Farouk Arnaz – Measures taken to disperse the pro-independence Papuan Peoples' Congress in Jayapura last month were within the bounds of regulations governing the use of force, the National Police chief said on Monday.

"Everything was done according to the regulations. Police believed participants had committed acts of subversion during the congress," Gen. Timur Pradopo said. "The actions that we took were thus legally accountable."

Six people were reportedly killed and dozens more injured during the crackdown on Oct. 19, when security forces fired warning shots to break up the large gathering after participants read aloud a declaration of independence and raised an outlawed separatist flag.

The government has denied firing on the demonstrators, but several witnesses have issued statements to the contrary.

In addition, witnesses say that security forces pistol-whipped or beat those they arrested with rattan canes and batons, resulting in several injuries.

Timur was responding to a statement by Ifdhal Kasim, chairman of the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM), who said last week that an independent probe had concluded there were clear indications of human rights abuses by the security forces.

The Komnas HAM investigation found that among the violations were the extrajudicial killings of at least three congress participants whose bodies were found in a field near the local military headquarters. They have been identified as Demianus Daniel Kadepa, 23; Yakobus Samonsabra, 48; and Max Asa Yeuw, 33.

However, the rights group said that pending further forensics tests, it could not confirm whether the police or the military were responsible for the deaths.

Comr. Gen. Sutarman, the National Police's chief of detectives, said the officers in Jayapura had been trying to preserve the nation's unity. He said the police would consider the idea of coordinating with Komnas HAM regarding allegations of human rights violations by the security forces.

"We're open to evaluation in order to get to the bottom of this case," he said. "We're not trying to hide anything or gloss over what happened. If indeed there were actions that were inappropriate, we will, of course,look into them."

Sutarman added that forensics officers were conducting ballistics tests on the projectiles retrieved from the bodies of those killed to find out who had fired them. "But remember it's not just the police who have firearms," he said.