The Age [Australia], March 16, 2005 - 11:24AM
Indonesian soldiers use aid cash
Indonesian troops in West Papua were using money set aside for aid to the province
to attack rebels, head of the province's Baptist church has said.
President of the West Papua Baptist Church, the Reverend Sofyan Yoman, said
investigations by the church showed the Indonesian military has been siphoning off
money from the province's Special Autonomy Fund.
The fund, which includes money contributed by international donors, supports
humanitarian projects.
"The special autonomy funds are being used for military operations," Mr Yoman told
SBS's Dateline program to be screened on Wednesday night.
"According to the information I have obtained on the ground, the total amount is two
and a half billion rupiah ($A338,000)."
Mr Yoman said international donors to Indonesia such as Australia should pressure
Jakarta to investigate the corruption claims, as well as secure access for human
rights officials to visit areas where recent military operations have occurred.
"The regional government secretary has announced that they have used funds of
approximately 19 billion (rupiah) to pay for medicine and food," he said.
"But the facts on the ground are that people are starving and dying. Many of them are
out in the jungle. Who is that money being given to?"
Human rights activists in West Papua's Central Highlands secretly filmed footage
showing villages which had been ransacked and destroyed by the Indonesian military,
leaving an estimated 6,000 people homeless.
A militia informant told the program the Indonesian military (TNI) were building up
militias and storing ammunition in roadside food stalls.
"I am convinced that the TNI is preparing militias ... and that at some stage these
militias will become a force used to attack the community as happened in East
Timor," he said.
"We are very worried about this."
Mr Yoman said Indonesian authorities had a policy to resettle large numbers of
Muslim immigrants in the territory to dilute its Christian majority and inflame religious
tensions.
The program said that among the settlers were members of the terror group Laskar
Jihad, which has been involved in attacking Christians on the island of Ambon.
A member of the group told Dateline that West Papua had up to 500 dedicated
followers and training camps.
"The truth of Islam had to be realised so we had to wage Jihad against those who
wanted to destroy Islam, whether that be people, or places of worship," he said.
"We were taught how to estimate the strength of the religious communities in Sorong,
place of worships, Christian and others.
"We were also taught to observe where the Christian neighbourhoods were in Sorong."
He said the group's leaders openly discussed their allegiance to terror network
al-Qaeda and that al-Qaeda received regular reports on Laskar Jihad's activities in
West Papua.
Indonesian ministers are due to hold high-level talks in Canberra on Thursday on a
range of issues in the lead-up to a visit by president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
© 2005 AAP
Copyright © 2004. The Age Company Ltd.
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