Freeport's crimes against the Amungme-Mimikawe Tribe and the Papuan Nation (Part 1)

UNLOCKING JANUARY AGREEMENT 1974

In January 2024, the Amungme, Mimikawe and Papuan people commemorated the 50th anniversary of the January Agreement between PT. Freeport and 6 Amungme chiefs. This agreement is a gross violation of the customary land rights of the Amungme and Mimikawee.

The signing of the agreement was witnessed by the Indonesian government, representatives of Pt. Freeport and Deputy Chief of the Amungme Tribe. Until now, many parties do not know the contents and the parties who signed it. The text of the agreement was kept secret by Freeport, like the text of the contract between Freeport and the Indonesian Government in April 1967 which is still a mystery to this day. I will review the contents and aftermath of the signing of the January 1974 agreement.

On January 8 1974 in Tembagapura a meeting began between Freeport, the Government and the Owners of Nemangkawi, known as the triangle meeting.

The province of Irian Jaya, at that time, represented the provincial government of Irian Jaya, and Tom Beanal, one of the Amungme figures who represented the Owner of Nemangkawi. This meeting gave birth to the January Agreement, an agreement that determined the course of the history of the Papuan people. Unfortunately, the agreement excluded the Amungme community, owners of the land that Freeport mined. 

Tom Beanal said that Amungme was not involved in drafting the contents of the agreement contained in the January Agreement.

According to Tom Beanal, the entire contents of the agreement are entirely in the interests of Freeport, ignoring the interests of the Amungme community. The agreement we made, said Tom Beanal, was for land from Yelsegel-Ongopsegel (Ersberg), Utekini (Camp 74), Mulkandi (Tembagapura), along the Camp 74 road to Camp 2. Outside this road there was no agreement. such as outside the city of Tembagapura, outside the wire fence in the city of Tembagapura, and outside the mining factory at Camp 74.

However, the reality now is that the company has taken over land outside the boundaries of the January Agreement, such as in Tembagapura City which took up between 10-20 hectares of land, then cleared land in Camp 50 and Camp 39, took land in Kwamki Lama for housing for PT employees. Freeport and coffee river land, Welcome gate land acquisition. Freeport has also carried out mining exploration in the Arowanop valley. According to the community, this act of land grabbing has no legal basis but Freeport continues to act as it pleases.

Various articles explain that the 1974 January Agreement was born due to local community demands for compensation for the use of land used by Freeport Indonesia. Is it true that the contents and benefits of the compensation contained in the January Agreement meet the expectations of the local community? Is the compensation value discussed worth as much as Freeport's mining results?

This section tries to look rationally at the rights and obligations of the resources owned by both parties, Freeport Indonesia and the Owner of Nemangkawi. The following review will illustrate for all parties to assess and measure the level of rationality of Freeport's rights and obligations for Nemangkawi Owners in the January Agreement article by article.

Article 1

Each party has a full understanding of the duties and obligations that are their responsibilities, even though implementation will be a time-consuming process.

This section emphasizes the rights and obligations of Freeport and Amungme.

The explanation of rights and obligations in the context of being a company owner and land owner is not explained explicitly. What are Freeport's rights to land and what are Freeport's obligations to Amungme land? It should be understood that the word "understand" in the opening of the first article is addressed to the land owners, while those who were present and signed the agreement were the elders of the Amungme Tribe who did not understand or comprehend every editorial in this agreement. This is where the process of duping the Amungme tribe that Freeport began to carry out.

Article 2 

Freeport Indonesia Inc. Together with the Team, we have tried to gather and accommodate the wishes and desires of the local community in an effort to advance the community and the area around Freeport Indonesia Inc.

The second article focuses on the wishes of the local community. The key word in this section is “advance.” What is the implementation of this article for residents living in the Waa Valley, Banti and surrounding areas? Freeport is actually building elite housing and a new city in Kuala Kencana, while people in the Waa Valley and surrounding areas live in self-built shacks.

Education, which is a basic right for the people who own Nemangkawi, is also neglected. Freeport prioritizes building schools in Kuala Kencana and Tembagapura, cities that support the lives of Freeport's employees and workforce.

Access to water for residents of the Banti valley is very poor. Residents of the Amungme tribe have to leave the house to walk to the water reservoir. This condition is reversed in the Kuala Kencana area, where people can easily enjoy water at home, even just pressing the button for clean water to be available in the bathroom.

Article 3

Freeport Indonesia Inc. the ability within the time that will be and has been determined in accordance with a mutually agreed plan to:

a. Build school buildings including teacher housing.

b. Build polyclinics and nurse housing.

c. Create a market building including shops.

d. Build several decent residential model houses and build further housing developments.

e. Providing and improving facilities and employment opportunities for local residents in accordance with company development.

f. Providing necessary facilities for government posts, namely offices and homes.

This third article is a derivative of the translation from the second article about the word "advancing". We can see the implementation of the article in the field.

The school buildings and teacher housing in Banti, Tsinga, Arwanop that Freeport built do not reflect Freeport's efforts to provide good and quality educational services for the local community. The quality of schools and housing in Banti, Tsinga and Arwanop is not good, it appears that plywood is the building material.

Another point in article 3 contains markets and shops. Freeport built markets and shops, but in Banti local residents still sell by spreading their wares on the ground.

Local sellers sat along the road next to the PNU shop until the entrance to the SD Inpres Banti building. The new PNU shop was built around 2000 on the initiative of SLD and Amungme leaders. So the contents of article 3 are inversely proportional to the facts on the ground. Is this what Freeport means by reducing its commitment to the owners of Nemangkawi?

Article 4

What is stated in article 3 above needs to be adapted to and within the framework of inland community development in connection with Regional Government programs.

Article 4 is still closely related to article 3, namely the issue of development. The key word is development of inland communities, which Freeport has handed over responsibility to regional governments.

Meanwhile, in the 1970s, the Amungme people were very far from being touched by the local government. The Amungme people do not recognize the local government as a party to bring about change. The Amungme people only have moral ties with Freeport as users of customary land for mining purposes. Unfortunately, after seizing the Amungme's customary rights, Freeport shifted all responsibility to the regional government.

The fate of the Amungme people is hung back in independent policies without definite responsibility from the institutions that are actually responsible. Freeport is the one who must and must be responsible, not throw responsibility to third parties. The Nemangkawi and Freeport problems are a problem for both parties as land owners and company owners.

Article 5

The local community has been willing and allowed to continue mining in Ertsberg, Tenggoma (Tsinga) and other places including Tembagapura and its surroundings, all of which is based on and does not conflict with the general provisions of the Freeport Indonesia Inc. agreement. with the Central Government of the Republic of Indonesia.

The contents of article 5 are contradictory to the facts from the map of the Freeport project area. In the map it is clear that the Tsinga, Niponogong, Nosolandop, Arwanop and Opitawak areas which are located above Banti village are not included in the project map made by Freeport itself. Meanwhile, in article 5, Freeport simply states that "the local community is willing and allows the continuation of mining in Tenggoma (Tsinga)".

In this article, Freeport also easily states "and other places, Tembagapura and its surroundings". Freeport did not explain in detail what it meant by other places in Tembagapura. It's as if Freeport thinks the other place in question has no name and no owner. It is as if the area around Tembagapura is not inhabited by Amungme residents. Article 5 clearly states that Freeport has deceived and lied to the people of Amungme.

The words "willing and allowing" do not actually mean agreeing. The word "willing" is not interpreted as the word "agree", and the word "allowed" is not interpreted as the word "intended".

The editorial game in article 5 is part of legal duping that shallows the essence of a product agreement that uses Indonesian. This is part of a scheme to confiscate the customary land of the Amungme tribe.

Article 6

Matters relating to security and order in the Freeport area are fully the responsibility of the Republic of Indonesia Police Post in Tembagapura, especially areas where Freeport workers and residences must not be violated by local residents.

An important part of article 6 is the statement "Freeport workplaces and residences must not be violated by local communities." This means that Freeport intends to limit the movement of the Amungme people, which in fact is an area that the Amungme people pass through when traveling in and out of the Waa and Banti valleys. Amungme people from Banti usually travel to Tsinga and Nosolandop and have to pass through Tembagapura and then along the Nemangkawi wilderness. This was the case in the past when going hunting up to Mile 50 near the Mimika low border. At least if it is prohibited then Freeport will have to build a separate land road for the Amungme people who pass from Tembagapura to Mimika. Freeport openly isolates the Amungme people on their customary land.

Article 7

The provisions which constitute the material of this agreement are seen as the first step in resolving problems that arise between Freeport Indonesia Inc. with society. The next step will be continued direct discussions between the Leadership of the Regional Government of Irian Jaya Province and the Leadership of Freeport Indonesia Inc.

The description of article 7 states that "this agreement is an initial agreement and the issue of customary land disputes has been delegated to the Irian Jaya Provincial government". 

It is true that Nemangkawi was stolen without the consent of the Amungme people as the eldest owners of Mount Nemangkawi when the first Contract of Work was signed by the Indonesian and American governments, without involving the Amungme people as owners of the Nemangkawi customary land.

Article 8

This Agreement is accompanied by annexes which are viewed as a series of undivided Agreement Texts.

Article 9

This agreement is valid from the date it is signed by the interested parties. What is the main purpose of this January Agreement? The agreement is part of Freeport's efforts to save itself from international legal action for crimes against humanity committed by Freeport against the Amungme people. Freeport, through this agreement, succeeded in coercing people

Amungme to grant permission for land use for mining operations. With this agreement letter, Freeport shows that the Amungme people agree to carry out mining operations, even though the Amungme people feel the suffering and crimes against humanity committed by Freeport with the support of the Indonesian Government and the military.

Starting from the introduction and description of the contents of the 1974 January Agreement, articles 1 to article 9, Freeport and the Indonesian Government have not explained the subject of the meaning of society in question at all. It should be stated clearly that the community in question is the Amungme tribe, land owners. This means that Freeport and the Indonesian Government stated that Mount Nemangkawi which is being mined is an area without inhabitants, even though there the Amungme people are native residents who live and live in the Nemangkawi area.

Who signed the January Agreement? 

The following is a list of signatories to the January Agreement:

PT. Freeport

R.L.West ( Vice President/ Freeport General Manager)

Amungme Land Owners 

The Amungme party was signed by 6 tribal chiefs and in the manuscript there were no signatures but they all had thumbprints.

1. Tuarek Narkime (Tribal Chief)

2. Naimun Narkime (Tribal Chief)

3. Arek Beanal (Tribal Chief)

4. Pitaragome Beanal (Chief)

5. Paulus Magali (Head of the Tribe)

6. Beanal Control (Head of the Tribe)

Witnesses from Government Elements

1. AWDarwis, SH (Head of the Special Government Directorate for Irian Jaya Province/Head of the Government Team)

2. Suratman, (Police Lieutenant Colonel As.5/ Binmas Komdak XXI/Irian Jaya)

3. Mampioper, (Deputy Head of the Directorate of Public Order, Irian Jaya Province)

4. Drs. S. Wanma, (Head of Sub Directorate I/Prajapati Directorate of Irian Jaya Provincial Government)

5. Iz. Manufandu, (BA Head of West Mimika District)

6. Costan Anggaibak, (APDN Jayapura Student)

7. Tom Beanal, (Member of the Government DPRD Tk.II Fak-Fak Regency)

8. Yos PN Renwarin, (West Mimika sub-district office staff)

Freeport Element Witnesses

1. T.L. Vandegrift 

2. H.H. Butt 

3. J. Harsono

4. I.R. Rorimpandey 

Witnesses to the Amungme Elements

1. Kagalwagol Beanal (Amungme Coconut)

2. Arek Beanal (Amungme Coconut)

3. Namumora Jamang (Amungme Coconut)

4. Tuarek Narkime (Amungme Coconut)

5. Tetdai Omaleng (Amungme Coconut)

6. Naimun Narkime (Amungme Coconut)

7. Pitarogome Beanal (Amungme Coconut)

8. Emolegabi Bugaleng (Amungme Coconut)

9. Nenembale Janampa (Amungme Coconut)

10. Nigaki Narkime (Amungme Coconut)

The original copy shows that the witnesses were only present on January 6 and 7 1974, while the signing of the January Agreement was recorded on January 8 1974, which was signed by the first party Freeport and the second party Amungme. Meanwhile, the contents of Appendix III regarding the explanation of article 4 of the agreement were signed on January 9 1974.

What is even stranger is the contents of Appendix IV regarding the explanation as a realization of articles 5 and 6 of the treaty text issued on January 11 1974 in Tembagapura. 

After the January Agreement was signed, Freeport pressed back with a ban. The January Agreement text is like a BAP (Inspection Minutes) and Appendix IV is the same as a statement letter not to commit any more criminal acts or the like. What's even stranger is that Appendix IV of the agreement text was only thumbprinted by the owner of Mount Nemangkawi, the Amungme tribe.

The Amungme people actually have the ability to support themselves with the support of their natural resources. However, the Amungme people cannot do much when natural resources are controlled by Freeport, as well as the Indonesian Government which extracts mining products from the center. The Amungme people became victims of the greed and greed of the Freeport authorities and the Government.

In fact, nature should be a blessing for humans, such as the Amungme people who live above it, as well as the entire Papuan nation, but for decades Freeport has operated without providing prosperity and goodness for the lives of the Papuan people. In fact, the Amungme people continue to be victims of suffering due to Freeport and the Government exploiting Papua's natural wealth.

An Amungme figure who once met a Freeport official, the late Tuarek Narkime, said, "I have looked after these young men in front of the itorei (the term for men's traditional houses for the Amungme tribe) since they have not yet borne fruit. After decades of this pandan fruit bearing fruit and when the fruit is old and it's harvest season, I always keep it under this pandan fruit tree, however, the old fruit never falls under the ground near the pandan tree, I don't know why and it's really strange, because of that, child -kids maybe. This old pandan fruit is far up, right?"

The words of the late Mr. Tuarek Narkime are a true story today experienced by the Amungme Tribe as the eldest owners of Nemangkawi. 

It is true that in the end all the gold, copper, silver, uranium and lime came out of the Amungsa land and the results were never known for certain by the Amungme tribe, especially the large Magal and Nartkime clans. Tuarek Narkime provides a picture of the future of the Amungme generation based on the results of their wealth in their own ancestral land. It is true that Amungme only received rain of tears of blood mixed with waste rock dust on its golden land, but rain of gold, silver, copper, uranium and lime occurred in foreign lands. 

Congratulations on commemorating the theft of the Amungme-Mimike tribe's customary rights in Papua.

To be continued...

Markus Haluk

ULMWP Executive Secretary

Author 

1. Suing Freeport as a Way to Resolve the Papua Conflict (2015)

2. Crimes against Humanity, Freeport Ecological Crimes and Human Rights Violations Degeuwo Paniai (2023)