRI,
The Washington Post). Most recently, ELSHAM has shared information
from its investigatory work regarding the August 2002 Freeport
attack with the Papua provincial police and the U.S. Federal Bureau
of Investigations, which have recognized ELSHAM's skills in the
human rights monitoring and investigation arena.
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