Financial Times
(London)
Police ordered
'shoot to kill' in
Indonesian
separatist riots
By Tom McCawley in
Jakarta
Published: October
8 2000 16:57GMT |
Last Updated:
October 8 2000
18:11GMT
Indonesian police
in the province of
West Papua were on
Sunday given
shoot-to-kill
orders to curb
pro-independence
riots that left up
to 30 dead at the
weekend.
Saleh Saaf, the
national police
spokesman, said
thousands of
pro-independence
tribesmen had
killed settlers in
the area of
Wamena, some 2,200
miles north-east
of Jakarta, the
Indonesian
capital. Brigadier
General Saaf said
the
pro-independence
gangs had fled to
the hills and the
area was now
quiet.
Riots erupted on
Friday after
police, under
orders from
Jakarta, removed a
independence flag
raised by
separatists.
Abdurrahman Wahid,
the Indonesian
president, has
allowed the
independence flag
to be raised as
long as it is
lower than the
national flag.
Local gangs, many
of them comprising
tribesmen from
surrounding hill
areas, then turned
on migrants from
other parts of
Indonesia who live
in Wamena.
Musiran
Darmosuwito,
acting governor of
the province,
confirmed that as
many as 30 people,
mostly migrants,
were feared dead.
Up to 40 people
were injured.
A spokesman for
the Papua
Presidium, a
pro-independence
umbrella group,
said the removal
of the flag had
upset people
locally. "The
people are angry
and
frightened,"
said Willy
Mandowen.
Tensions have
been building in
West Papua, also
known as Irian
Jaya, for months
since a convention
of activists in
May said they
would press for
independence. A
low-level
insurgency, fought
in West Papua's
thick forests and
jungles, has
simmered for
decades, but
President Wahid
recently ruled out
independence.
West Papua was
annexed into
Indonesia in 1963
after diplomatic
pressure was put
on the
Netherlands, the
former colonial
ruler. A United
Nations-supervised
ballot in 1969
resulted in it
becoming part of
Indonesia.
Activists have
described the
result of the
ballot as unfair.
Tensions have been
aggravated by a
"transmigration"
policy implemented
by the government
of former
president Suharto,
which saw farmers
from the islands
of Java and Bali
being moved to
less-populated
areas.
Immigrants'
domination of
commercial
activities in the
province generates
resentment among
its population.
The province is
also home to a
giant copper and
gold mine operated
by Freeport
McMoran Indonesia.
Local activists
accuse the
government in
Jakarta of
siphoning off the
province's mineral
wealth while
providing little
in return.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tempo Interaktif
Wamena Riots in
Irian Jaya
Province:
Wamena Calls for
Volunteer Doctors
9 Oct 2000 17:13:3
WIB
TEMPO Interaktif,
Jakarta: The
Jayawijaya
regional
government in
Irian Jaya asked
doctors to
voluntarily treat
riot victims at
the Wamena General
Hospital. Regional
government
secretary, Drs.
Yason Mabuay, said
in Wamena that the
medical volunteers
are urgently
needed to assist
the hospital's
only two doctors
with 41 riot
victims and scores
of other patients.
Yason made his
comments to Antara
in Wamena on
Sunday, October 8.
The bloody riots
in Wamena, the
capital of
Jayawijaya
district, raged
from Friday to
Saturday, October
6 to 7. As earlier
reported by TEMPO
Interaktif, the
violence erupted
on Friday at 7:00
a.m. after
security forces
from the Mobile
Brigade (Brimob)
and the Army
Strategic Reserves
Command (Kostrad)
hauled down the
West Papua
separatist
movement flag,
=93The Morning
Star. Papuan
security forces
opposed the police
action and a
conflict broke
out.
According to Yason,
since the
beginning of the
Wamena riots,
eight doctors,
including two
medical
specialists, have
fled to Jayapura.
Wamena is 500
kilometers from
Jayapura, the
capital of Irian
Jaya Province.
Despite reports of
large groups in
several places,
conditions in
Wamena appear to
be returning to
normal. The Chief
of the 1702/Jayawijaya
District Military
Command, Lt. Col.
(Inf) Agus Sularso,
announced on Radio
Republik Indonesia
of Wamena station
that the situation
was stabilizing
and that all
non-Papuan
residents in
Wamena had no
reason to panic.
Agus also called
on Papuan citizens
in Wamena to stop
all acts of
anarchy and return
to their
homes to avoid
further bloodshed.
Meanwhile, the
Wamena riots on
Friday and
Saturday left 30
people dead and 41
badly injured.
Officials had
buried all of the
dead victims in
the Sinakma
Village Community
Cemetery on
Saturday
afternoon.
However, according
to Antara news
reports in Wamena,
the victim totals
would probably
rise because
officials have yet
to receive reports
from outlying
areas.
Additionally, some
families have
missing family
members who may
also be riot
victims.
The Jayawijaya
Police Station
reported the
arrest of 59
rioters. Fifteen
of the detainees
are being held as
suspects, but the
remaining 44 were
released for lack
of evidence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Monday, October 9
2:36 PM SGT
Shops re-open as
calm returns to
riot-torn
Indonesian city
JAKARTA, Oct 9 (AFP)
Frightened
settlers began
returning to their
homes in
Indonesia's remote
Irian Jaya
province Monday,
three days after
riots there left
30 people dead and
45 wounded,
officials said.
Police arrested
another 20 people
in the mountain
town of Wamena on
Monday after
detaining 15 as
suspects on Sunday
and releasing 44
who were arrested
earlier, Irian
Jaya police chief
Brigadier General
Sylvanus Wenas
said.
"They're all
native to Wamena.
We're charging the
15 suspects in
relation to the
riot," Wenas
told AFP by phone
from the capital
Jayapura.
Clashes over the
forced removal of
separatist flags
erupted between
troops and
pro-independence
Papua Taskforce
members on Friday
morning.
Police had fired
on the Taskforce
members, killing
two and wounding
19, human rights
monitors said.
Enraged militants
later turned their
anger on migrant
settlers from
other parts of
Indonesia, whom
they suspected of
hiding scared
officers, and
attacked them with
poison arrows,
axes, scythes and
knives, police
said.
Staff at Wamena
General Hospital
said six native
Irianese and 24
migrant settlers
died in the
day-long violence,
and 45 people,
including four
police officers
were wounded.
More than a
thousand settlers
who had been
seeking refuge in
local military and
police compounds
since Friday's
unrest began
returning home
Monday, an
assistant to the
local military
commander told AFP
by phone.
"They have
begun heading
home. Warungs (foodstalls)
and shops are
opening
today," the
officer, who
declined to give
his name, said.
Commercial
activity had
virtually ceased
over the weekend
as residents
stayed indoors or
sheltered in
military and
police compounds,
local media
reported.
"Everything
is secure in
Wamena now,"
Wenas said.
A doctor from a
foreign missionary
service arrived at
Wamena's hospital
on Monday to
assist the two
doctors left
there, Theo, a
paramedic at the
hospital told AFP.
Four non-native
doctors had fled
the hospital for
the capital
Jayapura on
Sunday,
complaining they
had no guarantee
of safety, he
said, leaving just
two doctors to
deal with the
wounded.
"They left to
find protection
because in this
situation they
felt scared like
all the other
settlers and they
wanted to avoid
difficulties,"
Theo said by phone
from Wamena.
Six native
Irianese patients
were still being
treated for
gunshot wounds at
the hospital, he
said.
Nine patients had
been airlifted to
Jayapura for
emergency
treatment and 26
patients had asked
to go home on
Sunday, he added.
Four wounded
policemen were
also being treated
in Jayapura.
The Papuans have
long resented
Jakarta's policy
of inundating the
province with
settlers.
Separatists in
Irian Jaya have
demanded Jakarta
recognise its
independence,
claiming a United
Nations-conducted
"act of free
choice" in
1969, which led to
the former Dutch
territory becoming
part of Indonesia,
was
unrepresentative.
Last December
Indonesian
President
Abdurrahman Wahid
said he would
allow the
separatist Morning
Star to be flown,
but only if it was
alongside and
below the
Indonesian flag.
Wahid had flatly
ruled out
independence for
the province of
some 2.5 million
people, most of
whom are
Melanesian
Christians.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tempo Magazine
Regions NO. 32/XXIX/October
9 - 15, 2000
Wamena
Brigadier General
S.Y. Wenas, chief
of the Irian Jaya
Police, really
meant what he said
when he threatened
to haul down the
Morning Star flag,
the symbol of a
free Papua. Last
Friday, National
Police Mobile
Brigade (Brimob)
and Army Strategic
Reserves Command (Kostrad)
troops clashed
with locals after
the police
forcefully removed
the Morning Star
flying in front of
the Wamena cinema
in Irian Jaya. But
locals and members
of the Papuan
Defense Force
replied by setting
up a volunteer
guard.
Because neither
side is prepared
to lose, violence
cannot be avoided.
The locals
attacked, guns
were fired and
people died.
According to Yance,
a security guard
from the Papuan
Council Task
Force, by Saturday
night more than 30
people had died
and 40 were
wounded, including
three Brimob
soldiers. Many of
the deaths were
due not only to
the clashes but
also growing
hatred of the
newcomers.
"What it has
come down to is
that if you see
someone with
straight hair, you
either throw a
spear at him or
shoot, said a
guard at the
security post.
This has resulted
in new arrivals
from Java and
Sulawesi fleeing
in large numbers
to military posts
and the police to
ask for
protection.
By the end of last
week, the
situation in
Wamena was still
tense. Roads were
blockaded and the
airport could not
be used because
locals had
gathered on the
runway. Many
foreigners were
immediately
evacuated to the
nearby Papua New
Guinea border by a
plane belonging to
missionaries.
According to Yance,
it is estimated
that the death
toll is much
larger. "The
capital of the
Jayawijaya regency
is now under the
control of the
military, but in
the outskirts
Papuan forces have
the upper
hand."
The military and
the local
government have
held an emergency
meeting to deal
with security
issues, but not
one member of the
Papuan Presidium
attended the
meeting. According
to the presidium
chairman, Theys H.
Eluay, the
incident started
because the police
used force to take
down the Papuan
flag. According to
him, President
Abdurrahman Wahid
had given
permission for the
Morning Star to be
flown instead of
the Indonesian
national flag.
"Because of
this, we will sue
the local agencies
for the grief they
have caused the
Papuan
people," he
insisted.
However, Kapolda
Wenas supported
the action of the
local agencies.
"What my men
did in the field
was absolutely
correct, because
previously there
was a conversation
previously about
the lowering of
the flag," he
declared. The
police arrested a
total of 59
people, who were
accused of causing
damage. A Brimob
company was
parachuted in on
Saturday to help
maintain the
peace.
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