Fulfilling 'Sense of Safety and Justice' in Papua

SUMMARY

This assessment was conducted for IOM-Royal Netherlands Embassy Indonesian National Police Capacity Building Project in Papua, with a focus on community policing and human rights. The field assessment took place between January-March 2009 and involved visits to all Regency POLRES (Kepolisian Resort or police office at regency level) established at the time. Guided by the idea that “good policing is undertaken with, and on behalf of, a community that both understands and endorses the police mission to secure social order” (Goldsmith and Sheptycki 2007), focus group discussions (FGDs) and interviews were conducted with police as well as with members of the communities they serve.

FGDs and interviews with police were designed to engage them in a participatory manner to encourage self-identification of strengths and problem areas. The overwhelming majority of police officers were very cooperative and forthcoming. FGDs and interviews with community members were intended to obtain a sense of what such common terms as 'security' and 'safety' mean at the level of everyday life. The picture that has emerged is extremely complex but it does make clear that for the community justice is the most compelling issue — and it is precisely the element that is most often overlooked in the general literature of Security Sector Reform (SSR). The cultural landscape of Papua is undergoing rapid changes not only because of changes in the demographics of the area but also because of the penetration of the cash and free-market economy into the most remote areas. As these changes take place, they bring with them new demands for a reconceptualization of traditional networks of exchange and reciprocity, of gender relations, and of the relations between individual and community identities. Such changes also effect fundamental changes in the traditional notions of justice.

It has become clear also that a single model of community policing cannot be imposed upon a region as diverse as Papua, and that it will take considerable work by a 'consortium' of organizations and individuals committed to the task of police reform to develop appropriate, grounded models that serve the communities’ needs for justice and safety.
The focus on strengthening the capacity of the police educational system (including the basic police school or Sekolah Kepolisian Negara, SPN in Jayapura, but also management at the command schools) is of primary importance for reform of the police. However, for the short-term, and to boost existing community policing efforts, training at the polres/polsek levels will be important.

OVERALL ANALYSIS

General Strengths

One of the map resulted from the assessment: red color shows districts where community policing principles and practices are still poorly implemented, including in the hottest spot of social upheavals such as Mimika District, the miing site of PT. Freeport. Only District of Kaimana and Municipality of Jayapura (provincial capital of Papua) have been indetified fairly good (green color) while the rest are in between (yellow color) .

Overall, the rapid pace of the process called 'pemekaran', i.e. the splitting up of old regencies (kabupaten) in a kind of fast-track administrative reproduction presents police throughout Indonesia with a major challenge. The process, already contentious in a few Indonesian regions, in Papua has become entangled in the continuing debates on the status of Special Autonomy (Otonomi Khusus or OTSUS) and the administrative division of the region into several provinces. Following pemekaran the Regional Police (Kepolisian Daerah or POLDA) Papua has also undergone a rapid proliferation of POLRES to keep up. At the time of the assessment, a total of 17 new POLRES had been formed, called 'preparatory POLRES” (POLRES Persiapan), in addition to the 13 established POLRES or POLRESTA (Kepolisian Resor Kota or City Area Police Office). Most of the POLRES Persiapan are still partly administered by the 'POLRES induk' (originating POLRES), with newly appointed chiefs at both POLRES and POLSEK (Kepolisian Sektor, i.e. police office at district)  levels. In June 2009, the Chief of Police or KAPOLDA (Kepala Kepolisian Daerah) of Papua said that another seven new POLRES were being established to serve more new kabupaten. Preparations are underway for the establishment of a new POLDA (Regional Police Headquarters, or MAPOLDA) for the new province of Papua Barat (West Papua), to be located in Manokwari. It should come as no surprise that the process thus comes with a rather large bundle of problems, not the least of which being increased demands on an already strained budget. However, that this has been achieved and that POLRES are established in such remote areas as Tolikara, Yahukimo, Asmat, Waropen and Supiori, must also be reckoned as a sign of a commitment to decentralization intended to bring improved police services closer to the communities.

The police, of course, have had a presence in these areas prior to this8 but the new polres bring management capabilities closer to the officers on the ground. The preparatory POLRES also imply greater cooperation and synergies between local governments and the police, as provided for under the Special Autonomy laws.The local governments have provided assistance with the building of new police stations and some housing capacity, and some have also provided police vehicles or, particularly in the coastal/swamp and island regencies, the use of kabupaten-owned boats. Police are also included in the visits by local government officials to the distrik (districts) and kampungs (villages), an activity which provides the opportunity to increase the number of police-community contacts. The police directly benefit from improved public services, particularly of roads, communications and electric power, but they also stand to benefit from the promise of better schools and health services for their families. The Papua provincial government has funded the recruitment of 1500 new police brigadir (patrol officers) often referred to as 'putra daerah' ('sons of the region', including indigenous Papuan and non-indigenous settlers born and raised in Papua).

This process presents an immense opportunity for capacity-building programs, particularly in community policing and human rights; at the same time, it presents a challenge to those proposing to engage in them to ensure that the programs implemented fulfil real needs, are sensitive and responsive to local strengths and approach them with care and wisdom. One of the assessors noted that community policing cannot be construed of as a 'magic pill' to cure the ills that have beset the communities of Papua. Moreover, as David Bayley (2001) reminds those who embark upon police reform, community policing without democracy “can be used for cooptation and top-down regimentation.” For this reason human rights must continue to be integral to all reform programs, and development programs would ideally take into account the policing dimension. Policing is often seen only in terms of the physical security of the individual and his/her community; as we hope will become clearer in the course of the analyses to follow, policing understood as linked with both safety and justice (as indeed most communities saw it), touches the very core of the lives and identities of men, women and children in these communities.

The POLRI (Kepolisian Republik Indonesia) or Indonesian National Police (INP) has recently (June 2009) issued a regulatory instrument (Peraturan Kepala Kepolisian Republik Indonesia or PERKAP, or Decree of the Chief of Police—the highest internal regulation) No,8/2009 on the implementation of the principles and standards of Human Rights for the Indonesian National Police, No. 8/2009. In the drafting process, the initial document was circulated for comment and input from a broad representation of human rights and security sector reform NGOs and individuals. This document should provide a strong counterpart to the Police Chief Decree (PERKAP) No.7/2008 on Community Policing.

In this regard, POLRI willingness to open itself to critique and input from civil society is also a strength upon which to build; on the other hand, there is a growing circle of civil society organizations and individuals developing better familiarity of police matters. This openness is being cultivated vigorously in Papua where the current KAPOLDA holds regular coffee mornings to which community and provincial level leaders and journalists are invited, and is developing communication networks with religious leaders and civil society. The KAPOLRESTA of Jayapura city has a similar routine, while key individual staff members are in fairly regular contact with civil society. In some ways, there appears to be a closer interaction between police and civil society in Jayapura compared to other large cities in Indonesia, including Jakarta.
The POLDA headquarters (MAPOLDA) are also physically more open to the public, as are some other police stations at kabupaten and district levels. While in itself not necessarily a sign of strength, openness and a willingness to engage with the community is an element without which no community policing initiatives could work. Perhaps a better indication of this openness is that police have invited the Catholic Church’s SKP (Sekretariat Keadilan & Perdamaian or the Office for Justice and Peace) to witness police disciplinary hearings.

More recently, during the May-June standoff between police and people suspected of OPM (Organisasi Papua Merdeka or Free Papua Organisation) sympathies at the Kapiso airstrip in the Mamberamo area, the Papua Police Chief engaged in intensive discussion with members of civil society and local government representation to negotiate with the group. The police held back for roughly a month, during which time negotiations took place and bystanders and participants who chose to leave were evacuated. Only when the negotiating team acknowledged that they could do no more and handed the matter back, did the police move in to retake the airstrip. This experience was narrated by a civilian who had been involved in the negotiations and who expressed his high appreciation of the way the police chose to handle the incident.

There are individual police officers at POLDA, POLRES and POLSEK levels who have reputations for good and effective police practices, and deep knowledge of local cultures, institutions and tribal leaders and adat elders. They have built up a remarkable store of knowledge from their experience, which would be an invaluable source of material from which to develop community-policing practices and educational materials in Papua. This is true not only for the higher ranks but also for individual patrol officers, especially those who have worked a long time in a particular community. Several have been adopted into clans (marga or keret) or tribes (suku) (as 'anak adat' or 'children of custom') and residents have successfully petitioned for the cancellation of their move to other posts outside the area. The community policing officers ('Petugas POLMAS' or BABINKAMTIBMAS), are a further police strength. They don’t often get the recognition they fully deserve for dedication to their tasks and to the communities they serve in often difficult circumstances.

In terms of relations with the community, it was quite surprising to find that while the issue of race/ethnicity has gained predominance in political discourse locally, nationally and internationally, at the level of the daily experience of the community, professional behaviour, impartiality, openness and respect for community cultures and mores were far more important qualities. When asked whether they could mention examples of good policemen, one FGD community group of largely indigenous people said, “the Balinese police.” Under Papua Police Chief, Mangku Pastika (a Balinese and now the Governor of Bali Province elected in 2008), an affirmative action measure was taken designed to introduce more indigenous police officers into the region, recruiting several hundred indigenous police officers, and today there are several high ranking indigenous officers; the recruitment of the 1,500 new brigadir is a further development. A very few individuals (one or two adat council leaders) felt that only indigenous Papuans would be able to understand local cultures but on the whole, discipline, emotional and intellectual maturity appear to be by far the more important factors in evaluating police behaviour and performance. In this regard, the continued supervision of the new 'putra daerah' patrol officers is extremely important and IOM might seek ways of providing assistance and/or facilitation in this area, with a strong emphasis on professional behaviour.

While religion is clearly important to Papuan society in general, it is not as divisive an issue as one might expect. As people did not distinguish police by religion. It does not mean that police can afford to disregard it (or that the government can afford to be inattentive to politicized forms of proselytizing that have the potential to create unrest). Religion may of course be important to take into consideration in communities where 'duduk dan makan bersama' (sitting down and eating communally as a form of deliberation) involving pig sacrifice or at least the consumption of pork would be a sign of goodwill on the part of police. Some respondents—among police as among civil society in Papua—feel that both ethnic and especially religious strife has been overly magnified by political actors especially outside Papua.

Quite a few key officers at POLRI Headquarters in Jakarta have experience in Papua (including the current POLRI Chief), and some have a greater understanding of the need for better adaptation to the specific context of Papua. There are also efforts underway to strengthen the research and development (LITBANG) unit at Central Headquarters and there is more recognition of the importance of cultures for good and contextually appropriate policing.

General Problem Areas

• Budgetary Issues

The most frequently mentioned source of concern was budgetary constraints on effective performance of police duties and on community policing initiatives in particular. The overwhelming majority of POLRES and POLSEK are poorly equipped and police salaries, while recently increased, are still far below those of police in Singapore and Malaysia. And the police remain understaffed. Recent studies have shown that the police budget is insufficient to cover personnel salaries to attain an adequate police ratio nationally. And calculations focused on salaries do not take into account the major outlays still required to provide office buildings and equipment needed to deploy the personnel and to carry out policing functions. In the case of community policing and human rights, this includes appropriate protection and non-lethal equipment necessary for crowd-control. It is important for donors and implementing organizations to understand that capacity building measures should as far as possible anticipate impacts on the police budget of any initiatives emerging from such activities.

Throughout Indonesia, it is difficult to hold neighbourhood watch meetings without some form of contribution whether for snacks, cigarettes, and betelnut and/or to cover transportation costs. In Papua such tokens of appreciation are even more culturally significant and may at times involve large numbers of people. Add to that the high cost of basic necessities, including fuel, and the costs of community policing outlays may easily be at least 10 times higher than in Java. One police officer said, “We’re supposed to be the ujung tombak (spearhead) but we’re actually 'di ujung tanduk' (on the tip of a buffalo horn, i.e., in a precarious situation)." Quite a few community FGDs and interviews commented on this and recognized that the slow response and lack of visits and patrols were likely related to the lack of funds to support the police.

The establishment of the new POLRES and POLSEK mean that police have had to move to kabupaten or distrik still in the process of being constructed. Although some have received local government assistance in building new offices, others have had to make do with renting people’s houses for office space. More problematic for the short term is the lack of public services such as schools and hospitals. Some police with families and school-aged children who have been assigned to remote areas still live in the more established cities in the old kabupaten. This is true also for many local government officials and has not escaped the notice of communities. Police also have to contend with the high costs of living in many of the areas where basic supplies, even fuel, have to be flown in, and renting a home has become very expensive due to the apparent sharp increase in disputes over land-rights following in the wake of pemekaran. Many of the new 'putra daerah' brigadir were accommodated in small office rooms at the POLRES compound, lacking such appropriate facilities as bedding. Quite a few police officers in other districts lived in similar conditions. Some office spaces were so small that police had to use the detention cells as office space. In others, detention cells were in such bad condition that they could not (or should not) be used. Transportation was a huge obstacle to police performance of their duties, especially in reaching more remote villages, with many areas linked only by unpaved roads that turned into mud-traps in the rains. Most POLSEK do not have four wheel drive vehicles. Vehicle repairs and maintenance seem to be a major issue in most areas as well.

Almost all officers assigned to community policing duties reported having to draw on personal funds to pay for the 'bahan kontak' ('contact material', i.e. contributions for meetings). In the preparatory POLRES especially, offices were poorly equipped. Importantly, in island and coastal areas where fishing is an important source of community income, and in marine border areas, police had insufficient access to boats. When communities contacted the police to report illegal fishing and possible smuggling, police could do little to respond. Often they would have to borrow fishermen’s boats, paying them for fuel, even to patrol island communities. Police self-financing is a serious issue as it leads easily to questionable practices and frequently to outright bribery and extortion, all of which can erode any gains achieved or simply reinforce poor police images. Self-financing has long been a mark of lack of public accountability. However, the practice also reinforces a lack of internal transparency: in some cases police officers said they were required to sign blank receipts without knowing what these were for. Programs for police capacity-building should thus ideally also support civil society activities to advocate appropriate policing budgets, internal transparency as well as public oversight systems.

In order to make up the shortfall, police frequently have to rely on assistance from outside sources, including community contributions or private sector contributions. Both have the potential to create problems. In several cases, police have had to rely on private enterprise to lend them (or donate) facilities, building material, equipment or even cash. While some communities understood the need, they also saw this as a reason why police were closer to private enterprise and migrant communities and worried that this would lead to a lack of impartiality or outright discriminatory practices (“Polisi harus mengemis ke pengusaha” means 'Police should begging to private enterpreneurs').

• Management

Management is another area of concern readily identified by most police officers. This includes communication and coordination chains between INP Headquarters (MABES POLRI) in Jakarta and Papua Police Headquarters (POLDA), and between POLRES and POLSEK.

Despite the continuing decentralization process, many budget decisions are made at INP Headquarters, are fairly uniform and do not adequately reflect local needs. For example, procurement of vehicles follows a circuitous process, going through other provinces (e.g. South Sulawesi) instead of sourcing locally. Standard issue motorcycles and motorcars suitable for urban conditions are not operable in the rough terrain and particular conditions of Papua (weather and security, among others). Many police mentioned uniforms that do not fit because they too are issued from outside the region. While uniforms may appear to be a minor issue in the scale of things, they symbolize a certain lack of fit between Headquarters and Papua. Many POLRES chiefs said that while they had attempted to produce locally-relevant plans, final budget allocations generally did not reflect these plans. As a result, instead of encouraging innovative and locally responsive plans, the measures promoted what some mid-level managers referred to as 'copy paste' planning.

In terms of community policing, at the time of the assessment the new PERKAP on community policing had only just been issued and while there had been an intensive socialization workshop for heads of the Public Relations (Binamitra) divisions, including from Papua, not enough time had elapsed to gauge the impact on general understanding of community policing among the ranks. In addition, some of those trained had already been moved elsewhere. Especially confusing for many patrol officers was the difference between BABINKAMTIBMAS and the 'Petugas POLMAS', particularly because there apparently was a perceived difference in the additional benefits the BABINKAMTIBMAS were understood to be receiving. This perceived difference does not seem to have impacted their performance directly, and some of the problems had to do with the fact that many of the POLRES were still in the process of being fully established, however, in the longer-term, the impact on morale and thus performance could be significant.

The educational system and policies in place are also highly centralized and do not yet support Papua specific needs. Some change is currently taking place, especially at Police Education and Training Institute (LEMDIKLAT) where leadership and staff have recognized the need for developing Papua-specific training material. During the recent (2008) basic police education for the 1,500 new brigadir at the SPN in Java and Bali, police trainers with experience in Papua were among the teaching staff assigned to these SPN. In addition, during the course of this assessment, LEMDIKLAT leadership and staff were quite actively involved in the workshops conducted on developing Papua-specific audio-visual material for community policing and human rights training.

There is only one basic police education school for women (SEPOLWAN) in all of Indonesia, resulting in a very limited number of policewomen assigned to Papua, where there is a real need for policewomen trained to understand women in the communities and to provide them with appropriate services, especially in cases such as domestic violence, rape and other forms of violence against women. Policewomen are largely left out of the community policing loop (there was, however, an indigenous policewoman who is head of the Binamitra at one POLRES). Almost all policewomen are assigned to the POLRES and very few have opportunities to develop better relations with local communities. There is a sense that being restricted to the POLRES in the major towns is done to protect them from a 'harsh' culture, but most wished to have chances to get to know the communities and to interact more with local women and children.

Although the general mapping of Papua divides the area into upland, marsh and coastal areas, there is as yet an insufficient focus on maritime and riverine areas, which have different sets of requirements for community policing, especially in understanding of traditional rights (ulayat) and practices. Riverine systems where alluvial gold has been discovered, such as the area between the Nabire and Paniai regencies, are especially fluid and open to conflicting claims as the river courses through different tribal areas and has attracted prospectors from far and wide to a previously remote area. Coastal areas present their own sets of challenges because many coastal communities are more plural and several are very much aware of the degradation of the coral reefs and encroachment of illegal fishing enterprises.

POLRES – POLSEK coordination for community policing was especially mentioned as a major problem since the Community Guidance (Bimbingan Masyarakat or BIMMAS) units, which used to coordinate the BABINKAMTIBMAS (community policing or CP officers at the POLSEK were disbanded. The CP officers now directly report to the Head of Division (Kepala Bagian or KABAG) Binamitra at the POLRES. Since most of the CP officers do double duty in the other police jobs, it is difficult for the KABAG Binamitra to properly supervise them. Several police identified this problem as a sort of “dualism” in the command chain while the CP officers themselves found the procedure somewhat confusing.

The remoteness of many of the POLSEK and POSPOL (Pos Polisi or Police Post), and the lack of communication equipment only exacerbate the problem. There is also a variety of problems in the reporting system, partly because of this 'dualism/, which has caused confusion among patrol officers charged with community policing tasks; and in some cases the chief of the polsek felt that he did not know what was being reported to the POLRES. In other POLSEK, however, some POLSEK chiefs said they were able to coordinate with the Binamitra at the POLRES, but these seem to be the exception. In some areas the reports follow a pre-determined format; most of them follow the standard of reporting on cases settled and there is little feed-back to the patrol officer who wrote them.

Closely linked to management and directly impacting on community policing practices is the rotation system, in which police are assigned to a place for roughly a period of two years. Rotasi is part of the promotion system and the polres chief has no direct control over the process. Furthermore, many police officers said that the rotasi did not take into account their individual strengths, skills or training backgrounds. Nor did it take into consideration the needs on the ground and conditions in Papua. Thus, police with training in community policing and more than superficial knowledge of local culture and mores might only actually carry out their duties for a short period of time. Rapid rotation also prevents officers from putting down roots in the community. There are exceptions to the rule, and there are quite a few cases of individual officers having resided for more than five years in the same community. Most of the good police officers identified by the community were those who had spent considerable time in the area. Rapid rotasi also works against individual police officers gaining a deeper understanding of the local culture. Papua has at least 255 different tribes and sub-tribes and although there are fairly consistent features of their cultures, especially among the large highland tribes, there are local differences that need to be understood properly to avoid potentially disruptive mis-steps.

Most CP officers also do double duty. This is perhaps unavoidable in view of the lack of personnel, and officers interviewed invariably emphasized that it was their duty and that they were happy to serve. However, it prevents them from focusing on the communities and is often another reason why many remain distant from the people. Many Binamitra heads said that double duty made adequate supervision very difficult. Many CP officers expressed the need to build knowledge and skills in community policing and other specializations. They felt that there were not enough opportunities for further education and training, including refresher training.While discretion is a signal feature of community policing and embodied in the job of the police (especially in the laws separating the police from the military), there is no real system in place for managing discretion and many police felt that what was more important was to follow orders. Many were unclear on what discretion actually meant and what it involved. This would indicate a need for better training and management of discretion, particularly in community policing and human rights.

The POLRES and POLSEK have no libraries or research and development units to support community policing, and no evident system of information/knowledge management. Reports are brief and focus on cases handled. They are a necessary form of supervision but more is needed to document and study the rich store of knowledge that has accumulated over the years as well as a means to evaluate progress of the program rather than of the individual officers.

In a sense, the police system of monitoring and evaluation is very much focused on individual officers rather than on measuring the impact of initiatives taken. This leads to a serious lapse in institutional memory and a sense of on-and-off planning that depends on decisions made at the top levels of police management. In the midst of communities with long memories and strong adat (custom, tradition) convictions, such lapses are not merely inconvenient to new incoming officers, they can also be lethal, as will be explained below in the section on perceptions of the police. Outside Jayapura, the police have yet to form links with local universities and other sources of local cultures and thus the knowledge of culture tends to be superficial, with a somewhat narrow focus on payment of adat fines. Police relations with the adat councils is also problematic: some think that the adat councils are political channels for secession (“separatism”), whereas others know from experience that working with the adat councils is a good way of resolving local disputes and keeping them from escalating into open conflict.

Challenges

• The Police – SSR – Justice.

One challenge to community policing and human rights has to do with the positioning of the police in the discourse on governance and reform. Internationally, the police are put in the same category as the military under the term Security Sector Reform. Nationally, despite the formal separation of the police from the military, the two are still often united in the term 'TNI/POLRI' ('Army/Police') or subsumed under the general heading 'aparat' (apparatus). What keeps them together is the idea that both have authority to use force and this tends to reinforce the paramilitary nature of policing. Cognitively this idea continues to have a powerful hold on the public as well, and especially so in Papua, with its long experience of the military and where the link between dispute settlement and physical conflict is still fairly strong among significant segments of the population.

That the police are an integral part of the justice system and their role in affording people and communities the protection of the law need reinforcing on many fronts. Conversely, communities most often linked the police to the need for justice. This means that community policing should be understood also within the framework of justice and the protection of the law instead of only in the terms of law and order as imposed upon the community. Indeed, many of the complaints directed at the police —slow and unclear processing of cases being the most frequently cited by the communities—also have to do with the inefficiency of the judicial system and its remoteness from many people in need of justice in both physical and cognitive terms. Police often remarked that communities don’t understand the law, while communities complained that police did not provide them information about the law. The police are the front-line of the justice system (indeed, in many cases, of the state itself) and thus serve as proxies for complaints about prosecution and the courts. Transparency and good communications are crucial for the performance of police duties but they cannot replace an entire system. There are several implications of this linkage between the police and justice for community policing, which will be addressed in more detail in the section on adat.

Another concern voiced by some police and lawyers had to do with what was seen as police interference in what ought to be civil cases. Lawyers and police in urban areas tended to be more concerned about this than those in the more remote rural areas. This matter will be discussed in more detail below as it is intimately linked to adat. What is important to note here is that this is again part of a series of deficiencies within a justice system which, on the whole, remains far removed from the everyday lives of ordinary people. Not only is the system inaccessible because of distance and expense (adat settlements too can be very costly) but the idea of an impersonal and abstract justice remains a concept alien to most orally oriented communities. There are very few lawyers in Papua, and most of them reside in the large urban areas where the courts are. Although there are legal aid organizations offering free services to the communities, in the more remote areas they tend to handle only prominent cases while civil cases, the experience of justice on the everyday level, remain squarely within the domain of fee-for-service lawyers.

• The Legacy of Militarism

The long legacy of militarism in Papua is perhaps the most challenging factor for the police as they build closer partnerships with the communities and their cultures. While Papuan society is generally characterized by the police (and others) as hard, harsh (keras), communal entities obedient only to the strong leadership of warrior chiefs (panglima perang suku) and placing women in subordinate positions where they are vulnerable to domestic violence, the impact of this legacy introduced by external militarist cultures cannot be ignored. In a sense, contemporary Papuan culture came to be shaped by this contact with cultures of organized violence. It is a legacy that begins at least with World War II, in which Papua (along with other Oceanic societies of the Pacific), found itself at the frontlines of a devastating war. The bombing of Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands, which opened up the 'Pacific Theatre', had an immense effect on Oceanic societies in the most widely spread and diverse area of the world. One aspect of this militarization is that it was almost entirely male, sporting emblems for which people gave their lives, and bringing in instruments of destruction beyond imagination. The main—and largest— thrust of the Pacific war was launched from what was then Hollandia and now Jayapura. This overwhelming militarization also brought with it evidence of the most powerful products of factories outside Papua and evidence of wealth and knowledge in the supplies and leaflets that rained down in the wake of the bombs.

Whatever traditional conceptions of the nexus between violence and the distribution of wealth existed could only have found powerful reinforcement. The actions of the Indonesian military—particularly the double-sided dwifungsi combining war and the introduction of new knowledge and (to some extent transitory) wealth through the 'ABRI Masuk Desa' (the Armed Forces entering the villages) became another example of the contradictions that seemed inherent in power. What some put down to the 'cargo-cultism' of 'indigenous' Papuan forms of resistance could be more productively understood as a response to large-scale and overpowering militarism. Worsley (1967) identifies the core of the 'irrationality' attributed to the cargo cults, i.e. non-rational action, as a product of economic and political tensions within a particular social framework that in fact questions 'rationality' itself. Taking a cue from this, it is possible to see how the 'rationality' introduced into Papua was understood and experienced as the logic of militarism and consumerism. Yet it is the cultures of Papua that have to bear the stigma of violent rebellion, often deployed in the political language of 'separatism'. There are repositories of culture in many areas (e.g. the Asmat Museum in Agats) but the branding of local culture as somehow anti-nationalist keeps them from being recognized as sources of knowledge, even for the police in general who know how important local cultures are to the sense of security and peace.

• The Impact of 'Resource Wars' and Pemekaran

Map of concession and extraction areas of rich natural resources in Papua: mining, including PT. Freeport (red color) and new concession of other companies (yellow) which covers total area of 4.077.497 Ha; logging (light green) of total 14.410.351 Ha for 35 companies; industrial timber forests (dark violet) of total 916.307 Ha for 7 companies, including controversial MIFEE megaproject in Merauke region; big plantation, particularly palm-oil estates (dark green) of total 570.497 Ha for 21 companies; and gas and oil exploration, including off-shores (cyan) of total 11.906.016 Ha in 29 blocks for multinational coorporations of US, Germany, England, Sweden, Japan, China and South Korea.  Small and dispersed red triangles are planned central areas for new concession of coal, nickel, bronze, and gold mining explorations. Source: Jaringan Advokasi Tambang (JATAM), 2008.

The extraction of natural resources, particularly mining and timber but increasingly also marine resources, is entangled within this legacy as well, not only because of the role of military/security forces in protecting corporate interests against the claims of adat right communities, but also because of the masculinized nature of the industry (Robinson, 1996): the overwhelming majority of its workers and decision makers are male, and loss of land to the mining concerns has the worst impact on women (Pollock 1996). To communities rooted in oral cultures, the violence done to the earth as mother is also a source of deep anxiety that goes beyond the merely economic.

It is extremely important to note the radical and far-reaching shift in security concerns as a result of pemekaran and the frontier cultures: the pemekaran and the increased penetration of investment and exploitation activities—formal and informal—into previously remote areas bring with them a type of police presence new to communities in these frontier areas. Some communities noted the increased numbers of police coming into their areas with deep concern. These communities were used to the presence of individual police officers they knew, who interacted with them at the personal, everyday level. The new presence was marked by larger numbers of unknown police coming in as a unit, often in trucks and armed, whose task seemed to be to protect incoming migrants with money and access to policy-makers: migrants and policies that were changing the face of their communities. The intrusion of a DALMAS (pengendalian massa or riot control) type police presence was understood as a breakdown in communication, where the communities could no longer express their point of view or, more crucially, their innate understanding of justice. At the time of this assessment, most of the new bintara were assigned to DALMAS duties at the POLRES.

The proliferating boom-town and frontier cultures mark equally rapidly multiplying sites where local cultures confront cash/free-market economies. These areas attract large numbers of migrants not only from other Indonesian islands but also from other Papuan areas, in particular—though not exclusively—from the central highlands. Non-indigenous migrants/settlers tend to dominate the new economic sectors, while many indigenous migrants tend to settle at the margins of the towns. Many of the new jobs opening up for indigenous communities in the mining/exploitation companies are for initial infrastructure construction; they are thus temporary and involve rough, unskilled manual labour. When their contracts run out, many migrants are left without further job opportunities and few skills on which to build a longer-term career.

Corruption among local government officials was a problem identified by several communities as a challenge for police performance of law enforcement duties. Many questioned police seriousness in actively pursuing such cases. Some resource persons interviewed at the provincial level thought that police felt overly constrained when dealing with cases involving indigenous Papuan officials, lest they be perceived to be moving against indigenous interests. They were of the opinion that the police need not hesitate to act within the law. One Adat Council leader said that there was an agreement with the provincial level prosecutor on corruption and wanted the police to tackle such cases without hesitation. A few such cases have already been brought to court.

• Women and Domestic Violence

As pemekaran progresses, many of the new polres will be positioned at these potentially contentious interfaces. As far as possible, community policing and human rights training should try to accommodate the needs of the new POLRES.
d. Women and domestic violence Domestic violence against women and children was generally identified in community interviews and FGDs as a deep source of anxiety and unsafety, with the potential to spark off conflict between families and to break out into tribal or clan conflict. Often simply identified as part and parcel of a 'patrilineal' or 'patriarchal' culture with a propensity to violence and the abuse of alcohol, violence against women needs to be set against the legacy of militarism to be properly understood, and thus handled appropriately by the police as well as by designated government agencies such as the Women’s Empowerment office at the kabupaten and provincial levels and civil society organizations.

Boom-town, male dominated communities come with these large-scale industries—many of which show skewed sex ratios as high as 110.6 (Yapen, Bintuni); 116.72 (Keerom), 149.71 for Kuala Kencana/Mimika, and the district of Tembagapura nearly 554. These ratios are only partly accounted for by high maternal mortality rates and the common undercounting of women (the sex ratio for all of Indonesia is showing an unexplained trend of increase in the sex ratio), and the extremely high rates in Mimika must be attributed to the influx of male employees (non-indigenous as well as indigenous from other Papuan areas). These bring with them problems related to prostitution and what both police and communities call 'unlawful sex', (hubungan asusila, sex bebas, etc.) with the threat of HIV/AIDS only increasing women’s sense of anxiety and vulnerability.

The police have an important role to play—and this is where the overwhelming majority of women interviewed called for enforcement and protection of positive law (penegakan hukum, perlindungan hukum positif). In many ways, the condition of women and the challenges it presents to police performance of their duties encapsulates the problems and issues on the larger scale. This is discussed further in section five.

• Cultural Dislocation and Disenfranchisement.

Some important dimensions of adat are orality and performativity. In many Papuan cultures, especially in the central highlands (the most densely populated areas), there are extensive kinship networks based on a territorial concept and marked by reciprocity and the exchange of brides and wealth. Adat is clearly undergoing significant and inevitable change and many people feel that the changes have brought about what they term erosion and degradation of custom. Adat elders themselves are slowly passing on, while some in culture areas straddling the border have remained in PNG after the mass flights. Adat memories and local knowledge (including of territorial boundaries) are fading, and particularly in the border areas many who fled armed conflict returned to find their land settled by migrants brought in during the transmigration drive. In almost all areas, the monetizing of ulayat rights and adat fines have had a major impact on indigenous traditions. Ulayat rights are contested not only between indigenous communities and migrants but also between indigenous communities and local governments (which need substantial acreage for construction of infrastructure: in many areas communities have sealed off government offices for encroachment for encroachment on adat domain), and within local communities themselves as multiple claimants arise. With the monetization of the exchange networks, women feel they are being treated as commodities and can find little protection from adat. This brings about a potentially divisive dichotomizing of adat and positive law, and the police already find themselves in a somewhat problematic position.

Culturally insensitive and/or decontextualized gender analyses will not be helpful. In many cases, the already fragile adat systems still come up against stereotypes ('primitive', 'violent', or 'sexually permissive', 'lazy', etc.). Youth culture in Papua has undergone major changes as men’s houses and initiation rites have disappeared without appropriate (or sufficient) channels for education and new roles. Many young men leave their home communities to find employment and experience in the cities. Often they don’t find permanent jobs and return home with what are seen to be destructive city habits, especially excessive alcohol consumption and rowdy behaviour; many of their own communities feel that they no longer value traditional forms of employment. Many communities hoped that community policing might bring ways to involve youth groups in constructive activities.

There is still a measure of uncertainty about the adat courts as provided for in the OTSUS laws. Where adat or tribal elders are still active, disputes are settled fairly quickly. However, when disputes involve outsiders (indigenous or non-indigenous) settlements are more difficult and require reference to positive law. Some communities feel that the adat councils (Dewan Adat, Lembaga Adat, etc.) are becoming politicized, especially following pemekaran and the proliferation of local governments.

There is some cause for concern in the overly ethnicized/racialized discourse on Papua, which pits Malay-Polynesian against Melanesian cultures, at the national and— significantly—at the international levels. Some of this discourse is marked by a tendency to rely on a highly dichotomized picture of religious relations in Papua (Islam – Christianity) and a fairly simplistic interpretation of local cultures. This type of discourse, which may in turn inform analysis and policy, is a-historic, dangerously reductionist and risks becoming self-fulfilling: it can magnify problems on the ground so that they appear well-nigh impossible to solve without the use of force.The cultural context thus presents community policing initiatives with a major set of challenges.

Opportunities

For the communities, perceptions of the police are not determined primarily by race/ethnicity or religion: far more important are professional behaviour, understanding and respect for local cultures, and a willingness to work with them. Papuan communities on the whole have a strong innate sense of justice, and seek to redress injustice when it occurs (some police and migrants think of this as being overly litigious). While the concept of justice generally remains rooted in the traditional exchange and reciprocity networks, adat does have the capacity to adapt to and meet the challenges of a changing environment. Many individuals interviewed recognized the need to deal with these changes, and there have been some innovative approaches to the codification of adat laws. There are some experienced lawyers (including women) with good knowledge of local cultures and resource persons at universities and religious organizations. Recognition of domestic violence as a problem, even in rural communities, is much higher than in many other areas of Indonesia, and several women’s organizations and local Offices of Women’s Empowerment (Dinas Pemberdayaan Perempuan) are cooperating with the police. The Autonomy Laws provide for cooperation between police and local governments (the recruitment of the 1,500 new brigadir is an example of such cooperation), although exploring ways to cooperate on community policing initiatives at kabupaten and district levels remains to be done.

Most communities appreciate the need for a professional and impartial police presence; almost all communities felt that community policing would be a good way to enhance police-community relations. There are a number of religious institutions which have played important roles in keeping Papua a 'Peace Zone' (Zona Damai). They have expressed an interest in and a felt need for more dialogues with the police, at the POLDA as well as at the POLRES and POLSEK levels.
The Cooperation Forum (Forum Kerjasama or FOKER) of local NGOs is a Papua-wide coordinating network  with much accumulated knowledge and experience of conditions in the region.

There are several more issues related in complex ways to community policing, law enforcement and justice. These will be discussed in separate sections. What they show is the importance of the community policing approach for Papua and the reforms in police philosophy and culture it points to. But it cannot be understood or implemented as a project separate from the demands for deep understanding of cultural processes, nor can it be separated (as it often is in community policing literature) from professionalism in the performance of 'conventional' police duties, better understanding of the law (beyond the standard few articles of the protocols of criminal codes or Kitab Undang-undang Hukum Pidana, KUHAP) and the police position within the justice system, understanding and procedural correctness of human rights, understanding that 'communication skills' also, and vitally, involve the need for transparency (and also within the police management system) and a better formal system of public oversight at the provincial level, and preferably down to the kabupaten and distrik levels. Management, of course, is the key to implementing and institutionalizing the reforms already on the books. And, as Bayley (2001) reminds us, “Reform in policing must be managed, not structured, into existence.”