The Jakarta Post, September 26, 2002
Army, militia suspects in Freeport murders
Agencies, Jakarta
Army soldiers from Indonesia's Kopassus special forces were involved in a deadly
ambush on employees of the Freeport mine in Papua, a human rights investigator
alleged on Wednesday.
Two Americans and one Indonesian died in the Aug. 31 attack on a mountain road
leading to the American-owned Freeport copper and gold mine. Twelve other Freeport
employees, mostly Americans, were wounded.
"The Kopassus are implicated in this incident. That's number one," John Rumbiak of
the Papua-based Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy (Els-Ham) said in
Jakarta.
Releasing the findings of Els-Ham's investigation of the attack, John Rumbiak called
on the U.S. government to launch its own probe into the killings, in conjunction with
Indonesian authorities.
Papua Police chief Ins. Gen. Made Mangku Pastika, meanwhile, said on Wednesday
his officers were still trying to determine which group was responsible for the bloody
attack.
He said the police currently were scrutinizing the evidence, including hundreds of
spent bullets, firearms and a car.
Mangku said at least 200 bullets were fired at the bus during the attack.
The officer also said he had received a letter from the Free Papua Movement (OPM)
denying it had any involvement in the incident.
He, however, said the police had not dismissed the possibility that the group was
behind the shooting.
The Army has blamed the followers of Kelly Kwalik, a local leader of the disorganized
and poorly armed OPM, for the attack.
Several top generals have already ruled out military or police involvement in the attack.
John Rumbiak, however, rejected the possibility of any OPM involvement, saying he
had based his findings on interviews with witnesses, including an informant who
claimed to have been in a vehicle in the area with Kopassus members before the
ambush.
The witness is now under police protection, Rumbiak said.
It is not clear if the actual shooters were Papuan members of Kopassus or members
of a Papuan militia group linked to the military, he added.
Kopassus soldiers have also been implicated in the murder of Theys Hiyo Eluay,
chairman of the separatist Papua Presidium Council which advocates peaceful dialog
with Jakarta.
Eluay was found dead in his car last November.
Since June, the Military Police have been saying that several Kopassus soldiers
would soon be tried in the Eluay case, but no trial has yet begun.
The Papua copper and gold mine, one of the largest in the world, is operated by a
local subsidiary of U.S.-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc. It is
considered a vital national asset by the government and is heavily guarded by
government troops.
The massive outflow of revenue from the mine, combined with human rights abuses
linked to government security forces, has provided fuel for widespread separatist
sentiment among the Papuan people.
Jakarta has granted the province special autonomy status, which promises a greater
share of revenue and respect for local culture.
All contents copyright © of The Jakarta Post.
|
