Since August 2004, the Indonesian army has been conducting military operations in Puncak Jaya, in the Central Highlands of West Papua. According to reports from the area, crack troops of the Indonesian armed forces, KOPASSUS, as well Mobile Brigade (Brimob) troops of the Indonesian Police have been used in the operations. Both these highly-trained forces have a reputation throughout Indonesia for being particularly ruthless in their treatment civilians.

Information about the military operations has been difficult to obtain because of severe restrictions on access, but reports indicate the operations have been underway since 17 August, Indonesia's independence day. According to the reports, a series of incidents has resulted in the killing of at least a dozen Papuans, the forcible displacement of thousands and a humanitarian crisis, which has caused many more deaths from starvation and exposure. Troops have set up 13 military posts, which has had the effect of intimidating villagers, forcing them into the bush, and depriving them of a vital lifeline to their homes, gardens, crops and livestock. Several villages have been destroyed.

In November, Papuan church leaders issued a statement condemning the shooting dead of Reverend Elisa Tabuni in the village of Mulia, Puncak Jaya, on 14 September. In the mayhem which followed, troops allegedly fired on villagers collecting food, forcing some five thousand to flee their homes. According to the church leaders, fifteen people died from a lack of food after leaving their villages. Later reports put the death toll at more than two dozen while the villagers are still too scared to return to their villages and gardens.

Over the years, a number of Christian ministers, usually alleged to be supporters of the Free Papua Movement, OPM, have been killed. The killing of revered personalities has inevitably stirred passions and even provoked conflicts.

Following these latest events, Papuan church leaders called for a team to investigate Rev. Elisa Tabuni's death and the flight of the thousands of villagers from their homes. The call has been ignored, leaving a sense of grievance to fester. The TNI has prevented church officials and humanitarian relief organisations from entering the area. Foreign journalists have been banned from West Papua since September.

In January this year, eight Papuans in the village of Tolikara, Puncak Jaya were taken into custody. The security forces alleged that the men were OPM members but this has been hotly denied by local people who insist that they are ordinary civilians. Local activists say that the military bribed villagers to identify alleged suspects. This is part of army intelligence operations to discover who among the villagers can be accused of being supporters of independence.

The eight arrested men are:

1. Simele Gere
2. Natan Wenda
3. Menis Wenda
4. Yohanis Heluka
5. Solamia Weya
6. Yatimun Weya
7. Benyyus Kogaya
8. John Heluka

On 21 January, four Papuans were reportedly shot dead after disputing a local government decision to seize their land in connection with changes being made in the borders of their district. The four men are:

1. Yunus Makai
2. Yulius Makai
3. Okto Pakuwai
4. Alex Maki

According to an eye-witness account passed on to Rev. S Yoman, head of the West Papua Baptist Church, the men were shot dead by members of Brimob who are operating in the Puncak Jaya region.

Another report from WPNews in January stated that troops attacked civilians in Wurineri village, Wunin District of Tolikara region. The Papuans were walking their gardens. The source stated that the attackers wore civilian clothes but were carrying machine-guns. They are believed to be members of KOPASSUS. Houses, gardens and animals were burnt down, as a result of which the villagers fled to the bush. A witness said he saw KOPASSUS and Brimob troops landing in Wunin District by helicopter and then immediately start shooting people.

TNI strategy and Papuan grievances

It is evident that the aim of the operations is to establish a powerful military presence in the Central Highlands. This is clearly part of a strategy by Indonesia to subdue mounting West Papuan grievances against the occupation of their country. There is justified suspicion that the TNI is carrying out provocative acts to create conflict and justify its continued presence in West Papua.

Papuan grievances date back to the 1960s when a fraudulent Act of Free Choice in 1969 resulted in West Papua becoming part of the Republic of Indonesia. Papuans have never accepted this process which involved a little over one thousand tribal chiefs handpicked by the military authorities and browbeaten into voting for incorporation with Indonesia.

Last December, a British minister speaking in the House of Lords, acknowledged that the Papuan people were coerced into declaring for Indonesia.

As a consequence of a transmigration programme conducted in the 1980s and 1990s and additional spontaneous migration, more than a million migrants from other parts of Indonesia settled in West Papua and are gradually turning Papuans into a minority in their own land.

Indonesian government policy on West Papua has been in a state of chaos for a number of years. The imposition of special autonomy in 2001, intended to quell support for independence, was superseded by a government decision in January 2003 to split Papua into three provinces. Then came a government regulation to set up a Majelis Rakyat Papua (MRP – Papuan People's Assembly), but far from being a genuine body for Papuan representation with powers to overrule unsatisfactory decisions regarding the governance of the territory, the MRP is nothing more than an extension of central government control. Each of these moves has sewn confusion and mistrust of the authorities, with potentially volatile consequences.

Papua's leading human rights activist, John Rumbiak, who now lives abroad following threats to his life, recently described the situation in West Papua as a 'ticking time-bomb' which could have damaging consequences for Papua New Guinea, Australia and other countries in the region. He said that increased militarisation, coupled with human rights abuses and unmet demands for independence were gravely destabilising the area.

Suppression of free expression

On 25 November 2004, the civilian, military and police authorities issued a warning to people not to conduct any activities to celebrate 1 December, the forty-third anniversary of a meeting at which Papuans adopted the Morning Star flag as the emblem of their independence aspirations. This was a blatant threat to the right of freedom of expression. Despite the warning, 5,000 Papuans gathered peacefully on Abepura field, near Jayapura and unfurled the flag. While the action was in progress, troops launched an attack; five people were shot and wounded and ten people were arrested. The flag was pulled down.

Among those arrested were Filip Karma and Yusak Pakage who have since been indicted under article 110 of the Criminal Code for rebellion against the state and face a penalty of life imprisonment or twenty years. They are also being charged under article 154 for expressing feelings of hostility towards the Government, for which the maximum penalty is seven years.

Recommendations

• The Indonesian Government should immediately order the cessation of military operations in Puncak Jaya and the withdrawal of all non-organic troops, including Brimob forces, from the area and from West Papua.
• The Indonesian Government should act in face of very disturbing information being received about the deplorable human rights situation in Puncak Jaya, by setting up a special investigation team under the auspices of the National Human Rights Commission, to include trusted Papuan figures. The team should be given free and unfettered access to the region.
• Investigations should be undertaken in conditions which guarantee strict confidentiality and protection for witnesses.
• Humanitarian relief organisations should be allowed to visit Puncak Jaya as a matter of urgency to set up a programme of assistance for villagers who have fled their villages.
• Indonesian and foreign journalists should be allowed full and unfettered access to all parts of West Papua, including Puncak Jaya.
• The eight Papuans arrested earlier this month should be released.
• Proceedings against those arrested for participating in the flag-raising ceremony on 1 December should be halted as they represent a serious denial of freedom of expression. The two men charged should be released immediately.