For Papuans, their graves are a reminder of the grief that besieges their land.
In
front of the Justice and Human Rights Advocacy Network office in Wamena
is the grave of Opinus Tabuni, a member of the Papuan Indigenous
Council, killed in a military crackdown on World Indigenous Peoples’ Day
in August 2008.
Human rights activist Theo Hesegem sat just a
few feet from the grave. He recently said that the government’s attitude
to the complex social and political problems in Papua would not end the
violence.
In 2011, UP4B was established to accelerate
development and growth in the most impoverished region in Indonesia. The
hope was to improve the welfare of indigenous Papuans and quell their
discontents.
But the source of discontent is not about having
food on their plates. Theo said that Papuans’ main problem “is not
eating and drinking. It’s not about welfare. We don’t know how many
children, how many families, how many people have been shot or killed —
that’s the problem”, Theo said.
Researchers at the Indonesian
Institute of Sciences (LIPI) believe that decades of political violence
has led Papua to a collective memory of grief, or memoria passionis.
While
the government attempts to speed up development in the region, it
retains a military approach. In 2009, security forces killed Free Papua
Movement (OPM) leader Kelly Kwalik, and despite of his death, sporadic
attacks from the OPM continue. According to the National Intelligence
Agency (BIN), last month’s ambush was partly due to rebel fighters
unhappy with a new military district command (Kodim) in Puncak Jaya.
“People
can’t assume that the issue of Papua is finished. It’s about ideology.
You can’t shoot a person and say his ideology is dead. There are other
people. That person has children who will continue to think that ‘my
father was shot because of Papua’,” Theo said.
Melianus Wantik,
29, member of the National Committee for West Papua (KNPB) which
campaign for secession from Indonesia, said that the grave of They H.
Eluay, the assassinated leader of the independence movement the Papua
Presidium Council, was an important place for KNPB.
Young
activists in Papua established KNPB after Theys was killed. During the
founding of KNPB Melianus said they camped at Theys.
KNPB members
themselves are now on the police wanted list, accused of shootings and
bombings. KNPB leader Victor Yeimo reports that 22 KNPB members were
killed last year, including the KNPB leader Mako Tabuni.
For
Papuan Indigenous Council (DAP) Baliem area head, Yulianus Hisage, the
killings no longer have a shock effect on him. “Killing people, shooting
people in Papua: It’s normal. For us, the indigenous community, it’s
normal because it’s not the first time we’ve seen it,” he said.
Yulianus,
who is part of the Jakarta-based conflict resolution NGO, the Titian
Perdamaian Institute and often travels outside of Papua, does not feel
safe in his own land. “When I leave Papua, for Yogya I feel safe. Back
in Papua, I worry when I will be killed,” he said.
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