Australian and Papuan human rights groups have accused the Indonesian Army's elite Special Forces (Kopassus) of responsibility for a recent attack on a convoy of local government officials in troubled Papua province.
In a joint statement released Wednesday (17/11/04), the groups said the military was attempting to "East Timorise" the situation in Papua by fomenting civil unrest.
The Indonesian armed forces in the past established, funded and trained civilian militia groups in East Timor to create the impression of civil war in the territory, which was invaded by Indonesia in 1975 and finally achieved independence after a bloody referendum in 1999.
There are now concerns the Indonesian Defense Forces may be using such militia tactics in Papua, which has seen an escalation of violence over recent months, in an effort to force President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government to launch a new military operation in the resource-rich but impoverished province.
Wednesday's statement was issued by the Papua-based Institute for Human Rights Studies and Advocacy (Elsham), Papuan church, student and traditional law groups, the Papuan branches of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and Legal Aid Foundation (LBH), as well as the Uniting Church of Australia and Sydney University's Center for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPACS).
The statement was co-authored by Elsham supervisor John Rumbiak, who now resides in Australia after receiving several death threats. It said there was evidence Kopassus had orchestrated the November 12 ambush in which a policeman was killed and two local government officials seriously wounded in Puncak Jaya regency.
The official convoy was attacked after delivering food aid to refugees who had fled their villages over the past two months during violence that left eight people dead, including a local clergyman, Pastor Elisa Tabuni, who was fatally shot when he failed to reveal the whereabouts of local rebel leader Goliat Tabuni.
According to Rumbiak, an estimated 5,000 villagers have been forced to flee their homes in the Mulia area of Puncak Jaya, which has been closed by the military amid an ongoing operation against independence fighters.
The statement said 13 children and two adults have died from hunger after livestock were shot and crops burned.
Rumbiak was quoted by the Australian Associated Press as saying one of the officials wounded in the ambush had earlier reported the extortion of the local administration by the military, which used the money to fund the crackdown.
He said the attack was evidence of an attempt to "East Timorise" the conflict in Papua. "Friday's attack now threatens an escalation of military repression across the highlands ... It is likely that Papuans have been used to carry out this attack by the Indonesian army's Special Forces, Kopassus, who have been using local groups in Papua in the same way they manipulated East Timorese to fight their own people. This is a precursor to civil war," he was quoted as saying by AAP.
"The military threatens the administration of President Yudhoyono with a situation where he must give them the green light for a new military operation. They have already begun to engineer incidents which will destabilize his presidency," he added.
The Uniting Church's Reverend John Barr and Sydney University's Professor Stuart Rees called for an end to the military operations in Puncak Jaya and demanded that a humanitarian assistance mission be allowed into the area.
"These people have suffered enough... It's time there was a negotiated and internationally supported solution ... Here is an enormous opportunity for the new Indonesian administration to promote peace with justice," Rees was quoted as saying by AAP.
Rumbiak said there are now more than 25,000 troops based in Papua after a build-up over the past two years.
The statement contains the following chronology of recent violence in Puncak Jaya:
August 17: An exchange of fire between an unknown group and Kopassus resulted in one Kopassus member experiencing minor injuries.
September 14: Kopassus troops caught and shot Pastor Elisa Tabuni. His child's hands were tied but he managed to escape after witnessing the killing of his father.
October 12: Six non-Papuans working as drivers were shot or killed on the Trans Wamena road in Mulia. The perpetrators of the killings are still a mystery to locals, while the military has pointed at [rebel leader] Goliat Tabuni.
October 17: Troops launched land and air operations against the civilian population. A TNI helicopter shot and launched bombs at temporary settlements of civilians while gatherings were taking place. But the bombs and projectiles launched by the TNI helicopter did not explode. Since August 17, indiscriminate bombings have prompted 27 church congregations to flee into the forests to hide.
November 12: An unknown group at 4pm ambushed a humanitarian team that had been distributing food and medical aid to Mulia and Ilu districts. Two government officials, Puncak Jaya regency finance head Yuni W.O. (31) and Mulia district head Rahel Elaby (28), suffered serious injuries. Policeman/driver Yance Kirimay died. Eight other people suffered minor injuries.
Demands
Elsham, LBH Papua, Kontras Papua, the Papua Traditional Law Council, local church groups and student groups made the following eight recommendations:
1. Demand the military and police immediately withdraw organic and non-organic troops from Puncak Jaya.
2. Urge the military and police to immediately cease military operations and all efforts to engineer conflict and provocation in Puncak Jaya.
3. Demand the unknown group to immediately cease all efforts to engineer conflict, such as exchanges of fire and the killing and slaughter of innocent civilians.
4. Urge the Papuan provincial government, provincial legislative assembly, Puncak Jaya regional government and legislative assembly to immediately cease all forms of support for the implementation of the military operations in Puncak Jaya, and immediately cease the use of Special Autonomy (OTSUS) funds for military operations in Puncak Jaya.
5. Urge the National Commission on Human Rights to immediately send an independent investigation team to Mulia, Puncak Jaya, and take further action by forming a Special Commission of Investigation into Human Rights Abuses in Mulia in connection with the estimated heavy violations of human rights.
6. Urge the military, police, Papua provincial government, provincial legislative assembly, Puncak Jaya regional government and Puncak Jaya legislative assembly to immediately reopen access to Mulia for humanitarian aid teams for refugees, and a joint investigation team from the Papua legislative assembly, NGOs, student groups and church groups.
7. Urge President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government to immediately withdraw troops from throughout Puncak Jaya and consistently uphold his commitment to peacefully resolve the Papua problem by establishing a peace dialogue with the Papuan people.
8. Urge all teams that support humanitarian work to immediately strive for humanitarian aid to help the thousands of refugees in Puncak Jaya.
Autronomy Rejected
Separately, two Papuan separatist groups, the West Papua New Guinea National Congress (WPNGNC) and the armed West Papuan resistance, have rejected the government's offer of special autonomy for Papua.
"We totally reject this latest imposed presidential autonomy program," WPNGNC's Australian spokesperson Mathew Mayer was quoted as saying by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization.
"The WPNGNC totally rejects any move towards autonomy for the native people of West Papua because the vast majority of native West Papuans aspire to the fundamental, universal human right of self-determination in accordance with International law and standards," he said.
WPNGNC opposes autonomy and instead supports self-determination leading to an independent state.
The group claimed Yudhoyono is not serious about finding "a genuine political solution" for resolving the issue of Papua. It said it had written to the president via the Indonesian Embassy in Australia, offering talks without pre-conditions.
Rally against prostitution and alcohol
About 500 Papuans on Wednesday staged a demonstration in the provincial capital Jayapura to demand that local legislators revoke a regulation that permits prostitution and the consumption of alcoholic drinks in Assue subdistrict, Mappi regency.
Led by tribal and church leaders, the demonstrators gathered outside the provincial legislative assembly building, but no legislators came outside to respond to the demands, state news agency Antara reported.
The protesters said the presence of prostitutes from other provinces has caused at least 35 people in Assue to contract HIV/AIDS.
Local officials have allegedly supplied Assue residents with alcohol, as well as prostitutes from Java and Sulawesi, to win support for the logging of an aromatic timber, gaharu, which was once abundant in the regency.