[The Indonesian province of Papua is notoriously a black hole for information, and after the weekend's shocking attack on employees of the giant Freeport Mine, few things are clear except that three people are dead.]
Transcript:
Mark Colvin: The Indonesian province of Papua is notoriously a black hole for information, and after the weekend's shocking attack on employees of the giant Freeport Mine, few things are clear except that three people are dead.
Eight more people, including a six-year-old girl and her American parents are recovering in a Townsville hospital. But the mystery is, who did it?.
The Indonesian military blames local separatist rebels, but they did the same last year when the Papuan independence leader, Theys Eluay, was murdered, a killing now widely attributed to Indonesian Special Forces.
Papuans blame the Indonesian military for the Freeport killings. Nick Grimm reports.
Nick Grimm: A heavy shroud of mist and fog was hanging over the Papuan highlands near the Freeport Copper and Gold Mine, when the attack occurred.
It provided the assailants, whoever they were, the perfect cover.
Three people were killed when the gunmen opened fire on a three vehicle convoy, headed for the lowlands mining town of Kuala Kencana.
Inside the vehicles were a group of school teachers, all employees of the American-owned Freeport Mine, along with their families.
Two of the dead were American citizens, the third was Indonesian. Eight survivors, all with varying injuries, were later airlifted to Townsville for hospital treatment. Among them, a six-year-old girl and her American parents.
A spokesman for the Freeport Mine, Jeff Hocking, spoke to the media in Townsville this afternoon.
Jeff Hocking: Back on site things are tense, but the mine and mill are operating as normal. There is nobody in intensive care now. They're all doing extremely well, and some are in very, very good condition.
Unidentified Journalist: Are we talking about gunshot injuries?
Jeff Hocking: Look they are injuries relative to the incident that happened there.
Unidentified Journalist: Emotionally how are they going?
Jeff Hocking: How would you be emotionally? They're extremely strong. These people operate in mind sites all around the world, so they're certainly, they're akin to this type of ... they're akin to being in a remote location, they're extremely strong. I think they've done an outstanding job.
Nick Grimm: No doubt mindful of tensions in the Indonesian province between the military and indigenous Papuan pro-independence supporters, Freeport's Jeff Hocking would not be drawn on who was responsible for the attack.
Unidentified Journalist: You've spoke to those people inside the hospital. Did any of them get a look at their attackers?
Jeff Hocking: Certainly not, it's very foggy, misty, it's at 9,000 feet, and I really can't comment on that.
Nick Grimm: The Indonesian military has laid blame for the attack at the feet of local guerrilla fighters of the separatist movement, the Free Papua Organisation or OPM.
But Papuan leaders have called for an independent investigation to establish who led the attack. One making that call is John Rumbiak, of the Papuan human rights organisation ELSHAM.
John Rumbiak: Papua is ruled by militarism and that involve raping of ordinary women, executionary killings of children and ordinary civilians, massive intimidation, kidnappings.
Nick Grimm: Currently visiting Australia for a conference hosted by the University of Sydney, aimed at unifying Papua's various political, social and religious groups, John Rumbiak says he believes it was the Indonesian military who attacked the school teachers.
John Rumbiak: I just met with the guerrilla leader, Kelly Kwalik, commanding his troops around the Freeport Mine on the 25th of August, just last week. I was on a peace mission to meet with him and explaining about our peaceful program and he was very supportive. He knows me, he knows me personally since I have been working around the mine with his people for many, many years.
Nick Grimm: So you don't believe that he would have led or sanctioned an attack like this?
John Rumbiak: No, no. And he sent me a statement this morning explaining that he was not responsible at all. He blamed the Indonesians for, they're responsible for the killing of those ordinary civilians.
Mark Colvin: John Rumbiak of the Papuan human rights organisation, ELSHAM, talking to Nick Grimm.