{"id":978,"date":"2020-12-04T03:48:41","date_gmt":"2020-12-04T03:48:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=132016"},"modified":"2020-12-04T03:48:41","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T03:48:41","slug":"papuan-flag-day-protests-in-yogya-jakarta-reject-special-autonomy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2020\/12\/04\/papuan-flag-day-protests-in-yogya-jakarta-reject-special-autonomy\/","title":{"rendered":"Papuan flag day protests in Yogya, Jakarta reject \u2018special autonomy\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>Student protesters staged West Papuan flag-raising events across Indonesia with the banned Morning Star ensign of independence this week. Image: Arah Juang<\/div>\n
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Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk<\/em><\/p>\n

December 1 flag day protests have taken place in several cities around Indonesia including the capital Jakarta, Yogyakarta (Central Java), Ternate (North Maluku) and Sinjai (South Sulawesi), reports Arah Juang<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The actions were launched to commemorate West Papua Independence Day.<\/p>\n

But even before the actions were launched, security forces attempted to  thwart them by blocking protesters, breaking up rallies and arresting demonstrators.<\/p>\n

The following are reports on the actions in Jakarta and Yogyakarta:<\/p>\n

Jakarta<\/strong>
In Jakarta, protesters from the Papuan Students Alliance (AMP), the Indonesian People\u2019s Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) and the Papuan Central Highlands Indonesian Student Association (AMPTPI) had began preparing to launch actions since 5.30am.<\/p>\n

The protesters gathered at the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta) in Central Jakarta holding banners reading \u201cReject Special Autonomy and Give the Right of Self-Determination to the West Papuan Nation\u201d along with posters with similar demands.<\/p>\n

The women demonstrators wore sali (traditional Papuan women\u2019s clothing)  while others painted pictures of the Morning Star<\/em> independence flag on their faces and bodies.<\/p>\n

The protesters then moved off in an orderly manner to the intersection near the Indonesian Alkitab Foundation before taking vehicles to the United States Embassy in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n

At 6am the demonstrators had gathered in front of the US Embassy and were giving speeches. AMP member Roland Levy said in a speech that Special Autonomy (Otsus) had failed to protect the Papuan people.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany Papuan people have been killed, evicted, discriminated against and labeled as separatists. Because of this the solution is independence for the West Papuan nation as a democratic solution\u201d, he said while shouting \u201cReferendum? Yes!\u201d<\/p>\n

Following this, the protesters moved off to the nearby Presidential Palace but were blocked by police from entering the National Monument from the west near the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle.<\/p>\n

The demonstrators then gave speeches, made up games, performed the Wisisi<\/em> dance (a traditional Papuan dance) and prayed together to commemorate the declaration of West Papuan independence on 1 December 1961.<\/p>\n

One of the participants read out a poem about the Papuan people\u2019s spirit of nationalism for December 1. One of the women then related how independence was the right of all nations.<\/p>\n

A statement was read out at 9.30am and the action closed with a prayer.<\/p>\n

At the end of the action as the protesters were to return to the starting point, they were provoked by a small group of unknown individuals. The demonstrators restrained themselves and did not respond, referring to the group as \u201c1000 or so people\u201d, meaning a group hired by the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).<\/p>\n

Yogyakarta
<\/strong>In Yogyakarta, thousands of students from the Free Papua December 1 Movement Alliance launched an action commemorating the declaration of independence in Papua.<\/p>\n

The action, which started at 9am, involved a long-march from the Papuan student dormitory to the nearby Zero Kilometer point in front of the Central Post Office. During the march the protesters shouted slogans such as \u201cFree West Papua\u201d, \u201cNKRI no\u201d and \u201cReferendum yes\u201d.<\/p>\n

They also took turns in giving speeches with Momiake Gresya saying, \u201cWe Papuan people constantly live under the shadow of death, being killed, tortured like animals, and all of this is perpetrated by the TNI [Indonesian military] and Polri [Indonesian police]\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn example of this is in Nduga [regency] today. For two years more than 40,000 people have fled seeking shelter and 240 have died as a result of Indonesian military operations,\u201d said Gresya.<\/p>\n

In another speech, FRI-WP representative Muhamad Iis explained about the ordinary Indonesian people\u2019s support for the Papuan struggle for independence.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday we declare our full support for Papuan independence\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

Iis said that colonialism in Papua was not supported by all the Indonesian people.<\/p>\n

\u201cColonialism is not the position of the majority of Indonesian people, just a greedy handful of people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Accompanied by the song \u201cLet the Coordination Post be Torn Down\u201d, at 1pm the protesters danced around the command vehicle waving two Morning<\/em> Star<\/em> flags.<\/p>\n

This managed to incite security personnel who tried to move into the crowd but demonstrators succeeded in blocking them and the situation returned to normal.<\/p>\n

The action ended at 2.30pm with the reading out of a statement and
shouts of \u201cFree West Papua, Free West Papua, Free West Papua\u201d.<\/p>\n

Other demands
A number of other demands were also made during the demonstrations, including:<\/p>\n