Papua rector calls for Jakarta-Papua dialogue to end all violence

Netty Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura | Thu, 10/27/2011

Following the eruption of violence in Papua over the past two months that has claimed eight lives, Pater Neles Tebay, rector of the Fajar Timur School of Theology and Philosophy (STFT) in Jayapura, has called for a Jakarta-Papua dialogue to be held immediately.

“This dialogue is very important not only to end the violence but also to prevent it from recurring in Papua,” he said in a press release on Thursday.

Neles said he hoped that every party concerned with conditions in Papua, including members of the Catholic Church abroad, would pray and support the idea of such a dialogue.

“Because only through such a dialogue, the root of the conflicts in Papua can be identified and solutions can be found, without violence and blood,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) said that the recent fracas in Papua should be used as momentum to reevaluate the region’s security management.

“The handling of security in Papua should be reviewed. Give the people space without the presence of the khaki troops (soldiers). For 40 years, the people have been traumatized by the khaki troops. Return the Army to its proper duty of defending the country,” PGI deputy president Father Phil Erari said.

Erari was critical of the measures taken by security forces sent to disperse participants of the third Papuan People’s Congress on Oct. 19, in which guns and violence were used by the police to enforce their authority. Three men were killed as a result.

“The police faced unarmed people with guns, as though they were squaring up against an opposition that would destroy the country or directly declare independence,” he said.

Amid all the security turmoil in Papua, the Papua Police have replaced the deputy chief, installing Brig. Gen. Paulus Waterpauw in place of Brig. Gen. Unggung Cahyono, who has been appointed West Kalimantan police chief.