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Indonesian Police Arrest 13 Papuan Protesters on Pro-Independence Anniversary
John Pakage | December 01, 2009

Papuans marching from the State Palace to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta on Tuesday. (Photo: Yudhi Sukma Wijaya, JG) Papuans marching from the State Palace to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta on Tuesday. (Photo: Yudhi Sukma Wijaya, JG)
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More than a dozen Papuans were arrested on Tuesday when they held a peaceful rally to celebrate the 48th anniversary of the pro-independence Free Papua Movement, police said.

“We are questioning 13 people as they have broken the country’s laws by holding a protest without a permit,” Papua Police spokesman Agus Riyanto told AFP.

Riyanto said riot police made the arrests as they dispersed up to 40 activists who had gathered in the provincial capital Jayapura carrying posters with separatist symbols that had been banned by the state.

Police confiscated three Papuan traditional musical instrument called tifa and an independence Morning Star flag.

Following the dispersal, the protesters went to the office of the Papuan People’s Assembly (MRP), but were immediately turned away on the grounds that they failed to secure a police permit to stage a protest and that they were carrying the Morning Star, according to the head of MRP’s public relations and general affairs division, Angganeta Wally.

Under Indonesian law, those who want to hold a protest have to inform the police of the place, time and issue, as well as the number of people involved.

Aside from the protest in Jayapura, security conditions in Papua and West Papua provinces were relatively calm on Tuesday.

Papua Police Chief Brig. Gen Bekto Suprapto said the situation in the provinces was under control and that there was no report of people raising the Morning Star flag.

Bambang Ricky, chief of the Manokwari Police in West Papua, said security in the district was calm, with people wanting to commemorate the “independence anniversary” flocking to Mansinam Island to pray.

In Jakarta, dozens of Papuans demanded independence at a peaceful rally outside the presidential palace as police stood guard. They carried a red banner reading “Give back the sovereignty of the West Papua nation” and posters bearing the Morning Star flag.

Supporters of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) celebrate Dec. 1 as a day commemorating The Netherlands’ 1961 recognition of Papua’s right to self-rule. Indonesia incorporated the vast, resource-rich territory in 1969 after a UN-backed referendum held among a few hundred tribal leaders.

“We are not Indonesian people, we are a different race. We want independence. We will fight till the end to get our independence,” one of protesters at the presidential palace shouted through a loud speaker.

“Under Indonesian rule we’re becoming poorer and poorer and many of us have suffered torture and violence. The Indonesian government only exploits our rich natural resources but ignores our prosperity,” AFP reported a protester saying on Tuesday.

In the town of Sentani, near Jayapura, more than 100 people took part in joint prayers at the home of slain pro-independence leader Theis Hiyo Eluay, who was kidnapped and murdered in 2001.

US-based Human Rights Watch said in June that torture and abuse of Papuan prisoners in Indonesia was “rampant” and should be investigated.

Papuan protesters Roni Ruben Iba, Isak Iba and Piter Iba were sentenced to between two and three years in jail for subversion earlier this month for raising a banner, similar to the Morning Star flag, near Manokwari, West Papua.