In Indonesia's Papua Province, human rights groups have warned the presence of American investigators will do little to bring the perpetrators of last year's Freeport mine killings to justice. The US FBI has sent a high-level team to help determine who launched the attack at the mine last August, when two Americans and an Indonesian were killed. Local human rights group claim the Indonesian military was behind the attack and say they fear the strategic importance of Indonesia to the US, may cloud the investigation.

Presenter/Interviewer: Sen Lam

Speakers: John Rumbiak, Co-ordinator Indonesian Papua's human rights group, ELSHAM.

Rumbiak: The FBI investigated this case from the very beginning. They came to investigate this case when this incident happened on the 31st August. They flew to Townsville, Cairns, in Australia to interview the survivors of the attack. Until now we believe the FBI already concluded which party was behind the attack on the 31st of August, but thre is no announcement yet. They went back and forth Papua – DC and back and forth and they should have announced that."

Lam: So what is their brief this time around in Papua what have they gone there specifically to achieve?

Rumbiak: "I'm sceptical about the investigation to Papua, especially about the joint inquiry commission. I see this as a way of compromising the evidence on the ground. "In my view the police again, the police Papua already revealed in their investigation clearly, which I have read a report that the Indonesian military were behind or responsible for that attack on the 31st of August. "I see this as a Jakarta-Washington kind of investigation if FBI really revealed the evidence of that 31st August attack, this is very damaging evidence to the diplomatic relationship between Jakarta and Washington DC. As you know very well the US Government is trying to resume the military relationship with Indonesia."

Lam: Indeed I understand that President George W Bush has made renewing full Indonesian US military ties dependent on the solving of the Freeport crime. So surely the FBI will reveal everything that it can find?

Rumbiak: "Well what I see now is that there is a compromise at the political level, internationally between these leaders. In the eyes of America, Indonesia is a very strategic country in South East Asia and the interests of the country itself."

Lam: So what is the point of the senior FBI officials going to Papua now? Are they trying to work out some kind of face saving measure in terms of the Jakarta authorities in coming out of this whole mystery of the Freeport killings?

Rumbiak: "They want to go to Freeport Mine and show the Indonesian military officers that they know what is what. That they know what was really going on. That's number one.

"Secondly however because Indonesia is so important in terms of the eyes of the American Government they would make a lot of compromises with Jakarta.

"What I'm talking about here is a kind of high level diplomacy between Washington DC and Jakarta to ease this situation down and make sure that Freeport and McMoRan, the US multi-national investing in Indonesia is going very well. The whole inquiry established by the Indonesian Government is only to wipe out the evidence.

Lam: So in the end if indeed the military was responsible they will not be brought to justice?

Rumbiak: "No."