ABC AUSTRALIA, Monday, November 10, 2003. 11:00pm
Indonesia bans commemoration of separatist day in Papua
Indonesian authorities have formally banned any attempts by separatists in Papua
province to mark the December 1 anniversary of an independence proclamation, police
said.
"The governor, the heads of the provincial police and military and the provincial
attorney-general have signed a document banning the commemoration of December
1, including the flying of the Bintang Kejora [separatist flag]," Jabir said, a provincial
police spokesman.
The military chief overseeing the province has ordered his troops on alert before the
anniversary.
"Prior to Papua Independence Day, rebel leaders will issue circulars ordering their
troops to attack police and military posts, or even public venues - so TNI [Indonesian
armed forces] personnel must remain vigilant," Major-General Nurdin Zainal said.
Pro-independence activists on previous anniversaries have raised separatist flags in
Indonesia's resource-rich easternmost province.
In addition to peaceful protests the Free Papua Movement has waged a sporadic
low-level revolt since 1963.
On December 1, 1962, several pro-independence activists proclaimed the state of
West Papua.
But Indonesia, which took control of the mountainous jungle-clad territory from Dutch
colonisers in 1963, did not recognise the proclamation.
Last Wednesday local time, soldiers killed 10 people whom they described as
separatist rebels in a pre-dawn raid.
That raid followed a November 2 attack, blamed on separatist rebels, in which four
construction workers were killed.
Some analysts say the army may be planning to step up anti-rebel operations in
Papua after the government in May authorised a huge military campaign against
separatists in the westernmost province of Aceh.
Last year some 1,500 people marked the anniversary of the Papua separatist
movement with a ceremony at the grave of Theys Hiyo Eluay, a peaceful
independence campaigner who was murdered by special forces soldiers.
- AFP
ABC Radio Australia News
© 2001 Australian Broadcasting Corporation |
