COMMISSIONON HUM AN RIGHTS Sub-commission on the Promotion and Protection or' Human Riches Workint: Group on Indigenous Populations Twenty-third session 1S-22 July 2005 Item -(bi of the provisionai agenda Principal thème: "indigenous peoples and the international and domestic protection of rradinonal knowledge". Oral statement pronounced by: Ghazali Ohorella B ANC S A AD AT ALIFURU Distinguish Mr Cha:r. Members of the Working Group, îndieenous brothers and sisters, Ladies and Gentlemen, From Maluku the ancestral grounds of the Alifunis and through me as an Anai Atifuru I ha'.e the honour to bring you warm fraternal greetings of my people the indigenous Aiifuru people and salute you with our traditional national greetings.... MES A\ The A! if unis are a people with their own nch traditional eustomary law and a go'.erning System that dated back since time immémorial. The traditional customarv law. called the adat istiadat, régulâtes, provides and protects. The cultural héritage is the core in the existence ofthe Alifurus. The adat not only régulâtes but also guaranîees the intemal bonding of the Alifunis and the identity of every one of them not onlv as an îndividual but also as a people. To the Alifurus adat means more than oniy un\\ ritten rules, it means the conduct of and attitude to life. Equally important is also the relation ofthe indigenous Alïfuru to their land. The Aiifuru people believe that the land is a right given to them by God {Upu Lanite). In this right lies the unity as an îndividual, family, tribe. and village community with the land. In the adat lies not only their origin. their birth grounds, and their rights but also their obligations. The adat istiadat or traditional customary law is the basis for a balanced existence within the Alifunis but especially also the harmony between the Aiifuru and his alam. Alain is his immédiate surroundings, the environment, the nature and everything that surrounds his being. The cultural héritage ofthe Alifunis is predominantly through oral transmission. The kepatas or traditional songs would transmit the history of the Aiifuru, accompanied only by the tifa. a traditional drum that symbolizes the beating of the heart of Mother ALIF History in a Nutmeg shell of the indigenous AUFURU people from MALUKU issued by; Bangsa Adat Aiifuru With headquarters in Musa Ina, Maluku Email: [email protected] lrnernational address: z'o P û.Box 11432 1001 GK Amsterdam The Netherlands TeL'fax: 00 31 516- 513593 Maiuku The AlifUru people The Indigenous ALIFURU people are the original inhabitants Language, appearance and culture of the Aiifuru peopie of MALUKU, the Moluccan islands. bear simiiarities to the peoples of the Pacific. The Alifurus like The Maiuku archipelago consist s of 999 islands and is the Papuans and the Aboriginals from Australia belong to situated between the Philippines, Australia, Easî Timor and the Melaneslan race. West Papua. Characteristics of the Melanesians are: brown to dark The larges) Moluccan islands are Halmahera, Ceram and brown skin color, curly to coarse hair and flat nose. While Buru, îollowed by the smaller islands of Ternate. Ambon, their language and culture are close io the natives of New Kei, Aiu and Tanirnbar. Zealand (Maori's), Hawaii, Samoa etc. Furthermore there are numeious smaller islands and aïolis, some inhabited others uninhabited. The ALIFURUS are semi nomadic tribes people that lived of hunting, fishing and the cultivation of spices. There are two main tribal divisions, the Pata SIWA and the Pata LIMA. Before invaded by western colonialists merchants from China and Arabia came to Maiuku to trade for the spices. The legendary name of "Sp/ce Islands'' for Maiuku dated from that fime. The mosf famous spices are: nufmeg, doves, cinnamon and pepper. The main or traditional food of the ALIFURUS is the sago that is derived from the sago free. From the sago tree cornes also fhe sageru that is brewed to an alcoholic drink. The Aiifuru people lived from hunting, fishing and cultivation of spices. The mosf famous spices from Maiuku are nufmeg, cinnamon, cloves and pepper. Before invaded by western colonialism, merchants from China and Arabia came to Maiuku fo trade for the spices. Our legendary name of 'the Spice Islands" originaied from that time. 2 The Adat Pata Siwa, Pata Lima The cultural héritage is the core in the existence of the ALIFURUS, and the adat, traditional law, the core of the In Maiuku ail believe that every Moluccan originated from cuiiural heriJage. the main island of Ceram. The adat not only régulâtes but also guarantees the internai bonding of the ALIFURUS and the identity of each of them Ceram is divided info two régions, fhe Alune and the not only as an individual but also as a people. Wemale and in two languages with the same names. To Ihe ALIFURU adai means more tban onJy unwritten fuies. If means the conducl of and attitude to life. The Aiune is considered from the Pata SIWA division, while The strength of such an internai binding is expressed in the Wemale is from the Pata LIMA division. so calied 'Pela'. Every isiand and/or région in Maiuku acknowledge thaï Pela is a relationship or brotherhood thaï exisfed (from time they belong to eifher the Pata SIWA or the Pata LIMA immémorial) and still exists today between two or more division. village communities. The norms and vaiues in fhe Pela relationship ru le the According to some siudy if is revealed that Maiuku has over conduct of the ALIFURU fowards one and another. 130 dialects derived from the Alune and Wemale Mutual assistance is an obligation and the Pela rnust dispiay languages. Of those 129 are living dialects and at least 3 correct behaviour fowards one another. are extinct. The forbidden infer-marriage could be regaraed as one of The lingua franco is the Melaju Pasar, a Malay Polynesian the most important norms in the Pela relationship. language mix. Equally important as the mutual binding is also tne relation This language is imposed by the Dutch colonialism as the of fhe indigenous Aiifuru fo their land one and only language to communicate with. The Aiifuru people believe that the land is a right given to them by God (Upu Lanîte). In this right lies the unity as an With fhe formation of the artificial enfity of Indonesia in indivîdual family, tribe, village community with the land. This 1950 also a new language has been created and calied is their origin, their birth grounds. Bahasa Indonesia. a language that is almo^i totally derived from the Melaju Pasar. The "adat" or traditional law is the basis for a balanced existence within the Aliturus but especially also the harmony between the indigenous Aiifuru and their environment the nature. 4 Republiek Maiuku Selatan Due to lack of internafionai attention, medicine and ln the 15th century western colonial powers carne to the weapons we were forced to change into guérilla warfare Moluccas and fought each other for control of the Spice and underground movements since i960. Islands. Aller England, Spain and Portugal Holland finally own and colonized Maiuku since 1599. Indonesia conquered large parts of fhe Moluccas and put them under Indonesian milifary occupation. On December 27, 1949, after 350 years of colonialism the Until this day fhe Republic of South Moluccas is under Dutch Government fransferred fhe sovereignty to fhe Uniled military occupation by Indonesia. States of Indonesia, a fédération of 16 staies. However, shortly hereafter one of the 16 fédéral states, Présent Situation namely the Java based Republic of Indonesia under • Javanization fhey teached us the AlifUru people to Sukarno, started to abolish the Fédération by force. think, act and behave like a Javanese. • Transmigration by thousands poor Javanese people Aware of the imminent danger and conscious of Sukarno's had been broughf over from Java fo the Moluccas. urge for expansionism fhe Moluccan people demanded • Thousands of Jihad warriors from oufside Maiuku were from their governing council to take immédiate steps to broughf info our country (from 1999 until now this safeguard their Freedom and Right of Self Détermination. procès is still going on) backed up by thousands of And so on April 25, 1950, the Republic of South Moluccas Indonesians soldiers heavily armed, they killed fhe was proclaimed conform the international Agreements that AlifUru people and desfroyed and robbed their were signed beiween fhe Dutch Government and ail belongings. parties concerned and to which also the United Nations • Ecological dissaster is at hand in Maiuku. were co-signatories. Multinational companies in coopéra ting with The Government of the Republic of South Moluccas Indonesias governnieni eut the frees of our forest, govemed without any disfurbance the Country. Our hundreds of acres of forest dissapeared. Our forests Constitution was decided upon. which exisf for thousands of years must take place for On August 17, 1950, approximately more than 4 monlhs their sawahs (rice fields). Indonesia also sold oursea after the Moluccan Déclaration of Independence, Sukarno to other countries (Japan, Taiwan), with their trawlers proclaimed the Unitarian State of Indonesia. they robbed our sea and destroyed fhe ecological balance. Dutch scientisfs in cooperating with some And on September 3rd the Indonesians troops came to Indonesians universities and funded by the Dutch aggress and invade the Republic of South Moluccas. govemment already make a study whether the For more than len years the Moluccan people fought an Banda sea can be used to dump nuclear wasfe. open armed struggle againsi Indonesia. 6 .