Two West Papuan activists currently in police detention in Yapen Island in West Papua are being threatened with 20 years jail by the Indonesian police. They were arrested for organising a nonviolent march in support of the United Nations International Day of Indigenous People.
Edison Kendi, 37, and Yan Piet Maniamboy, 35, from the pro-independence group West Papua National Authority (WPNA), were arrested by Indonesian police on 9 August 2012.
The activists were leading a march of approximately 350 people when police used force to break up the rally. According to witnesses they beat several Papuans and repeatedly discharged their weapons into the air. Sixteen people were arrested at the scene and a laptop, hard disk, modem, digital camera, documents and three Morning Star flags were later seized by police.
The march in support of the International Day for Indigenous People. Photo: West Papua Media.
All those arrested were subsequently released except for Kendi and Maniamboy who remain in police custody. A local stringer told New Matilda that Indonesian police investigators Sudjadi Waluyo and Arip Marinto have charged the two men with rebellion (makar) under section 155 of the Indonesian Criminal Code. Both defendants have been told that the police will seek jail sentences of 20 years each.
The controversial charge of makar has come under intense criticism from Papuan lawyers Yan Christian Warinusy from the Legal Aid Institute in Manokwari, and Gustaf Kawer and Olga Hamadi from the Commission for the Disappeared. The lawyers argue that the charge of makar has been used as a tool of political repression to deny nonviolent activists their right to free speech.
The law actually dates back to Dutch times and was used extensively by the Suharto regime to repress dissent in Indonesia. Although Suharto was overthrown in May 1998, the law remains on the statute books. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have also called for the makar provisions to be struck from the criminal code and all political prisoners in Papua to be released.
Ironically the theme for this year’s International Day Of Indigenous Peoples was indigenous media. Yapen is extremely isolated. International media is banned in West Papua and local media is censored, so the very fact that story got out in the first place is testimony to the growing power and skill of indigenous media activists in West Papua.
Kendi and Maniamboy told New Matilda by text message from their jail cell that they want the international community to help them. "We don’t want Autonomy or to remain with Indonesia. We want to be free! Don’t continue to let us be killed and thrown in jails," they said.
Kendi (left) and Maniamboy (right). Photo: West Papua Media.
WPNA media activist and Governor of Jayapura (under WPNA’s parallel political structure), Marthen Manggaprouw said his organisation wants the Indonesian government to negotiate with the independence movement to resolve the conflict. "The basic rights of indigenous Papuans are not respected in West Papua. There is no democratic space for us Papuans. We are criminalised simply for expressing our opinion," Manggaprouw said.
The men are among some 100 West Papuan political prisoners currently languishing in Indonesian jails. Although the Indonesian constitution technically guarantees freedom of speech in reality basic rights are routinely denied to the indigenous Papuan population. Papuans calling for genuine political freedoms are vigorously repressed by Indonesian police and military.
With West Papua Media.
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