ABC AUSTRALIA, 04/09/2004 08:19:54
Human rights abuses in Papua
Indonesia's Human Rights Commission says security forces have carried out grave
human rights abuses in the rebellious eastern province of Papua.
The abuses include killing and torturing civilians.
The Commission's head, Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara says the abuses took place
in two separate incidents in 2001 and 2003 when Indonesian police and soldiers
raided rebel strongholds.
The commission said security forces had killed up to 13 people in the two incidents.
It says there is preliminary evidence of gross human rights abuses and also other
forms of rights abuses such as a destructive raid on property.
The military declined to comment, saying they would need to study the findings.
A low-level separatist rebellion has been going on in resource-rich but sparsely
populated Papua, 3,100 kilometres east of the capital, Jakarta, for decades.
04/09/2004 08:19:54 | ABC Radio Australia News
©2004 ABC
|
