Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission, Komnas HAM, has sent an investigation team to investigate the incident on 9 August which led to the death of Opinus Tabuni.

The team is composed of five members, headed by Joseph Adi Prasetyo. The team visited the location of the incident last week and has inteviewed witnesses as well as members of the security apparatus.

Adi Prasetyo said that they had publicised their investigation online According to information so far received, the weapon which killed the victim is not a standard weapon of the local police but a 9mm calibre gun. Prasetyo said that he hoped the team would submit recommendations to the President.

The killing occurred as thousands of people had gathered to celebrated the World Day for Indigenous People, during which someone in the crowd raised a Morning Star flag. Prasetyo said that the police had asked that there should be a separation between shooting of Tabuni and the raising of the flag, because the police were not pursuing a political agenda. However, the commission would not intervene in the police handling of the case because that should lead to a legal process which should be allowed to continue.

[There are continuing demands by various organisations and the churches in Papua for the killer of Opinus Tabuni to be brought to justice.]

OTSUS allows flags but PP77 prohibits them Prasetyo said however that there was a cultural issue involved relating to the Morning Star flag. According to the Special Autonomy for Papua Law, Papuans are allowed to have their own flag as a cultural symbol, where according to PP 77 (Presidential Decision 77), this is not allowed although there is no single article which states that this applies to the Morning Star flag. Komnas HAM will therefore make a recommendation for LIPI to establish a Papua Road Map, in other words, the way to peace for Papua.

Arrested just for sewing the flag

'Just imagine. Someone can be arrested simply for sewing the Morning Star somewhere or for wearing a T-shirt with the Morning Star on it.

This can only add to the problems handled by the police and increase the potential for acts of violence which can take the form of human rights abuses. We will propose what political action needs to be taken by the government to end this situation.'

He also said that there was also concern that the regulations required to bring the Special Autonomy Law into practice had not been introduced.

'If the local government were to take action along these lines which were then accommodated by the central government, the problem could be solved.'

The team had also visited the prison in Abepura where they met Filip Karma, Yusak Pakage and Daan Dimara who were charged for flag-raising incidents. They had also discussed with the director of the prison the need to improve the conditions in the prison. However, the prison was in serious need of renovation as it was built during the Dutch era. Nor was there any form of organised activity for the prisoners to improve their skills. He said he had the impression that the prison authorities wanted to ensure that the rights of the prisoners were respected.

He said that the prisoners included quite a variety of prisoners, some were political prisoners, some were being held for spreading HIV/AIDS (sic), while there was no distinction between the priosners, with women and children and others all mixed together. He said that the commission intended to return to Papua later in order to promote more training and the provision of facilities for the prisoners and it would also make a recommendation to the governor to pay proper attention to these matters and to allocate more funds to improve the conditions in the prison.