Wednesday, April 22, 2015

1) Poor Internet services in Jayapura affect 2 newspapers

2) Indonesian teachers to teach in Papua New Guinea

3) Rights monitors decry arrest of Papuans on spurious 'treason' charges

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/04/22/poor-internet-services-jayapura-affect-2-newspapers.html

1) Poor Internet services  in Jayapura affect 2 newspapers 

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura | Archipelago | Wed, April 22 2015, 2:01 PM 
Two newspapers in Jayapura, Papua, were not published on Tuesday due to issues with telecommunications services since the previous day.
"We could not send and receive reports [from reporters] due to poor Internet services, [that’s] the reason why we couldn't publish [the paper]," said Nunung Kusmiati, an editor at the Papua Pos daily, on Wednesday. Another affected newspaper was the Bintang Papua daily.
Jayapura citizens had complained about the poor telecommunications services since Monday. Wibowo Rahardjo from state-owned telecommunications firm PT Telkom in Papua said a network disruption was found some 300 kilometers from Jayapura, between Sami and Biak. "But the causes of the disruption have not been found," he told The Jakarta Post.
He said technicians were on the way to repair the issue, adding "we estimate that the works will take some 12 days or more".
Rifki Sabani from cellular operator PT Telkomsel, the user of the PT Telkom network, said that Telkomsel had moved the telecommunications network to a satellite system due to the disruption.
"But the traffic has become slow due to the limited capacity of the satellite," Rifki said. (++++)



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http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/98618/indonesian-teachers-to-teach-in-papua-new-guinea

2) Indonesian teachers to teach in Papua New Guinea

Rabu, 22 April 2015 17:29 WIB | 668 Views
Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA News) - The administration of Papua province will send sixteen teachers to Sundown province, Papua New Guinea (PNG), as part of an education cooperation program and documents for this will be immediately signed by both parties.

"We will sign documents for the implementation of the Papuan teachers teaching program in PNG," Head of the Border and International Cooperation Board of Papua Suzana D Wanggai said here Wednesday.

She added that the international cooperation document, named the Implementation of the Regulation on Education Cooperation between Sundown Province (PNG) and Papua Province (Indonesia), had been completed and sent to PNG.

"The document is ready to be signed by the head of the education office of Papua province and the education office of Sundown province, PNG. We are now discussing the right time for the signing of the international agreement," Wanggai explained.

According to her, the education cooperation program was suggested by the administration of Sundown province that is interested in the education system at vocational schools in Jayapura, Papua.

"Schools in Sundown lack teachers. They visited vocational schools in Jayapura several times and expressed interest in the education system here. They want our teachers to teach them in their schools," Wanggai noted.

Salary and accommodation for Indonesian teachers will be provided by the administration of Sundown province.(*)
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    Rights monitors on Wednesday slammed police for last week’s arrest of five indigenous Papuans who stand accused of treason, saying the arrests painted a bleak portrait of freedom of expression in the archipelago’s easternmost province.
Lawrence Mehue, Don Flassy, Mas John, Ebieb Suebu and Banundi Ones were arrested on April 14.
Chrisbiantoro, deputy coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS), told ucanews.com Wednesday that the arrests took place after the men had traveled back to Papua following meetings in Jakarta with government officials.
"While in Jakarta, they met with the Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu. During the meeting, they discussed the current problems in Papua," he said.
The meeting, according to Chrisbiantoro, was facilitated by Heni Tan Fere of the National Unity and Politics office in Papua’s provincial government.
"So they should not be arrested, because the meeting was facilitated by the government's own staff and carried out by government officials," he said.
During the meeting, Minister Ryamizard requested that the central government and the community in Papua continue to build communication, Chrisbiantoro said.
However, when the Papuans returned to their home province they were immediately arrested by Jayapura police and accused of violating Article 106 of the Criminal Code relating to the act of treason. The accused could face life imprisonment or a minimum 20-year sentence.
The actions of the suspects leads us to believe they want “to secede from the unity of the Republic of Indonesia,” Patrige Renwerin, Papua Police spokesman, told ucanews.com.
He added that police had seized evidence in the form of documents related to the meeting with the defense minister including a copy of the Federal Republic of West Papua’s (NRFPB) “declaration of independence” from Indonesia.
The NRFPB movement was formed in 2011 during the Third Papuan People's Congress in Jayapura, where representatives read out a “declaration of independence” from Indonesia.
However, Chrisbiantoro said it was not unusual for Papuan representatives to talk about the NRFPB with central government officials.
"Previously, there are also Papuans who talked about the same thing with former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and President Joko Widodo," he said.
Chrisbiantoro said the fact that the men were not arrested until they returned to their home province also raised suspicions about local police employing intimidation tactics against Papuans.
"Why were they not arrested in Jakarta if they are accused of treason, but were arrested in Papua?" he said.
Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher for the New York-based Human Rights Watch, said “it’s a shame that the Indonesian police cannot differentiate between free expression and criminal activities”.
“The police have no reason to detain those five Papuan men,” he said. “They will become the laughing stock among law enforcement officers.”
Natalis Pigai from the government body the National Commission for Human Rights said the charges against the men were spurious.
"Political choice is a part of human rights," he said. "They had good intentions, [and] met with the government. They did not do violence.”
Minister Ryamizard could not be reached for comment.

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