UNHCR Calls for Concrete Steps to Protect Refugees Through Bali Process

April 2, 2013

UNHCR: Press Release The UN Refugee Agency

VB BALI, Indonesia – UNHCR's top protection official on Tuesday welcomed a pledge by government ministers in the Asia-Pacific region to strengthen cooperation to manage irregular maritime movements in a
protection-sensitive regional approach.

The pledge came in a statement issued at the 5th Ministerial Meeting of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime. Ministers and other high-level officials
from more than 40 countries in the region participated in the event on Tuesday together with representatives of the UN refugee agency, the International Organization for Migration and other groups.

Addressing the event, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Erika Feller noted the progress made on several fronts within the Bali Process, including the creation of the Regional Cooperation Framework and the Regional Support Office to build state capacity to respond to asylum challenges in the region. She cautioned, however, that much more remains to be done "to move beyond the language of cooperation to practical and concrete action."

She acknowledged that issues such as irregular maritime movements bring complex challenges. On the one hand, growing numbers of people are taking to the seas, risking their lives and facing exploitation in the process. On the other hand, receiving countries feel they are left to shoulder the responsibility alone.

Summing up lessons from a recent regional roundtable on irregular movements by sea, co-organized by Indonesia and UNHCR, Feller noted that unilateral action by individual countries does not work. "Refusal
to assist persons in distress at sea, regardless of who they are and how they came to be there, can lead to terrible consequences which represent a collective humanitarian failure," she emphasized.

Among the concrete steps proposed, the Assistant High Commissioner called for the development of protocols on rescue and interception at sea to support more predictable and effective ways to disembark, process and seek solutions for maritime arrivals. She recommended that resources be pre-positioned and joint support services provided, such as mobile response teams that could be deployed upon the request of states.

Above all, Feller encouraged states to support these practical actions at the highest political levels. "To be effective and sustainable, a comprehensive approach must accommodate both the state security as well as the human security dimensions of the problem," she said. "The momentum towards including asylum and refugee protection objectives as an integral part of the Bali Process agenda must not be lost."

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UNHCR | Refworld | Whither human rights in Indonesia?

 Title: Whither human rights in Indonesia?

Victims of alleged human rights violations in Indonesia, a country where human rights courts set up in 2000 have yet to convict a single case, are facing an uphill battle to bring perpetrators to justice.

Data from local NGO Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) estimates more than one million people suffered rights abuses between 1965 and 1998 that took place largely under President Suharto’s military rule, which ended in 1998 with his forced resignation.

“We have an unusual situation in this country. You have all these human rights violations but as things stand, no-one has been found guilty in a human rights court,” said Haris Azhar, co-ordinator of Kontras.

In 2000 the Indonesian parliament created human rights courts to hear and rule on cases concerning gross violations of human rights. Over 12 years, 12 cases have come before the country’s four human rights courts, with no resulting convictions. 

State brutality in Papua

In recent years activists have reported human rights abuses in the country’s remote Papuan region, where a separatist conflict has simmered for decades.

The resource-rich region (3,000km east of Jakarta and including the provinces of Papua and West Papua) has the lowest level of human development of Indonesia’s 33 provinces.

Penihas Lokbere from Jayapura, the capital of Papua Province, said he is one of 105 people arrested by the police in 2000 in the university town of Abepura, about 10km from Jayapura.

According to Human Rights Watch, a group of unidentified people attacked a police post in Abepura, killing two policemen and a security guard.

“The police wanted to retaliate,” said Lokbere. “They came to our dormitory while we were sleeping and arrested us. They didn’t ask any questions.”

Along with his fellow students, Lokbere was imprisoned for three days, where he said he was tortured, handcuffed and beaten with a metal crook. Until now, no one has been convicted.

A 2012 joint report of the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ITCJ) and the Jayapura-based Institute of Human Rights Studies and Advocacy (ELSHAM), recorded nearly 750 rights violations against Papuans from 1960-2012, including arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and killings.

Paul Mambrasar, a representative of ELSHAM said the actual number of violations may be much higher. “Many of the victims are not ready to speak about what happened. The provinces of Papua are militarized and people are worried if they give information, they will be terrorized by the military or the police.”

The Papua region has had decades-long separatist tension related to the stalled implementation of a special autonomy arrangement (granted in 2001); communities’ lack access to natural resource wealth such as gold, copper and timber; and there have been security crackdowns on political demonstrations.

Josef Roy Benedict, Amnesty International’s Indonesia campaigner based in London, said ongoing human rights violations in the region are in part due to a culture of impunity there.

“Police officers tend to be punished only for disciplinary offences, often in closed-door proceedings, while offences by the military are dealt with through the military court system, which lacks independence and impartiality,” said Benedict.  

More UNnews: UNHCR | Refworld | Whither human rights in Indonesia?

House criticizes Marty on rights diplomacy

Presiden RI SBY

The House of Representatives lambasted the government for padding up its human rights records only to improve the country’s standing in the international community while actually doing little to protect the rights of minority groups domestically.

Several lawmakers accused the government for being hypocrites for actively promoting interfaith harmony at the global level by campaigning on an international protocol banning blasphemy, but failed to equally protect the rights of religious minority groups in the country.

“I appreciate the government’s efforts in proposing such an initiative to the international community. That sounds good. But, how will the government deal with the ongoing religious intolerance at home, because, for example, it hasn’t resolved discrimination against the Shia community in Sampang [East Java],” Tjahjo Kumolo of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction said during a hearing with Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa on Wednesday.

Later in the session, lawmaker Helmi Fauzy also questioned the government’s refusal to accept a recommendation from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to amend the 1965 law on blasphemy, which has been long used to justify attacks against minority groups.

“We are selling our democracy to the international community, but we forget that democracy requires the protection of minority groups,” Helmi said.

He then urged the government to submit to the UNHRC’s recommendation and amend the outdated blasphemy law, which he deemed as being responsible for the outbreak of religious conflict in the country.

Responding to the criticism, Marty said that the government would synchronize the ministry’s diplomatic efforts with the promotion of religious freedom at the domestic level.

Later on the sidelines of the meeting, Marty told reporters that universal values of human rights should not contradict local values adopted by local communities in the country.

“Our international commitment to protect and uphold human rights must meet the demands of local rules and values. Other countries have done the same,” Marty said.

When asked about the government’s attempt to draw up a regulation that would interpret universal human rights values in accordance with local conditions, Marty said that although Indonesia is a member of the UN, it must defend local values against the values promoted by the UN.

Earlier, Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi has said that the government is drawing up a regulation that would make it possible for local governments to interpret the universal values of human rights in accordance to local conditions.

The ministry was working with the Law and Human Rights Ministry to draft a joint ministerial decree that would set the standards on how to define human rights, according to local customs, which would be used as the benchmark in drafting bylaws nationwide.

Separately, National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) chairman Ifdhal Kasim said Indonesia was obliged to submit to the UN’s human rights values as one of its members.

“That’s the whole point of agreeing to ratify all international protocols, meaning that we have to adapt our laws to international values. 

The government must remember that there are inalienable rights that our government must fulfill despite local values,” Ifdhal told The Jakarta Post.

UNHCR: Aid access challenges for Indonesia's West Papua region

By, IRIN - Published: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (http://www.unhcr.org/)

Aid agencies in Indonesia's Papua region say their work is coming under increased government scrutiny due to Jakarta's concern over a secessionist movement on the island.

"So many international aid groups working in Papua have been pushed out by the government," Andreas Harsono, a researcher for Human Rights Watch (HRW) who has been covering Indonesia for years, told IRIN, citing a string of NGOs and charity groups, as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), that have had to leave.

"They can maintain a presence if they work with the government, but if they give aid directly to Papuans or Papuan organizations, aid groups will be heavily scrutinized by the government and suspected of aiding the independence movement."

The resource-rich Papua region (2,000km east of Jakarta and comprising the provinces of Papua and West Papua) has the lowest levels of human development of Indonesia's 33 provinces, with about 34 percent of Papuans living on less than US$1 per day, according to government statistics. The region has a land area nearly twice that of the UK but a population of only 3.5 million.

"There are multiple issues facing West Papua and Papua today," said Dini Sari Djalal, head of communications at the World Bank's Jakarta office. "Among the most vital are poverty, maternal mortality and HIV/AIDS. The two provinces rank worst in these indicators in all of Indonesia."

At the same time, the region is prone to a host of natural disasters, one of the most recent being a 6.1 magnitude quake on 8 September recorded off the coast of Nabire, Papua.

"In the West Papuan cities of Manokwari and Sorong, earthquakes are recorded on a fairly regular basis as is flooding," said Phillip Charlesworth, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies head of delegation for Indonesia.

But it is Papua's decades-long simmering separatist movement that has often dominated international media attention.

Although the government granted the region Special Autonomy status in 2001, activists continue to voice their discontent, calling for greater autonomy to help improve the region's socioeconomic problems.

Native Papuans are benefiting neither from the land and forests exploited by outside timber and palm oil companies, nor the region's immense mineral wealth, including gold, copper and other metals, they say.

This summer, the International Crisis Group reported at least 15 violent incidents in the provincial capital Jayapura in May and June, and others in the central highlands.

Since the former Dutch colony was annexed in 1969, a small armed group known as the Free Papua Organization (OPM) has been fighting for Papuan independence.

Human rights groups estimate some 100,000 Papuans have died in the conflict since the 1960s, while local media regularly report on clashes between the OPM and security forces.

Economic marginalization, coupled with an ongoing influx of labour migrants from elsewhere in Indonesia continues to fuel tension, particularly over the issue of jobs.

In many of the region's cities and towns, non-native Papuans are now in a majority, and tensions between the two groups are not uncommon, as are reports of the government's often heavy-handed response towards the indigenous population.

"We continue to receive credible reports that Indonesian security forces are committing unlawful killings, and torture [in the Papua region]. They're using excessive force when carrying out arrests or during public policing, and are criminalizing peaceful political activism," said Josef Roy Benedict, Amnesty International's Indonesia campaigner, based in London.

These actions violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Indonesia is a state party of the former and has ratified the latter convention, Benedict added.

Some aid groups not welcome

"We'd welcome the help of more international organizations, but there's a need for the government to open up the space for them to see the reality here," said Julianus Septer Manufandu, executive secretary of the Papua NGO Forum, a network of 118 local NGOs assisting Papuans in human rights, land disputes, natural resources and emergency response.

Currently, five UN agencies are working in the region.

The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) is also on the ground, assisting with blood donations, cataract operations and disaster management.

"We're neutral, so we give victims of the [low-level] conflict humanitarian assistance and the government has no problem with that," said PMI Secretary-General Budi Atmadi Adiputro.

However, others have been less successful.

"One reason why our MoU [memorandum of understanding] was not renewed was because we supported local partners who were involved in human rights work," said Ernest Schoffelen, a programme officer with the Catholic Organization for Relief and Development (Cordaid), a Dutch development agency working in the area of health, peace-building, inter-religious dialogue and human rights in the region for over 50 years.

"Papuans were very welcoming of the aid we provided," Schoffelen said. "The resistance to our presence came more from central government. They didn't want us to be there."

Tortuous NGO registration process

"Everything goes through the Indonesian Foreign Ministry and BIN [the Indonesian State Intelligence Agency]," said one international aid worker who asked not be named, adding it could take 1-3 years for an international NGO to be registered. "All INGOs [international NGOs] proposing to work in Indonesia must appear before an interdepartmental panel, in which the specific ministry or department under which the INGO would work argues the case for the INGO to be allowed."

Those involved in peace-building activities face an even tougher time, he added.

"The level of scrutiny on the part of BIN is extremely high," the aid worker said. "For groups working in peace-building advocacy or legal affairs - which are considered political activities rather than technical development - there's virtually no chance."

ICRC first opened an office in Jayapura (Papuan capital) in 1989. The office was closed in 2009 following an instruction from the Indonesian government, also addressed to a number of other organizations.

Prior to 2009, ICRC delivered water access and sustainable living environment programmes; international humanitarian law (IHL) dissemination work with the military, police and journalists; and detention visits to ensure the humane treatment of prisoners.

The government reportedly raised objections to the ICRC's presence in Papua for not reporting prison visits to the authorities.

Today the ICRC's presence in the two provinces is limited to ad hoc missions from the head office in Jakarta.

"We still play a supporting role to the work of the Indonesian Red Cross there, and we organize punctual activities, such as IHL dissemination sessions for the Air Force in Biak [a small island to the north]," said Patrick Megevand, the ICRC's Jakarta Regional Delegation communication coordinator.

"We hope to go back there on a more sustainable basis. For now, everything depends upon the renewal of an agreement with the government, which we've been negotiating since the closure of the office in 2009."

Security, political considerations

Others cite security concerns and restrictions on freedom of movement, particularly in the interior.

"The work we did there was valuable and there is a need for an international presence," one former aid worker with an INGO that closed down its Papua operation in 2011 claimed, adding however: "Our international staff received threats, and then national staff started to receive threats from the government."

Oxfam's country director Richard Mawer, said security was not affecting their work on the ground there, but added that all INGOs were finding it increasingly difficult to be given approval to work there, and now required special permission to implement any new initiatives.

Government response

The Indonesian government, meanwhile, says it is just operating standard procedures.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Michael Tene told IRIN there were no special requirements for INGOs to work in Papua, noting that there were already at least 14 working in the region on health, economic development and natural disaster issues. He added that all must abide by a set of general requirements, which included not engaging in profit-orientated activities or fundraising.

For international NGOs wanting to work in the area of human rights in Papua and West Papua, Tene said:

"Human rights is an important issue in Papua and all of Indonesia, but INGOs must not engage in political activities and must convince the government they do not intend to do this. Their work has to benefit the people [of Papua and West Papua]."

Indonesia: Independent Investigation Needed Into Papua Violence

Title	Indonesia: Independent Investigation Needed Into Papua Violence
Publisher	Human Rights Watch
Country	Indonesia
Publication Date	28 October 2011
Cite as	Human Rights Watch, Indonesia: Independent Investigation Needed Into Papua Violence, 28 October 2011, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4eb253d42.html [accessed 20 December 2011]
Disclaimer	This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher.

Here: UNHCR Publisher

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono should immediately establish an independent investigation into the deaths of at least three protesters and the ongoing violence in Papua, Human Rights Watch said today.

On October 19, 2011, Indonesian police and the army fired warning shots to disperse approximately 1,000 Papuans gathered for a peaceful pro-independence demonstration in the Papua provincial capital, Jayapura, after one of the leaders read out the 1961 Papua Declaration of Independence. In an ensuing crackdown by the security forces on the demonstrators, at least three people were killed and dozens were injured. Witnesses said several had gunshot wounds.

High Court should test asylum options - UN

ANY plan to send asylum seekers offshore should be tested by the High Court of Australia, the regional head of the UN's refugee agency says.

UNHCR regional representative Richard Towle said the agency was always uncomfortable with the idea of a convention state sending people to another country that didn't have the capacity, expertise or experience to deal with refugees.

Mr Towle said this was true of the Pacific Solution under the coalition and Labor's Malaysia solution, which was ruled illegal by the High Court of Australia on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has not ruled out sending asylum seekers to Nauru, which was used by the Howard government as part of the Pacific Solution and had been negotiating with Papua New Guinea over the use of Manus Island.

Ms Gillard was critical of the High Court's decision, making plain her disdain at the decision of the court and Chief Justice Robert French.

Title	Freedom in the World 2011 - Indonesia
Publisher	Freedom House
Country	Indonesia
Publication Date	18 July 2011
Cite as	Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2011 - Indonesia, 18 July 2011, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4e2450e521.html [accessed 19 July 2011]
Disclaimer	This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher.

Freedom in the World 2011 - Indonesia

Capital: Jakarta
Population: 243,306,000

Political Rights Score: 2 *
Civil Liberties Score: 3 *
Status: Free

Overview

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's parliamentary support weakened in 2010, with a majority voting in March that there were significant irregularities surrounding a controversial 2008 bank bailout. The subsequent resignation of Finance Minister Sri Mulyani, a target of the parliamentary inquiry, was an apparent attempt to avoid an impeachment effort against Vice President Boediono. Security forces in February raided a jihadi training camp in Aceh, and in March killed terrorism suspect Dulmatin, who was wanted for his alleged involvement in a 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 people. A case against two deputy chairmen of the country's anticorruption commission, which had been dropped in 2009 after the exposure of an apparent conspiracy by police and prosecutors to undermine the commission, was revived during the year. However, the attorney general's office announced its intention to legally drop the case for the "sake of public interest" in late October. Violence against the Ahmadiyya minority sect continued in 2010, and there were several attacks on Christian churches. Separately, a Malukan political activist died in jail, allegedly due to torture and denial of treatment.