WSWS.org, 13 September 2002
News & Analysis : Asia : Indonesia
Ambush near US-owned mine in Papua suggests Indonesian
army involvement
By John Roberts
In the early afternoon of August 31, an estimated 15 gunmen opened fire with M-16
assault rifles on three Land Cruisers travelling on a mountain road near the huge
US-owned Freeport gold and copper mine in the Indonesian province of Papua. Three
people, one Indonesian and two Americans, were killed and 10 others wounded. All
were staff members at the mine's international school.
Indonesian authorities immediately blamed armed Papuan separatists of the Free
Papua Movement (OPM) for the ambush. At this stage it is impossible to say with
any certainty who was responsible. But the evidence available so far casts doubt over
the official version of events and points to the possible involvement of the Indonesian
military in the attack—either directly, or indirectly through various surrogates.
The OPM had very little to gain from an attack, which was immediately condemned by
the US embassy in Jakarta as an "outrageous act of terrorism". On the other hand,
the Indonesian armed forces (TNI), which has been pressing for a crackdown against
separatists, certainly had a number of motives, as well as the opportunity and the
means, for the murders.
If the OPM carried out the attack, it chose a particularly unsuitable site. The ambush
took place 20 km from the mine on the jungle road to the town of Tembagapura, but
just a few hundred metres from a manned military security post. Even in the prevailing
foggy conditions, there was the risk of a counterattack by the Indonesian military.
Moreover, the attackers were armed with M-16s—standard issue for the TNI and the
police, but rare among OPM fighters, who have relied on primitive weapons, including
bows and arrows. None of the OPM factions have a history of murdering foreigners.
Because of the misty conditions, none of the victims saw their attackers. But
Indonesian security chiefs immediately rushed to blame a number of OPM
culprits—apparently without much coordination.
The provincial police chief, Major General Made Pastika, speculated that people from
the village of Bantu, three hours walk through the jungle from the ambush site, may
have been involved. "It is very possible that the killers were based there. There is no
other base camp in the area," he said. Police reported that they shot and killed a man
near the ambush site on September 1 but have released few details of the gun battle.
Indonesian army chief General Ryamizard Ryacudu and Papuan provincial military
chief Major-General Mahidin Simbolon had a second, equally unsubstantiated theory.
They claimed that an OPM splinter group headed by Kelly Kwalik had carried out the
killings. Kwalik, who has previously been accused of kidnapping but not harming
foreigners, issued a statement denying any involvement.
According to a Washington Post report, other military officials named another OPM
group led by Titus Morib, as the possible organiser of the killings. But a
Papuan-based police investigator dismissed the possibility, saying that the attack
was too far from Morib's area of operation for him to be a likely suspect.
The official response to the latest murders recalls the reaction following the killing of
Theys Eluay, president of the pro-independence Papua Presidium Council, last
November. Eluay was found dead in his car after leaving a dinner with the provincial
commander of Kopassus—the TNI's notorious special forces unit. His driver fled the
scene and has not been seen since.
In the immediate aftermath of Eluay's murder, Indonesian police and army spokesmen
floated a series of mutually contradictory explanations—ranging from suicide, to a
heart attack, to murder at the hands of his own supporters. So crude were the
methods of the killers, however, that the police were eventually forced to indict 12
Kopassus soldiers, including the local commander.
The OPM itself has denied any involvement in the Freeport ambush and joined human
rights groups in Papua and Jakarta in calling for an independent international inquiry
into the incident.
The Papua Presidium Council, a legal organisation based in the provincial capital
Jayapura, issued a statement on September 2, declaring: "It is becoming more and
more evident that the Indonesian security forces are involved in creating provocation
and instigating violence.
"An attack on foreign nationals and on Freeport and consequently blaming the OPM
is on the one hand an effort to discredit the OPM as a terrorist organisation and on
the other hand a warning to Freeport that it cannot operate without the protection of
the Indonesian army."
A protection racket
An article in the Australian Financial Review pointed out that the Indonesian military
has operated what amounts to a protection racket to milk money from Freeport, the
world's largest copper and gold mine. It reported "a pattern of incidents over the years
that have the hallmarks of stand-over tactics by the Indonesian military to extract
more money and resources from Freeport in exchange for their role in providing
‘security'."
The mine has certainly provoked anger and resentment over its impact on local
villages. Even when the TNI has not had a hand in attacks on the mine, it has
exploited any expressions of opposition for its own purposes. After major riots in
1996, the TNI prevailed upon Freeport to build a new army base in the area at the
company's expense, at a cost of $US37 million.
As the article pointed out, even if Papuans or an OPM splinter group did carry out the
ambush, that did not rule out the involvement of the Indonesian security forces. It
noted that "over the years a number of so-called independence leaders in Papua have
worked with the military". Brigham Golden, a member of the US Council of Foreign
Relations task force on Papua, told the newspaper: "The military in the past has used
OPM elements as proxies."
The TNI has a direct interest in maintaining a monopoly over security at the Freeport
mine. The Indonesian state budget provides less than half the funds required to
maintain the security apparatus. TNI officers have long supplemented their resources
by legal and illegal business ventures, which in Papua have included logging
operations and extortion of money from local and foreign-based companies. These
operations in Papua were part of the extensive and highly lucrative commercial
network operated by the military at all levels throughout the archipelago, of which the
vast Suharto business empire was just the apex.
Since the fall of Suharto in 1998, Indonesian had been under pressure from
international investors to end these practices, including the "security arrangements"
at places like Freeport. Military officials were reportedly angered by the mine
management's decision to appoint Tom Beanal, a leader of the Amungme tribe that
claims traditional ownership of the mine lands, to the board of its Indonesian
subsidiary. Whoever carried out the August 31 ambush, the military will use the
opportunity to emphasise that the mine requires its protection.
More broadly, the TNI will also use the attack to insist on a crackdown on the
OPM—a move that will strengthen its hand not only in Papua but elsewhere in
Indonesia. The military played the key role in the protracted process of ousting
Abdurrahman Wahid last year and installing Megawati Sukarnoputri as president. The
generals were particularly critical of Wahid over his attempts to negotiate a deal with
separatist movements in Papua and Aceh. Under Megawati, the TNI has intensified its
operations in both provinces.
If it can pin the attack on the OPM and brand it as "terrorist" organisation, the TNI can
bolster its case in Washington for the resumption of ties with the US military. For
months, under the guise of its "global war on terrorism," the Bush administration has
been pushing for the overturn of a US Congressional ban on training and support for
the Indonesian military. The attack on Freeport could provide a convenient pretext for
the US to provide support for Indonesian operations in Papua.
If that is the case, however, the exercise could easily backfire. After initially pointing
the finger at local Papuans, police chief Pastika indicated in an interview this week
that he was examining possible army involvement. He said the military might have
carried out the attack to extort money from the mine. "This is also one of the
possibilities," he said. "We are police and cannot ignore any of the possibilities."
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