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Selasa, 29 Januari 2002, 19:28 WIB
Jakarta, SelasaMenkeh dan HAM Prof. Dr Yusril Ihza Mahendra mengatakan, soal Perlindungan Saksi sebenarnya telah diatur dalam UU perlindungan HAM, hanya tentang teknis tata caranya yang diatur dalam Peraturan Pemerintah."Dalam UU Pengadilan HAM telah ada yang mengatur tentangPerlindungan Saksi, hanya tentang tata caranya yang diatur dalamPeraturan Pemerintah (PP)," kata Yusril di Jakarta, Selasa."Begitu juga mengenai pembayaran kompensasi, restitusi dan jugarehabilitasi itu sudah diatur di dalam UU hanya yang diperlukanadalah misalnya berapa jumlahnya, tata caranya bagaimana itu yangdiatur dalam Peraturan Pemerintah," tegasnya.
Jadi menurut Yusril, bukan berarti bahwa Peraturan Pemerintahitu mengatur tentang Perlindungan dan Saksi, tidak, karena itu sudah diatur dalam UU, jadi hanya mengenai teknis dan tata caranya."Draftnya sekarang sudah disusun dan itu juga nantinya akandibahas bersama dengan melibatkan pihak kepolisian, TNI, Kejaksaan Agung, dan sebagainya. Bagaimana sih tata cara pengamanannya itu," ujarnya.Hal itu dimaksudnya agar nantinya, jalannya peradilan HAM itudapat berjalan seperti yang diharapkan.Oleh karena itu diharapkan sebelum dilaksanakan peradilan HAM, Peraturan Pemerintah tentang tata cara Perlindungan Saksi danKorban dan juga tentang tata cara Pembayaran restitusi, kompensasi, sudah dapat disiapkan.
Tentang kesiapan penggelaran pengadilan HAM, Yusril mengharapkanmasyarakat tidak apriori menanggapinya.(Ant/jy)
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January 25, 2002 - Indonesia uses military solution to stop
separatists
By Simon Montlake - Special to The Christian Science Monitor
JAKARTA, INDONESIA - The recent deaths of two independence leaders, plus increasing harassment against activists and civil leaders, suggest that the Indonesian government is using the US-led counterterrorism campaign to justify its ongoing efforts to stamp out separatists.
In Aceh, Abdullah Syafii, commander of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), died Tuesday in a gun battle with Indonesian troops, who tracked him down at his jungle camp. Analysts say the killing is a serious blow to
GAM, which has been fighting for 25 years to win independence.
The latest military push comes as US and other foreign governments are leaning on Indonesia to find militants accused of plotting with terror groups linked to Al
Qaeda.
Despite a string of recent arrests in Singapore and Malaysia that point to the involvement of radical groups in Indonesia, the government has tended to tread softly for fear of provoking its majority Muslim
population.
"From a military point of view, [Syafii's death] is a significant success," says
Saad, who now heads a human rights foundation. "But will it contribute to a permanent solution to the problems of
Aceh?
I don't think so.
"Analysts say the military has sought to paint Aceh, which has a conservative Muslim tradition and whose rebels are often portrayed as militant
Islamists, as an antiterror crusade.
"It's in Indonesia's interests to say that any Muslim militants are essentially the same as Al
Qaeda," says Harold Crouch, local director of the International Crisis Group, a think
tank.
In West Papua, police are investigating the November abduction and murder of Theys
Eluay, a pro-independence politician. The local police chief says that rogue troops may have been involved in the abduction, which occurred on a road dotted with military checkpoints.
The government is assembling an independent inquiry team.
Activists claim Eluay was murdered by special-forces soldiers known as Kopassus which, under ex-President
Suharto, were accused of operating death squads in trouble spots in
Indonesia.
Although Syafii and his fighters lived by the sword, the clamp-down on separatists hasn't only been in the theater of war. Police have used antisubversion laws to jail activists who advocate independence for
Aceh, and are currently pursuing a similar case against three members of an Irian Jaya group that was originally sponsored by ex-President Abdurrahman
Wahid.
The Indonesian Army has increased troop numbers in Aceh over the past year and wants to install a special military command in the province, a move opposed by human rights activists."The space for human rights and democracy is getting narrower in Indonesia," says Hasballah
Saad, an Achenese who served as minister of human rights under former President
Wahid. Since President Megawati replaced Mr. Wahid in July, she has stepped up the rhetoric against separatists, telling troops to worry less about human rights abuses and get the job done.
Aceh and West Papua have benefited from new autonomy laws promising a greater share of revenues. Aceh's independence calls largely stem from human rights abuses by the military, and resentment over the sliver of its wealth that Jakarta gave it after exploiting its natural resources.
BBC Worldwide Monitoring - January 21, 2002;
Source: Kompas Cyber Media web site, Jakarta, in Indonesian 21 Jan 02
Jayapura: Esau Yoro Kawai has been elected as ondoafi (chief of the Sentani ethnic group, Jayapura) for the period 2002-2007 to replace the late Theys Hiyo Eluay who was abducted and murdered on 10 November 2001. The election of Esau Kawai was conducted at a Convention of the Sentani Traditional Community (LMA), in Sentani on Saturday (19 January). The task of the Sentani LMA in the future will be focused on the implementation of traditional rights and the development of community welfare.
The leader of the Sentani LMA for the period 2002-2007, as appointed at the convention, would not involve himself especially in politics as had his predecessor, Theys Hiyo Eluay. The Sentani LMA would be more focused on the implementation of traditional rights for the Sentani people, such as land rights and the development of community welfare. His role would be as consultant andcoordinator for community
development. This mission and vision statement was designed for the development of special autonomy in Papua. It did not rule out the possibility of Sentani LMA officials holding seats in the Papuan People's Council (MRP) which would be formed in the near future in parallel with the implementation of special autonomy in Papua
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Source: The Tablet (UK) - Date: January 19TH, 2002.
The territory of East Timor, with its largely Catholic population, successfully claimed its independence from Indonesia. Now West Papua, whose people are overwhelmingly Christian, is trying to follow suit.
LYING ON its side in the middle of the narrow street that leads to They Eluay's house, the rusty battered barrel serves as a "checkpoint". Sitting listlessly in the shade, out of the stifling tropical heat, a few metres away, the security guard, bare-chested and wearing a black beret, jumps to attention as I
approached.
"You want to see the President," he says, his voice infused by a sudden rush of energy. Rolling the barrel away, he ushers me
through.
Theys Eluay, the leader of the West Papuan Presidium, the ruling groups of the pro-independence movement, was holding court at his home at Sentani, 50 kilometres south of West Papua's capital, Jayapura.
Rows of seats were lined up in front under a plastic canopy. Scattered among them, a few people were eating from a grand banquet set out is some splendour in the dining room. Lying back on a chair, Eluay, with his white frizzy hair and goatee beard, cut an avuncular figure. In keeping with the tradition of Papuan chiefs from whom he traced his descent, he ate separately from his guests. Not that there were many guests. Only a handful had turned up for the occasion, reflecting the isolation that the independence movement he led was feeling. Eluay, and three other leaders of the Presidium were facing trial for seeking independence for West Papua, the vast jungle-covered territory of 435, 000 square kilometres, that is Indonesia's most eastern
territory.
"We offered the hand of friendship to Jakarta, but they have brushed it aside," he said. "We have offered dialogue, and they have answered with violence.
They don't know anything else - only violence."Prophetic words. A few weeks after this interview, Theys' body was found in a ravine near the New Guinea border. The previous day, Theys - who maintained good relations with Indonesian officials - had attended an Indonesian army ceremony. After he left, his car was stopped by a group of men with "non-Papuan features", according to his driver who made a call on his mobile phone to Theys' wife before
disappearing.
At the funeral in Sentani tens of thousands lined the streets. As the coffin was lowered into the grave crowds sang hymns and showered the grave with flowers. And several thousand people marched to the main police station in Jayapura shouting, "We want justice.
"Police officials asserted that Eluay died of natural causes, but according to doctors' reports he had been strangled-and few Papuans doubt who was responsible. As Thaha Al-Hamid, another Presidium leader said, the dead man's greatest enemy had been the Jakarta
government.
Given Indonesia's dismal record of ignoring the crimes of its security forces, the chance of the perpetrators being brought to justice is slim. Indeed Eluay may have been the most prominent victim to date of a TNI campaign to destroy West Papua's fledgling independence movement. With world attention focused on Afghanistan, the army feels it can deal freely with independence movements there and in Aceh, the oil rich province in north
Sumatra.
Conflicts in these two far flung areas could yet prove a serious threat to the unity of Indonesia, the world's fifth largest nation, argues Carmel Budiardjo of Tapol, the Indonesian Human Rights Campaign, points out that the people in these regions, "have strong historic reasons for challenging their inclusion within Indonesia." They are alienated, she says, by bitter experiences of prolonged human rights and the theft of their natural resources. Now they have been inspired by East Timor's rejection of Indonesia.For centuries, West Papua had been a backwater of the Dutch East Indies colony, most of which became the Republic of Indonesia in 1949.
Holland, however, retained the territory, arguing that the 800,000 Melanesian Papuans, who are overwhelmingly Christians, had little in common historically, ethnically or culturally with the largely Muslim Malay peoples of Indonesia. Instead Papuans were prepared for
statehood.
But backed by the US, Indonesia claimed sovereignty over West Papua. In 1962, under considerable American pressure, the Dutch signed the New York Agreement bringing the colony under Jakarta's control. In 1969, to ostensibly comply with UN wishes, Indonesia organised a so-called "Act of Free Choice", where 1,022 hand picked tribal leaders were bullied into voting for unity with Indonesia. Although UN observers were present at this vote and noted the intimidation, the UN General Assembly, anxious to wash its hand of the issue, voted to recognise the
result.
Indonesia's rule in West Papua has been a sorry tale of cruelty, violence, dispossession, discrimination, and exploitation. Amnesty International estimates that over 100,000 died in the scattered rebellions which broke out after 1969.
Against an enemy composed of tribesmen armed with spears, bows and arrows, Indonesia carried out large-scale massacres and aerial bombing using chemical
weapons.
Papuans are the poorest of the poor in Indonesia: their life expectancy is only 42 years. In health, education, and employment, they lag well behind other Indonesians, despite Papua's vast natural wealth in copper, oil, gold, gas and timber. The Freeport McMoran copper mine in Timika in the western highlands - the company is based in New Orleans - earned $1.9 billion last year, and paid $130 million in taxes to Jakarta. Little of this finds its way back to the local
people.
What interests the Indonesian government, pro-independence leaders told me, is only Papua's resources. According to Carmel Budiardjo, "for the elite in Jakarta, Papua is a faraway place populated by ungrateful Stone Age people. But unlike East Timor, it is not seen as a burden. Quite the opposite - its vast natural wealth helps to pay the
bills."
And Indonesians from western islands such as Java and Sulawesi have flooded in and now form 40% of the two million population, dominating the economy and government, furthering alienating Papuans. Local human rights groups expressed to me their frustration at Jakarta's development, which they see as a form of
exploitation.
After the downfall of the Indonesian head of state, General Suharto, in 1997, his successors, Habibie and Abdul Rahman Wahid, acknowledged the grievances felt by Indonesia's outer islands, most notably Aceh and West Papua. In the following year, however, Indonesian soldiers massacred 100 peaceful pro-independence demonstrators on Biak island off the north coast. It was then that Theys Eluay, who had been an MP in the ruling Golkar Party for 15 years, changed sides and supported
independence.
In July 1998 the West Papuan Presidium was founded, and opted for independence through non-violent means.
No other goal would do, Eluay told me: "We do not want to be part of Indonesia any more. We are a separate people with our own culture and
identity.
"Under Wahid, Papuans were allowed to fly their own flag, the Morning Star, which had been a criminal offence under Suharto. Eluay and other Papuan leaders were also able to meet the reformist Indonesian President to make the case for independence. Although Wahid rejected independence, he nevertheless supported
dialogue.
But the Indonesian army, which sees itself as the guarantor of national unity, viewed the Presidium's progress with alarm. On October 6th, 2000, police shot dead three Papuans at a Morning Star flag raising ceremony in Wamena. Enraged Papuans attacked Indonesian shops and houses killing 37 people. This served as the green light for a crackdown. After Wamena, Presidium members were arrested including Theys Eluay who was charged with threatening the unity of Indonesia. At the time of his death he was still awaiting
trial. Recently the Presidium appointed lawyers to challenge the legality of the Act of Free Choice, and to lobby for a referendum on independence like the one held in August 1999 in East Timor.
Unlike West Papua, however, East Timor had never been recognised as part of Indonesia, and Jakarta successfully lobbied against having the issue discussed in international
forums.
Now, the new hard-line President, Megawati Sukarnoputri, has stopped all dialogue. Security force numbers have been boosted and repression has increased.
In the western region of Manokwari, thousands have fled their homes and scores were killed after police attacked villagers protesting against timber companies logging on their tribal
lands.
Jakarta has offered West Papua autonomy and a greater share of the revenue from natural resources. Papuan opinions, however, on autonomy were made clear last August when 12 Indonesian MPs visited Wamena to gauge local opinions. Thousands of Papuans surrounded their hotel shouting, "we want independence, we want a free Papua." Police had to rescue the stranded
representatives.
Neither promises of autonomy nor repression nor the murder of moderate leaders like Theys Eluay will lessen Papuan desire for independence, one local human rights activist, John Rumbiak, told me. "So many violations have been suffered by Papuans that they don't believe in any political offer from Jakarta," he declared. The movement in West Papua would continue - and so would the violence, unless there were talks. He pleaded for the international community to put pressure on Indonesia "to enter meaningful dialogue to break the deadlock".
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JAKARTA, Jan 31 (AFP) - Indonesia's army chief admitted Thursday that soldiers may have been involved in the murder of a Papua separatist leader and pledged action against any who were proven guilty.
"It is true that from the existing testimony there are indications towards that (army involvement) but it does not mean that it is certain," General Endriartono Sutarto said.
"The essence is that we have a high commitment to assist the resolution of this case. If there are any personnel involved, we will act against them," Sutarto was quoted by the Detikcom online news service as saying.
Top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said that several members of the armed forces (TNI) will sit on a national commission to probe the murder of Theys Hiyo Eluay in November.
Yudhoyono said the inclusion of TNI representatives in the commission was decided "so that the investigation is not hindered, because there is a TNI unit being investigated in this case."
Many people in Indonesia's easternmost province Papua, including its police chief, its governor and rights activists, have said there are indications that members of the Kopassus special army force had a role in the murder.
Sutarto said the armed forces headquarters would send a military police team to help investigations but gave no details.
Activists in Papua, which was previously known as Irian Jaya, have called for an independent team to be set up to investigate the killing. After questioning at least seven Kopassus members local police admitted they had hit a dead end in their investigation.
Earlier this month Home Affairs Minister Hari Sabarno promised that the military and police would not be represented on the commission.
Eluay was found murdered on November 11. He had been abducted the previous evening by an unidentified group as he drove home from a Heroes' Day celebration hosted by the Kopassus unit in Jayapura.
Eluay's driver escaped and reported the abduction, which he said was carried out by non-Papuan people. He has since disappeared.
A sporadic low-level armed struggle for independence began after the Dutch ceded control of the territory to Indonesia in 1963.
The province was renamed Papua this month under an autonomy law designed to lessen pressure for independence and which also gives it a much greater share of revenues from natural resources.
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AMP Numbay reporting: On Wednesday, 23 January 2002, at 08:00 Papua Time,
It was suspected that intelligence agent arrested him. Most probably, he will be murdered soon.Silas was arrested when he was visiting Kantor Bupati Sentani at Sentani. When he was entering the door, suddenly two people came and held his two arms and dragged him out from the building.
He was arrested with one other person, his name is not mentioned in the report by AMP Numbay.We are deeply concerned that we will be murdered soon. They have killed Theys very easily, and this is normal treatment to Papuans such as Silas and his friend.
Background
Since the Papuans started fighting against Indonesia, Koteka people have been the targets of Indonesian brutalities. They are mostly referred to as the TPN/OPM, armed resistance organisation, not because they are directly affiliated to this outlawed organisation in Indonesia, but mostly just because they are highlanders, they do not know how to defendtheir rights and because most highlanders are culturally militant.So many incidents show that many Koteka people were killed, raped, tortured and some disappeared without trace. All treatments are regarded by Indonesia as legal. There has been no legal defenders defending the rights of these highlanders, except 7 Panel and PDP members who were arrested and then given abolition by Megawati recently.I myself is under the same threat, will not be arrested publicly, but will be taken by the security forces and will be tortured, and killed.
This is a big worry for all Koteka people. The reaction from Koteka Tribal Assembly will be unvoidable. They might react angrily, they might take actions against any non-Papuans all over highlands. This might cause more trouble, particularly in Wamena and Timika.
It will threaten security and peace in West Papua.By providing a lawyer and publicly put pressure on the commanders of police and army in West Papua not to kill more Papuan.
Write to:
CHIEF OF POLICE FOR PAPUA Head of Regional Police Papua
Jl. Sam Ratulangie
No. 8Jayapura, Irian Jaya
Indonesia
MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Menteri Luar Negeri
Jl. Pejambon No.6Jakarta Pusat
Indonesia
Fax: + 62 213805511/360517/363750/
3457782/360541/7245354
Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,
Geneva, Switzerland
Please act before we are late to save one more life of innocent Papuan.
Yours sincerely, AMP Numbay
ELS-HAM, 18 January, 2002
Jayapura One hour after ELS-HAM Papua held a press conference on 18 January announcing an Amnesty International mission to Papua, the ELS-HAM office was visited by two 'intel' agents from the Trikora regional military
command.
The two agents, Sergeant Andre dan Corporal Yanto told a staff member that they wanted to meet the Director of ELS-HAM about the press conference that had just taken place to ask him what hadbeen said at the press
conference.
John Rumbiak, ELS-HAM Supervisor, told the two agents who were not wearing uniforms that the military commander, Major-General Mahidin Simbolon as well as the police, and also the military and police authorities in Jakarta had been officially notified of the Amnesty mission.
Rumbiak told the agents that they should ask the military commander about this. The agents left the office ten minutes
later.
ELS-HAM regards this visit by intel agents as intended just to seek 'confirmation about the AI visit and hopes that the official communications between AI, ELS-HAM and the government authorities and security forces can be seen in a positive light, without raising any suspicions. It is hoped that there will be close collaboration between all sides regarding the AI visit, in the interest of improving the human rights situation in Papua.
JAKARTA, Jan 22 (AFP) - Indonesian soldiers shot dead a woman in a dispute at a logging company in the easternmost province of Papua, a rights activist said
Tuesday. Members of the Kopassus special forces assigned to guard the logging firm opened fire during a dispute Monday with a local man, identified as Martinus Maware, at the company's office, Albert Rumbekwan of the Elsham human rights group
said.
Maware was shot in the leg and rushed to hospital. A treasurer of the company, Lesi Iba, was shot in the mouth and died on the spot, Rumbekwan told The incident happened at Bongko, some 130 kilometers (81 miles) west of the provincial capital Jayapura.
Rumbekwan had no information on the cause of the dispute at the office of PT Wapoga Mutiara
Timber.
He said that so far police had not begun any inquiry. A policeman on duty in Jayapura said no report of the incident had been
received. Armed separatists have been active in the Bongko area.
Rebels killed five Kopassus members in the area in January 2001, causing the deployment of more troops there. Several civilians subsequently went missing or were found dead in the area.Rumbekwan said security forces were restricting movements in the area with even local inhabitants needing passes. He said some 1,000 people from the area had fled to Jayapura in the last few months of last
year.
A sporadic low-level armed struggle for independence began after the Dutch ceded control of the territory to Indonesia in 1963. The province was renamed Papua this month under an autonomy law designed to lessen pressure for independence.
The Jakarta Post November 27, 2001
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Religious leaders in Irian Jaya demanded on Monday that the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) conduct an thorough and objective investigation into the death of independence activist Theys Hiyo Eluay.
In a letter sent to Komnas HAM, a copy of which was made available to The Jakarta Post, they said that the local people had lost trust in the police and military and so they would rely on the commission for the investigation.
"The independent team should investigate possible involvement of all parties we believe had abducted and then murdered the chief of the Papua Presidium Council," the statement said. The petition was signed by Rev. Herman Saud, Chairman of the Papua Indonesian Christian Church Synod; Mgr. Leo Laba Ladjar, the Jayapura Bishop; Zubeir D. Hussein, chief of the Irian Jaya Muslim Ulema Council; and Rev. John Gobay, chairman of the Eastern Indonesian Christian Churches Synod.
Theys was found dead on Nov. 18 near the capital Jayapura close to the Irian Jaya-Papua New Guinea border. He was well-known for his non-violent approach to achieve his goals, in addition to most recently, his rejection of the special autonomy status for Irian Jaya that will be effective as of January next year.
The religious leaders said that they did not want to see any elements of the police and military involved in the independent investigation team. They also reported that witnesses of the murder were being threatened and did not dare to speak the truth to the police or military.
"We have asked the National Police chief to guarantee the witnesses' safety," they said in the statement. "The revelation of Theys' death will become a yard stick for the government's respect for the rights and dignity of Irian people." Suspicion is rife about the involvement of the military in the murder which has sparked anger among Irian people and human rights activists elsewhere. The commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) in Jakarta has openly accused the government of being behind the murder.
Chief of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) Maj. Gen. Amirul Isnaini denied on Monday any involvement. He added that Kopassus would only carry out orders from the military commander. "The military chief had never ordered the murder. As an institution, we know nothing about the murder," Amirul claimed after entertaining the Minister of Defense Matori Abdul Djalil at the Kopassus headquarters in Cijantung, East Jakarta.
Isnaini charged that Komnas HAM and Kontras' allegations that Kopassus had a hand in the affair was baseless. "We (the Kopassus) are such a big organization. Accusing us without any evidence would only be counter productive," he warned ominously.
When asked whether Kopassus was involved in clandestine operations in Papua, Amirul said: "I'm not in a position to tell you about any operations there."
Last week, Kontras pointed a finger at Kopassus after disclosing its findings of secret documents it claimed were prepared by the government at the Home Affairs Ministry on June 8 last year. According to Kontras, the Matoa Document, as the paper was later called, provided a guidelines for an operation targeting pro-independence activists. The meeting, according to Kontras was attended by senior government and military leaders.
Ermaya Suradinata, the former director general for National Integrity and People's Protection who hosted the meeting, confirmed that the gathering did take place but he denied Kontras' claims that the elite army group had planned assassination operations against Irian activists.
"It was true we discussed independence activism but we did not specifically mention names," he said. "We submitted the minutes to the (Home Affairs) ministry and it wasn't followed up."
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JAKARTA, November 26, (AP) -- Calls are increasing Tuesday for an independent investigation into the assassination of a separatist leader in Indonesia's Irian Jaya province after allegations that military special forces were involved in the killing.
Human rights activists said people had lost faith in the ability of the police to investigate the murder of Theys Eluay, who was kidnapped and killed Nov. 10. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the killing, but his family and members of the independence movement have accused the military.
Senior officers who met with Eluay just before his death have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. On Saturday, the state-sponsored National Commission on Human Rights said there were indications that the army's Kopassus special forces may have been involved in Eluay's death. Kopassus has long been accused of human rights crimes and of operating death squads in Irian Jaya and elsewhere in Indonesia.
Commission investigators said with the alleged military involvement, the police may be unable, or unwilling, to bring those responsible to justice.
"We demand an independent commission to investigate this case and find out and reveal who was behind the killing of Theys Eluay," said Rev. Herman Saud, chairman of the Papua Indonesian Christian Church council.
Police in Irian Jaya have refused to comment on the case, saying the investigation was ongoing. National Commission on Human Rights official Asmara Nababan said the police investigation was being closely monitored and an independent inquiry was being considered. A local rights group in Irian Jaya, the Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy, said the police there were unable to handle the case.
"This is a political case. The police are not objective," said group member Theositot Dana. "We need an independent team that people trust. No one trusts the police."
Thousands of people have been killed in Irian Jaya since Indonesia occupied the former Dutch colony in 1963. Independence leaders vowed after Eluay's funeral a week ago to continue the struggle for independence. Eluay wasn't actively involved in the armed rebellion. He favored peaceful negotiations with Jakarta rather than violence.
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JAKARTA, Nov 27 (AFP) - Indonesian police said Tuesday they would send a second team to investigate the abduction and murder of Irian Jaya separatist leader Theys Hiyo Eluay. National police Inspector General, Commissioner General Ahwil Luthan, said the team would be headed by a murder cases expert with the rank of colonel.
The original national police investigation team is still working in the easternmost province and has not announced its findings. luay, 64, who headed the pro-independence Papua Presidium, went missing on November 10 while driving home from a ceremony at a base of the Kopassus special forces in the provincial capital Jayapura. Eluay's driver Aristoteles Masoka had told Eluay's family in a brief mobile telephone call that they had been abducted by a group of non-Irianese.
Eluay's body was found the following day in his crashed car with the face darkened and the tongue protruding. An autopsy determined he had suffocated. Irian Jaya police have said preliminary evidence indicated Eluay was murdered.
Luthan, speaking at a press briefing after a ministerial meeting on security, also called for Irian people to come forward and "if possible provide more accurate information" to police. The driver, who could hold the key to the mystery of who killed Eluay, has not been seen since the night of the killing. Kopassus has denied any role in the murder.
President Megawati Sukarnoputri is to visit Irian Jaya next month to celebrate the Christmas season with the mainly Christian population and to present a new autonomy law that takes effect on December 22.
Indonesia passed the law to appease separatist feeling in the resource-rich province. The Papua Presidium rejected it as falling short of independence.
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Biak, 29 January 2001
Attacks on TPN/OPM headquarter at Adadikam village in Biak are imminent, an Elsham Papua source from Adadikam village reported via phone last night (Tuesday 19.15 PM). Combined troops consisting of Brimob and Army units are waiting for orders to launch attacks on TPN/OPM headquarter. On Sunday (28/1), two truckloads of Brimob (Mobile Brigade Police) were seen on their way to West Biak area where a Pasar Murah activity (cheap
market) held by local women association (Ibu-ibu PKK) was to take place. Brimob troops were said to be providing security for the PKK establishment. A reliable informant said the real target of the armed Brimob troops was actually the headquarter of TPN/OPM in West Biak whose leader is Melkias Awom.
On Monday Elsham received report from church officials in Biak that an OPM member, upon hearing that a government activity was to take place in their village, Adadikam, came to see the head of Adadikam village demanding explanation on the presence of members of Women’s Association and fully armed Brimob troops in Adadikam village. Unable to provide satisfactory answers, Oktovianus Adadikam (Head of Adadikam village), was slapped in the face by the OPM member. Shortly, members of TPN/OPM rushed to the house of Reverend Moses Rumbino where supplies of rice, cooking oils, sugars, coffee, belonging to Women’s Association (Ibu-ibu PKK)were stored. These supplies were
confiscated by TPN/OPM members. Reverend Rumbino consequently took refuge in the neighboring
village of Yomdor.
When contacted by Elsham, a OPM/TPN member denied having conducting the deeds (slapping and confiscation). He added that the head of Adadikam village was only issued verbal warning as TPN/OPM strongly objects to the presence of Armed troops in their village. In the eyes of TPN/OPM, any civil activity conducted in their village is a camouflage by TNI to create pretext to crush OPM/TPN existence. He said that the Indonesian security force is actually targeting
the Papuan Task Force (Satgas Papua) even though TPN/OPM claims they have never have frictions with local civilians. On the other hand, camat (Head of District) of West Biak District confirmed the report of slapping and confiscation conducted by TPN/OPM. Local District Military and Police (Polsek and Koramil) are to investigate the reports.
Satgas Papua (Papuan Task Force) military exercise began in April 2000 in Adadikam village. Trainer and advisor was Andris Kapitarau, an ex Kopassus member. Andris then “disappeared” from TPN/OPM headquarter for quite sometime but then “surrender” to the Indonesian security.
Debates and somewhat confusion lingered among local civil authorities concerning whether the government sponsored activities such as : Cheap Market, free medication, tree plantations, should continue taking into account the current atmosphere.
Based on these reports Elsham Papua urges all sides, both the Indonesian security forces and TPN/OPM to exercise restraints to ensure peace among the civilians.
ELSHAM Papua News Reports
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