[/media-credit] The church leaders wile held press conference after the meeting – Jubi
Jayapura, Jubi – The chairman of Central Papua Baptist Church Fellowship Services Agency, Socratez Sofian Yoman, urged the government to handle the aftermath of the Tolikara incident wisely.
He said the incident has drawn attention from the central government, including the president, the military and police chiefs as well as the general.
“I see this as a distraction of issues. One important issue is the murder case of security forces against civilians in Paniai on 8 December 2014. There are also other cases such as Yahukimo case, and so on. This is an attempt by the state to divert attention from those issues,” Yoman told reporters at GKI Papua Synod Office, Argapura, Jayapura City on Wednesday (5/8/2015).
He further questioned the State’s attention when numbers of house of worship in several areas closed by certain parties. He took the ban of GKI Yasmin Church in Bogor by local mayor as an example.
“Where is the State? Where is the justice, the Constitution, Pancasila (State Philosophy) and Bhineka Tunggal Ika (slogan: Unity in Diversity)? Is it only written in the book? Where is it when Syiah and Ahmadiyah were being hunted?” he said.
He said the problem of Papua is not a minor issue; it’s not a matter of full stomach or economy, but it’s a matter of identity, dignity, the future and political status that being questioned by the people of Papua. Therefore, it needs a broader dialogue for resolution.
Meanwhile the Chairman of GKI Church Synod in Papua, Albert Yoku said Tolikara incident was an explosion of the puzzles of cases occurred in Papua, such as Paniai case, Yahukimo case and another important cases that not getting serious attention from the Government as it did in Tolikara incident.
“I hope the same spirit could be used to settle those cases. Do not only focus in Tolikara incident that make it likely a huge issue, but it’s only a small case in reality. Tolikara incident is a crash over civilization and to open our eyes about the fact that minority groups in Indonesia must get a justice,” said Yoku. (Arjuna Pademme/rom)
