Dutch journo confronts dangerous task of reporting in Papua

Transcript

A Dutch journalist who has been travelling and working undercover in Indonesia's Papua region dispells claims by Jakarta that it is opening up the region.

Reporting from Papua, Rohan Radheya says despite the Indonesian president's recent claim that the ban on foreign journalists in Papua was being lifted, he doesn't believe the heavy restrictions are being lifted at all.

Mr Radheya has been to Papua four times in the last two years.

He spoke to Johnny Blades and began by talking about the strong local support for a West Papuan application to join the Melanesian Spearhead Group is huge.

ROHAN RADHEYA: There have been many demonstrations here since the whole thing started in Vanuatu when they appealed for MSG membership. There have been many demonstrations by the activist movements. The most prominent activist movement is called the KNPB (The West Papua National Committee). They continue to stage protests and demonstrations here in support of the governing body which represents West Papua at the MSG (United Liberation Movement of West Papua). They're calling for Papuans to support them and they had a really rough time. They had Brimob, special forces, army and police, plus plain clothes intelligence officers... tracking them. As soon as these guys go out on the street and protest, they just disappear. And it's been that way ever since.

JOHNNY BLADES: The reason the last membership bid was rejected was because the MSG leaders said it wasn't representative enough of West Papuans in West Papua. Is this current bid considered representative enough for West Papuans who you have talked to?

RR: Yes, they are very, very hopeful here. All the people I talk to, they are very optimistic that their Melanesian brothers and sisters will vote in their favour. A lot has happened (with the change of government in Vanuatu and other political developments). They are hopeful but they're also very afraid... sort of: what next, after that, if we are abandoned again? That would be such a hard blow for them because they have worked for this MSG membership for such a long time. And if they get rejected that would definitely be a knockout blow for them. Yesterday when I met the guys with the KNPB, they invited me today to come to their headquarters again where they would actually stage a prayer for the MSG membership. So that shows how much they're looking forward to being accepted in the MSG group.

JB: I guess there's that risk that the people you meet and interview, if word gets out, that they could be in trouble with the authorities. That's a risk that you obviously assess?

RR: Yes, that is something I'm worried about all the time. When I approach people of reporting, they feel somehow that they have to talk to me because they are Papuans and they are occupied and they have a sort of a duty to talk to me. So I really feel sympathetic to that. It's... they can be in prison for talking to me, and that's something I have to be very careful about.

JB: You're going under cover. Since the article came out on UNPO a week ago, are you worried that you'll be caught or that you'll come in for some attention you don't want from police?

RR: Yes, yes. There are many people asking about this. But the first thing is, I will have made peace with the fact that I'm going to be deported sooner or later, because it's very dangerous. If they catch me, they deport me. And the second thing is, I just thought it was important to have credible information coming out of West Papua. In the international media, there's speculation for the new visa procedure (for foreign journalists) which was announced by President Jokowi. There are a lot of rumours right now. I just wanted to clear those rumours. And I thought it was worth it, I wanted people to know that really nothing has changed right now. You still have to go through twelve ministries to get your application approved, you have to go through the provincial department for another permit and so on, so on, so on. You have intelligence officer with you which will restrict your every movement on the ground, including meeting with the opposition. So really, I can't see what has changed. Then they even made it more.. they even want to penalise foreign journalists now writing articles off the record on West Papua, so I see it that they have tied the know even harder than before.

JB: The director-general of information at the ministry of foreign affairs in Jakarta earlier this week said that the clearing house thing is going to change...

RR: No, no, it's just a formality on paper. They're going to change the name of the commission that will be in charge of screening the journalists. The clearing commission is just based on government. Now the committee is actually going to be changed to include staff representing the army, the TNI and the police. So I definitely think they will have a more critical assessment, a more harder assessment.

JB: During the times that you've been there, have you seen any positive changes? We are told by government figures that there are efforts to improve development outcomes for the local people.

RR: Yeah, you know, that is the biggest difference between the cities and the rural areas in West Papua. If you walk down in the cities like Jayapura for instance, or Manokwari or Biak, it's very modern actually. But if you step out to the rural areas, then you really notice the huge difference. There is no clean water, sanitation, no hygene, limited electricity, the roads are not good, it's a huge difference. I do think that the Indonesian government tries its best to improve things around here but it's just not enough, it just doesn't reach the people in rural areas. And that is exactly the problem right here: foreigners are restricted from travelling to rural areas; there's much lawlessness, much corruption in those areas, and that's where the human rights violations take place. That's actually the hotspot. It's like the security forces, they have blank cheque, they can do whatever they want. They get away with it too. It's very difficult to know what's happened there, there's no internet, no telephone coverage, the roads are not good. So these are actually the hotspots where the security forces, the military, are committing the most human rights violations.

Rohan Radheya also says the plight of West Papuan journalists tends to be ignored in the growing commentary about access to Papua for foreign media.

He believes that foreign media outlets should engage local journalists to work for them as they are committed and brave in the face of attacks and intimidation.