VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jan. 26, 2021 - Indonesian presidential chief of staff office (KSP) deputy urged the National Police to act sternly against Ambroncius Nababan for his racist remark on his social media account, allegedly targeting a noted Papuan human rights defender.

The presidential chief of staff office is scrutinizing the racist remark posted by Nababan on his social media account that fueled massive protests from the public, especially Papuan communities, Jaleswari Pramodhawardani stated here on Monday.

"A discriminative response is not allowed for every different opinion on a specific issue since it violates notions stipulated in Indonesia's Anti-discrimination Law No. 40 of 2008," Pramodhawardani noted in a statement.

Nababan's racist remark on his social media account does not align with the principles of unity in diversity that respect differences based on races, tribes, religions, genders, disability, pluralism, and multiculturalism, she pointed out.

Hence, racist remarks over all forms of discriminative acts would have no place in Indonesia, Pramodhawardani emphasized, adding that the Indonesian State Constitution also guaranteed the nation's unity in diversity.

The notion of unity in diversity was then elaborated in various legal instruments, including the country's Human Rights Law No.39 of 1999, she noted.

"Based on this, the National Police must not hesitate to handle this case immediately and harshly," she affirmed.

Pramodhawardani appealed to all societal elements, at large, to not play with fire by abusing the issues of ethnicity, religion, and race (SARA) since the government will fiercely crackdown on those threatening the unity of the nation and state.

Meanwhile, Nababan disclosed to CNN Indonesia the reason behind him posting the photos of Natalius Pigai, a former commissioner of Indonesia's National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), and a gorilla on his Facebook account.

Nababan, general chairman of the Pro-Jokowi-Amin Volunteers (Projamin), was quoted by CNN Indonesia on Monday as saying that he did so to respond to Pigai's statement containing his rejection of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine.

As a volunteer of incumbent President Joko Widodo, Nababan voiced his discontent over Pigai's statement, according to CNN Indonesia.

In response to Nababan's racist remark, Pigai wrote a statement directed to Lloyd Austin, a retired army general, that US President Joe Biden had appointed him to be his defense secretary, on his Twitter account @NataliusPigai2.

Austin is the first African American to hold the top Pentagon position in US history.

"I am proud of you, mr@LloydAustin, black African American most powerful gentleman in the world. We have been on fire against Indonesian Collective (state) Racism against black African Melanesians (Papuan) for more than 50 years. Torture, killing & slow-motion genocide. We need attention," Pigai wrote.

In August and September 2019, Papua and West Papua had come under the radar of both Indonesian and foreign media after a spate of violence broke out in several parts of these two Indonesian provinces.

On August 28, 2019, violence erupted in Deiyai District, some 500 kilometers away from Jayapura, resulting in the deaths of an army soldier and two civilians.

The indigenous Papuan residents of Jayapura again held protests on August 29, 2019, as they vented their ire over the alleged racist behavior against their Papuan compatriots in Surabaya, but their rally then took a violent turn.

On September 23, 2019, a deadly riot had erupted in Wamena, the capital city of Jayawijaya District, Papua Province, killing 33 civilians, including a senior medical doctor, who had served the native Papuans for 15 years. (Antaranews)