The Indonesian part of the Island of Papua has the world's largest Gold and Copper mining operated by PT. Freeport Indonesia as a subsidiary of the multinational company Freeport-McMoran, USA.
The mining operation that began in 1967 has made PT Freeport Indonesia, Freeport-McMoran and some high ranking Indonesian officials very rich.
Unfortunately not many people of Papua enjoyed the Gold and Copper money, many of them are still living in very poor condition, and the infrastructure on the territory are still in poor condition.
The company only thinks about getting as much money as possible, they do not care about the well being of their employees, and do not care about the great destruction that their mining operations have caused to nature.
Due to this facts, on 15 September 2011, the workers of PT. Freeport Indonesia has stop working, and until now they are still negotiating with the company's management for better salary and working conditions.
Further, on 19 October days, some groups of people held the third Papua People's Congress in the town of Abepura. Unlike the first two congresses which ended peacefully, this congress was disbanded by the Police because the participants have violated the conditions for holding such congress i.e. they have declared the independence of West Papua, raised the flag of Free Papua Organization, named its President and Prime Minister. Three men died in the clash between the Police and the participants, 600 hundreds others, including university and school students, were arrested, but many of them released soon afterwards.
On 21 October, three men working with the contractor of PT. Freeport Indonesia were shot to death by unknown gunmen. One week earlier, three workers of PT Freeport Indonesia were shot to death by mysterious group of men.
Yesterday, a chief of Police in the sub-district of Mulia, namely Adjunct Comm. Domingus Awes, was shot to death at the local airport by two unknown men who grabbed his gun and used it to kill him, took the gun and runaway to nearby forest. This was the second killing a Police officer at the same airport this year. On 24 June First Brig. Yazin was shot to death and his firearm was taken away.
The ambush at PT. Freeport's mine is part of a recent string, the first in April left two workers dead and two others wounded.
In reaction to the above mentioned violence, the central government in Jakarta has deployed extra Police and Military troops to join existing force of 14,000 troops in Papua to maintain security and order.
In my opinion, the never ending violence in Papua is caused by lack of social, economic and legal justice as I have mentioned above. Therefore such violence cannot be calmed merely by sending more Police and Military, but should also be followed by giving a lot much better attention to the people of Papua.
For example by persuading PT Freeport Indonesia to provide salary and working conditions as demanded by its workers, to develop free schools and health facilities, to expedite the developments of infrastructure.
Moreover, the central government, the House of Representatives and law enforcement agencies should do their utmost to show that Indonesia is lead by clean, uncorrupt, unselfish, wise and fair leaders who will properly take care of money collected from all provinces in Indonesia, especially Papua. That way the people of Papua would not felt cheated and therefore willing to be part of Indonesia.
Last but not least, if possible perhaps the central government could start to have talks with the separatist movement in Papua to find a peaceful solution like we have done in Aceh.
Showing posts with label Military. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Military. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Post Power Syndrome
Retired military generals have the tendency to think, talk and act as if they were still fully active in their career.
This is understandable because they have spent many decades of their career based on single doctrine where high discipline and loyalty are the rules of the game, and differences are intolerable. So after they retired, many of them have difficulties in adapting with civilian life.
According to The Jakarta Globe several retired generals led by ex Army Chief of Staff (Ret) General Tyasno Sudarto, have joint forces with violent organizations that claimed to be acting in the name of Islam a.o. FPI, and threaten to incite religious violence and overthrow the democratically elected President SBY.
The other ex Generals were Gen. (ret.) Fahrul Razi, a former deputy chief of staff.Maj. Gen. (ret.) Muchdi Purwoprandjono, former commander of the Army’s Special Forces (Kopassus); and Maj. Gen. (ret.) Kivlan Zen, former commander of the Army’s Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad).
It is very sad to know that those retired generals whom I highly respect because of lots of good things they have contributed for our country, would ever want to tolerate any violent actions.
On the one hand I hope that they would change their minds and adopt more peaceful ways to make their voices heard by the government, for example by joining political parties and run as candidate for election.
On the other hand I hope that the government would maintain good relationship with those ex generals and explain their policies to them.
This is understandable because they have spent many decades of their career based on single doctrine where high discipline and loyalty are the rules of the game, and differences are intolerable. So after they retired, many of them have difficulties in adapting with civilian life.
According to The Jakarta Globe several retired generals led by ex Army Chief of Staff (Ret) General Tyasno Sudarto, have joint forces with violent organizations that claimed to be acting in the name of Islam a.o. FPI, and threaten to incite religious violence and overthrow the democratically elected President SBY.
The other ex Generals were Gen. (ret.) Fahrul Razi, a former deputy chief of staff.Maj. Gen. (ret.) Muchdi Purwoprandjono, former commander of the Army’s Special Forces (Kopassus); and Maj. Gen. (ret.) Kivlan Zen, former commander of the Army’s Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad).
It is very sad to know that those retired generals whom I highly respect because of lots of good things they have contributed for our country, would ever want to tolerate any violent actions.
On the one hand I hope that they would change their minds and adopt more peaceful ways to make their voices heard by the government, for example by joining political parties and run as candidate for election.
On the other hand I hope that the government would maintain good relationship with those ex generals and explain their policies to them.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Egypt, Indonesia, Military Regime
After 18 days of demonstrations that killed around 300 people, yesterday the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down from 30 years of authoritarian rule.
The interesting thing was that Mubarak hand over his power to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which means that Egypt is now under military regime.
This remind me of the situation in Indonesia in 1966 when President Soekarno was forced to hand over power to the military which marked the beginning of 32 years of authoritarian rule.
It all began on the night of 30 September 1965 when 6 Army generals and 1 officer were brutally killed by a mysterious group of people.
The Army suspected that the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) was responsible for the killing, in their effort to take over power from President Soekarno.
On 11 March 1966, the Army lead by the late General Soeharto forced President Soekarno to hand over his power to them. In 1967, Soeharto was appointed as Acting President, and President in 1968..
Within two years after that, hundreds of thousands of people alleged to be members of PKI were killed mysteriously, some were sentenced to death or life by military tribunal, and many were send to exile at the Buru Island in the Province of Maluku.
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Afterward, the regime make efforts to maintain power among others by silencing oppositions, limiting political parties, fabricating general elections, etc. The worst thing was that said regime practiced and condone overwhelming corruption, bribery, and all other evil things for the nation, that when Soeharto was forced to stepped down on 21 May 1998, the country has to be treated under intensive care of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Considering the similarity between what happened in Egypt today and Indonesia in 1966, I felt that it would be best for Egypt to learn from our experiences so that they could avoid the terrible things that happened to Indonesia when we were under military/authoritarian regime.
The interesting thing was that Mubarak hand over his power to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which means that Egypt is now under military regime.
This remind me of the situation in Indonesia in 1966 when President Soekarno was forced to hand over power to the military which marked the beginning of 32 years of authoritarian rule.
It all began on the night of 30 September 1965 when 6 Army generals and 1 officer were brutally killed by a mysterious group of people.
The Army suspected that the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) was responsible for the killing, in their effort to take over power from President Soekarno.
On 11 March 1966, the Army lead by the late General Soeharto forced President Soekarno to hand over his power to them. In 1967, Soeharto was appointed as Acting President, and President in 1968..
Within two years after that, hundreds of thousands of people alleged to be members of PKI were killed mysteriously, some were sentenced to death or life by military tribunal, and many were send to exile at the Buru Island in the Province of Maluku.
.
Afterward, the regime make efforts to maintain power among others by silencing oppositions, limiting political parties, fabricating general elections, etc. The worst thing was that said regime practiced and condone overwhelming corruption, bribery, and all other evil things for the nation, that when Soeharto was forced to stepped down on 21 May 1998, the country has to be treated under intensive care of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Considering the similarity between what happened in Egypt today and Indonesia in 1966, I felt that it would be best for Egypt to learn from our experiences so that they could avoid the terrible things that happened to Indonesia when we were under military/authoritarian regime.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
The Military Today
Today, 5 October, the Indonesian National Military also known by abbreviation of its Indonesian name i.e. TNI, celebrated its 65th anniversary.
The celebration was held at the at the Halim Perdana Kusuma Airbase in East Jakarta. lead by President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono, attended by some cabinet ministers and commanders of the Army, the Navy and the Air force.
I hope that at the age of 65, TNI would be matured enough to position itself as an organization which would always based its plans and actions only for the very best interests of the country and the people of Indonesia, therefore would not merely be the tools of the government or the parliament.
Related articles :
- President SBY Pimpin Upacara HUT TNI (Kompas)
- A professional track for TNI anbd Yudhoyono (The Jakarta Post)
Photo : Courtesy of Kompas.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
The U.S and Kopasus
During recent visit to Jakarta, U.S Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced that his country shall resume Military Assistance for the Indonesian Army's Special Forces (Kopasus).
The decision was made after Indonesia took steps requested by the U.S, including removal of alleged human rights violators from Kopasus.
The ban was imposed in 1998 after the U.S found that the Kopasus has been involved in several human rights abuse, i.e. kidnapping of opponents of former President Soeharto; and actions against separatist movements in East Timor, Aceh and Papua.
The US government's decision has been protested by human rights activists in the U.S and Indonesia, who claimed that some officers who were involved in the human right violations are still active in Kopasus.
Considering that the officers responsible for the human rights abuses, including retired Leut.Gen. Prabowo, have been dismissed from Kopasus, I felt that the decision of U.S government to revive military assistance to Kopasus is correct.
Related articles that I have quoted from Kompas :
- After Kopasus Released from U.S Military Embargo
- US Senator Regrets Ties with Kopasus
The decision was made after Indonesia took steps requested by the U.S, including removal of alleged human rights violators from Kopasus.
The ban was imposed in 1998 after the U.S found that the Kopasus has been involved in several human rights abuse, i.e. kidnapping of opponents of former President Soeharto; and actions against separatist movements in East Timor, Aceh and Papua.
The US government's decision has been protested by human rights activists in the U.S and Indonesia, who claimed that some officers who were involved in the human right violations are still active in Kopasus.
Considering that the officers responsible for the human rights abuses, including retired Leut.Gen. Prabowo, have been dismissed from Kopasus, I felt that the decision of U.S government to revive military assistance to Kopasus is correct.
Related articles that I have quoted from Kompas :
- After Kopasus Released from U.S Military Embargo
- US Senator Regrets Ties with Kopasus
Friday, June 12, 2009
Another Military Aircraft Accident
This afternoon, the Indonesian Air Force loose another aircraft and 4 of its 7 air crews when a Puma 3306 Helicopter crashed down at Tatang Santani Airfield, Bogor, West Java, shortly after taking off. (Photo: courtesy of Viva News)
VivaNews quoted the Air Force's Operation I Commander Vice Marshal Imam Sufaat as saying that the helicopter was going through a second test flight, first one was at 7 am same day, after being repaired in Bandung for the very bad damaged it suffered six months ago. He added that the helicopter was having problem with its Automatic Pilot system.
Meanwhile, Okezone reported that since the year 2008 until June 2009 the Air Force has loose 6 aircrafts & more than 145 men (including the above accident). Here are the other five:
1)11 March 2008, Bell-47G Soloy helicopter crashed in Subang, 1 died and 1 badly wounded
2)26 June 2008, Cassa TNI A212-200 crashed in Bogor, killing 18 passengers.
3)6 April 2009, Fokker 27 TNI-AU crashed on a hanggar a Hussein Sastranegara airfield in Bandung, destroying two other aircrafts in the hanggar: Draya Air MC 212200 and Batavia Air Boeing 737, 23 people died.
4)11 Mei 2009, Hercules C-130 slide landed at an airport in Wamena, Papua.
5. 20 Mei 2009, Hercules C-130 crashed down the paddy field in Magetan, East Java, killing 101 crews & passengers, and 11 wounded.
Republika reported that President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono has instructed the Air Force to give priority on the safety of aircrafts.
The above tragedy is very sad for us in Indonesia, considering that so many lives of well trained soldiers have been lost outside combat, the high costs for training them and the high costs for purchasing & mainataining the aircrafts. Due to which fact, I hope that the government would do its very best efforts to make sure that all the aircrafts would be safe to fly for example by increasing the budget for maintenance of old aircrafts, and purchase new aircrafts to replace the old ones.
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