Darmawan Sepriyossa, Cunding Levi, TNR – A team of eight men had apparently come and gone with the wind. They arrived in Papua "stealthily". On Sunday a fortnight ago, boarding a chartered Airfast flight, they landed at the Moses Kilangin Airport, Timika, Papua. No official reception awaited them. In fact, even the local administration had no previous knowledge of their arrival.
Instead of checking in first at the Sheraton Hotel Timika, seven Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents, accompanied by an Indonesian Police officer from the National Police Headquarters, headed straight for Tembagapura. Except for Dave Jensen and Henry Rector, the other five FBI agents had visited Tembagapura before. This time, Ronald Euwan led the team, accompanied by the Indonesian Police officer, Budi Santoso.
They had come to Papua to resume investigations into the shooting incident in Timika on August 13, 2002, that claimed the lives of two Americans and one Indonesian national. The FBI had previously dispatched two teams but their findings apparently were inconclusive. However, the FBI findings seem to have, in fact, endorsed to a greater degree the conclusion by local fact-finding teams which had conducted investigations prior to those conducted by the FBI.
The Indonesian Military (TNI), the National Police HQ and a combined team in their investigations had concluded that TNI was not involved in the shooting incident. The third FBI team to arrive in the area is deemed to verify and confirm the findings of the Indonesian parties and those of the two previous FBI teams.
The findings that the TNI was not involved in the incident apparently served as an input for President Bush to reconsider military cooperation with Indonesia. This collaboration includes military and intelligence cooperation as well as military training. President Bush conveyed his consideration on the matter in his meeting with President Megawati Sukarnoputri in Bali last October.
It is not clear if this latest visit to Timika by the FBI team had anything to do with the latest stance adopted by President Bush. But what is clear is that the House of Representatives (DPR) has issued a strong statement over the visit. "The FBI team is here on the insistence of the US Senate," said Yasril Ananta Baharudin of the DPR's commission on defense and foreign affairs.
He stated the US Senate had supported two amendments of a law to prevent the flow of US military assistance to Indonesia. According to the architects of the amendments, Senator Russ Feingold and Senator Wayne Allard, the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program for Indonesia had to be stopped until the case of the shooting incident in Timika is completely exposed and the perpetrators brought to court.
Yasril said the DPR had adopted a strong stance on the issue. "We have been against the FBI visit from the very start," said Yasril. Yasril views that the presence of the latest FBI team is tantamount to intervention in Indonesia's domestic issues. He considers the visit by the previous two FBI teams as being in the context of Indonesia's open policy. He expressed regrets over the visit of the third team by describing it as inappropriate. "They are doing what they like. Is Papua one of their states?" he questioned in a high-pitched voice.
Yasril thought it was inappropriate for the government to allow the team to come while the US had ignored Indonesia's request to meet with the suspected terrorist, Hambali, an Indonesian national, now under US custody. "They have disregarded the principal of mutuality," he said. Yasril felt the FBI had a hidden agenda. "It seems they want to force the conclusion that the TNI was involved in the shooting," he said.
The US embassy in Jakarta had not responded to the comments. "One thing for sure is that the team is now already in Indonesia," said the US embassy's press attachi, Stanley Harsha.
As to the findings of this latest FBI team, a TNI senior officer doubted if it would differ much from previous FBI findings. "After all, the same personnel dominate the team," said the officer on condition of anonymity.
Officially the TNI welcomes the visit by the FBI team. "As long as their investigations are objective, we will accept and consider the findings," said head of TNI Information Colonel Nachrowi. He said, however, that the findings would probably not be published.
"They are committed to this," he said. Regardless of the results of the latest FBI findings, the TNI need not be concerned as long as it is convinced that it was not involved in the Timika shooting incident.