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Update
Terakhir: Mar 8th, 2006 - 22:29:48
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 Penegakan Hukum
The Rev Yoman from West Papua is here to highlight the plight of this People. This minister from West Papua is calling on Baptists Worldwide to help his people in the fight for political independence and their lives, writes. We sit in a small house hidden down a narrow alley, one person crouched on the floor and another in the corner, talking of such dark acts as rape, torture, imprisonment and genocide. The rapid-fire dialogue an interpreter punctuates the broken English of our slow conversation. Yet this is no banned house group in North Korea or the shell of the Burmese church: although we talk of Indonesian island of West Papua, we arte in the crowded front room of a red-brick terraced house in suburban Oxford. This is were Rev Socratez Yoman president of the West Papua Baptists Churches, begins to tell his tale of repression and death as part of a British and Irish tour that culminated at the pre-Congress Freedom Conference in Birmingham on Tuesday. It is the home of Benny Wenda, a Baptist member of the Free West Papua Campaign group who was jailed in 2002 for rising the separatist flag, the morning star. He is now in taking political asylum in Britain, but hopes to return to his homeland one day, once his guest has raised the profile of the West Papua to such an extent that the rest of the world intervenes to bring peace to the country. Or so he hopes. Socratez is here to send out a all to European and American British to help their brothers in West Papua before, he says, the Indonesian army systematically wipe them out. The only way to do this is by supporting West Papuan Independence, he argues. It is a desperate plea, which Benny and his wife Maria support periodically through nods and murmurs of agreement as he slowly explains the plight of his people. ‘ My people in West Papua are God people, but they live under Indonesian authority; he says carefully choosing his words. I want to tell the International community, especially the Baptists community, about this injustice because Baptist knows all about religious freedom and human right.’ As head of the 263-church Baptist Union of West Papua, Socratez talks of how church leader have to meet in secret. He explains, as Benny and Maria look away and stare at the floor, how the Indonesian military burned down a Baptist church in the kwuyawagi region in 2003, killed 15 people out of the community of 3,000 and forced the others into hiding in surrounding forest, where a further 73 died in subsequent weeks. Growing animated, he speaks of Muslimisation’ and systematic planting of Muslim communities in the majority Christian country, claming that the Indonesian government bribes impoverished Christian to persuade them to change religion. ‘White people brought the Good News of the Gospel to us many years ago, but now I must bring the bad news to you,’ he says. It is a story back up by many non governmental organisations base in the west, from the International Free West Papua Movement to West Papua action,’ the issue of human rights in West Papua was also the subject of an investigation in the Ecologist magazine in April this year. Amnesty International’s views on Indonesian army’s involvement in West Papua is far from encouraging. In it’s 2004 report, Amnesty points out that peaceful expression of support for independence in Papua have been prohibited. Protestors, as well as journalists, have been jailed and torture. As Paul Barber, the advocacy officer of Tapol, the organisation that invited Socratez to Britain ( Tapol is the Indonesian word for ` political prisoner `) says, “ The human rights situation in particularly bad. It is one of the major conflict are of Indonesian and there is a very strong movement for independence there.’ This conflict arose from West Papua’s turbulent history, where it was passed from one colonial power to another. A former Dutch colony just north of Australia, West Papua is about the size of France and has a population of about 4 million. However Indonesian’s interest in the region sparked conflict with the Nederland’s in the late 50s, until the US intervened. By 1962, the New York Agreement was concluded between the Nederland’s and Indonesia. This agreement, which was ratified by the UN General Assembly that year, stipulated that the Nederland’s was to leave West Papua ( then West New Guinea) and transfer authority to a United Nations Temporary Executive ( UNTEA ). The UNTEA handed over West Papua to Indonesia and the Island was ‘occupied’ in 1969. A consultation exercise with the West Papuan people is widely regarded as a sham, with only 1,000 West Papuan consulted ( reportedly under duress ) out of a population of 800,000. When Socratez rails about US and European support of Indonesian ‘killers’ he speak of Western complicity in this 1969 ‘occupation; The presence of Indonesian army has led to severe restrictions on freedom of assembly today; journalists have not been allowed on to the island. At a conference in Ireland last week on West Papuan independence, Socratez compared the Human Rights violation inflicted on the people of West Papua to those suffered by the people of East Timore, There is Genocide going on every day in my country. The military create disputes and killing to justify their continued presence on the island; he said. TO make matter worse, he says, promises from the Indonesia government to protect the human right of the West Papuans and develop their society through investment in the education system and health service under the special autonomy arrangement drawn up in 2002 have yet to materialise. The Christian church in West Papua is united in feeling under threat from Muslim expansionism and Indonesian pressure. A joint statement last month to regional parliament from Socratez and from the RevdHerman Saud, chairman of the Christian Evangelical Church in Papua made bitter criticisms of the working of the so-called Special Autonomy Status of the country, saying the rule from the capital Jakarta was ruining their people and attacking Indonesian claims to be ‘ building Papua; They accused Indonesian of modern-day colonialism, saying, ‘ In the past, the Dutch educated Papuans wisely. The Dutch never committed murder, raped, and send people to the prison. You say that Dutch were the great coloniser in this modern world; They described the social inequalities of the region. ‘ Doctors in Papua are not saving lives, ‘ they said. ‘ They prescribe drugs for our people when they are sick but when Papuan visit the chemists they cannot afford to buy the expensive medicine. They just go home sadly wait to die. This is systematically genocide. White People brought the Good News of the Gospel to us but now I must bring the bad news to you Our land is rich so our people should have enough money to buy medicine to save their lives. Where is the money from our land going? ‘The distribution of alcoholic drinks is also the some. Why don’t you ever arrest the Javanese People who supply the alcoholic drinks? You only arrest those, mostly Papuan, Who consume the alcoholic drinks. You send them to prison, torture them and many die in prison. We see this also as systematically genocide; They said that the Special Autonomy policy was ‘like the Indonesian government trying to give the Papuans sweets to stop us crying. When the children cry the father gives them sweets, but when they stop crying, the father forgets his promises,’ But church life in West Papua seems to have thrived regardless since Dutch missionary arrived there in the 19th century. Benny’s eyes light up when he is asked by Socratez to compare church life in Britain and West Papua: British churches are ‘ beautiful but empty,’ While West Papuan churches are ‘strong and exciting’, where a service may star at 7.30 am and not finish until 2 pm. And it is because the church has an influential role in society that Socratez believes church leaders should motivate their congregations into voicing their demand for West Papuan independence. ‘ I am a leader, I am called to lead these people and I will stay by them. What else would I do?’ he says. ‘ The way to help us is to bring about self independent, the best way for West Papua. How can the Baptist Union be silent? They speak about human rights, but what about West Papuan situation? Socratez him self would like to see Papuans achieve complete independence, but not all Christians are agreed on his policy, some believe complete independence isn’t achievable, and want see genuine autonomy instead. Church support for greater independence, if not total independence, widespread, says Dr Benny Giay, a lecturer at the West Papuan Walter post Sentani School of Theological and the Chairman of the Island ‘ s Bureau of Peace and Justice. Some Churches composed of migrants from other countries such as the Philippines and Indonesian ( deemed to be a’ large group’) are less concerned with independence, he says, but the majority of indigenous West Papuan Churches are pro-independence from Indonesia - whose government has claimed in response to a prolonged international outcry that its military presence does not involve genocide. The military presence, its climes, is there to provide order in the face of separatists and inter- tribal warfare. Herman Saud , himself more politically moderate then Socratez, lashed out at the Indonesian president late last year when he visited the island. He was there to mark the establishment of a Papua people’s Council, which will represent tribal and religious leaders in local parliament and is part of a special autonomy scheme for the province. ‘Mr Yudohyono speaks of resolving the West Papua issue peacefully and giving symbolic gifts to the Papuans, yet his military is killing our people – more then 6,000 civilians are right now hiding in the forests of Puncak Jaya fearing for their lives and dozens have died from hunger,’ Mr Saud said then. ‘ Because Papuans ware not political aspirations in the past, in that respect, all churches will support any government, ‘ adds Dr Giay. But where does that leave Baptists in the West? What can we do to help better the situation? Regina Claas, the in – coming chair of the BWA’s Freedom and Justice Commission, is sure that Baptist should be active in the quest for human rights. ‘ I believe that as Christians we are called to raise our voice on behalf of any person whose rights and dignity are being violated, ‘ she says. ‘ I believe Christ always calls us to explore creative means, or a third way, to install peace and justice.‘ At present Piece and Justice appear to be in short supply in West Papua. But there are courageous people prepared to stand up for what they believe, and campaign for their people’s rights in the name of Christ. © Copyright 2003-2005 by watchPAPUA
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