Army Link To Militant Unrest

John Martinkus

Jayapura, Papua -- The border between the Indonesian province of Papua and Papua New Guinea has become a no-go area for Indonesian police and human rights workers, according to human rights and independence groups.

The groups say the border is home to Indonesian army-run training camps for Islamic militants and Papuan militia groups.

They say the militant groups are being used by the Indonesian Army's special forces, Kopassus, to foment conflict between Christian Papuans and Muslim settlers from elsewhere in Indonesia. 

According to Lawrence Mehui from the pro-independence Papuan Presidium Council, Kopassus had built four training camps in border areas, just 40 kilometres from the provincial capital, Jayapura.

He recently completed a report on the activity for the council and said that since last November Kopassus had conducted meetings in villages to recruit people. He said that in January, Kopassus began recruiting people in the large transmigrant settlements around the town of Arso, south of Jayapura. "There is a direct connection between the Islamic groups and the military because all the
weapons used are military standard," Mr Mehui said.

Johannes Bonay, director of the human rights group Elsham, said the situation had deteriorated with the formation by Kopassus of what are called operational support groups, recruited from Laskar Jihad Islamic militants and local Papuans.

Mr Bonay's wife and daughter were seriously wounded on December 28 when unidentified gunmen ambushed the vehicle they were travelling in between the border posts of Papua and PNG. An Indonesian police investigation team that went to the border on January 1 was also shot at and forced to leave.

Since then Elsham had been unable to carry out investigations in the area and Mr Bonay said he had received death threats.

A preliminary police investigation identified the Indonesian military as being in the area when the shooting occurred.

"If we analyse the reports made by the people and the investigation made by the police, we can divine that Kopassus is behind this," Mr Bonay said. Elsham was among the first to blame the military for the ambush on August 31 last year that killed two Americans and one Indonesian, employees of the Freeport gold and copper mine.

Elsham has tracked the arrival of Laskar Jihad in Papua over the past two years, beginning around the western town of Sorong where 12 training camps, guarded by the military, were identified by Elsham investigations last year.

Sorong is only nine hours by boat from the Indonesian island of Ambon and as the sectarian conflict there subsided last year, 3000 Laskar Jihad members were reported travelling to Papua.

Last Friday a Pakistani national was arrested in Sorong in possession of 10 explosive devices, raising fears that the Laskar Jihad had international connections.

The arrest was just one more incident in a string involving weapons and explosive devices in Sorong that began in 2001.

The establishment of Laskar Jihad and militia training camps on the border has increased clashes with Free Papua Movement fighters.