A Papuan man has died and two others are in critical condition after being shot by the Indonesian military yesterday, sparking fears of reprisals in the wake of the arrival of asylum seekers in Australia this week.
The dead man, Moses Douw, is believed to be a close relative of Amatus Douw, one of the 43 Papuan asylum seekers who landed at Cape York on Wednesday.
The incident happened in the Papuan highlands at the village of Waghete, a region where many of the asylum seekers came from.
The chairman of the Indonesian human rights group ELSHAM, Dr Benny Giay, said the attack appeared to be unprovoked and had resulted in the death of Mr Douw, a man he described as an innocent civilian.
"Another two men have been critically injured and have been taken to hospital," Mr Giay said. "Another man has been badly beaten."
In the Paniai region, Waghete and surrounding towns and villages have been a hotbed of independence agitation and have been the scene of arrests and allegations of looting of villages by the Indonesian military over the years.
An extra 10,000 troops were moved to Papua late last year following the peace settlement in the war-torn Indonesian province of Aceh.
Dr Giay said the incident was of extreme concern and was being investigated by his organisation. Indonesian authorities did not return calls yesterday.
The shooting comes just two days after a boatload of 43 Papuan asylum seekers reached Cape York, provoking concern in Jakarta.
Nick Chesterfield of the Australian West Papua Association said his informants had told him that a "top-level" delegation from Jakarta was coming to Australia on Monday to discuss the asylum seeker case and to seek the repatriation of the Papuans.
The asylum seekers' 25-metre outrigger canoe was emblazoned with a banner accusing the Indonesian military of genocide in Papua, a resource-rich province which came under Indonesian sovereignty after a fraudulent vote in 1969.
That boat – which was handcrafted in the Melanesian tradition – was destroyed by immigration officials just before it flew the asylum seekers to the remote detention centre on Christmas Island.
Labor yesterday criticised their removal, saying it was unnecessary and hugely expensive. The Opposition's immigration spokesman, Tony Burke, said there was ample capacity at detention centres on the mainland to house the asylum seekers while they underwent further processing.
However, the Prime Minister, John Howard, defended the decision as "entirely appropriate". "Their position will be assessed, they will be interviewed and they will be dealt with in accordance with the law," he said.
It is understood that the Department of Immigration is investigating whether any charges for people-smuggling can be laid in relation to the arrival of the Papuan boat.