The leading human rights group in Indonesian Papua, Elsham, has released a report on its investigation into last month's killing of one Indonesian and two American schoolteachers, at the American owned gold and copper mine Freeport. Suspicion for the attack fell initially on the Free Papua Movement's armed wing, the OPM. But, Elsham says its investigation indicates the Indonesian security force protecting the mine may have carried out the attack.

Presenter/Interviewer: Tricia Fitzgerald Speakers: John Rumbiak the co-ordinator of the Papuan human rights groups Elsham

Fitzgerald: ELSHAM's coordinator John Rumbiak says as part of the investigation into the Freeport ambush, he and his team looked at what crimes had been committed in the past in the same location. He says that investigation trail led directly to the Indonesian security force, which is guarding the mine.

Rumbiak: Now ELSHAM is looking at the security policy of Freeport itself, that's the way that we see the incident on the 31st of August by digging out the evidence in the ground, the facts and then looking at such similar cases, like the attack on Freeport main office building at Kuala Kencana in Timika on 25th of May. As well as the shooting of two Freeport employees at Grasberg at the mining site on the 20th of December last year. Of course looking also at crimes committed by the Indonesian security forces that were specialised to guard the mine.

Fitzgerald: How many security forces are generally guarding that mine?

Rumbiak: Indonesian government and Freeport agreed to deploy about 550 special units to guard the mine that consists of the army, that is special forces, Kopassus, Kostrad, their conventional army, and the police, navy as well as air force, they're specialised to guard the mine.

Fitzgerald: Mr Rumbiak says in the past ELSHAM has been notified of other killings of Freeport mine employees which witnesses said had been carried out by the local security force.

Rumbiak: This is not something that's new to the Freeport employees themselves who have been attacked many times by the Indonesian security guards that are guarding the mine itself. There is Freeport expatriate employees ... an Australia that were shot in 1994 when I was down in Timika. Another incident that happened almost at the same site at Mile 52 and 63, was the killing of a Freeport employee that was working along the main road. The problem that we have seen so far in such similar incidents that are committed by the Indonesian security forces is surprisingly Freeport never do anything to either report or process this through the existing authority, such as police.

Fitzgerald: Papua's police chief has not yet released his investigation into the Freeport killings but police chief General Pastika has cast doubts over the military's account of the events following the attack.

John Rumbiak says both the police and ELSHAM investigations have been hampered by death threats and harassment by the military.

Rumbiak: The police who were conducting the investigation get shot by the army that's guarding the mine, and also on the 14th September another shooting to the police who were conducting an investigation occurred on the same ambush site. In our investigation, we also experienced terror, intimidation not only to the police themselves, but also to ourselves, from ELSHAM, Lemasa, which is the Amungme tribal council and all members of our team. I have been followed around and my team in our investigation by the Indonesian intelligence and that makes the investigation itself very difficult.