Jayapura – The Organisation for Solidarity with the Victims of Human Rights in Papua, along with the Community of Survivors of the Abepura case and the League of Families of the Disappeared, IKOHI, have called on the government, Komnas Ham and the Attorney-General's Office to take speedy action to bring to a conclusion the case of the Wamena Tragedy and the Bloody Wasior Incident.

The demand was made in a statement issued on the fifth anniversary of the Bloody Wasior Incident on 4 April.

The statement which was made public by Peneas Lokbere of the Solidarity Organisation, together with representatives of IKOHI made the point that conflict is very deep-rooted in Papua and is widely acknowledged internationally. It added that the authorities make use of the stigma of OPM separatism to take action in the name of state security.

The people in the Central Highlands are well aware of three major incidents that have left deep scars and trauma, namely the events of 1977, the 6 October 2000 incident and the events of 4 April 2003 in Abepura, when a group of unidentified persons raided the ammunitions dump of the Military Command in Wamena, which led to the deaths of two members of the military who were guarding the dump and one other person.

The raid on the ammunition dump led to the arrest of seven people. "These arrests happened during the course of sweepings to find those responsible for the raid on the dump," said Peneas Lokbere.

In July 2004, Komnas Ham published a 'projusticia' report which concluded that a crime against humanity had occurred in the Wamena Case, with the murder and torture of a number of people in Wamena. "The incident also resulted in the forced eviction of 25 kampungs, which led to a number of people dying of starvation," the statement said.

The NGOs said that the handling of these cases had become completely stuck as a result of disagreements between Komnas HAM and the Attorney General's Office over a number of issues.

The NGOS called on the Attorney General's Office and Komnas HAM to take the issue forward towards a settlement of the cases before the courts. They also said that local government administration should take measures to press for the establishment of a Human Rights Court in Papua and a thorough investigation of the security situation in Papua., while also rejecting the presence of non-organic troops of the army and the police. The authorities should also issue special regulations to provide for compensation and for the protection of the victims of human rights violations in the Land of Papua.

Peneas Lokbere also called for the release of six students now being held at the police command in Jayapura simply for having made use of their right to freedom of expression.

[Abridged translation by TAPOL.]