290 Receive Medical Treatment in former IDP Community
Jayapura, 25 November 2008. From 17-19 November 2008, a team from Office of Justice and Peace (SKP) Diocese of Jayapura provided medical treatment to 290 people in the Kwiyawage Sub-District. The treatment programme was conducted jointly with local government health staff. The SKP team was forced to cut short the treatment programme due to transport difficulties in this remote highland area. ( more information )

A Kwiyawage woman

Jayapura Youth Learn Composting and Paper Recycling
Jayapura, 3 November 2008. In October 2008, the Office of Justice and Peace (SKP) Diocese of Jayapura held training for youth in two parishes around Jayapura in waste management. These trainings, involving over 60 young people, were intended to raise awareness about the growing waste problem in Jayapura and as part of commemoration of St. Francis Day on 4 October. The training focused on two methods of waste management; creating compost from organic waste and recycling used paper. Br. Edy Rosariyanto OFM, of SKP’s Eco-pastoral Division, explained that around 60-70% of household waste is organic and organic waste can be turned into compost fertiliser. All that is needed is some knowledge in how to turn waste into useful compost. Br. Edy explained that composting could be done at home. He explained the many benefits of composting, and how it can help to reduce waste in the environment, help to fertilise plants and reduce the waste management burden on the government. ( more information )

Br. Edy, Eco-pastoral Division Coordinator

"We Papuan women want proper market place in town!"
Jayapura, 17 October 2008. Around 500 Papuan women market traders, students and other supporters held a peaceful demonstration at the Jayapura Mayor’s Office on 10 October. The demonstration began with a series of speeches at the central Taman Imbi park, before proceeding to the Mayor’s Office. ( more information )

Jayapura Mayor M.R. Kambu

Concerns over Living Conditions of Ex-Refugees in Batom
Jayapura, 10 October 2008. A team organised by the Office of Justice and Peace (SKP) Diocese of Jayapura, which included medical personnel, visited Batom Sub-District from 4-9 October 2008. The team was also accompanied by the Oklip Parish Priest, Fr. Hilarius Pekey, in this follow-up to a previous assistance mission in May 2007. ( more information )

Returnees' children in Batom Sub-district

Want to Celebrate the Day of Peace? Move to the reggae beat
Jayapura, 24 September 2008. The Office of Justice and Peace (SKP) Diocese of Jayapura celebrated the International Day of Peace on 21 September 2008 with a music concert. Held in cooperation with Komunitas Rasta Kribo Papua and FOKER LSM Papua, hundreds of young people attended the Jayapura concert to be hypnotised by the rhythm, and also express themselves through dance, music and poetry. The theme of the events was "Papua Free of Torture; toward a New Papua Full of Peace". ( more information )

Papua free from torture

Papuan Women Traders Demand Market Place
Jayapura, 20 September 2008. Around 100 indigenous market women, together with Office of Justice and Peace (SKP) Diocese of Jayapura and 50 students, help a demonstration in front of the regional parliament at 10.00am on 18 September 2008. The demonstrators were demanding the construction of a market place for Papuan women traders as promised by the city and provincial officials since 2004. ( more information )

Yuliana Pigai in action

Tribal Council Seeks Clarification Regarding Shooting of Opinus Tabuni
Jayapura, 19 September 2008. The Papuan Tribal Council (Dewan Adat Papua, DAP) held a peaceful demonstration at the Regional Assembly building on 17 September. Several thousand people participated in the rally, which was led by senior figures of DAP, who were also accompanied by their legal counsel. ( more information )

Buktar Tabuni in action

173 deaths recorded in Dogiyai District
Jayapura, 30 July 2008. A total of 173 people are recorded to have died from diarrhoea /vomiting and cholera since April 2008 in the Kamuu Valley, Dogiyai District and Obano Sub-District, Paniai District, revealed Rev. Benny Giay of the Justice and Peace Bureau of the KINGMI Synod, Br. J. Budi Hernawan OFM from Office of Justice and Peace (SKP), Diocese of Jayapura, Fr. Saul Wanimbo from Office of Justice and Peace, Diocese of Timika and Rev. Dora Balubun from the Commission of Justice and Peace of the Synod of Christian Evangelical Church in Papua at a press conference held on 28 July 2008. ( more information )

Rev. Benny Giay

Indigenous Papuan Market Women Partake in Follow-up Training in Book-keeping
Jayapura, 26 July 2008. Following on from an earlier training in June, Office of Justice and Peace (SKP) Jayapura held basic bookkeeping training for indigenous Papuan women market traders at the St. Francis Church Hall on 20 July 2008. Although off to a late start, the training was attended by 39 women and proceeded smoothly. The training was part of ongoing efforts to support indigenous Papuan women market traders in Jayapura. This training was intended to build the women's practical skills in daily financial management by keeping a cash journal so as to improve their capacity to manage daily cash flows. It was also aimed at helping them to keep track of their expenditure both to manage family needs and to assist them using the profits from one day's sales to purchase goods for the following day's trade. ( more information )

Ms Nelly Pekei

Palm Oil Plantations Detrimental to Communities in Arso
Jayapura, 7 July 2008. As part of its 10th anniversary celebrations, the Office of Justice and Peace (SKP) Diocese of Jayapura held a one-day panel discussion on the theme of "Palm Oil Plantations and Community Welfare in Arso" on 5 July 2008 in Jayapura. Based on a recent research initiative, SKP found that the living standards of communities, in particular indigenous Papuan communities, had declined in a number of aspects -including environmental, economic, social, and cultural welfare, as well as indigenous rights and security- since the development of the PTPN II Tanjung Morawa palm oil plantation in 1982/3. ( more information )

Ms Lin, a palm oil farmer of Arso

Papuan Market Women Begin Training in Basic Bookkeeping
Jayapura, 24 June 2008. Indigenous Papuan market women traders have begun basic bookkeeping training as part of an empowerment programme of the Office of Justice and Peace (SKP) Diocese of Jayapura, together with the Diocese Community Empowerment Unit. The Papuan women traders who sell their goods in public areas and markets at a number of locations in Jayapura were trained to keep basic financial records, and also informed of a city government regulation (No. 8/2003) on the management of market places. ( more information )

a member of the Papuan market women

Book launching of the Shadow Report of the practice of torture in Aceh and Papua
Jayapura, 28 April 2008. SKP Jayapura, JPIC GKI di Tanah Papua, Imparsial and Human Rights Working Group launched a shadow report of the practice of torture in Aceh and Papua during the period of 1998-2007 in Utan Kayu Theatre, Jakarta (25/2). This report was submitted to the UN Committee against Torture which will hold the session to review the Indonesian government's report during 5-7 May 2008 in Geneva, Switzerland. In this report, 242 individual torture cases were documented from various reports from Church-based organisations, NGOs and Komnas HAM over the period of 9 years. However, only one case (Abepura case of 7 December 2000) was brought to the Permanent Human Rights Court and all indictees were acquited. ( see Special Reports )

SKP's Latest Report

Memoria Passionis 2005: our latest publication!
Jayapura, 10 Oktober 2007. This book is the 16th publication of the Series of Memoria Passionis. It is a part of the SKP publication that focuses on the social, political, and human rights situation since its first publication in 1999. This publication is SKP?s contribution to document minor narratives, stories of the defeated, stories of the villagers that are easily forgotten because these stories might generate some powerful force if they are organised as the collective memory of suffering. These collected stories have become a 2005 narrative that is bind together with the memory of the past, the presence, and the future. Such a collective memory maintains the existence of any nations, including the Papuans, since this memory has become the history. This is why documenting the memory of the poor and the oppressed is dire important.

SKP's latest publication

Three-monthly analysis
Jayapura, 30 September 2007. As part of her mandate to provide acurate and actual information to the public, SKP Jayapura just published Series of Actual Papua No. 10 that summarises the situation of human rights in Papua during April-July 2007. This report encapsulates many important facts in Papua both in the area of civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights. ( full report in Indonesian )

Series of Actual Papua No. 10

Speed up the Special Autonomy
Jayapura, 15 July 2007. Having been spread out as rumours for quite some time, Presidential Decree No. 5/2007 regarding the Speeding of the Development of the Province of Papua and the Province West Papua was publicly released. This decree was signed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on 16 May 2007 and stipulates the 11 ministers, 2 governors and all regents in Papua to: [1] maintaining the food security and poverty reduction, [2] improving the quality of education services, [3] improving the quality of health services, [4] improving basic infrastructure to improve the accessibility of the isolated and remote areas as well as the border area, and [5] affirmative action for developing indigenous Papuans. ( full text in Indonesian )

DAP and PDP questioned
Jayapura, 15 July 2007. In the midst of strong criticisms following the presentation of Morning Star flag during the opening ceremony of the 2nd Conference of Papuan Customary Council on 9 July, Papuan Police summoned the organising committee with a letter no. Pol. Pgl/668/VII/2007/Dit Reskrim. 11 people were summoned as witnesses on the case of crimes against the state security. ( more information )

Hina Jilani to Papua: a new era of protecting human rights
Jayapura, 8 June 2007. The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders, Ms Hina Jilani, arrived in Jayapura today on her official visit to Indonesia during 5-13 June 2007 pending for three-year waiting for the permission from the Government of Indonesia. On her arrival at Sentani airport, she was welcomed by the student groups who presented their posters and banners saying the urgent need to address human rights violations in Papua. The student association of the highlanders organised the same thing at the lobby of Swiss-bell Hotel where she stayed while another group organised a similar thing at Imbi Park downtown. ( more information )

"To Whom You Walk?"
Timika, 3 February 2007. "To Whom You Walk?" this is the leading question given by Msgr. John Saklil Pr, Bishop of Timika in one day retreat to start the evaluation and the 5th annual meeting SKP offices of Papua in Timika. This gathering was supposed to be held in Agats, Asmat, but the flight connection difficulty forced to move the venue to the Timika with SKP Agats as the organiser assisted by SKP Timika. In its reflection Bishop John encouraged the five offices to reflect on to whom SKPs carry out their jobs, especially in facing the cultural contradiction of the nation both at the national and local level in Papua today. This reflection increasingly inspired everybody that was present, with a reflection from the book of Yehezkiel 37 : 1 - 14 and Jesus? story in Luke 19 : 28 - 40. ( more information )

Humanitarian crisis in Mulia
Jayapura, 29 January 2007. Following the visit of the Pastoral Team of the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Papua (PGGP) led by Rev. Lipiyus Biniluk, it was released the report explaining the humanitarian crisis in Mulia. PGGP found that at least 2,187 people fled to Yamo as IDPs and 5,137 people were at a great risk of hunger as they did not have sufficient food supply. Meanwhile four people died of starvation. Based on this finding, PGGP urged all parties involved to:

• To the Provincial Government of Papua to immediately support the Government of the Puncak Jaya Regency with humanitarian assistance in order to solve the humanitarian emergency situation in the Yamo District;
• To the Government of the Puncak Jaya Regency to take immediate steps handling the emergency situation in particular the refugee problem in the Yamo District;
• To TPN/ OPM, the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the Indonesian Police to guarantee the security of delivered food supplies and medical teams from any side so that the Internally Displaced People (IDPs) will obtain needed help in a humane way and as quickly as possible.
• The decrease of non-organic military troops, units of the intelligence service and the Mobil Forces of the Police (Brimob) and the centering of these troops in the Capital town of the Regency and District in order to decrease fear and trauma experienced by local people and to avoid potential conflicts with the local population so that an atmosphere of safety can be restored as soon as possible.
• To the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) in Papua to make an investigation soon in order to reveal the activators of the series of violent acts which caused deaths and loss of personal properties;
• To all sides to quickly stop any politicization which sacrifices the people of Puncak Jaya.

SKP's Annual Evaluation Meeting 2006
Jayapura, 17 December 2006. Towards the end of 2006, the Office for Justice and Peace of the Diocese of Jayapura held an annual evaluation meeting of 2006. This activity took place for 6 days, during 17 - 21 December at St Clare?s Retret House in Sentani.This evaluation focused on the implementation of the work program of the year 2006 consisting of the Division of Advocacy, Division of Publication and Documentation, the Division of Peacebuilding, the Division of Ecology, and the Division of Administration and Finance. During the evaluation, SKP reviewied the implementation of its programme to see its successes, failures and the factors that played an important role in it. This meeting also discussed the planning for 2007 by referring to the result of the evaluation over the implementation of 2006 annual programme. ( more information )

"Healthy is my right"
Jayapura, 11 December 2006. On 11 - 13 December 2006, the Office for Justice and Peace of the Diocese of Jayapura held a workshop to discuss the result of research of the healthcare system in the District of Jayawijaya Jayawijaya. The workshop with the topic of ?Healthy is my right? was held in Bethesda Vocational Training Centre in Wamena. During the workshop, the result of joint work between SKP, INSIST/ YPRI Jogjakartar and INNINAWA Makassar was presented to the public. The Regional Secretary of the District of Jayawijaya, Chris Wopari, representing the Regent opened the workshop whereas dr. Ririn Habsari, one of researchers from YPRI presented the result of this research at the front of the local government officials, the religious leaders, the elite figures, the Heads of Health Clinic from 8 sub-districts. The local researchers also participated in the workshop. ( more information )

"Paying Attention to Mammas, Saving our Generation"
Jayapura, 25 November 2006. The Office of Justice and Peace of the Diocese of Jayapura held a public seminar to present the result of research on the condition of Papua women of vegetable sellers in Jayapura. This seminar marked the commemoration of the day of anti-violence against women in 25 November 2006. With the topic of "Paying Attention to Mammas, Saving our Generation", this seminar was held in the Auditorium of Art Centre of Papua and attended by NGOs people, the church leaders, elite figures and some 200 vegetable seller Papuan womend from all over Jayapura. ( more information )

Prisoners of the Abepura case ill-treated
Jayapura, 19 October 2006. Ketua Komda HAM Papua, Albert Rumbekwan SH, menyatakan 23 orang terpidana dalam kasus Abepura 16 Maret 2006 terbukti sakit. Pernyataan ini disampaikan kepada publik saat pihaknya mengadakan verifikasi pengaduan keluarga terpidana dan PGGP mengenai kondisi dengan mengunjungi mereka di LP Abepura, Kamis 19 Oktober 2006. ( more information )

PGGP and the families of the victim of Abepura filed a complaint to Komnas HAM
Jakarta, 5 October 2006. Tidak puas dengan pengaduan ke Komda HAM Papua, PGGP dan keluarga korban menindaklanjutinya dengan mengadu ke Komnas HAM di Jakarta. Keluarga korban yang diwakili oleh Ny. Emi Berotabui dan Sula Buiney mengajukan tiga tuntutan: pertama, pembentukan KPP HAM untuk Abepura; kedua, pemeriksaan kondisi kesehatan para tahanan di LP Abepura yang kondisinya makin kritis; dan ketiga, jaminan keselamatan untuk keluarga, pendamping, dan pekerja HAM di Jayapura. ( more information )

PGGP demanded an inquiry commission established
Jayapura, 28 September 2006. The Ecumenical Council of Churhes of Papua (PGGP) demanded the establishment of an inquiry commission on human rights abuses for the case of Abepura 16 March 2006. This demand was delivered to the National Commission on Human Rights branch office of Papua (Komda HAM) when PGGP presented the investigative report of the case of Abepura 16 March 2006. PGGP delegation that was chaired by Msgr. Leo L. Ladjar OFM, the chairperson as well as the Bishop of Jayapura, met with the Chairperson of Komda HAM, Albert Rumbekwan SH. ( more information )

Three-monthly analysis on Papua
Jayapura, 19 June 2006. As part of her mandate to provide acurate and actual information to the public, SKP Jayapura just published Series of Actual Papua No. 5 that summarises the situation of human rights in Papua during January-March 2006. This report encapsulates many important facts in Papua both in the area of civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights. ( full report in Indonesian )

SKP and FI brought the Abepura case to the UN Special Rapporteur
Geneva, 19 March 2006. SKP Jayapura and Franciscans International reported the case of Abepura of 16 March 2006 to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Prof. Manfred Nowak, due to the high risk of torture to 73 detainees that are being interrogated in the Jayapura Police Station without access to lawyers. So far the Police only announced 12 people as suspects, including Elkana Lokobal (male, 21), Patrisius Aronggear(male, 30), Ellyas Tamaka (male, 21), Othen Dapyal (male, 22), Luis Gedi (male, 26), Fenius Waker (male, 21), Feri Pakage (male, 21), Selpius Bobii (male, 26), Alex C. Wayangku (male, 22), Fernando P (male, 22), Moses Lokobal (male, 34), and Markus Kayame (male, 47). ( more information )

Central Government should hold a dialogue with the Papuans
Jayapura, 17 March 2006. The prominent religious leaders of Papua chaired by Most Rev. Leo L. Ladjar OFM, the Catholic Bishop of Jayapura, asked the Government to restrain the uncontrolable behaviour of the Special Mobile Brigade of the Police (BRIMOB) that blocked the road and conducted house-to-house search to the students dormitories. Such an operation intimidated the students and the residents in this area and even resulted in a number casualties. The bishop also asked the Central Government to hold a comprehensive dialogue with the Papuan people emphasising that this clash was not merely about the problem with Freeport McMoran but was an iceberg of the protracted problem that the Central Government had not addressed. ( more information )

Bishop Leo L. Ladjar OFM