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Governor says, military police commander's statement about Theys case very disturbing

(Slightly abbreviated in translation, TAPOL)

JAKARTA (Media) 1 May 2002: JP Solossa, the governor of West Papua, is very worried that a statement made by the commander of the Military Police, Major-General Sulaiman AB to the effect that the abduction and murder of Theys Hiyo Eluay was not political but was just an ordinary crime will make the Papuan people very angry. 

'I very much regret the conclusion that the killing of Theys was just an ordinary crime. This will make people here very angry,' the governor said, after delivering a speech at a panel discussion in Jakarta yesterday. 

The governor said that the investigators and the government should take great case and guard their objectivity in coming to any conclusions about the killing. Conclusions based on a desire to protect certain elements will only upset the Papuan people and could disrupt security in the province. 'The investigators should take into account the death of Aristoteles (the driver of Theys). He was the first person to come to the Tribuana (Kopassus) base to report the murder of Theys. What happened to him? Why was he also killed?,' the governor asked. 

He said people should remember that the people of Papua believe that the background to the murder is political. 'If the investigators and the government fail to handle this case objectively, it could trigger a revolt agains the central government,' he warned. 

'The government should handle this case with great care because we see the death of Theys as part of an operation to eliminate the issue of independence in Papua,' he said. It was clear, he went on, that this was a grave human rights violation because it was committed by the state apparaus in a systematic fashion. 

Meanwhile, the former head of the National Investigation Commission (KPN), retired police general, Koesparmono Irsan said he was still waiting for proof that this was a grave human rights violation. He was responding to statements by former members of the KPN, Rev Phil Erari and John Ibo. ' I deny their statement to the effect that the KPN came to the conclusion that this was not a case of a gross human rights violation. The fact is that the KPN has not found any evidence of a gross violation of human rights.' He also said that even though the KPN had been disbanded, he was still waiting for evidence of a gross human rights violation, adding that such a conclusion must be backed by evidence, otherwise it was nothing more than something in people's imagination..