Indonesia responds to Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal judgment
Indonesian government responds to the PPT judgement in Geneva
by Samira Homerang Saunders and David Whyte
The government of Indonesia has formally responded to the accusations put to the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) on State and Environmental Violence in West Papua hosted at Queen Mary in June.
In a statement delivered at a side meeting of the 57th UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Indonesian government refuted the findings in the Tribunal’s judgement, and sought to deflect the significance of those findings by pointing out that the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal has no binding authority and no jurisdiction over Indonesia: “the government of Indonesia, a sovereign nation, doesn’t recognize the competence of a foreign tribunal such as the Peoples’ tribunal.”
Simona Fraudatario of the PPT read out the devastating judgement, which accused the Indonesian government and international investors of a wide range of criminal acts against the people of West Papua. The judgement condemned Indonesia for the violation of human rights which casts a “shadow of fear” over the region, for depriving the indigenous people of basic economic rights and for the huge scale of ecological degradation that is linked directly to state and corporate projects, leading to “a slow genocide”. In West Papua, the judgement stated, “the Indonesian national army is instrumental in the creation of a conflict and the theft of land.” It also pointed out that Western corporations and the international community are willing participants and bystanders in this massive land grab.
The judgement demanded immediate action from the Government of Indonesia to honour its obligation to ensure the free exercise of the right to self determination and to introduce “meaningful collective bargaining” with the West Papuan people. This should include a recognition of the traditional land tenure system and a reversal of deforestation by 2030. The international community must demand that Indonesia grants access to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and all relevant UN mandate holders to conduct a “sizeable UN investigation with a broader mandate.”
The meeting heard from Leo Ijie, one of the prosecution lawyers at the tribunal and a victim of arbitrary detention in West Papua. He powerfully told the meeting why he decided to work as a lawyer and human rights defender. “I became a lawyer after witnessing the forest – my mother – being taken away as part of a transmigration project. We see the land and forest as our mother. Land grabbing by the government is endemic across Papua. As you know a mother is very important to a child. Saving the forest – the third most important after the Amazon and the Congo – is our contribution to the world, our contribution to stopping global warming.”
The importance of the Tribunal was underlined by Peter Prove of the World Council of Churches who chaired the meeting and noted that West Papua is the site of some of “the worst and most long standing human rights violations that most of the world has never heard of.” Prove appealed to Indonesia to reverse the trends of worsening HR and humanitarian crisis and as a first step to re-open the ICRC delegation in Jayapura.
Norman Voss of Human Rights Monitor also contributed, arguing “Extrajudicial killing is the single biggest issue facing West Papua,” and reported his organisation’s finding that almost 80,000 people are now internally displaced due to the conflict; 99% of those internally displaced persons are indigenous Papuans. He also highlighted the suppression and threat to journalists who attempt to report on the situation in West Papua. Finally, Nurina Savitri of Amnesty International warned that the new Penal Code introduced by the Indonesian government will restrict freedom of expression to an even greater extent and that the proposed Military and Police Bills will give the authorities yet more powers.
The government of Indonesia made three points in defence of its record. First, it argued that planned economic development of West Papua is much greater than other parts of Indonesia, and that this would involve healthcare and education as well as industrial development. It referred to over 3000 kilometres of highways, bridges, airports and 6 power plants to support the region’s development, a response to the very accusations of land grabbing and environmental destruction that the Indigenous people opposed. Second, it argued that “a prosperous future where children are healthy, educated and free from terror cannot be built while armed groups continue to terrorize communities.” Third, it stated that “the government of Indonesia is fully committed to addressing the situation of Internally Displaced People in Papua” noting that “last year we successfully repatriated around 6000 IDPs.” Indonesia’s contribution finished with a request for constructive suggestions for improving human rights in Papua.
Yet, Papuan civil society representatives criticised the model of development as repressive and ecologically destructive and reported no evidence of the 6000 IDPs being returned to their homes, and argued that the human rights situation is worsening.
Also present at the meeting were representatives from human rights NGOs and the governments of India, Vanuatu, Samoa, Nepal, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu.
The Centre for Climate Crime and Climate Justice will now meet with the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal and its civil society partners in West Papua and internationally to discuss how it can support efforts to realise the recommendations of the Tribunal.