INDONESIA: Protests over inquiry into army's murder of Eluay

In the Indonesian province of Papua thousands of people have staged peaceful protests against Indonesia's takeover of the former Dutch colony on May the first1963. The rallies were also being held to protest against the findings of a national commission of inquiry into the murder last November of Theys Eluay, a leading Papuan independence figure. A national inquiry report released yesterday identified six military suspects in the killing, but angered Papuans because it failed to examine the motive for the assassination.


Presenter/Interviewer: Tricia Fitzgerald.

Speakers: Kusparmono Irsan, head of inquiry into Eluay's murder; Asmara Nababan of Indonesia's Human Rights Commission; John Rumbiak, ELSHAM Human Rights Worker, Jayapura.

FITZGERALD: A military inquiry had already identified three mid-ranking special force soldiers as being behind the murder of Chief Eluay and they have been under arrest in Jakarta for over three weeks. They include a lieutenant colonel who heads Papua's special military task force. The new national commission of inquiry report which was handed to President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday, added three new names to the suspect list, lower ranking non-commissioned soldiers whose whereabouts are now unknown.

Head of the Commission, Kusparmono Irsan, says he asked the president to ensure that trials of the six soldiers were held quickly and that they were held in Papua.

KUSPARMONO: "We studied all the investigations from the police, from the commission and from the military police and we found that there are six military persons who committed this crime. And so we recommended to the president, make it quick. Secondly, it must be held in Papua."

FITZGERALD: The head of the commission says he believes its unlikely the soldiers would have acted without orders but says his hands were tied in trying to establish why Chief Eluay was assassinated.

KUSPARMONO: "Maybe there is no soldier who would do such a thing without an order, but we couldn't find the clues, we couldn't find the witnesses."

FITZGERALD: Commissioner Kusparmono Irsan says the legal foundation for the national inquiry meant he had no powers to conduct a full investigation into the motive behind the killing.

KUSPARMONO: "In Indonesia, investigations are divided into two kinds of work: Inquiry and the investigation itself. And ours is an inquiry commission. The inquiry commission can only say whether a crime has happened or not and who has done it. That is the law. We cannot go further than that."

FITZGERALD: John Rumbiak of the human rights group Elsham says Papuans are angry about the inquiry's failure to identify a motive, as there is clear evidence that the chief was killed as part of an official secret operation to wipe out seperatist leaders.

RUMBIAK: "The murder of Theys Eluay is the result of these whole oppressive measures - a secret operation directed by Jakarta towards West Papua. As a result of the political motives of Jakarta. His leadership of this independence movement, in the eyes of Jakarta, is threatening the unity of Indonesia."

FITZGERALD: Human rights groups say Chief Eluay's name was on a leaked intelligence document listing papuan leaders, who were to be assassinated as part of a deliberate hardlinestrategy run by elements of the Indonesian Government. They say it's no surprise Indonesia's special Kopassus forces have been found to be involved in his death, as there are as many as 20-thousand Indonesian troops based in the province.

Asmara Nababan of Indonesia's peak human rights body the National Human Rights Commission says the inquiry's failure to identify a political motive for Chief Eluay's killing, undermines its value.

NABABAN: "The report needs the motive. Unfortunately the public doesn't know about it and the report did not include answers to that question."

FITZGERALD: In another move which has disappointed papuans Mr Napaban says the national inquiry has recommended the issue of motive in They's killing be handed to back to the military for further investigation.

NABABAN: "The recommendation is that military police follow up the report of this commission and hopefully further investigation by the military police can reveal the answers to that question, but of course there is strong doubt about that as the military police is not an independent institution." 
1/5/2002