By : Yowar Matulessy )*
The application of positive law turns out to be able to bring about progress and prosperity for all Papuan people without exception and bring about very equal principles of justice there. So far, the Government has continued to strive to intensify various things to further encourage progress and prosperity for the Papuan people.
One step that will further encourage progress and prosperity in Papua is the implementation of positive law because the consequences are much clearer, thereby minimizing the possibility of violations occurring that result in security instability.
The General Secretary of the Indonesian National Sports Committee (KONI) Papua, who also served as the Papuan Traditional Council, George Weyasu encouraged that if a conflict occurs, efforts should be made to resolve it using positive law rather than customary law.
This is not without reason, because the traditional solution turns out to be completely ineffective in stopping the problem. Because, in fact there are attempts to resolve a conflict using a customary law approach, but it turns out that the conflict continues to recur and does not end.
In fact, victims continue to appear as a result of this conflict. Therefore, to be able to truly uphold law and justice, positive law is the answer, so that action takes place and there is a deterrent effect so that similar conflicts do not occur again.
Likewise, the Head of the Papua Women’s Empowerment, Child Protection and Family Planning Service, Yosephine Wandosa, also believes that implementing customary law by paying fines often does not provide a sense of justice for victims.
If a case of violence occurs, especially if the victim is a woman or child in Papua, usually the solution is to use customary law by paying compensation to the victim.
In fact, it is actually very clear that from a positive law perspective, this does not at all negate the criminal acts committed by the perpetrators. If there are still parties who think that if the perpetrator has paid the customary law fine to the victim, then the case of violence or whatever they have committed cannot continue according to criminal law, this is clearly wrong.
While there are still efforts to resolve cases of violence but prioritizing customary fines, it turns out that this does not have any deterrent effect on the perpetrators.
In fact, such cases still frequently occur in the area nicknamed Bumi Cenderawasih because in principle it seems as if the perpetrators assume that if they have paid the customary fine for the case they committed, then the legal action will stop and not continue.
For this reason, law enforcement agencies should be much braver in processing perpetrators of criminal acts in any form, especially if the cases relate to women and children.
So that it can give the victim concerned the confidence to look at life for the better. Even though the perpetrator has paid a fine to the victim, this does not mean that the criminal case is lost or stopped.
With the customary law method in the form of fines, it is as if women or children who are victims of violence in any form cannot do anything at all if the perpetrator has paid the customary fine, then the legal handling of the case can just stop like that.
This fact, which seems to take the law very lightly and lightly, in fact still exists in the Land of Papua. In fact, the impact or consequences of implementing customary law in the form of fines, not only will not have a deterrent effect and will only underestimate positive law.
However, there is another major impact that will be felt by all Papuan people, namely the obstruction of progress and welfare of the local community. How could it not be, because usually they take the fines from village funds, which are actually money for the purposes of building and improving the welfare of the community.
Instead of advancing and prospering, the village funds that the Government provides often become an effort to pay fines due to the application of customary law so that Papua’s development efforts are greatly hampered.
On the other hand, Assistant I for General Government for the Regional Secretary (Setda) of Jayapura Regency, Elphina Situmorang said that the allocation of village funds (ADD) or village funds is actually quite large so that every program and activity should undergo monitoring by the Village Community Empowerment Service.
The Jayapura Regency Government (Pemkab) also hopes that all village heads and traditional village heads will be able to wisely manage the 2024 Village Fund budget, which is worth up to IDR 120 billion.
Therefore, the actual application of positive law is something that is able to bring about progress and prosperity for all Papuan people without exception, including bringing justice. Because if customary law continues by implementing a fine system, it will only eat up village funds which are actually useful for advancing the Land of Papua, so that development efforts will be hampered.
)* The author is a Papuan student living in Manado