War heroes and heroines are East Timor's leaders. .. the former head of the armed struggle for independence, Xanana Gusmao, is prime minister. Photo: PMC archive

Pacific Scoop:
Analysis – By Agus Wandi in Dili

While talking to fishermen on Areia Branca Beach, hanging out with taxi drivers, getting lost cycling in Dili with its new street names, catching up with friends working for the United Nations there, having dinner with a Nobel laureate and coffee with a presidential candidate, it was clear that there is one common feeling among East Timorese – despite the misery of the past, despite the persistent problems of unemployment and poverty, the country is looking forward to a better future.

The country, which will elect a new president next month, however, is struggling to attract investment. It is also working hard to make the most of its oil revenues, foreign aid and other revenue sources to rebuild the nation.

Chinese investment is noteworthy — the most visible contributions being the Presidential Palace, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and some other key buildings in the capital. But future investment needs to deal with human development and social capital, especially for East Timor’s youth. Read more »

West Papuan freedom fighters and singers dream of independence from Indonesia. Photo: Dominic Brown TG

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By a special correspondent in Jakarta

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has reprimanded non-government organisations that often criticise how the Indonesian Military (TNI) handles security in West Papua, saying that they imply that the law should not be enforced in the country’s easternmost island.

“Papua is part of Indonesia. It doesn’t make sense that NGOs say something that implies that we can’t enforce the law in Papua,” he said at the TNI and National Police leaders meeting in Jakarta.

The President said the military presence in Papua was not without reason. Read more »

Deputy PM Belden Namah ... angered by the Indonesian incident. Photo: PNG govt

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Henry Yamo in Port Moresby

Papua New Guinea has recalled its ambassador to Indonesia in the latest fallout from the row over an air space  incident that angered the Deputy Prime Minister.

Belden Namah, Deputy Prime Minister in the parliamentary appointed government, had earlier called on Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to resign.

In a talkback radio programme,  Namah angrily called on O’Neill to resign over the incident in Indonesian air space on November 29 when the PNG government-owned Falcon jet was reportedly intercepted by two Indonesian military fighter jets. Read more »

Video of Herman Wainggai interview from Movements.Org

Pacific Scoop:
Backgrounder – By Matt Mulberry

The players
Herman Wainggai is a West Papuan educator and organiser who has dedicated his life to his homeland’s self determination movement.

In January 2006 Herman was granted political asylum in Australia after he and 42 other West Papuans escaped the island, crossing the Arafura Sea in a traditional double-outrigger canoe.

Since then he’s been able to take on a new role as an advocate for West Papuan liberation by raising international awareness of the struggle. Read more »

Indonesia Human Rights Committee spokesperson Maire Leadbeater raises the banned Morning Star flag in Auckland in solidarity with West Papuan independence. Photo: Scoop / IHRC

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Alex Rayfield of New Matilda

The raising of the banned Morning Star flag across West Papua last week on December 1 made two things abundantly clear – political defiance in West Papua is growing and the Indonesian government is losing control.

Despite fears that they would be shot if they raised the flag, the Morning Star was raised in Jayapura, Sentani, Manokwari, Sorong, Merauke, Timika, Puncak Jaya, Paniai, Genyem, Wamena and inside Indonesia in Jogjakarta and Jakarta.

In many places, the security forces allowed the protests to continue — video footage shows Indonesian police driving as crowds of protesters wave the flag and shout “freedom” — but in Timika the Indonesian military did open fire on unarmed crowds. Read more »

New footage of the crackdown by Indonesian security forces on the Papuan People’s Congress last month. Video: SBS World News

Pacific Scoop:
Report – by Banjir Ambarita in Jayapura

A clash between Indonesian security forces and a “small armed group” in a gold mine during the weekend is believed to have left one person dead, say police. But activists claim the death toll could be as high as eight.

Papua police spokesman Sr. Comr. Wachyono said local police had clashed with the armed group believed to be headed by Salmon Yogi at the Tayaga-Baya Biru gold mine in the district of Paniani, Bogobaida subdistrict, on Saturday morning.

“They were out to attack the mining location and police were only there to prevent them. An armed clash could not be avoided,” Wachyono said yesterday. Read more »

Flashback to the Santa Cruz cemetery massacre in Dili on 12 November 1991. Source: TVTL

Pacific Scoop:
Commentary – By Charles Scheiner in Dili

Tonight, I’m honored to be with so many young Timorese people who believe in justice and independence. Twenty years ago, brave people just like you peacefully demonstrated against the Indonesian occupation of your country. Nobody paid them, or ordered them, or told them it would be safe or easy.

The Santa Cruz protesters inspired people around the world, including me. I was in New York, and I heard about the massacre on community radio. Although I already knew about Indonesia’s illegal occupation here, and about the criminal support my US government was giving to it, I hadn’t done much to stop it.

A month after the Santa Cruz massacre, I and some other friends organised a peaceful protest at the Indonesian Mission to the UN. We didn’t risk being shot or tortured, but we knew we had to speak out in solidarity with the heroes of Santa Cruz who risked and lost their lives in the struggle for self-determination. Read more »

Indonesian troops prepare for last month's deadly crackdown against Papuans taking part in the Third Papuan People's Congress. Photo: West Papua Media

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Pacific Media Centre news desk

Amnesty International has called on the Indonesian government to act immediately on the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) findings that human rights violations were committed by security forces in breaking up the Third Papuan Peoples’ Congress last month.

The Komnas HAM investigation team found a range of human rights violations allegedly committed by the Indonesian security forces on October 19 – including opening fire on participants of the peaceful gathering and beating and kicking them.

Amnesty International’s statement came as a regional media lobby group called on Pacific journalists to “pay more attention” to the human rights tragedy unfolding on Papua New Guinea’s borders in Indonesia’s mineral-rich territory of West Papua. Read more »

PNG troops on parade alongside Australian soldiers. Photo: RAMSI

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Pacific Media Watch

A former high-ranking officer with the PNG Defence Force says current problems faced by retrenched soldiers should be blamed on the Australian government and not Papua New Guinea.

And he urges former prime mi­nister Sir Mekere Morauta and former Defence commander Peter Ilau to speak out on the issue as they were party to the standing down of batch 1360.

The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the force’s standing down of batch 1360 came about at the recommendation of the Australian government under its Imminent Persons Group. Read more »

An ABC news report at the time of the Australian boy’s arrest in Bali. Video: NewsOnABC

Pacific Scoop:
Commentary – By Graham Davis

The decision by the Nine Entertainment Company to enter into a six figure deal with the parents of a 14-year-old boy arrested in Bali for drug possession is breathtaking, even by the lamentable standards of the Australian commercial media.

Never mind the egregious act of rewarding criminal behaviour, which may be in breach of Australian laws prohibiting offenders from benefiting financially. Incredibly, this is a deal that has come to light even before the court case against the boy has concluded and may well jeopardise the efforts of Indonesian lawyers to secure his early release.

All the normal conventions that ought to apply in this instance have been tossed to the winds in the blind pursuit of television ratings and magazine circulation. Read more »