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ogyakarta Police arrested at least seven Papuan students for allegedly promoting separatism after the students were prevented from taking to the streets in the city’s downtown.

The students were arrested in different locations in the city as they prepared to join the rally, which the authorities said promoted separatism. The seven students were named as Nus Tabuni, Obi Kagoya, Debi Kogoya, Obet Hisage, Terry Aud, Demianus Dabi and Adius Katligagal.

The students had planned to stage the rally on the city’s streets in a show of support for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua’s (ULMWP) bid for membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG). Local police, however, deployed a water canon on Jl. Kusumanegara, preventing the students from leaving their dormitory.

Emanuel Gobay of the Yogyakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) said it was deplorable that the police had banned the students from staging a rally. Other students were beaten in clashes with the police, said Roy Karoba, a spokesman for the People’s Unity for West Papua Liberation (PRPPB).

“We were surprised at the police’s attitude. They gathered in front of the dorm in the morning, later more police personnel were deployed to surround the dorm,” Roy said on Friday. As their way was blocked by police personnel, the students displayed banners and chanted slogans at their dorm.

The police insisted on preventing the students from taking to the streets in a bid to avoid clashes with activists from Pemuda Pancasila, Forum for Children of Veterans and Military/Police (FKPPI) and Laskar Jogja, which strongly oppose the idea of separatism.

Farid Giant of Pemuda Pancasila in his speech asked the police to eradicate separatist movements in the country. “We are not afraid of human rights. Combat those who commit treason against the Unitary Nation of the Republic of Indonesia,” he said.

The Papuan students planned to stage the rally in connection with an extraordinary summit of the MSG in Honiara, Solomon Islands, which concluded on Thursday.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry’s director general for Asia-Pacific and African affairs, Desra Percaya, said the MSG had rejected full membership for the ULMWP.

On Friday, however, West Papuan lawyer and human rights activist Yan Warinussy dismissed reports that the MSG meeting had denied the ULMWP full membership status. “There was no decision at the MSG summit,” Yan said, adding that the ULMWP’s status in the organization remained that of an observer, similar to Indonesia’s status.

Meanwhile, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo called on his aides on Thursday to speed up comprehensive development in the country’s easternmost provinces.

Jokowi said the development should not be solely focused on building infrastructure, but also on creating a platform to enable steady economic growth.

In addition, Education and Culture Minister Anies Baswedan said on Friday poor educational access and facilities had partially led to the rising separatist movement in Papua. Anies made the comment after a meeting at the Office of the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan.

The meeting was also attended by relevant ministers such as the National Planning Development Minister Sofyan Djalil and the Technology, Research and Higher Education Minister, Muhammad Natsir.

In the meeting concerning educational development in the Papua and the West Papua provinces, Anies said there were three acute problems faced in the regions: poor access, poor teacher quality and mismanagement by regional authorities.

Anies said he had urged ministries involved in the meeting to also speed up building infrastructure, because the geographical conditions in the provinces were not matched by adequate access.

“If your happiness and basic welfare are well accommodated, you will not ask for many things,” he said, when asked about the connection between poor education and separatism. (fac)
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