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C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 002431 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/ANP, INR/EAP, DRL/PHD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/04/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ID
SUBJECT: PAPUA: REPORTED INTIMIDATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS 
ACTIVISTS 
 
REF: JAKARTA 1647 
 
Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak for reasons 1.4 (b,d). 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY:  Contacts in the Papuan human rights 
community report increasing threats and surveillance.  While 
the threats are usually anonymous, Papuan activists believe 
they come from the Indonesian security services.  Mission has 
no specific evidence that any individuals are in immediate 
danger.  Papuans fear that the threats are intended to 
silence them in the wake of President Yudhoyono's more open 
policy toward Papua.  Poloff will visit Papua September 10-14 
and will look into the reports further.  END SUMMARY 
 
¶2. (C) REPORTED INTIMIDATION:  Contacts in the Papuan human 
rights community report increasing threats and surveillance. 
Recent reports of intimidation include: 
 
-- Several individuals who identified themselves as military 
intelligence officials reportedly questioned Albert 
Rumbekwan, Director of the National Human Rights Commission 
Papua (Komnas HAM-Papua), immediately after his June meeting 
with Hina Jilani, Special Representative of the UNSYG for 
Human Rights Defenders (reftel).  Since then, Mr. Rumbekwan 
says he has received "hundreds" of anonymous text messages 
threatening him and his family.  One such SMS, forwarded to 
poloff, accused Rumbekwan of supporting Papuan separatist 
groups and threatened him with "the same fate as Munir." 
(Note:  Munir, a prominent Indonesian human rights activist, 
was poisoned, allegedly with some involvement by GOI security 
services, in 2004.) 
 
-- Yan Christian Warinussy, a well-known human rights lawyer 
and Director of the Institute of Research, Analysis and 
Development for Legal Aid in Manokwari, a town in West Papua, 
told poloff that he has also been the target of threats.  He 
reported that individuals he believed to be  intelligence 
officers were following him and regularly questioning his 
family about his activities. 
 
-- Rev. Benny Giay and Rev. Noahk Nawipa, prominent figures 
in the Kingmi church, an Evangelical Christian grouping, have 
also reported receiving a number of threatening text 
messages.  These followed a July 30 incident where a mob, 
allegedly affiliated with a rival church, attacked the Kingmi 
church in Jayapura, the capital of Papua Province.  These 
incidents purportedly stem from a bitter split between the 
Gospel Tabernacle Church of Indonesia (GKII) and the Kingmi 
church, a Papuan offshoot of the GKII.  Some Papuan contacts 
allege that the security forces have fomented the split as a 
cover for violent action against Rev. Giay and other church 
leaders, although there is no credible evidence of this. 
 
¶3.  (C) NO SIGN OF IMMEDIATE THREAT:  Papuan human rights 
activists report that the uptick in anonymous threats began 
during the June visit of Jilani of the UN (reftel).  In 
response to the threats, expatriate volunteers from the 
international NGO Peace Brigades International (PBI) 
regularly accompany Rumbekwan and Warinussy to help guarantee 
their safety.  Mission has no specific evidence that any of 
the individuals listed above are in immediate danger. 
 
¶4.  (C) BACKLASH AGAINST OPENNESS?:  The Yudhoyono 
administration is slowly moving forward with its pledge to 
open Papua to international scrutiny, as evinced by the 
recent Hina Jilani visit and the promise to allow 
Representative Faleomavaega to visit Papua in December. 
Faced with this new openness, Papuan interlocutors assert 
that elements of the Indonesian security services are turning 
to threats and intimidation to silence them.  Poloff will 
visit Papua September 10-14 and will look into the reports 
further. 
HUME