Kontras Papua, SKPKC and BUK believe that there has been speculation about the killing of Mako Tabuni on 14 June.

Mako Tabuni was shot by police from the Papua regional police in the Perumnas III Waena area. KontraS Papua said that the shooting was carried out not only by the regional police, but there was also involvement of Special Detachment 88 Anti-terror Police (Densus 88) who are suspected of carrying out undercover activities in Papua.

Kontras and SKPKC have already gathered a number of facts from the field, including meeting a number of witnesses who directly saw the shooting of Mako Tabuni. The witnesses in question stated that the deceased, Mako Tabuni, was shot whilst he was standing eating betel nut in front of a kiosk in Perumnas III Waena, when the first black Avanza car drew up, followed by a Silver Avanza and a blue Daihatsu. A person got out of the blue Daihatsu and immediately shot Mako Tabuni to death on the spot. After shooting him dead, Mako was rushed to the Bhayangkara Hospital in Kotaraja.

The question is why did the police take Mako to the Bhayangkara Hospital after shooting him, when in Waena, Dian Harapan Hospital is closer to the scene of the incident? Furthermore, Mako was shot and brought to Bhayangkara Hospital without the knowledge of his family, and during the journey he lost a lot of blood. This raises the suspicion that the police quickly used formalin, so that once Mako's family requested an autopsy, the medical team at Bhayangkara Hospital could say that it was not possible to do an autopsy because he had already been formalined.

Kontras Papua, represented by Peneas Lokbere, said that the actions of the police in shooting Mako Tabuni showed that the police were incapable of acting professionally to announce who was responsible for the acts of violence and human rights violations which had happened recently. "We condemn the perpetrator, the person who ordered the killing, and all those involved in the shooting of Mako Tabuni," he said.

According to Peneas, Mako Tabuni did not behave like someone involved in violent shootings, and throughout the shootings he had been going about his normal activities, going out of his house as usual, and going to campus. "He's a genuine guy, he didn't do anything," added Peneas. It was said that the Papua regional police are telling a lot of lies in public during the aftermath of the shooting of Mako Tabuni.

Kontras and SKPKC said that the shooting of Mako Tabuni should receive the attention of the president of the Republic of Indonesia, and the president must withdraw all troops from the land of Papua - both organic and non-organic - and stop trying to rationalise the numbers of military and police in Papua.

Because the shooting of Mako Tabuni was carried out by the Papua regional police, the Provincial Head of Police in Papua must end the sweepings, arrests, attacks and criminalisation of students, and stop seizing items from them, such as laptops which contain their theses, mobile phones, and other items which have been seized from student dormitories.

The Provincial Head of Police must also stop sweepings of civilians and form an independent team to investigate the shootings in the land of Papua, including the murder of Mako Tabuni. Peneas and two staff from SKPKC - Bernand and Frans Making - called on the Head of Police to stop all efforts to destroy and scapegoat the pure struggle of Papuans to demand justice and truth, in accordance with criminal law, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. (Ven/don/I03).

[Translated by TAPOL.]