PAPUA -- TENSIONS CONTINUE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 002046

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/ANP, DRL, DRL/AWH
NSC FOR E.PHU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/05/2018
TAGS: PGOV PINS PHUM ID
SUBJECT: PAPUA -- TENSIONS CONTINUE

REF: A. JAKARTA 1943

B. JAKARTA 1393 AND PREVIOUS

JAKARTA 00002046 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Tensions continue to percolate in the
Papuan region of eastern Indonesia. A court in Manokwari,
the West Papua capital, has sentenced eight Papuans to eight
months in prison for a March incident involving the raising
of the separatist-linked "Morning Star" flag. Other
flag-raising trials are ongoing. Papuan activists continue
to object to the GOI proscription on the flag's use, claiming
that it is only a cultural and regional symbol. END SUMMARY.

SENTENCING FOR EIGHT PAPUANS


2. (U) Tensions continue in Papua. In late October,
Manokwari criminal court sentenced eight Papuan activists to
eight months in prison for raising the banned "Morning Star"
flag (ref B). The eight were part of a group of 12 arrested
following a peaceful March 13 rally during which Papuan
activists raised the flag (the GOI considers the flag a
separatist symbol). The trial of the other four accused
continues.


3. (C) Prosecutors had charged the Papuans with treason,
which could have resulted in up to 20 years in prison. The
court instead settled on the lesser charge of insulting the
national unity of Indonesia. Lead defense lawyer Jan
Christian Warinussy told POLOFF the results were "much
better" than the defense team expected.


4. (C) Defense lawyers successfully exploited contradictions
in witness testimony and problems with prosecution evidence.
Warinussy explained that several witnesses made statements in
court that conflicted with their earlier statements to
police.

OTHER TRIALS


5. (C) Other flag-raising trials continue in several other
cities, including Jayapura (the capital of Papua Province)
and Timika (the site of U.S. mining giant Freeport-McMoran's
operations). Arrests also continue in flag-raising
incidents. Police in Nabire, a town on the central Papuan
coast, arrested four activists for their role in an October
15 incident. In Wamena, in the central highlands, a
well-known student leader has been arrested for organizing an
illegal demonstration.


6. (C) The recent spate of demonstrations is likely to
continue (ref A). Papuans remain frustrated at the slow
implementation of the region's Special Autonomy Law. Papuans
also resent the GOI's recent decision to create additional
districts in the region--something which many Papuans view as
part of a Jakarta "divide and rule" strategy. The GOI
asserts that the new regions were created in the interests of
better governance. (Note: Mission will report more fully on
the creation of the new regions in Papua and elsewhere via
septel.)

CONTINUED TENSIONS


7. (C) Human rights contacts have told us they are pleased
with--and surprised by--the relatively light sentences handed
down in the Manokwari case. They note, however, that the
individuals should never have been charged with a crime for
peacefully expressing views by raising a flag which to them
is only a cultural and regional symbol. Simon Morin, a
Papuan member of the national House of Representatives (DPR),
told POLOFF he expects the demonstrations to continue as long
as development in Papua lags behind other regions and as long
as Papuans feel that Jakarta does not listen to them.


JAKARTA 00002046 002.2 OF 002


HUME