The national human rights body vowed on Monday to carry out a lengthy investigation into the deteriorating security situation in the Papua mining town of Timika, following complaints by local residents.

Nur Kholis, deputy chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), said the commission would set up a special team to conduct a three-month investigation into the complaints.

“The special Papua team will have wide-reaching authority and can speed up our investigation because they can go in there and call witnesses,” he said.

He added that the results of the investigation would be presented openly as a form of public accountability.

The announcement came as a group of representatives from Timika in Mimika district, which services the massive Grasberg gold and copper mine that is run by US-based Freeport-McMoRan, visited the Komnas HAM headquarters in Jakarta to complain about a recent spate of attacks that have claimed nine lives, including those of six Freeport workers.

On Monday, the police chief of the town of Mulia in neighboring Puncak Jaya district was reportedly assaulted and shot dead by unknown attackers.

One contract worker and two others were shot by unknown gunmen early on Friday. Several days earlier, five Freeport workers were killed — two by police trying to control a crowd and three by unknown gunmen.

Sammy Rumbiak, a member of the Timika delegation, said the climate of fear first descended on the area in 2009.

“I worked at the underground mine in Freeport and I always felt safe. But since 2009 I have felt threatened, without the freedom to live in my own country,” he said.

“For how long must I feel unsafe in my own land, even though I am an Indonesian citizen? Especially since we are led around everywhere by men with guns.”

Sammy said that ever since the first shooting incidents in 2009, widely blamed on the separatist Free Papua Organization (OPM), no single case had been resolved, resulting in heightened anxiety among the public.

“We want President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to roll up his sleeves and visit the site directly to see for himself what’s going on, because we have been living in terror for the past three years,” he said.

Nur Kholis said Komnas HAM would deliver a recommendation to the government following its investigation.

“Restoring security is the most important thing to do in order to prevent more serious incidents,” he said.

“Therefore, we are going to coordinate with the police, both the national and Papua branches [to work to make it happen].”

Oktavianus Kalilago, a resident of the neighboring town of Kuala Kencana, where Freeport’s operations are headquartered, said the people were fed up with the climate of fear that had “robbed them of their lives, freedom and sense of security.”

“We demand that concrete, firm and fair steps be taken immediately by the government to protect all those who live near Freeport,” he said, reading from a prepared statement. “We no longer want to live in constant fear of the threat of violence, terrorism or other acts that rob us of our dignity.”

Oktavianus also called for the swift resolution of all the shootings in the area and demanded that the perpetrators be brought to justice. He said that ultimately, the people of Timika, Kuala Kencana and other areas in Mimika district wanted to be able to live their lives in a climate of security and peace.

Shokilin, another resident, warned that the area was fast running out of badly needed food and medicine because of the blockade of the main access road there by Freeport workers who since mid-September have been striking for higher pay.

He said the blockade, in place since Oct. 10, had “severely impacted” the local population.

“It’s affected not just Freeport but also the residents, because the only way that supplies reach us is through Freeport, and now the only road leading to us is blocked,” he said.

Orpa Padwa, a resident of Kuala Kencana, confirmed that food and other supplies were quickly running out.

“We mothers can only cry and can’t do anything else,” she said. “Our children cannot go to school because we’re afraid [of the attacks].”

She said she hoped that the standoff between Freeport and the striking workers, as well as the spate of shootings and other attacks, could be resolved as soon as possible “because we want to celebrate Christmas peacefully.”

Human rights activists held a silent protest outside the Australian Embassy on Monday to demand justice for Indonesian minors currently incarcerated in Australia.

Febi Yonesta, from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta), said most of the underage prisoners came from impoverished fishing communities and were less than 15 years old. They were not aware of the risk of transporting illegal immigrants into Australia, he said.

“Dozens of them are currently being detained in adult prisons for allegedly being involved in people-smuggling syndicates,” Febi said.

“Fishing doesn’t pay enough, but working with people-smuggling syndicates offers far more money.”

He added that the problem was compounded for fishing communities in East Nusa Tenggara when an oil spill in the Timor Sea in mid-2009 spread over much of their fishing grounds and impacted their catches.

Eko Waluyo, from the organization Indonesian Solidarity, said it was unfair that the minors continued to be held in adult facilities while Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and Prime Minister Julia Gillard could insist on the release of a 14-year-old Australian boy currently detained in Bali for drug possession.

“There is not one but rather more than 70 Indonesian youths, 15 years or younger, in Australian adult prisons or detention centers for working on boats carrying refugees in transit from Indonesia to Australia,” he said.

The Australian boy was moved out of Kerobokan prison in Denpasar on Saturday to a facility in Jimbaran, built specifically for foreigners, after newly appointed Justice and Human Rights Minister Amir Syamsuddin declared Kerobokan overcrowded and inhumane for underage inmates — despite the fact it also held nine Indonesian children.

Another official reiterated the fact that other underage inmates had to stay in Kerobokan since Bali did not yet have a good juvenile prison.

Abdul Kadir Wokanubun, advocacy and campaign director at the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), decried the people-smuggling charges leveled against the Indonesian youths in Australia, which could see them face a maximum of 15 years in prison and fined the equivalent of Rp 1.5 billion ($170,000).

He added that the Australian Embassy had not provided activists with information on what it planned to do with the youths, nor had there been any action from the Indonesian government.

“Australian officials handling the youths are not convinced that they are underage,” Febi said. “The lack of official documents was used as a basis for the Australian government to put them in adult facilities.”

He added that a team of lawyers from Australia would visit Indonesia next month to gather the documents needed to prove the youths’ ages.

He said they came from as far afield as East and West Java, East and West Nusa Tenggara and South Sulawesi.

Additional reporting by Ulma Haryanto

Papuans living near the giant Grasberg mine operated by United States mining giant Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc say they are running out of food and medicine as Indonesian security forces maintain their blockade of the road leading to the mine.

Unknown gunmen killed three people in three separate attacks near the mine on Friday. Freeport has blamed strikers for several earlier incidents, including a clash with police that left two people dead and an alleged attack on a mine pipeline. Most of the mine’s unionized workers have taken part in the strike, which began on Sept. 15.

Sholikin, speaking at the National Commission of Human Rights (Komnas Ham) in Jakarta on Monday, said the blockade had “severely impacted” on the local population.

Orpa Padwa, 45, a resident of Kuala Kencana in Mimika district, said food was running out.

“We mothers can only cry and cannot do anything else,” Orpa said as she wept. “The children cannot go to schools because we are afraid.”

She said she hoped the problems could be resolved as soon as possible “because we want to celebrate Christmas peacefully.”

Following Wednesday’s violent government crackdown on a peaceful pro-independence rally in Jayapura, some pro-Indonesian Papuan activists are saying the rally’s true purpose was a cynical push by its organizers for personal political gain.

“The Papuan Congress has sacrificed a lot of Papuan people, therefore, I am asking the people of Papua not to let themselves be provoked by the referendum [independence] issue,” said Heemskercke Bonay, an activist from West Papua in Jakarta.

“The referendum issue declared in the congress was pushed by elites [in the Papuan Customary Council] who claimed that it was on behalf of the people,” Heemskercke said.

He was referring to the reading of a Papuan declaration of independence at Wednesday’s gathering. That act, along with the raising of the separatist Morning Star flag, prompted police and military forces to attempt to disperse the large gathering by firing shots and beating and arresting dozens of people.

Six people have been confirmed killed in the aftermath of the rally. Military and police spokesmen have denied responsibility for the deaths.

Ramses Ohee, the Papuan chairman of the pro-Indonesia Red and White Troops (BMP), said his organization rejected the calls for a separate Papuan state.

“We firmly refuse the calls for an independent Papua declared during the congress,” he said.

Ramses admitted that there were many problems that the central government needed to address in the province, especially regarding development and local politics, but that separation from Indonesia was not the answer.

More than 500 students marched to the National Monument, near the State Palace, on Thursday to denounce the leadership of the president and vice president.

The students, protesting under the banner of the Alliance of Indonesian University Student Councils, said Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his deputy, Boediono, had failed the country.

Muhammad Sayyidi, president of the student council at Padjadjaran University in Bandung, said they wanted the administration to live up to its promises to improve the life of the nation.

“After two years of the Yudhoyono-Boediono government, we rate its performance as poor,” he said. “It has failed to improve prosperity or uphold the law.”

He also said students were angry that education standards had not been improved.

The “nine-year compulsory study” program had proven unsuccessful, he said, and students were waiting for the government’s next move.

The student demonstration, which began early in the day, included theatrical twists such as pocong (ghosts), caskets and headstones marked “education,” “health” and “law enforcement.”

Students said the symbols were intended to suggest that Indonesia was in mourning for the failed Yudhoyono-Boediono government.

The students also said the government was dragging its feet on providing social security. Elisabeth Oktofani

Arientha Primanita, Ismira Lutfia, Rizky Amelia & Elisabeth Oktofani

The government says it will ensure mobile phone network operators reconfirm consumers’ subscriptions to premium SMS services and Ring Back Tones as police push ahead investigating allegations of phone credit theft.

“Services such as premium SMS and RBT will have to be reconfirmed to check whether customers wish to continue their subscriptions or not,” said Gatot Dewa Broto, a spokesman for the Communications and Information Technology Ministry.

The deadline for reconfirmation is today at midnight.

Some providers allow people to set music as an RBT. The government will not halt the services, Gatot said.

“This is certainly not going to disadvantage musicians. In fact, it will protect them,” he added.

Frustration over telephone credit theft gained public exposure when Feri Kuntoro, a man from East Jakarta, reported Telkomsel to the police two weeks ago for letting a content provider siphon off his credit.

Sr. Comr. Baharudin Djafar, a spokesman for the Jakarta Police, has reassured consumers that police were taking the phone credit theft allegations seriously.

Baharudin said digital forensics techniques would help tell whether a complainant had attempted to cancel a disputed subscription or not. “The important thing is that we explore first whether or not there is a criminal aspect to each case,” he said.

Baharudin added that police had only received three reports of alleged crimes from the public: those of Feri Kuntoro, Hendri Kurniawan and Daniel Kumendong. Those cases were being probed by the Jakarta Police’s cyber-crime unit, he said.

Feri presented further evidence to police on Monday, Baharudin said, handing over physical evidence to support his initial report made on Oct. 4.

The police have also taken the initiative to consult experts in the case, he said.

“We’ve contacted language experts, consumer experts, IT experts and even the Social Affairs Ministry — for cases where there’s a prize on offer, to check whether the competition is registered or not,” Baharudin said.

Network operator Telkomsel will be questioned this week in connection with Feri’s report, the spokesman said.

Feri’s attorney, David Tobing said public-interest lawyers were ready to report network providers that ignored a letter of instruction issued on Friday by the Indonesian Telecommunication Regulatory Body (BRTI).

“I, personally, along with NGOs, will monitor the implementation of the instruction. If there are any [network operators] that breach it, we’ll report them to police,” David said on Monday.

The BRTI’s letter of instruction was directed at 10 mobile network operators, requiring them to take various steps to protect consumers.

These include a ban until further notice on broadcast text messages, pop-up screens and broadcast voice messages. Information must also be prepared for consumers and any unfairly deducted credit be returned.

The Indonesian Cellular Phone Association (ATSI) has indicated its preparedness to comply with the instructions, its chief Sarwoto Atmosutarno told a news conference on Monday.

Sarwoto is also the president director of Telkomsel.

Konfirmasi ulang harus dilaksanakan paling lambat pada 18 Oktober.

Pemerintah menegaskan operator telepon seluler diwajibkan mengkonfirmasi ulang layanan Ring Back Tone (RBT) kepada para pelanggan.

“Layanan SMS Premium seperti RBT akan dikonfirmasi ulang kepada para pelanggannya apakah mereka masih akan melanjutkan langganan tersebut atau tidak,” kata Gatot S Dewa Broto, Kepala Humas dan Pusat Informasi di Kementerian Komunikasi dan Informatika, kepada beritasatu.com, Jakarta, hari ini.

Gatot menambahkan yang dihentikan bukanlah jasa layanan SMS Premium seperti RBT yang dihentikan, melainkan SMS Broadcast berupa promosi hingga batas waktu yang akan disampaikan nanti.

Dijelaskannya, konfirmasi ulang tersebut harus dilaksanakan paling lambat pada tanggal 18 Oktober tengah pukul 00.00 WIB. “Yang jelas penataan ulang SMS Premium ini tidak akan merugikan musisi namun justru melindungi mereka,” tandas dia.

Consumers battling the automatic deduction of cellphone credits for unsolicited content have notched up a major victory with a government moratorium on operators offering such content.

The Indonesia Telecommunications Regulatory Body (BRTI) announced over the weekend that it had issued a letter to the 10 cellphone operators in the country to stop them offering the paid content via text message, pop-up screens or voice broadcasts for an indefinite period.

Gatot Dewa Broto, a spokesman for the Communications and Information Technology Ministry, said on Sunday that the move was the government’s response to reports of premium content bilking consumers of phone credit and recommendations by the House of Representatives to crack down on unscrupulous content providers.

“The operators have also been instructed to de-register all customers from these premium message services by midnight on Monday at the latest,” he said.

“They will then have to notify their customers about the de-registration and instruct them on how to register again if they choose to do so, without incurring extra charges.”

In another step toward greater consumer protection, the BRTI has also required the 10 operators to tabulate and submit a list of the amount of credit deducted from each customer for these services since registering.

“This is concrete proof of the government’s response to consumer concerns about the stealing of phone credits,” Gatot said.

The issue of unsolicited deductions came to the public attention when Jakarta resident Feri Kuntoro reported Telkomsel, the country’s biggest mobile operator, to the police earlier this month for letting a content provider siphon his phone credit.

Feri was himself later reported to the police for defamation by Colibri Network, the content provider in question, though he insisted he had not leveled any accusations against them.

Last week, Feri told the Jakarta Globe that he was being harassed after lodging the report and that he had appealed to the Victim and Witness Protection Agency (LPSK) for help.

Renowned consumer rights advocate David Tobing, who is representing Feri in his lawsuit, said the BRTI’s order was less than satisfactory because it did not actually oblige the operators to de-register their customers from the premium services.

“So what the operators have done is give their customers the option of de-registering, and not actively done it themselves,” he said on Sunday.

He cited the case of Telkomsel, which has sent out text messages instructing customers with active premium message subscriptions on how they can de-register.

“That kind of message giving customers the option to de-register won’t necessarily be acted on by all customers,” David said.

Activists tried to get people to switch off their cellphones for two hours on Saturday to protest the unsolicited deductions, but it was unclear how many heeded the call to hang up o n their cellular companies.

Saputra Harja, the organizer o f the No Handphone Movement, said he was trying to confirm the number of people who joined in.

“I am optimistic that many people participated by turning off their phones for two hours,” Saputra said. “But we still have to see how this affected mobile phone traffic.”

The group blames providers for failing to crack down on unscrupulous content companies that steal phone credits from unsuspecting consumers.