Churches say SBY broke Papua promise

The Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) says President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has failed to make good on a pledge to abandon force made in the wake of the violence following the third Papua People’s Congress.

“We ask for the concrete realization of the President’s promise of taking a heartfelt and constructive communication approach to develop Papua. Don’t settle problems using violence and military operations,” PGI secretary-general Gomar Gultom said Monday, as quoted by kompas.com newsportal.

Gultom said that the PGI wrote to Yudhoyono before the riot, asking the President to end the security measures carried out by the National Police and the Indonesian Military.

The President, as the nation’s commander-in-chief and a retired Army general, should have realized the futility of such measures, according to Gultom.

“We don’t know whether he read the letter or not because we have not received a response. But three days after we sent it, the congress violence happened. That’s what we regret most,” he said.

Gultom said a dialogue between Jakarta and Papua was the only realistic solution to end the violence in Papua.