Donna Rumbrar, West Papua

The year 1983 marked the beginning of the human rights movement in West Papua. It began with the murder of Arnold Clemens Ap, cultural observer and human rights defender. He was arrested on 11 November 1983 by Indonesian military and five months later, while still in custody, he died. The Kopassanda, the TNI special army, tortured him to death. Throughout the decade, there were several more cases which pushed people to established human rights institutions including LBH Papua, Yayasan Pengembangan Masyarakat Desa (YPMD) (formerly known as Irja Disc), ELSHAM (Lembaga Studi dan Advokasi Hak Asasi Manusia), and Lembaga Pengkajian dan Pemberdayaan Perempuan dan Anak Papua (LP3AP); an organisation working on women and children. Since these movements were established, human rights defenders have faced intimidation and threats from national security officers, especially from the Kepolisian Negara Republik Indonesia (POLRI).

LP3AP works on advocacy. LP3AP is a partner of other national NGOs including the National Commission Of Women in Jakarta.

Standing before the Third Dublin Platform, I want to say that “When we Papuans, men and women alike, become human rights defenders we always face imminent death”. I would like to highlight several important cases in which Papua women human rights defenders are arrested and subsequently die while in detention. LP3AP works on the issue of violence against women and offers assistance to the victims of domestic violence by partners and family member, as well as victims of institutionalised violence by the state. All activities carried out by LP3AP at a local, national or international level are monitored by police/military intelligence. Normally the intelligence officials ask NGOs to ignore women who claim to be victims of violence. Papuan police have interrogated several women defenders working at the NGO level. The most common charge is “Makar”, or ‘rebellion’ and is frequently leveled at women who call other women to action.

- Yohanis Bonay, lawyer and ELSHAM director, was arrested and interrogated by police. They accused him of slander towards the TNI during investigations into the kidnapping and killing of Theis H.Eluay, the leader of Presidium Papua. - Fredy Sapary, ELSHAM member, was arrested. No explanation was given. - Yan Ch. Warinusi, lawyer and LP3BH director (a partner organsiation of ELSHAM), was threatened by the Commander of Sabara Police in Manokwari on 21 June 2001. - John Rumbiak, ELSHAM supervisor, was tortured by police in Manokwari after recruiting human rights volunteers in the area. - Hubertus Kwambre was the victim of death threats from members of the Kopassus after he offered to volunteer with ELSHAM.

A number of women human rights defenders have also been the victims of violations: Zandra Mambrasar and Ronald Tapilatu, both members of ELSHAM, were accused of slander towards the Indonesian Police while investigating cases of human rights violations by leading police officials. Paula Makabori, ELSHAM volunteer, was the victim of death threats after investigating of human rights violations in Timika. Today she lives in constant fear of the Badan Inelijen Indonesia (BIN) or the Indonesian intelligence. During the 16 days of action campaign organised by the National Commission for Human Rights, human rights defenders were the victims of various acts of harassment and intimidation. In particular, police enquired about the proposed schedule, as well as about the organisers, speakers and participants at different events. Helene Marani, YPKM volunteer, was a victim of police violence who subsequently died in custody in Kapolresta Jayapura, in West Papua.

In West Papua, people are not aware that human rights defenders require protection. The work of defenders and the risks they face are not widely recognised. Most defenders work on human rights cases in the hope of improving the level of justice, democracy, law and human rights enjoyed by citizens in West Papua. More often than not, defenders fail to examine the dangers to their own human rights, including torture, arrests and intimidations. It must be acknowledged that the situation for human rights defenders in West Papua can find some parallels with Aceh, in both regions the perpetrators of violations against defenders are military, police, government, and/or civil officials. Under these circumstances, it is important to provide training for human rights defenders.