RLPB 713. Indonesian Papua: Melanesian Christians Hunted in Darkness

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 713 | 04 Oct 2023
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

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INDONESIAN PAPUA: MELANESIAN CHRISTIANS HUNTED IN DARKNESS
By Elizabeth Kendal

CONTEXT: ‘THEY’RE HUNTING US’

On 7 April Indonesian special forces officers who were ‘sweeping’ Kuyawage village, Lanny Jaya Regency, Highland Papua (Pegunungan) Province – torching houses and a church and terrorising locals – detained four teenage boys and two young men. Accusing the boys of being members of the rebel West Papua Liberation Army or TPNPB, the officers transported them to regional military headquarters 100km away where they were beaten and tortured. High school student and promising musician Wity Unue (17) was tortured to death. Temporarily disappeared, the other five Papuans were only released after human rights advocates tipped off local media. Papuan human rights activist Raga Kogeya was present when the boys were released. ‘The kids had all been tortured … they’d been tied up and then burned. [The military] had heated up machetes and knives and pressed it against their skin … They didn’t even look like humans. They were burnt from head to toe. They were in a really bad way.’ The military brought Wity Unue’s body back to Kuyawage in a box. When they couldn’t find his family, because they had fled the military violence, they dumped the cardboard coffin in a clearing at the end of the street and set it on fire with his body inside.

Yones Douw, the head of the peace and justice department for the Protestant Tabernacle (Kingmi) Church of Papua, explains that the Indonesian military routinely detains, tortures and kills Papuan boys and young men, and then says, ‘Oh, we thought they were guerrillas’. ‘But,’ objects Douw, ‘there’s no way that the guerrillas are walking around looking like schoolkids – that doesn’t happen. Guerillas are not walking around in the streets. This is happening to ordinary people.’ What’s more, he adds, more often than not, they are little more than ‘kids’. Only days before the boys were taken away, soldiers opened fire on a group of women and children returning home with string bags filled with food after shopping in a neighbouring village. A teenage girl named Parena Karunggu (16) was left with a serious gaping bullet wound to her lower back; the bullet lodged in her abdomen. Papuans (Melanesian Christians) are convinced that the military (Javanese Muslims) know they are attacking civilians. Nopinanus Kogoya, an uncle of one of the tortured boys, laments: ‘They’re hunting us in this inhumane way.’

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HIGHLAND PAPUA: CHURCH MEMBERS KILLED AND ASSAULTED
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approx. conflict area marked in red
(click on map to enlarge)
map source: mapworld

On 15 September five Papuan youths were found dead at the mouth of the Brasa River in Dekai, the capital of Yahukimo Regency, Highland Papua Province. The Indonesian military claims the youths died in a gunfight with Indonesian security forces. However, Sebby Sambom, a spokesperson for the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) said, ‘They’re not our members. They were purely civilians who wanted to return to their villages and were shot and bombed by the Indonesian military.’ The youths – boys aged between 15 and 18 years old – were all members of the Protestant Tabernacle (Kingmi) Church of Papua. According to Pastor Atias Matuan, Chair of the Yahukimo Church Fellowship (PGGY), the five youths regularly delivered food to the village after buying it in Dekai. Pastor Matuan accompanied the victims’ families to the Yahukimo Regional General Hospital to collect the bodies which, he said, had ‘gunshot wounds to the stomach, chest and legs’. The boys were buried in Dekai on 19 September.

On 17 September Indonesia’s Nduga District Police and the Damai Cartenz Task Force [anti-KKB (armed criminal groups)] raided a residential house in Kenyam village, Nduga Regency, Highland Papua Province and, despite not having a warrant, arbitrarily arrested three Papuan men. Then men were tortured to reveal names of those who had attended a recent burial of TPNPB members. After one of the torture victims named Reverend Urbanus Kogeya, the police released the torture victims – because there was no evidence against them – and headed to the Kingmi Papua Office in Kenyam. Arriving at the Kingme church office at 11:30pm, the police entered by breaking down the door. Inside the property, asleep on the second floor, were several local Kingmi Papua Church leaders and members who had stayed late at the property in preparation for a church event. They would be the next Melanesian Christians to experience the racial-religious hatred of Javanese Muslim police.

Tortured, Gira Gwijangge (19) - 17 Sept 2023.
Also has wounds to right shoulder and left knee.
(Image: YKKMP/Kingmi Papua/
Human Rights Monitor)

Human Rights Monitor (28 September) has published a list of victims, including names, age, sex, and injuries sustained in the violent raid (photos included). The victims include an 85-year-old man, four women and four pastors. When Reverend Nataniel Tabuni asked the officers why they had come and broken in at night, one of the officers punched him three times in the face. According to Tabuni, one officer said, ‘You are the Church of Satan, the Church of Terrorists! You are supporting Egianus Kogeya [TPNPB Commander in Nduga] under the pretext of praying.’ The head of Nduga Parliament (DPRD), Ikabus Gwijangge heard the commotion and rushed to the scene. When Gwijangge protested the police violence, a Damai Cartenz officer threatened him saying, ‘Stupid parliamentarian. I’ll come after you!...’ as another officer forced the MP outside. Multiple human rights organisations have condemned the incident.

The Papuan provinces are the most militarised region in all Indonesia. Catholic media reports (22 September), ‘According to data from the advocacy group Imparsial, the number of soldiers posted in Papua is 16,900, most of them belonging to trained combat units.’ According to Kontras (The Commission for Disappearances and Victims of Violence), there have been 31 incidents of violence including shootings, torture, arbitrary arrests and other acts of violence during January to August this year. Meanwhile, Indonesia’s Security Minister General (ret.) Wiranto is seeking an extra 60 billion rupiah (roughly US$4 million) for a campaign against what Jakarta calls ‘Papua misinformation’. A major propaganda campaign is being prepared; a smokescreen to obscure reality. That should worry everyone who cares about the plight of the Papuan Church: the legacy of Dutch, North American and Australian pioneer and martyr missionaries of the early-mid 20thC [see RLPB 519, How Will the Story End? 10 Sep 2019].


PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR MERCIFUL GOD WILL:

* open the door into Indonesian’s Papuan provinces so that independent monitors and journalists, and international aid organisations, may have access to this long-closed region where lack of transparency, lack of ‘light’ and lack of accountability has only worked to fuel human rights abuses and enable impunity. We pray this today with a sense of urgency as geo-strategic Indonesia moves to have criticism rejected as ‘misinformation’. Lord have mercy! ‘Let there be light’.

* intervene in Indonesia to demilitarise the Papuan provinces and advance Papuan autonomy so that the region’s indigenous predominantly Christian Melanesians might be free to live, work and worship in peace. (1 Timothy 2:1-4)

* comfort and sustain all those who are grieving the loss of loved ones murdered by Indonesian forces, as well as all those who have been arbitrarily detained, beaten, tortured and terrorised by Indonesian forces in recent times; may fear not overwhelm them; may anger and hatred have no place in their hearts; may the God of all grace supply their every need.

* help the Papuan Church remain strong in faith through these dark and testing times; may the Papuan Church commit to prayer and to seeking mercy and help from the Lord who planted her in the land and loves her with unfailing love (hesed). May the Body of Christ rise to pray with her and for her.

‘Remember ... those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body’ (Hebrews 13:3b ESV).


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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INDONESIAN PAPUA: CHURCH MEMBERS KILLED AND ASSAULTED

(1) On 15 September five Papuan youths were found dead by the Brasa River in Dekai, Highland Papua Province; their bodies riddled with bullets. The Indonesian military claims the youths were ‘guerillas’ who died in a gunfight with Indonesian security forces. However, the five were all schoolboys and members of the Protestant Tabernacle (Kingmi) Church of Papua who, according to Pastor Atias Matuan, regularly delivered food in their village after buying it in Dekai. (2) At 11:30pm, on 17 September, Indonesian security forces raided the Kingmi Papua Office in Kenyam, Highland Papua Province, after a Papuan claimed under torture that a Kingmi pastor had attended a burial of rebel fighters. Several church leaders (including four pastors) and members (including four women) who were asleep on the second floor were savagely beaten. Please pray.

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate for the persecuted Church. The Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) is a donor funded ministry. To support this ministry visit www.ElizabethKendal.com

Elizabeth has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016). She is also an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

For more information see www.ElizabethKendal.com

RLPB 673. November Update, incl. Ethiopia and Eritrea, India, Mali, West Papua, Sudan, Uganda, Turkey in Syria

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 673 | Wed 30 Nov 2022
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

To sign up for the RLPB visit www.ElizabethKendal.com
View RLPB archives at Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog.
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NOVEMBER 2022 UPDATE
By Elizabeth Kendal

DURING NOVEMBER WE PRAYED CONCERNING:

* ETHIOPIA [RLPB 670, 9 Nov], where the Ethiopian Government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) have signed an ‘Agreement for Lasting Peace’. Meanwhile, the ethnic-nationalist Oromo Liberation Army (OLA / OLF-Shene) continues to wage a campaign of terror aimed at ethnic cleansing against minority Amharas in the majority Christian north-west of Oromia Region.

UPDATE OROMIA: The condition and whereabouts of nine deacons abducted from the Midre Genet St Mariam Church and the parish council members abducted of Harbu Bose St Michael church – two churches in North Shewa Zone, Oromia Region – remain unknown. Please pray for the captives and for an end to OLA terror.

UPDATE TIGRAY: Rumours abound of TPLF fighters refusing to accept the conditions of the Agreement, in particular, the requirement to disarm. Please pray for God to intervene, to infuse a spirit of / desire for peace among the many fighters who do not support the Agreement. The Nairobi declaration of 12 November – which sets outs how the Agreement (signed in Pretoria on 2 November) will be implemented – provides that disarmament of TPLF forces will be undertaken in tandem with the withdrawal of foreign [read: Eritrean] and non-ENDF (Ethiopian National Defense Forces) [read: Amhara FANO] forces. The main threat here is Eritrea, which is not a party to the Agreement. [Eritrea has made peace with the Ethiopian government, not with the expansionist TPLF.] Please pray that all Eritrean troops and FANO militias will withdraw from Tigray Region in a peaceful, disciplined and orderly fashion, and that nothing will get in the way of peace; for the sake of all Ethiopians and Eritreans and the region’s precious, missional Church.

* ERITREA [RLPB 671, 16 Nov], after the authorities arrested and jailed three Catholic leaders who had highlighted Eritrea’s human rights abuses. Abba (Father) Mihretab Stefanos, Abba Abraham Habtom Gebremariam and Abune (His Excellency) Fikremariam Hagos, the first Bishop of the Catholic Eparchy (diocese) of Segheneyti, were arrested on 11,12 and 15 October respectively. Sources believe that all three Catholics are being held at the notorious Adi Abeito prison on the northern outskirts of Asmara. An estimated 500 Christians are imprisoned in Eritrea, most for their faith, some for their human rights advocacy. Some Christians leaders arrested in 2004 remain incarcerated to this day. Lord have mercy! Please pray.

* INDIA [RLPB 672, 23 Nov], where the Supreme Court had ordered the government to submit an affidavit explaining what it intends to do to curb ‘forced’ religious conversions. The next hearing was scheduled for Monday 28 November.

UPDATES

SUPREME COURT: In its affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, the Indian government said it is ‘cognisant of the gravity and the seriousness’ of the issue of ‘forced’ religious conversion. The government promised that ‘the relief sought in the present petition would be taken up in all seriousness by the Union of India and appropriate steps shall be taken as the Central Government is cognisant of the matter’. According to Telegraph, India (28 Nov), ‘The Centre told the Supreme Court on Monday that religious freedom does not include a fundamental right to convert other people to a particular religion and that it certainly does not embrace the right to convert an individual through fraud, deception, coercion or allurement. The central government said it is “cognisant of the menace” and laws that seek to control such practices are necessary to protect the cherished rights of vulnerable sections of the society…’ Please pray for the Church in India.

CONVERSIONS IN KASHI/VARANASI (UP): According to Hindu nationalist ideology (Hindutva), Indians are members of the Hindu race. For an Indian, therefore, religious conversion into Hinduism cannot be called conversion; rather it is called Ghar Wapsi (Hindi: ‘Returning Home’). Throughout the country, Hindu nationalist organisations are working tirelessly to bring as many Christians ‘home’ as possible. According to the Nagaland Post (17 Nov), a Hindu nationalist Ghar Wapsi campaign had been slated for 6 to 20 November, for people in the 19 districts of the Kashi/Varanasi region in Uttar Pradesh, with the goal of reconverting / 'bringing home' 500,000 people (Muslims, Christians and tribals). Many Christians who convert to Hinduism or identify as Hindus do so for financial reasons; for desperately poor, low-caste and Dalit (untouchable) Indians are only eligible for benefits so long as they are Hindu. For Christians who insist on standing firm the cost of discipleship can be very high indeed. Please pray for the Church in India.


NOVEMBER 2022 ROUND-UP - also this month:

* MALI ABANDONED AS TERROR ESCALATES

(1) GERMAN PRIEST ABDUCTED IN BAMAKO

Rev Hans-Joachim Lohre.
(Aid to the Church in Need)

On Sunday 20 November the Reverend Hans-Joachim Lohre – a German priest who has served in Mali for more than 30 years – disappeared from the Malian capital, Bamako. Lohre – known affectionately as Father Ha-Jo – was preparing to go and celebrate Mass when suspected Islamic militants snatched him, cutting the cross from his neck. It is the first abduction of a foreigner from Bamako since the Islamic insurgency began more than a decade ago. On 23 November Cardinal Jean Zerbo, Archbishop of Bamako, released a statement lamenting, ‘At the moment we have no further news [regarding the Revd Lohre] or contacts with the kidnappers…’ Aid to the Church in Need reports (22 Nov), ‘During a visit to Switzerland, less than six months ago, [Fr Lohre] told local benefactors about the situation in Mali. “The jihadists come in groups, on motorcycles, and the local communities have to make deals with them. They are forbidden from ringing church bells and drinking alcohol, and women are forced to wear the veil”.’ Now, it seems, Fr Lohre is their captive. Please pray.

(2) THE WEST ABANDONS MALI

click on map to enlarge

Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) is escalating its insurgency in Mali. ISGS terror recently forced more than 60,000 civilians from Menaka (in northern Mali near the border with Niger) to flee to Gao, the regional capital. Those displaced tell of massacres, stonings and extortion. Despite the escalation in terror, Western forces are withdrawing, abandoning the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). France has already withdrawn its troops [see RLPB 607, The Sahel: Africa’s Afghanistan? Christians Imperilled (21 July 2021)]. On 14 November the UK joined Sweden in announcing that it will withdraw its troops. In the past week, Germany announced that it will withdraw its troops by May 2024, primarily because Mali has engaged Russia in the fight against the jihadists. With terrorists pushing through Burkina Faso into Gulf of Guinea states, analysts suspect Togo, Benin and Ghana might decide they need to bring their troops home. The security situation in Mali and the wider Sahel is diabolical and rapidly deteriorating; it is a Christian Crisis in the making. Lord have mercy! Please pray.

* PAPUAN PROVINCES (INDONESIA): FURTHER DIVISION

Red: new province of
Southwest Papua

On 17 November the Indonesian government unanimously passed a law to divide West Papua Province (the western region comprising the Bird’s Head Peninsula and the Fak Fak Peninsula). West Papua will be split between Southwest Papua Province, the capital of which will be Sorong; and West Papua Province, the capital of which will be Manokwari. Previously, on 30 June, the Indonesian government passed legislation to divide Papua Province into four administrative units. At that time, analysts warned that the new divisions will ‘serve to accelerate Javanese Muslim colonisation, militarisation and exploitation’, hastening the ‘end-game’ of Papuan genocide [see RLPB 661, Papua: Entering the ‘End Game’, 7 Sept 2022]. As the Lowy Institute notes, ‘The creation of new administrative districts entails the necessity to establish government apparatus, set up military posts, and construct new infrastructure – all of which might exacerbate violent conflict in the region.’ Betrayed and abandoned, exploited and persecuted, the mostly Christian indigenous Melanesians of Indonesia’s Papuan provinces long for self-determination, not only because they desire freedom, but because they hope to survive as a people. Lord have mercy! Please pray.

* SUDAN: PASTOR ARRESTED

On Monday 21 November Pastor Abdalla Haron Sulieman led a prayer service for his ailing mother, Aisha Adam (60), at the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church in El Hasahisa town, Al Jazirah state. Locals told Morning Star News (27 Nov) that during the service Pastor Sulieman’s mother was healed, leading area Muslims to flock to the church requesting prayer for themselves. Furious, Islamic fundamentalists persuaded police to arrest and jail the pastor on a charge of ‘witchcraft’. MSN lists the case as ‘Case No. 6737/2022 under the Sudan Criminal Code of 1991’. NOTE: I (Elizabeth) cannot find any reference to witchcraft in the criminal code. Consequently, I am wondering if the accusation of witchcraft will be tied to something like ‘fabricating false evidence’ or ‘criminal mischief’ or ‘insulting religious creeds’. It will be interesting to see how the court handles this case of a Christian pastor who has not committed any crime at all. MSN reports that after the arrest Sudanese Christians took to social media demanding the pastor’s release and protesting the persecution of Christians in Sudan. Please pray.

* UGANDA: ‘WE ARE SUFFERING FOR PASTORING CONVERTS FROM ISLAM.’

On Friday 18 November Pastor Jude Sitaalo (56) and his wife, Naisiga Sitaalo, were meeting with 10 other church members in the Believers’ Church in Nansonko village, Kibuku District, Eastern Region, when a mosque leader led a group of Muslims to attack the gathering. The attack was in response to an evangelistic event in August in which five young Muslim men put their faith in Jesus Christ. The pastor and his wife received multiple knife wounds. Pastor Sitaalo told Morning Star News, ‘We are suffering for pastoring converts from Islam.’ On 8 November Muslim fundamentalists in Katantala village, Kiboga District, Buganda Region beat Pastor Agaba Ezera and demolished his church in retaliation for his leading 23 Muslims to Christ. Pastor Ezera was hospitalised with leg, back, arm and head injuries – most due to blunt-weapon trauma. He believes he only survived because the militants thought they had killed him. [See Morning Star News, 29 Nov.] Please pray for the Church in Uganda.

* TURKEY IN SYRIA

Background: On 23 May Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that Turkey was preparing to re-invade northern Syria to resume its effort to create a ‘safe zone’ 32km deep along the entire Turkey-Syria border. [For full details see RLPB 654 (20 July).] Because Turkey failed to get the necessary ‘green light’, the invasion did not eventuate. As the US, Iran and Russia all agreed, Turkish aggression in northern Syria would enable a revival of Islamic State [RLPB 655 (27 July)].

Recommended:
David Eubank of Free Burma Rangers
reports from Takl Bukl, south of Derik
in Syria's far north-east.
20 Nov 2022

On Sunday 20 November Turkish warplanes launched a series of air raids across North and East Syria, from Afrin (just 60km northwest of Aleppo) to Kobanî (Ayn al-Arab) in the north, to Al-Malikiyah (also known as Derik) in Syria’s far north-east. These air-strikes – part of ‘Operation Claw-Sword’ – resulted in deaths, injuries and great material damage. Turkey (a NATO member and US ally) also bombed several areas deep inside northern Iraq, including in Sinjar (125km west of Mosul), Dohuk (74km north of Mosul), Qandil (70km north-east of Erbil) and Sulaymaniyah (110 km east of oil-rich Kirkuk). In Syria, the air-raids were followed by shelling. Having blamed Kurdish terrorists for the 13 November terror attack in Istanbul, Turkey claims to be acting in self-defence. All these areas have Kurdish majorities and significant remnant communities of indigenous Armenian and Assyrian Christians. Declaring the air-strikes to be ‘only the beginning’, Erdoğan is yet again threatening to launch a ground invasion into northern Syria. Everyone agrees, a Turkish invasion of northern Syria would enable a revival of Islamic State and risk igniting a whole new war in Mesopotamia. Please pray.

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate for the persecuted Church.

Elizabeth has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016). She is also an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

The RLPB is a donor-funded ministry. For more information on Elizabeth's books, global persecution, or how to provide financial support, visit www.ElizabethKendal.com

RLPB 661, Papua, Indonesia: Entering the 'End Game'

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 661 | Wed 07 Sep 2022
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

Sign up for, or support, the RLPB at www.ElizabethKendal.com
View RLPB archives at Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog.
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PAPUA, INDONESIA: ENTERING THE ‘END GAME’
By Elizabeth Kendal

BETRAYED AND ABANDONED: After World War Two, Indonesia declared independence from the Netherlands, claiming all the Dutch East Indies as its territory, including ethnic Melanesian and non-Muslim Dutch/West New Guinea. In 1962 (during the Cold War -- timeline), the US J.F. Kennedy administration convinced its allies and the UN to legitimise Indonesian rule in the hope that the favour might keep Indonesia out the Soviet sphere of influence. Today, human rights affirming states continue to betray the Papuans – who now are predominantly Christian – by turning a blind eye to Indonesia’s colonisation, militarisation, exploitation and gross human rights abuses in the hope of retaining access to Indonesian markets (especially military markets) and keeping Indonesia out of China’s sphere of influence [NB: it’s not working]. In Papua, as in Iraq, ‘the Christian crisis is existential’. At the root of the problem is the empire’s greed for land and resources, along with a toxic racial-religious (Javanese-Muslim) supremacism that reduces the indigenous Melanesian Christians to despised infidel animals to be removed by any means. [RLPB 636, UN experts call for ‘urgent action’, 9 March 2022.]

BUTCHERED: On 26 August residents of Iwaka village, outside the town of Timika – the capital of Mimika Regency along the southern coast of Central Papua – found three mutilated, dismembered bodies in sacks floating down the Pigapu River. The body of a fourth victim – likewise dismembered and stuffed in a sack – was found on 30 August. According to the Indonesian police, at least one of the men was a separatist sympathiser, and the group had approached army personnel looking to buy weapons. [The Indonesian military’s illegal trade in weapons is a whole other story!] According to the police, instead of getting weapons, the Papuans were robbed, murdered, dismembered and disposed of in sacks thrown into the river. The police have promised a full investigation. Meanwhile, in Nduga Regency (a restive area in Highlands Papua), the victims’ families and Nduga’s Regent/head, Namia Gwijangge, tell a totally different story. It has been confirmed that the victims included the Nduga village chief, Irian Nirigi, and Arnold Lokbere, a co-signatory to the village bank account. The two had set out from Nduga for Timika on Monday 22 August to purchase building supplies and agricultural equipment. The two other victims – Atis Tini (23) and Lemaniol Nirigi (29) – had simply gone along for the ride. Gwijangge insists the four men were civilian citizens of Nduga Regency and that the Indonesian military ‘kills civilians in Papua like hunting animals’. Six Indonesian soldiers and three of four wanted civilians have been arrested. Gwijangge is pleading with Papuans not to retaliate and for Indonesia to bring the killers to justice.

DIVIDED: On 30 June the Indonesian government passed legislation to divide Papua Province into four administrative units, ignoring the will of the Papuan people [RLPB 639, Papuans Protest Planned Division, 30 March 2022]. While West Papua – i.e. the ‘Bird’s Head’ region – will remain unchanged, Papua will be divided into Papua (north coast; capital, Jayapura), Central Papua (capital, Nabire), Highland Papua (landlocked, capital Wamena), and South Papua (capital, Merauke). Adjoining West Papua, Central Papua is destined to become an economic powerhouse for Indonesia. Stretching from Nabire on the province’s north coast to Timika and Mimika Regency on the province’s south coast, Central Papua will encompass the Freeport’s Grasberg gold and copper mine, the Wabu gold deposit, and a long-planned hydro-electric project. Jakarta claims it is working to fix its Papua problem by way of development and improved services. But as Aprila Wayar and Johnny Blades explain (The Diplomat, 21 June): ‘Papua’s problem isn’t lack of development; it’s a lack of justice for West Papuans.’ As Wayar and Blades rightly note, ‘Indonesia’s political elite and military establishment have extensive interests in Papua’s abundant natural resource wealth. The new provincial divisions would enable more opportunities for the exploitation of these resources, largely for the benefit of people other than Papuans themselves.’ There will be more military bases and more human rights abuses as the indigenous ethnic Melanesian, predominantly Christian, Papuans are replaced by Javanese Muslim settlers supported by Indonesian troops. Human rights organisations agree with the Papuans - the division will serve to accelerate Javanese Muslim colonisation, militarisation and exploitation, and hasten the ‘end-game’ of Papuan genocide.

‘Do not stand idly by when your neighbour’s life is threatened’ (Leviticus 19:16b NLT).

PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR MERCIFUL GOD WILL

* intervene for his precious Papuan people to save them; may those who seek to kill and plunder God’s people ‘stumble and fall’ (Psalm 27:2); may those who commit violence be brought to account; may justice prevail; may the wicked no longer enjoy impunity. ‘For nothing will be impossible with God’ (Luke 1:37 ESV).

* move in the hearts of Indonesians, in particular the Indonesian Church: may Indonesian Christians imitate Christ, displaying sacrificial love for their Papuan brothers and sisters; may their love shine bright, exposing the ugliness of toxic racial-religious hatred, causing many to feel shame and desire change.

‘A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’ (John 13:34-35 ESV)

* raise up voices who will speak up for the Papuans (Proverbs 31:8,9), a betrayed and abandoned Christian people, loved and treasured by a Holy God. Lord have mercy!


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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INDONESIA: ENTERING THE ‘END GAME’ IN PAPUA

On 22 August four Papuans – including two community leaders – left Nduga to purchase building supplies and agricultural equipment in Timika. Instead, their dismembered bodies were found in sacks in a river. Six Indonesian soldiers and three of four wanted civilians have been arrested. Nduga’s Regent/head, Namia Gwijangge, explains that while the four men were civilians, the Indonesian military ‘kills civilians in Papua like hunting animals’. On 30 June the Indonesian government legislated to divide Papua Province into four smaller units, adding Central Papua, Highland Papua and South Papua. West Papua (the ‘Bird’s Head’ region) remains unchanged. Human rights organisations and Papuans agree, the division will serve to accelerate Javanese Muslim colonisation, militarisation and exploitation, and hasten the ‘end-game’ of Papuan genocide. For the predominantly Christian Papuans, the crisis is existential. Please pray.

------------------------------------------

Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate for the persecuted Church. To support this ministry visit www.ElizabethKendal.com.

Elizabeth has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016). She is also an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

For more information visit: www.ElizabethKendal.com  

RLPB 639. March Update, incl. Burkina Faso, Papua, Nigeria, India, Indonesia, Laos, Uganda

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 639 | Wed 30 Mar 2022
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.
View archives at Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB).   

MARCH 2022 UPDATE
By Elizabeth Kendal

DURING THIS PERIOD, WE PRAYED CONCERNING:

* BURKINA FASO [RLPB 635 (2 March)], after jihadists in eastern Burkina Faso conducted a string of attacks on non-Muslim schools, including the Saint Kisito de Bougui, a Catholic seminary with over 140 minor students just 10km east of the region's largest city, Fada N'Gourma.

UPDATE: On Friday 18 March jihadists abducted 15 youths from Nagré (no further details available). Nagré is 30km south of Fada N'Gourma on the N18 Hwy which leads to Benin. On Sunday 20 March 24 Burkinabe soldiers were killed in two jihadist attacks: 13 in an ambush near Natiaboani, about 45km south of Fada N'Gourma on the N18 Hwy; and 11 from a roadside bomb near Napadé, about 100km due south of Fada N'Gourma, close to the border with Togo and Benin. Burkina Faso is roughly 50 percent Muslim and 20 percent Christian with a history and tradition of peaceful co-existence and openness. Please pray.

* PAPUA (INDONESIA) [RLPB 636 (9 March)], after three United Nations human rights experts issued a joint statement calling for urgent action to address the deteriorating human rights situation in Indonesia's West Papua and Papua provinces.

UPDATE: PAPUANS PROTEST PLANNED DIVISION
-- fear it will lead to more colonisation, militarisation and exploitation.

On Tuesday 15 March Indonesian police fired into a crowd of Papuans in Dekai, the main town in Papua's Yahukimo Regency, killing two and wounding at least seven, three critically. The predominantly Christian indigenous Papuans have been protesting in various cities since December when the Indonesian government announced a new plan to carve West Papua and Papua into five (or some reports say six) provinces. According to an analysis by the President of the Papua Baptist Church Synod, the Reverend Dr Socratez Yoman, 'These new provinces are only for political and military purposes and to move excess population [i.e. Javanese Muslims] from Java [into Papua].' Human rights activist Veronica Koman concurs, warning that more provinces would amount to more Indonesian troops. 'This will bring Papuan people's lives under more militarism,' she said. Please pray.

* UKRAINE [RLPB 637 (16 March)], that the Lord would effect a breakthrough in negotiations and that Ukrainian and Russian believers would reject any pressure or temptation to hate and reject the 'other'. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will facilitate unity in Christ's Church - a unity born of a familial love that transcends ethnic, denominational and political distinctions, a unity that will reflect the warmth and light of God's grace into a troubled world.

* NIGERIA [RLPB 638 (23 March)], after large formations of around 100 well-organised and well-armed Fulani militants attacked Christian communities in predominantly Christian southern Kaduna: in Kachia LGA (south-west) where, on 17 March, they abducted 46 adults and 9 children; and in Kaura LGA (south-east) where, on 20 March, they killed 34 people and torched over 200 homes across four neighbouring villages.

UPDATE KADUNA

(1) ATTACK IN GIWA LGA, NORTHERN KADUNA

Father Felix Zakari
(Catholic Diocese of Zaria)

From the evening of Thursday 24 March through to the early hours of Friday 25th, a large formation of Fulani jihadists attacked at least nine villages in Giwa Local Government Area (LGA) in Kaduna's predominantly Muslim far north. They destroyed and burned houses, stores and animals. More than 50 residents were killed and at least 100 were abducted, carried off into the nearby forest. Among the abducted at gunpoint is Reverend Father Felix Zakari, of St Anne's Catholic Church, Zango Tama parish. Not only did the jihadists target the priest, but they razed the church building to the ground, sending the residents a clear message. The Catholic Diocese of Zaria has appealed for prayer. Please pray.

(2) ATTACK ON KADUNA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

At around 12 noon on Saturday 26 March, a formation of more than 200 well-organised, well-armed Fulani jihadists emerged from a nearby forest and invaded Kaduna International Airport's Runway 5. An official who raised the alarm was shot dead. Flights were delayed while Nigerian forces repelled the attackers. Whilst unsuccessful, the audacious attack has left many wondering how long it will be before Nigeria is overwhelmed. In a worst-case scenario, Boko Haram (now under new leadership) might re-seek and re-gain support from Islamic State (also under new leadership since 10 March). This would be catastrophic for Nigeria's Christians, especially those in the Muslim north and volatile mixed Middle Belt, and nowhere more so than in predominantly Christian southern Kaduna. Please pray.

MARCH 2022 ROUND-UP - also this month:

* INDIA: BOYCOTTS, PERSECUTION AND PUBLIC SHAMING

(1) CHHATTISGARH: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM DENIED

In Nawagarh village, Janjgir District, in the north-eastern tribal-belt state of Chhattisgarh, pressure is mounting against a group of five church-going families. At least one of those families identifies as Hindu but, having rejected idol worship, had become interested in Christianity. Hearing of the situation, Hindu nationalists decided to intervene. First, the village was ordered to boycott the families, denying them access to water, grains, workers and social contact. When that failed to dent the families' resolve, the Hindu nationalists upped the ante. The Hindutva elements entered the village at about 9pm on 2 March. They gathered local gangsters, supplied them with free alcohol, and employed them as proxies to attack the five church-going families. The gangsters rounded up the families into a hall where they beat, abused and threatened them, saying if they refuse to worship Hindu idols then they will be forced to leave the village. Embracing their freedom to refuse to worship the lifeless Hindu 'no-gods' (Isaiah 37:19) the families have fled and taken refuge in nearby villages. Please pray.

'...and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. So now, O Lord our God, save us from [their] hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord' (vv19,20, from King Hezekiah's prayer, Isaiah 37:14-20).

(2) DELHI: PASTOR TET BEATEN, BOUND AND ABUSED IN PUBLIC

Video: 'Pastor being accosted by a mob in Delhi'
posted by Scroll.in (verified), 3 March 2022.

Originally from the north-eastern tribal-belt state of Jharkhand, Pastor Kelom Kalyan Tet (35) has been living and ministering in Delhi - India's federal capital - for the past 18 years. On the morning of 25 February, Hindu nationalists ambushed, beat and abducted Pastor Tet, accusing him of forcible conversions. They then took Pastor Tet to Peepal Chowk in south Delhi's Fatehpur Beri, and tied him to a metal grill dividing the road. Then, as traffic passed by on the right side and the left, they incited the swelling crowd to beat and abuse the pastor on racial, caste and religious grounds. After two hours of abuse, during which he feared he would be killed, Pastor Tet realised that the ropes had come loose and made his escape. What saddened Pastor Tet the most was that nobody objected to the violence or intervened to help him, not even to call the police. Pastor Tet and his pregnant wife are now living in fear and hoping for justice. Please pray.

(3) MEANWHILE: RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN FLUX

A WIN IN THE COURTS

On 25 March India's Supreme Court dismissed a petition filed by the Hindu nationalist group Hindu Dharma Parishad asking police to monitor the activities of Christian missionaries, whom they accuse of forcibly converting tribals. Not only was the petition dismissed, but the apex court warned Hindu Dharma Parishad that it would face a fine if it ever came up with such a petition again! The petition had already been dismissed by Madras High Court in 2021. Considering the way Christians are treated in India, it might be more applicable to ask the police to monitor the activities of Hindu nationalist organisations. Praise God this petition was rejected!

A LOSS IN HARYANA

On Friday 4 March the Hindu nationalist BJP government in India's north-western state of Haryana introduced the Haryana Prevention of Unlawful Conversion of Religious Bill, 2022, to the state legislature. The Bill seeks to 'prohibit religious conversions which are effected through misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means or by marriage or for marriage by making it an offence'. Despite loud objections from the opposition, the Bill passed on Tuesday 22 March. Kiran Choudhry of the opposition Indian National Congress party drew attention to the fact that the Bill violates Article 25 (1) of India's Constitution which reads: 'Subject to public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of this Part, all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion.' Calling it a 'scary Bill', she warned that it that would 'deepen the communal divide'. Please pray.

* INDONESIA: APOLOGIST KECE JAILED FOR TEN YEARS

On 24 February, in West Java's Ciamis District Court, Christian apologist Muhammad Kece was sentenced to ten years in prison. Kece was deemed to have violated laws on (1) Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE), (2) hate speech in relation to SARA (ethnicity, religion, race and other) and (3) blasphemy. He received the maximum sentence because he committed his crimes 'intentionally and knowingly', and deliberately created a commotion 'by making videos about a large number of lies'. The former Islamic teacher and convert to Christianity (baptised in 2014) established a YouTube channel in 2020 through which he offered an intellectual critique of Islam and defence of Christianity. By August 2021, Indonesia's powerful Islamic organisations had had enough. They levelled a complaint leading to Kece's arrest on the charge of blasphemy [RLPB 619 (13 Oct 2021)]. Kece has been assaulted in prison and his health has deteriorated. He was hospitalised twice in January: first with dengue fever, and subsequently in a critical condition with Diabetes Mellitus and low platelet count requiring a blood transfusion. Please pray.

* LAOS: HOMELESS AND LANDLESS FOR CHRIST

Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports (24 March) that, on March 15, authorities in Phalanxay district, Savannakhet province, met with Christian widow Seng Aloun and other church members to discuss the conflict between the family and Dong Savanh village officials. On 6 December, when Seng Aloun tried to take her deceased husband's body to the Dong Savanh village cemetery for burial, she and her entourage were attacked by local authorities and village residents who objected on the grounds of the family's 'foreign religion'. Forced to retreat, the family buried their patriarch in the family rice field. However, the persecution did not end. In February, the authorities expropriated the family's land and villagers torched the family's home.

Homeless and landless, with children to raise, Seng Aloun posted video footage of the attack to social media along with a request for help. When police asked her to remove the footage, she refused. When they subsequently asked her to lie about who was responsible (i.e. the village chief), she refused. A local Christian leader who has been helping Seng and her children asked the authorities why they had not interrogated and investigated the village chief. Despite district officials promising Seng they would help her, nothing has changed. As she explained to RFA, 'We still live in the forest outside the village.' Bounthone Chanthalavong-Wiese, president of the Alliance for Democracy in Laos, told RFA that the authorities spent most of the 15 March meeting denouncing the Christian family, not those who obstructed their burial, torched their home and stole their land. Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, told RFA that the Lao government should tell the local authorities to stop harassing and oppressing people of different faiths. 'It's their right to believe in any religion,' he said. 'If they believe in Christianity, let them be Christians.' Please pray.

Seng Aloun's video footage; Radio Free Asia (24 March).

* UGANDA: HIGH COST OF FAITH IN EASTERN REGION
-- two shocking stories from Morning Star News, 22 March

(1) On 8 March Muslim relatives sprayed acid on Juma Waiswa (38), his wife, Nasimu Naigaga (32), and their 13-year-old daughter as punishment for leaving Islam. The family put their faith in Christ on 17 February after a pastor visited their home in Intonko village, Namutumba District in Uganda's Eastern Region, and explained the Gospel to them. When their Muslim relatives heard of it, they called a family meeting where they ordered the family to renounce Christ and return to Islam. When the family refused, their relatives beat and cursed them as apostates deserving of death. Finally, Waiswa's father sprayed the family with acid. A Christian neighbour called the pastor who took the family to hospital in Mbale, although the daughter's injuries were so severe she needed to be transferred to Jinja. The next day, while they were all in hospital, their house was torched. The family requests prayer for healing and for a safe place to stay while recovering. Please pray.

(2) On 13 March, in Eastern Region's Namutumba District, hard-line Muslim villagers attacked former mosque leader Swaleh Mulongo of Bugobi village. After meeting with a local pastor for many years, Mulongo put his faith in Christ on 13 January. When he stopped leading Muslim prayers, the new mosque leader launched a campaign to find and threaten him. The attack left Mulongo with deep head wounds, a broken wrist and bruises on his back; he was hospitalised in Iganga. The attackers also targeted the local pastor, killing his animals and leaving a threatening letter warning: 'We know you are a deceiver, and that you converted our imam to Christianity. We shall soon get hold of you, which will be a big regret to your family and the entire church.' Please pray.

They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! (Psalm 118:11 ESV).

----------------------------------------

Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate, and an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

She has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016).

See www.ElizabethKendal.com 

RLPB 636. Papua (Indonesia): UN experts call for 'urgent action'

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 636 | Wed 09 March 2022
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

View archives at Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) blog. 
The RLPB is sponsored by Christian Faith and Freedom Inc. 

PAPUA: UN EXPERTS CALL FOR 'URGENT ACTION'
Praying for an end to the slow-motion genocide of a betrayed and abandoned Christian people.
by Elizabeth Kendal

On 1 March three United Nations (UN) human rights experts issued a joint statement claiming, 'Urgent action is needed to end ongoing human rights violations against indigenous Papuans.' The statement, entitled 'Indonesia: UN experts sound alarm on serious Papua abuses, call for urgent aid', was published on the website of the UN Office of the High Commission on Human Rights and signed by Francisco Cali Tzay, UN special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples; Morris Tidball-Binz, UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; and Cecilia Jimenez-Damary, UN special rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons. While the statement makes no mention of racial or religious distinctions, it must be noted that the human rights violations are being perpetrated by Indonesia's mostly Javanese Muslim military against indigenous, ethnic Melanesian, mostly Christian, Papuan communities. Racial-religious hatred plays an enormous role in the violence and has done ever since the Indonesian invasion of 1962 [see RLPB 426, Papua: A desperate and risky plea, 4 Oct 2017].

Article: 'In Papua, pioneer missionaries
pass baton to local Church.'
(Mission Network News, 9 Aug 2019)

Indonesian military violence against indigenous Papuans escalated markedly in December 2018, after Papuan separatists killed 16 Indonesian labourers working on the controversial Trans-Papua highway. I (E.Kendal) commented at the time: 'These are watershed days. The future of a Christian people is in the balance' [see, Papua: The Christian Crisis in Eastern Indonesia, RLM, 14 April 2019]. Since then, according to the UN experts, the number of displaced Papuans has risen to 'between 60,000 to 100,000 people', most of whom have not been able to return to their homes. As the experts note, while many Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) live in temporary shelters or stay with relatives, 'thousands have fled to the forests where they are exposed to the harsh climate in the highlands without access to food, healthcare, and education facilities'. The UN experts were 'particularly disturbed by reports that humanitarian aid to displaced Papuans is being obstructed by the authorities ... In several incidents, church workers have been prevented by security forces from visiting villages where IDPs are seeking shelter.'

The security situation in Papua's central highlands has 'dramatically deteriorated' since the 26 April 2021 killing of a high-ranking military officer by the West Papua National Liberation Army. 'Between April and November 2021, we have received allegations indicating several instances of extrajudicial killings, including of young children, enforced disappearance, torture and inhuman treatment and the forced displacement of at least 5,000 indigenous Papuans by security forces.' RLPB warned of this in May 2021, after the Indonesian government categorised Papuan resistance groups as 'terrorists' and deployed counter-terrorism forces into the region, including the 400-strong elite Infantry 315 / Garuda Battalion, also known as 'Satan's Forces' [see RLPB 597, 'Satan's Forces' Enter a Darkened Papua, 12 May 2021]. The UN experts note: 'These [numerous cases of alleged abuses] may represent the tip of the iceberg given that access to the region is severely restricted making it difficult to monitor events on the ground.' The UN has now joined the European Union in calling for an end to impunity, adding that 'independent monitors and journalists must be allowed access to the region'.

Article: Life and Death in ‘The Land of the Clouds’
by Jeremy Weber, CT 23 Nov 2020.
Image: Timothy Dalrymple

The UN experts had written to the Indonesian government expressing their concerns in December 2021 but had not been impressed with the response they received; hence their decision to go public. Indonesia's response on 1 March was to denounce the 'biased news' issued by the 'so-called "UN Human Rights experts"' as 'unconstructive and baseless'. The Indonesian government will lodge a formal protest through the Human Rights Council against the experts' 'unprofessional, ill-intentioned, one-sided' statement, claiming it is nothing but 'click-bait' aimed at creating 'negative public opinion'.

On Wednesday 2 March, Papuan gunmen killed eight technicians working on a telecommunications mast in a remote area. The West Papua National Liberation Army has claimed responsibility. A further escalation in military violence is all but guaranteed.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL:

* intervene to remove all obstacles and pave the way for humanitarian aid to reach every displaced and traumatised Papuan who needs it; may churches and Christian organisations involved in helping and sheltering the displaced and in distributing aid receive everything they need: from personnel, transport and supplies, to permission, support and safe passage.

* open the door into Indonesian's Papuan provinces so that independent monitors and journalists, and international aid organisations, may have access to the long-closed region where lack of transparency and lack of accountability has only worked to fuel human rights abuses.

* help the Papuan Church remain strong in faith through these dark and testing times; may the Papuan Church commit to prayer and to seeking mercy and help from the Lord who planted her in the land and loves her with unfailing love (hesed). May the Body of Christ rise to pray with her and for her. 'Remember ... those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body' (Hebrews 13:3b ESV).

To you, O Lord, I cry, and to the Lord I plead for mercy: 'What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness? Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me! O Lord, be my helper!' (Psalm 30:8-10 ESV).

SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
------------------------------------------
UN EXPERTS CALL FOR 'URGENT ACTION' IN PAPUA

On 1 March three United Nations (UN) human rights experts issued a joint statement calling for urgent action to address the deteriorating human rights situation in Indonesia's West Papua and Papua provinces. The number of displaced Papuans is now between 60,000 to 100,000 people, thousands of whom remain stranded in the bush. Military violence escalated in May 2021 after the Indonesian government deployed counter-terrorism forces to the region. The UN experts regard the numerous cases of abuses they received as 'the tip of the iceberg'. They were 'particularly disturbed by reports that humanitarian aid to displaced Papuans is being obstructed by the authorities ... In several incidents, church workers have been prevented by security forces from visiting villages where IDPs are seeking shelter'. Please pray that 'urgent action' will be forthcoming.

------------------------------------------

Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. She serves as Director of Research at Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom Inc (CFF) and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

She has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016).

See www.ElizabethKendal.com 

RLPB 603. Papua (Indonesia): Islamic Terror Plot Foiled; State Terror Continues.

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 603 | Wed 23 Jun 2021
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

To subscribe (free) or view archives, visit the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog. 

PAPUA: ISLAMIC TERROR PLOT FOILED; THREAT REMAINS
- meanwhile state terror continues unabated, as does internet blackout.
by Elizabeth Kendal

Archbishop of Merauke,
Petrus Mandagi.

In a series of raids commencing 28 May, Indonesia's counter-terrorism squad, Densus 88, arrested 12 Islamic terror suspects in Papua's south-eastern Merauke Regency. According to Merauke district police chief, Adjunct Senior Commissioner Untung Sangaji, the terror suspects were preparing to carry out suicide bombings in at least two police stations and several churches in Merauke city, Jagebob, Kurik, Semangga and Tanah Miring. They were also plotting to kill the Catholic Archbishop of Merauke, Petrus Canisius Mandagi. It is the second time the Archbishop has been targeted for assassination. On 1 January the would-be assassins turned up at the Archbishop's residence, only to find he was out of town. On Sunday 30 May the would-be suicide bombers made their way to Merauke's Cathedral of St Francis Xavier only to find that the Archbishop was out of town and the police were ready and waiting in place.

click on map to enlarge.

The 12 terror suspects are members of the Islamic State-affiliate Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) group, the same group that carried out the suicide bombing at Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Sunday 28 March, killing themselves and wounding some 20 church officials and members [RLPB 591 (31 March 2021)]. JAD is just one of several jihadists groups to have threatened to wage jihad in the Papuan Provinces [RLPB 523 (9 Oct 2019)]. Consequently, whilst this plot may have been neutralised, the jihadist threat remains.

Meanwhile, in the Central Highlands, state terror continues unabated. Speaking from Papua's capital, Jayapura, Catholic priest Father John Djonga explains that as soon as Jakarta labelled Papuan armed groups 'terrorist', it gave Indonesian troops a licence to 'shoot anyone'. Experts at Melbourne University agree, warning that the anti-terror approach will 'further embed a culture of impunity for state violations of rights' and 'fuel the cycle of violence that has claimed the lives of many ordinary people, from schoolchildren to pastors'.

Reverend Laban Hagabal.
Shot dead by Indonesian counter-terror
forces, 4am, 16 May 2021.

With the internet still down, news is scarce. However, Human Rights Papua reports that on 15 May security forces attacked the Central Highland villages of Toegi, Mayuberi, Kabuki, Amungi, Olenki, Maki and Ayali with ground troops and two attack helicopters. A Kingmi Papua church (Protestant) in Kabuki was reportedly damaged during the air raid. [The Indonesian military has long accused the Gereja Kemah Injil Papua (Gospel Tabernacle Church Papua), or Kingmi Church, of being actively pro-OPM (Free Papua Movement).] Shortly after the attack, all villagers from Toegi, including Kingmi pastor Reverend Laban Hagabal, decided to flee to Demaju Village. Shortly after they arrived, a group of West Papua National Liberation Army (TPN PB) fighters also arrived in Demaju. At around 4.00 am the next morning, security forces launched an attack on Demaju Village. As panicked Papuans fled in every direction, Reverend Laban Hagabal and one TPN PB member were shot dead. As of 1 June, relatives, church representatives and a tribal leader had not been permitted to retrieve the bodies.

On 25 May a group of Church leaders, including Archbishop Petrus Mandagi of Merauke, Papua, Indonesian Bishops' Conference president Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo of Jakarta and Reverend Ronny Mandang, chairman of the Fellowship of Indonesian Evangelical Churches and Institutions, Jakarta, met with Co-ordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD and offered to mediate talks between the Indonesian government and Papuan armed groups. With thousands of ethnic Melanesian, predominantly Christian, indigenous Papuans now displaced throughout the Central Highlands - many without food, clean water, medical aid or shelter - it is urgent that military violence cease and that a door be opened for humanitarian assistance. Human rights-affirming democracies must take a stand against Indonesian state terror in Papua.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL:

* intervene in Papua for the sake of his precious people! Lord in your mercy, protect Papua's churches and pastors from Islamic jihadist terror and state-sanctioned military violence. Lord in your mercy, grant Christian leaders engaged in mediation, advocacy and decision-making an abundance of wisdom, discernment, creativity and authority.

'You have a mighty arm; strong is your hand, high your right hand. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you' (Psalm 89:13-14 ESV).

* open a door so that displaced Papuans might receive all the humanitarian assistance they require! Lord in your mercy, supply their every need for shelter, food, clean water, medical aid, security and spiritual comfort.

* facilitate the entrance into Papua of international observers so that we might know what is happening in the Central Highlands. May the Indonesian government be held to account! May the nations and organisations that first betrayed and then abandoned the Papuan people repent and make things right!

For background and more prayer points see RLPB 597 (12 May). 

SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
------------------------------------------
TERROR IN INDONESIA'S PAPUA PROVINCE

In raids commencing on 28 May, Indonesia's counter-terrorism squad arrested 12 Islamic terror suspects in Papua's south-eastern Merauke regency. All were members of JAD, one of several jihadist groups threatening to wage jihad in the Papuan Provinces. They had been preparing to attack police stations and several churches throughout Merauke. Meanwhile state terror continues unabated in the Central Highlands. On 15-16 May Indonesian forces backed by two attack helicopters attacked a string of villages in Puncak Jaya Regency driving thousands of Papuans from their homes. Protestant pastor Reverend Laban Hagabal of Kingmi Church Papua was shot and killed in a pre-dawn raid. Thousands of mostly Christian Papuans are displaced; many in the bush. The internet remains down, and the region remains closed; hunger and death loom. Please pray.

-------------------------------------------

Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. She serves as Director of Advocacy at Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom Inc. (CFF) and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

She has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016).

See www.ElizabethKendal.com 

RLPB 597. Papua (Indonesia): 'Satan's Forces' Enter a Darkened Papua.

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 597 | Wed 12 May 2021
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

Please forward this prayer bulletin widely and encourage others to sign up to “Follow by email” on the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) blog. ‘For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds’ (2 Corinthians 10:4 ESV). 

PAPUA (INDONESIA): 'SATAN'S FORCES' ENTER A DARKENED PAPUA
by Elizabeth Kendal

On 25 April armed rebels in Papua's Puncak Regency shot and killed a senior Indonesian intelligence official in what analysts suspect was a planned assassination [see RLPB 595 (27 April)]. Indonesian President Joko Widodo immediately called for retaliation and, on 29 April, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD announced that Papuan armed criminal groups (Kelompok Kriminal Bersenjata: KKB) would now be categorised as 'terrorists' in line with Counterterrorism Law No. 8/2018 which grants the security forces expanded powers.

Papuan Governor Lukas Enembe immediately urged the government to reconsider, warning that the 'terrorist' designation could bring the Papuans great harm. Numerous human rights organisations and advocates - including Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International and the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) - similarly denounced the move, concerned that the terrorist designation could trigger racist violence against Papuans outside of Papua. It could be used to justify mass, gross human rights abuses, including arbitrary arrests, torture and killings, much of it compounded by the extreme racial-religious hatred so many Javanese Muslims (especially those in the Indonesian military) have for their ethnicly Melanesian, predominantly Christian compatriots. On Sunday 2 May Indonesian media reported that the Indonesian military (TNI) had deployed its 400-strong elite Infantry 315/Garuda Battalion to Papua. Video footage has been released of the battle-hardened battalion - which earned its nickname 'Satan's forces' (pasukan setan) in East Timor where it came to be known for its brutal methods - performing military drills in Papua on 1 May.

'Satan's Forces' perform military drills in Papua, 1 May 2021.

On 4 May Papuan leader-in-exile Benny Wenda issued a statement in which he warned: 'Huge Indonesian military operations, some of the largest in years, are imminent in West Papua. The internet is being cut off, hundreds more troops are being deployed, and we are receiving reports that West Papuan civilians are fleeing from their villages in Intan Jaya, Puncak Jaya, and Nduga regencies ... This looks like it will be the biggest military operation in West Papua since the late 1970s'. Wenda warned that, along with Satan's Forces, the Jala Mangkara Detachment (Denjaka), elite troops of the Indonesian Navy, are also being deployed for what he insists is 'state terrorism'. On 6 May Reuters confirmed that internet services have been disrupted in the provincial capital of Jayapura and nearby Sentani (40km to the west) since 30 April. Exiled Indonesian rights activist, Victoria Koman, said she had received reports that mobile and internet services in Puncak have also been disrupted. Papua has gone dark!

As tensions soared, Andreas Harsono, a researcher with HRW's Indonesia office, urged the Indonesian government to put the threat posed by Papuan KKB into perspective: 'According to Indonesian military estimates, they only have (around) 200 weapons ... This is going to affect these indigenous people so much.' Which brings us to the truth! The real goal of this totally disproportionate military offensive is not security! The real goal is not to neutralise an existential terrorist threat, for there isn't one! On the contrary, the real goal of state terror is always political! The real goal is to eliminate resistance to Indonesian rule by massively inflating the cost. The real goal is to crush spiritually and intimidate into silence all indigenous, predominantly Christian Papuans who have ever so much as dreamt of Papuan freedom!

Arrested: Victor Yeimo in handcuffs, 9 May 2021

On Sunday 9 May Indonesian police arrested Victor Yeimo (38, one of the most prominent leaders inside Papua) in Papua's provincial capital, Jayapura. The Indonesian government is accusing Yeimo of treason, which, as UK-based Wenda explains, is ridiculous. 'He is accused of "masterminding" the 2019 West Papua Uprising, which was started by Indonesian racism and violence [RLM (27 Aug 2019)] and ended in a bloodbath caused by Indonesian troops' [RLPB 521 (24 Sept 2019)]. But as People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker, Bambang Soesatyo, so shamelessly explained at the outset, the real goal is to 'destroy them first' and 'discuss human rights matters later'. 

For an expanded version of this RLPB, see Religious Liberty Monitoring:
Papua (Indonesia): This is What State Terror Looks Like,
By Elizabeth Kendal, 12 May 2021.

PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR ALMIGHTY GOD WILL

* consider the labours of his faithful servants and the blood that was spilt while planting the seed of the Gospel in Papua; Lord in your mercy, intervene to bring about a just resolution to the humanitarian and human rights crisis engulfing the Papuan Provinces.

'Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.' (Isaiah 40:10 ESV)

* protect those faithful labourers who continue to serve the Lord and his Church in the Papuan Provinces today; we especially pray for Indonesian and ex-patriate Christian missionaries who may well be especially vulnerable at this time. Father, protect them from those misunderstandings that tend to arise in the 'fog of war'; protect them as well from wartime lies and propaganda mischievously disseminated to cause division and inflict harm. Lord in your mercy, pour out an abundance of clarity, discernment, and grace! We pray especially for the work of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), whose planes and pilots will be greatly imperilled yet greatly needed: Lord in your mercy, please protect them.

* redeem these trials to draw Papuans ever closer to himself; may Papuan men, women and children look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of their faith (from Hebrews 12:1,2) and 'see the salvation of the Lord' which he will surely work for those who trust him (from Exodus 14:13,14).

* turn the hearts of many nations towards the indigenous, ethnic Melanesian, predominantly Christian Papuans, who are in many cases their co-religionists and in some cases the legacy of their own missionaries. Lord in your mercy, shatter the silence that covers Papua like a shroud and shields evil-doers from accountability. God of justice and righteousness, we ask that Jakarta would be forced to change its ways, for the sake of your precious Papuan Church.

Prayer points developed from:
RLPB 519, How Will the Story End? (10 Sep 2019).

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'SATAN'S FORCES' ENTER A DARKENED PAPUA

On 25 April armed rebels in Papua's Puncak Regency shot and killed a leading Indonesian Intelligence official. Indonesian President Joko Widodo immediately called for retaliation and had Papuan armed criminal groups (KKB) designated 'terrorists', a label used to justify extreme measures. Among the hundreds of extra troops being deployed to Papua, is the 400-strong elite Infantry 315/Garuda Battalion which earned its nickname 'Satan's Forces' while fighting in East Timor. Yet according to the Indonesian military's own estimate, Papuan KKB only possess around 200 firearms. Clearly, eliminating 'terrorists' is not the main goal. Internet and telecommunication services have been disrupted and the region's indigenous, predominately Christian Papuans are fleeing into the jungle and bracing yet again for a new wave of state terror designed to silence dissent and crush hope. Please pray.

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. She serves as Director of Advocacy at Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom (CFF) and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

She has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016).

See www.ElizabethKendal.com