World Council of Churches Office of Communication
150 route de Ferney, P.O. Box 2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
WCC Press Update, 17 April 2002
UN Commission on Human Rights:
WCC addresses serious human rights situation in Papua,
Indonesia
The following is the full text of the oral intervention by Martin Doolard on behalf of the
Commission of the Churches on International Affairs of the World Council of Churches
(WCC/CCIA) to the 58th Session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
on Tuesday, 16 April. The Intervention came under Item 11. - Civil and Political Rights:
On behalf of the Commission of Churches of International Affairs of the World Council
of Churches, I wish to address this Commission on the growing environment of
repression in Papua, also known in Indonesia as Irian Jaya.
Last year, I drew the attention of this Forum to the serious human rights situation in
Papua. On the contrary as I speak here today, nothing has changed. According to the
information received by the churches, as well as local and international human rights
NGOs, the situation has worsened. Since the much-proclaimed reform period
(1998-2001), the number of reported cases of extra-judicial killings have reached an all
time high of 136; there have been 838 cases of arbitrary detention, and torture; also
there is an increase in the number of cases of human rights defenders receiving death
threats and destruction and burning of property by sections of the Indonesian Security
Forces.(1) The Indonesian Authorities have not responded favourably to the call for
dialogue by the people of Papua.
The repressive measures adopted by the Indonesian Government include a crackdown
on the peaceful demands of the Papuans to exercise their right to self-determination,
mistreatment, torture and killings of civilians. The abduction and murder on 10
November 2001, of Theys Eluay, a moderate Papuan leader, is evidence of the
methods used by the Indonesian government to suppress the people.
The abduction and killing of Mr. Eluay was a well-planned politically motivated action.
His assassination has to be viewed in light of several documents and statements (2)
issued by Jakarta that outline strategies for a brutal crackdown on the people's
demand to exercise their right of self-determination. This policy has resulted in
widespread human rights violations, systematically planned and executed, targeting
civilians, and group leaders in the entire region of Papua.
The Indonesian Government despite repeated assurances has failed to establish a
legally constituted and credible enquiry team to carry out the investigation. The official
National Enquiry Commission (KPN) established by the Indonesian President is not
legal and does not have the authority to investigate the state institutions involved in
this incident. The military enquiry team (PUSPOM TNI) was established as part of the
strategy to get rid of the evidence and to protect military's involvement in the murder of
Theys Eluay. The findings of both the enquiry commissions have determined that the
killing of Theys Eluay was an ordinary crime.
They refuse to acknowledge that it was an extra-ordinary crime that has implications
for the institutions of the state. The churches and the NGO community in Papua as
well as in Indonesia have raised the concern that they apprehend the actual
perpetrators of this crime may never be brought to justice.
Mr Chairman, the large majority of the people in Papua view the assassination of Mr
Eluay as a deliberate act of the state authorities to silence him and to be a warning to
others who subscribe to similar viewpoints.
We urge this Commission to use its influence on the Indonesian Government to stop
the repression against the Papuan people and not to suppress their demand to
exercise their right to self-determination. We also urge the Commission to call on the
Indonesian Government to establish a credible, legal, independent enquiry team, that
includes international human rights experts, to investigate the involvement of state
institutions in the assassination of Theys Elauy and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Finally, we appeal to the Commission to call on the Indonesian Government to invite
Special Rapporteurs on Summary Executions and on Torture to visit Papua.
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(1) These figures were obtained from the 2001-Year report of the Institute for Human
Rights Study and Advocacy (Elsham-Papua), Jayapura, West Papua.
(2) These documents include the following: - on 9 June 2000, a secret document was
issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs / Department of the Interior in Jakarta, outlining
the strategy of the Indonesian Government, concerning their intention to crack down
on independence movement in Papua; - on 16 August 2001, in a speech, the
President of Indonesia ordered the Minister of social and political affairs to crack down
on separatist movements in West Papua.
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For more information contact:
Karin Achtelstetter, Media Relations Officer
tel.: (+41 22) 791 6153 (office);
e-mail: ka@wcc-coe.org
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