Ronna Nirmala – The National Commission on Human Rights concluded on Tuesday that police violated their own procedures in the violent, deadly crackdown on an anti-mining rally at Sape port in West Nusa Tenggara's Bima district last month.

"The police directly used firearms," Nurkholis, deputy chairman of the commission known as Komnas HAM, said on Tuesday.

Nurkholis said instead of firing on the protesters, a move which resulted in at least two deaths and 12 injuries, police should have employed non-lethal crowd dispersal techniques such as blunt truncheons, tear gas or pepper spray.

The commission also accused officers of using unnecessary force in subduing many of the protesters. "If we see [the video], there were officers that beat and kicked people who had surrendered," said Ridha Saleh, the head of the investigation team.

Investigators also challenged the police's assertion that only two protesters had died in the crackdown, neither of them from being shot. The commission said that there were three people killed by police gunfire, namely Syaiful (17), Arif Rahman (18) and Syarifudin (46).

Investigators also counted at least 30 injured in the incident, including children. "Ten of them [injured protesters] are children, with ages ranging from 13 to 17 years old," Ridha said.

Police have named five officers as suspects in their own investigation of the crackdown.