LAKSAMANA.Net, April 2, 2003 07:12 PM
Papuan Anxiety Over Militias
Laksamana.Net - The discovery of a cache of explosives in Papua province has raised
concern over the presence of covert pro-Indonesia militias in the region.
Police say there is trepidation is among tribal leaders in the coastal town of Sorong,
where authorities arrested a local businessman and Muslim politician in connection
with the arms cache.
Sorong Police chief Faisal Abdul Nasir said businessman Mohammed Koya faces up
to 20 years’ imprisonment for allegedly storing 12 homemade bombs in the
warehouse of his cargo handling company.
Koya has been quoted as saying he kept the explosives for self-defense. His lawyer
denied the businessman was involved with any extremist Muslim groups that have
been established in Sorong and other towns of Papua over recent years.
Human rights groups claim the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) has been
establishing East Timor-style militias in Papua in an effort to combat the province’s
independence movement.
The Papua-based Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy (Elsham) in April
2002 said it had obtained documentary evidence linking TNI with the militias.
The three-page document, the existence of which was publicized by Australian
newspaper The Age, was titled "List of Satgas Merah Putih candidates from Kodim
1702/Jayawijaya". It contained the names of 80 people described as “farmers” from
Walesi village, about 15 kilometers from Wamena town and was signed by the
commander of the Kodim (military district) for Wamena.
Satgas Merah Putih, which means Red and White Task Force, is named for the
colors of the Indonesian flag.
The military verified the authenticity of the document but claimed Satgas Merah Putih
had emerged from among the local population. That’s the same sort of hokum that
TNI said in East Timor in 1999 when describing the murderous civilian paramilitary
groups it had recruited, trained, armed and funded.
When Satgas Merah Putih was formed in 2000, rights groups warned that police and
the military could use the organization to commit serious human rights violations in
Papua.
"It is difficult not to draw parallels with East Timor, where militia, supported by the
Indonesian security forces, were responsible for widespread killings and destruction,”
said Amnesty International.
Satgas Merah Putih reportedly had thousands of members and has a history of
attacking and intimidating pro-independence supporters.
Another paramilitary group brought into Papua was the Islamic militant organization
Laskar Jihad, which had played a key role in inter-religious carnage that left about
8,000 people dead in the Maluku islands between 1999-2002.
Rights activists say Laskar Jihad, which was officially disbanded after last October’s
Bali bombings, was instrumental in the training of Satgas Merah Putih members.
Papuans fear that Indonesian security forces may end up Satgas Merah Putih to
create massive civil disorder, thereby giving the military a pretext to launch a brutal
crackdown on independence supporters.
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