Report by TAPOL about growing
tensions over the Theys murder investigation
December 31 2001
Reports appearing in the press
point to a growing tension between the various
arms of the security forces, in particular
between the police force and the army and
between certain units within the army over
investigations into the assassination of Theys
Eluay, the chairman of the Papuan Presidium
Council who waa abducted on 10 November and
whose body was found a day later.
An army team of investigation
has been in Jayapura since Friday to conduct
its own investigations. The central government
said last week that it would announce the
composition of an 'independent' team of investigation
'before the end of the year'. But this has
not happened, suggesting that the central
government may have put their move on hold
until the army's investigations in Jayapura
have been completed.
The new chief of the Indonesian
police, Police General Da'i Bachtiar, stunned
the general public with his statement published
on 29 December (Cendrawasih Pos) that evidence
so far collected points to members of Kopassus
based in the Tribuana Kopassus base being
responsible for the crime. As will be recalled,
Theys had spent the evening of his abduction
at the Kopassus base and was abducted only
a short distance away as he was being driven
home by his driver who has since disappeared.
Da'i said it was difficult for the police
to investigate members of this elite unit
as the police have no powers to interrogate
members of the army. He hoped that the military
police would soon get involved in the investigations.
Another obstacle was that witnesses
were afraid to come forward as they felt under
threat from certain quarters. He said it was
also important to eliminate existing frictions
between the forces so that the investigation
could go forward.
He insisted that the police
were not afraid to face the consequences,
if evidence pointed to the involvement of
Kopassus. 'We must operate on the basis of
the facts on the ground without abandoning
the principle of the presumption of innocence,'
he said. He also said that the driver Aristoteles
Masoka, was the key to the investigations.
If he could be found, things would progress
much faster.
Meanwhile, the same paper reports
that the army team is collaborating with the
regional police force and has seen the evidence
already collected. The army team, headed by
Brig.General Marbun, had been sent to Jayapura
to seek clarifications about the involvement
of army 'oknum' (rogue) elements in the murder.
The regional police chief, Drs Made Mangku
Pastika, said that if investigations pointed
to army involvement, the role of the police
would end.
The police chief also said that
the murder of Theys had put the future of
the special autonomy law into doubt. It is
not unlikely that the motive for the killing
was to thwart special autonomy. He said opposition
to special autonomy law comes from two directions,
from those who want independence and from
those who think that the law 'gives too much
away to the Papuans' and will therefore be
likely to further encourage independence.
Several days ago, the three
leading human rights NGOs in Jayapura, ELSHAM,
the LBH and Kontras, stated their total opposition
to moves by the government and the military
to investigate the crime, because they are
aimed at 'localising' the crime and treating
it as an 'ordinary crime' and not as an extra-ordinary
crime involving state institutions. They believe
that the killing was politically motivated
and insist on the government setting up an
independent international team that would
include the UN Human Rights High Commissioner's
office and international organisations such
as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch
as well as the National Human Rights Commission.
The team should have powers to investigate
state institutions including the President,
the Supreme Congress, the DPR, the Minister
of the Interior and the national intelligence
agencies. It was important to be able to establish
whether the crime only involved individuals
or involved institutions.
According to Papua Pos of 29
December, the army team now in Jayapura was
limited to seeking clarifications about the
case to determine whether anyone from the
army was involved. If the team was able to
establish that army elements were involved,
then a full blown army investigation would
be conducted, and the police would no longer
be involved. If the case involved joint investigations
between the military and civil forces, then
a konseksitas investigation would be launched.
Investigations would have to start all over
again because police findings would not be
permitted if the case goes before a military
court.
This paper also reported the
national police chief, Da'i Bachtiar, as saying
that evidence pointed in the direction of
a link between the Tribuana Kopassus base
and the crime. If this were so, this would
be a matter for army investigation.
These press reports point in
the direction of an attempt by the army to
take over control of investigations from the
police. The army, which is clearly on the
defensive because of overwhelming evidence
already collected by the Jayapura police and
by ELSHAM about Kopassus involvement, now
seems to be intent on a damage limitation
exercise. This could make any move by the
central government to set up its own team
irrelevant and leave it to army investigators
to scapegoat members of Kopassus who would
go for trial in a military court, and put
a stop to any further investigation into the
assassination. Hence, while chief of police
Da'i's remark about Kopassus involvement is
stunning, it could in effect open the way
for the army to conduct its damage limitation
operation.
RTE 1 Radio (national broadcaster)
Saturday File
22 December 2001
[Extract, relevant to West Papua]
Cathal Mac Coille, presenter, on the subject
of the possibility of bringing the Generals
accused of human rights abuses in East Timor
to justice, asked:
"The point has been made about the understandable
reservations of the East Timorese, nevertheless
the people with serious blood on their hands,
the organisers of violence have moved on,
have moved out elsewhere, and if the international
community doesn't indicate by way of having
an international tribunal, if it dosen't indicate
some determination to deal with these people,
they will perhaps use the same methods somewhere
else."
In reply, Liz O'Donnell, TD, Irish Junior
Minister for Foreign Affairs, said, inter
alia:
"It is true there is now a repeat performance
going on in West Papua, and that is very worrying"
Papuan rights group rejects
inquiry into independence leader's death
JAKARTA Dec 18 (AFP)
[ See Els-ham report on Theys
killing at www.gn.apc.org/tapol/r011213theys.htm
]
The leading human rights group
in Indonesia's Irian Jaya province on Tuesday
rejected as a whitewash a proposed government
inquiry into the murder of independence leader
Theys Eluay.
"This is a state crime,
state institutions are implicated, so how
can they be involved in any inquiry?"
John Rumbiak, of the Institute for Advocacy
and Human Rights (Elsham), told AFP.
The government is currently
considering a proposal by the National Human
Rights Commission for a 'National Independent
Team' to investigate Eluay's death. Under
the proposal the government, military, and
police would be part of the so-called 'independent'
body.
Rumbiak said the military's
special forces unit Kopassus was so closely
implicated in Eluay's killing on November
10, that neither the military nor the government
should sit on the proposed inquiry.
"Here in Jayapura we are
calling it an assassination, not a murder.
This is an extraordinary crime involving the
state. It is a highly political killing,"
he said by phone from Irian Jaya, known locally
as Papua.
Eluay, who headed the pro-independence
Papua Praesidium, was abducted by an unidentified
group of people as he drove home from a military
Heroes' Day celebration hosted by the local
Kopassus unit, in Jayapura on November 10.
His body, bearing signs of asphyxiation,
was found in his car at the bottom of a ravine
the following day.
Eluay's driver, who escaped
and reported his abduction by 'non-Papuan'
people, has subsequently disappeared.
"Based on our interviews
including with the police, it's already been
concluded that Kopassus are very much implicated,"
Rumbiak said.
"But we think Kopassus
have been victimised, they did what they have
been told, instructed to do. The masterminds
of this assassination have to be investigated."
Rumbiak said Megawati's national
day speech on August 16 and her reports on
separatism in the province following her visit
there as vice-president early last year advocated
a zero-tolerance policy towards separatist
activities.
"So when you look at these
policies clearly outlining their intention
and their acts towards the Papuan separatist
activities, from our perspective the assassination
of Theys Eluay is a state crime. It is no
ordinary crime," Rumbiak said.
Since questioning at least seven
Kopassus agents over the killing, police have
complained that they have met "a dead-end"
in their inquiries, Commission member Bambang
Suharto told AFP.
Suharto led a fact-finding mission
on Eluay's death to Jayapura from December
3 to 7. He said that of six possible explanations
for Eluay's death, he most believed that it
was a conspiracy aimed at destabilising the
central government in Jakarta.
Rumbiak said Suharto and the
human rights commission have no credibility
in the eyes of the Papuan people, since several
inquiries into past cases of extrajudicial
killings have gone nowhere and resulted in
no convictions.
"To be honest the Commission
is entangled in so much politics, it is dominated
by the military, and we don't see that any
inquiry they set up would function independently,"
he said.
"What we need now is a
truly independent team made up of international
human rights experts that have the credibility
and independence and respect to investigate
the security minister, the intelligence chief,
all those relevant state bodies."
Appeal by Franciscans and
Dominicans (Geneva)
Geneva, 14 December 2001
FRANCISCANS INTERNATIONAL and
DOMINICANS for Justice and Peace demand an
independent investigation into the Murder
of Theys Hiyo Eluay and an end to human rights
abuses in Papua by the Government of Indonesia.
Franciscans International and
Dominicans for Justice and Peace remain gravely
concerned by the politically motivated murder
of Mr.Theys Hiyo Eluay, Papuan community leader,
on 10 November 2001.
The integration of Papua a former
Dutch colony - into the Unitary State of Indonesia
took place in 1969. This event utterly failed
to adequately address the concerns of the
Papuans, a people that have since suffered
gross and flagrant violations of their human
rights and fundamental freedoms by the Government
of Indonesia. The Government of Indonesia
has embarked upon along-term campaign of extra-judicial
executions, violence against women, torture,
arbitrary detention, intimidation, harassment
against the Papuanpeople.
The Inquiry Team on Human Rights
Abuses (KPP HAM), established by the Indonesian
National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas
HAM) in February 2001,concluded that these
gross violations of the Papuan people's human
rights onstituted crimes against humanity.
Despite this State-sanctioned
campaign of brutality, Mr. Theys Eluay sought
to bring long-lasting peace to Papua by engaging
the authorities in order to formulate an endurig,
political solution that would adequately address
his people's legitimate grievances. He sought
to incorporate the Papuan peopledirectly into
this process and foster a national and international
dialogue on the question. Mr. Theys Eluay
rejected Government of Indonesia s offer of
special autonomy , as it is not an appropriate
final response to the real problems and rightful
demands of the Papuan people.
Mr. Theys Eluay was murdered
less than two months before the Government
ofIndonesia s plan to impose its special autonomy
law on January 1st, 2002.
According to numerous local
reports, the possibility of Indonesian military
involvement cannot be discounted in the murder
of Mr. Theys Eluay. Despite repeated pleas
to the Government of Indonesia and the National
Commission for Human Rights, there has not
yet been an independent investigation into
the murder of Mr. Theys Eluay.
Franciscans International and
Dominicans for Justice and Peace:
1. Strongly urge the Government
of Indonesia to end its impunity by authorising
and providing total support to an immediate
and thouroughly independent investigation
of Mr. Theys Eluay s murder, pursuant to Indonesian
Law, No. 26 (2000), on Human Rights Courts.
2. Call upon the Government
of Indonesia to adhere to international human
rights norms and standards and immediately
end the practice of extra-judicial execution,
violence against women, torture, arbitrary
detention, intimidation, harassment and other
forms of State-sanctioned violence in all
regencies, including Papua.
3. Urge the Government of Indonesia
to fulfil its obligations under the Second
Amendement of the 1945 Constitution Art. 28
I (4): the protection, promotion, enforcement
and fulfilment of human rights are the responsibility
of
the State, in particular the government.
4. Call upon the Government
of Indonesia to invite the Special Rapporteur
on the human rights and fundamental freedoms
of indigenous people to visit Papua and to
provide them with complete and unhindered
access to individuals and communities and
to fully collaborate with all the relevant
thematic procedures of the Commission on Human
Rights.
7000 DEMONSTRATORS OUTSIDE
PAPUA GOVERNOR OFFICE
Jayapura, 13 December 2000
ELS-HAM
An estimated 7000 determined
demonstrators, mostly Papuan university and
college students, are jamming the front yard
and the road in front of the governor's office
today staging their protests over a number
of political issues concerning the current
situation of Papua, including the poor handling
by police of the assassination case of the
late Theys Hiyo Eluay, chairman of Papua Presidium
Council. Today is the third day. High on demonstrators
demands are :
(1) to immediately and wisely
provide answers to Mr. Eluay's death, including
human rights abuses and violations having
occurred since 1962 to 2001. And the inclusion
of an independent international investigation
team to this case;
(2) to immediately open a National and International
Dialog on Political Status of West Papua;
(3) strongly rejects the Special Autonomy
Legislation for Papua since special autonomy
is not the wish of Papuan people,
(4) strongly rejects the dispatch of more
infantry troops into Papua and, on behalf
of all Papuan students and the people of Papua,
we earnestly call for an immediate withdrawal
of all organic and non organic security forces
out of Papua as Papua is not in the state
of war. We strongly urge that our demands
are seriously brought into action.
So far Papua Governor, Jaap
Sallosa, refuses to meet the protesters. The
bulk of protesting students are from the state
Cenderawasih University who were transported
to the governor's office on trucks and buses.
At this time of writing no government official,
including the governor himself, was known
to have met the demonstrators.
New Zealand Ambassador inquires
about Theys killing
Tuesday, 11 December 2001
[Report received from Jayapura,
probably based on Antara article. TAPOL]
[Note: This visit should be
seen as a sign of the concern of the diplomatic
community in Jakarta at the slow pace of the
investigations into the Theys assassination.
TAPOL]
Jayapura - While on a working
visit to Jayapura on Monday, New Zealand's
ambassador to Jakarta, Chris Elder, inquired
about efforts underway to solve the case of
the murder of Theys Hiyo Eluay, chairperson
of the Papuan Presidium Council. Nothing clear
is yet known about the case. Deputy Governor
Constan Karma told Antara in Jayapura on Tuesday
that he had received a visit from the New
Zealand ambassador and members of his staff.
During the meeting, the ambassador
asked for information about what has been
done to investigate the killing of Theys Eluay
and to discover the motive for the crime.
'I told the ambassador that
he should speak to the chief of police, Drs.
Made Mangku Pastika,' Karma said.
The ambassador also conveyed
the condolences of the New Zealand government
and people to the people of Papua on the death
of Papua's pro-independence leader.
THEYS KILLING IS A CRIME
AGAINST HUMANITY THAT MUST BE INVESTIGATED
BY AN INDEPENDENT COMMISSION
Tapol Press Release
30 November 2001
TAPOL strongly condemns the
decision of the Indonesian Government to set
up a joint military and police team to investigate
the abduction and killing of Theys Hiyo Eluay
on 10-11 November and reiterates its call
made immediately after the body of Theys Eluay
was found nearly three weeks ago for the Indonesian
Government to set up an independent team to
investigate the crime.
In a letter today to the Minister
of State at the Foreign Office Ben Bradshaw,
Carmel Budiardjo of TAPOL said:
'The circumstances in which
Theys Eluay was abducted and later killed
strongly suggest that the military may have
been involved in the crime. Moreover, it has
been established by our contacts in Jayapura
that the local police reached a point in their
investigations that made it impossible for
them to proceed any further. The reason for
this is clear: the police have no powers to
investigate criminal actions by the military.'
Theys Hiyo Eluay, the chairperson
of the Papuan Presidium Council, was abducted
on 10 November, a short distance from the
Tribuana base of the army's elite corps Kopassus,
on his way home after having dinner at the
base. His driver Aristoteles Masoka made a
distressed phone call to the wife of the victim
to inform her of the abduction, and has since
disappeared. The body of the victim was discovered
on the following day. An autopsy found that
he died as a result of foul play and his body
showed signs of strangulation and swellings.
In a press conference in Jayapura
today, Papua's leading human rights organisation
ELSHAM described the crime as 'an act of terror
and provocation by the security forces aimed
at stirring up conflict in Papua', and said
that it was 'pre-meditated and politically
motivated'. In other words, it was a crime
against humanity.
In such circumstances, the decision
of the Indonesian Government to leave it to
the police and military to investigate this
crime will not satisfy the basic requirements
for a thorough investigation to identify not
only the perpetrators of the crime but also
those who masterminded and planned it.
The circumstances suggest that
members of Kopassus may have been involved
in the crime. These special forces have a
history of involvement in abductions and killings.
In the months before the fall of President
Suharto in May 1998, Kopassus was responsible
for the abduction and murder of a number of
Indonesian pro-democracy activists. After
Suharto's removal from power, some low-ranking
members of Kopassus were tried in court for
the crimes and given derisory sentences. The
investigations also led to the 'honourable
dismissal' from the army of Lieutenant-General
Prabowo who was the commander of Kopassus
at the time.
In its letter to Minister Ben
Bradshaw, TAPOL called on the British Government
to urge the Indonesian Government to set up
an independent team to investigate this crime
against humanity. The commission should be
free from the military and should include
academics, human rights activists and persons
with the necessary forensic skills. Someone
from Papua should be included and the commission
should be instructed to make its findings
public.
It also urged the British Government
to impress on the Indonesian Government the
need to ascertain the whereabouts of the key
witness, Aristoteles Masoka, who was driving
the car when Theys Eluay was abducted and
who has since disappeared, and to take firm
measures to offer protection to all persons
willing to come forward as witnesses.
In conclusion, Carmel Budiardjo
said: 'Without a proper investigation of this
crime against humanity that wins the confidence
of the Papuan people and the international
community, we fear that the aftermath of this
horrific crime can only further inflame passions
in the territory and result in yet more disturbances
and unrest.'
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights
Campaign
111 Northwood Road, Thornton Heath, Croydon
CR7 8HW, UK.
tel +44 020 8771 2904 fax +44 020 8653 0322
tapol@gn.apc.org www.gn.apc.org/tapol
The Irish Times, 29 November,
2001
World News
West Papua transfer a 'sham'
DUBLIN - The former minister
for foreign affairs, Mr David Andrews, said
yesterday that the international community
and the UN should revisit the "sham"
of the "Act of Free Choice" by which
the now troubled and separatist former Dutch
colony of West Papua (Irian Jaya) was transferred
to Indonesian control in the 1960s, writes
David Shanks.
His comment follows an admission
last week by the man in charge of the hand-over
for the United Nations, Mr Chakravarthy Narasimhan,
that the process of consulting 1025 elders
was "just a whitewash". Mr Narasimhan
was then undersecretary-general of the UN.
"The mood at the UN was
to get rid of this problem as quickly as possible,"
he said. Mr Andrews also called for "a
fully independent inquiry" into the recent
murder of the separatist Papuan leader, Theys
Eluay.
Island Demands Justice for
Murdered Leader
The Sunday Tribune (Ireland)
November 25th, 2001
Tens of thousands lined the
streets of West Papua's capital Jayapura last
week for the funeral of murdered independence
leader, Theys Eluay.
Eluay (64) who was leader of
the West Papuan Presidium, the leading pro-independence
movement for the vast jungle-covered half-island
of two million people that is Indonesia's
most eastern province, was a well-known moderate,
and tried to maintain good relations with
Indonesian civil and military officials.
The day he was murdered, he
had attended an Indonesian army (TNI) ceremony
near his home to commemorate Indonesia's "Heroes
Day".
Shortly after leaving for home,
his car was stopped by a group of men with
"non-Papuan features" according
to his driver who managed to call Eluay's
wife on his mobile. The driver then disappeared.
The next day, Eluay's body was found in a
ravine near the New Guinea border. Indonesian
officials claimed he had died of natural causes.
Doctors' reports said, however, he had been
strangled.
As news of his death spread,
gangs of Papuan youths attacked and burned
shops belonging to Indonesian migrants in
Sentani. And several thousand people marched
to the main police station in Jayapura shouting,
"we want justice."
Few Papuans doubt where the
real responsibility lies: with the Indonesian
government and the TNI. "What is clear
is that the No 1 enemy is the Indonesian government,
because we are struggling for independence,
but through peace and dialogue," said
another Presidium member Taha Al-Hamid.
There seems little chance of
the murderers being brought to justice. Indeed,
Eluay may have been the most prominent victim
to date of Operation "Sangat Rahasia"
(Top Secret) run by the TNI, whose contents
have only recently been revealed in documents
leaked to the Indonesian Human Rights Campaign
in London. With world attention diverted to
Afghanistan, and the international media banned
from West Papua, the TNI feels it has a free
hand to deal with pro-independence movements
there and in Aceh.
The document reveals that at
a meeting in Jakarta on 8 June, 2000 senior
officials of the TNI, the police and secret
services, drew up a plan to undermine West
Papua's independence movement by taking "preventative
and repressive action" to divide, discredit
and destroy the Presidium and Papuan struggle.
Under former Indonesian Presidents Habibie
and his successor, Abdul Rahman Wahid, some
effort was made to acknowledge the grievance
felt by Indonesia's outer islands, most notably
Aceh and West Papua. Under Wahid, Papuans
were allowed to fly their own flag, the Morning
Star, and even call themselves Papuans, which
had been a criminal offence under Suharto.
At that time Eluay and other Papuan leaders
were able to meet the reformist Indonesian
president to voice grievances and make the
case for independence. Although Wahid rejected
independence, he nevertheless supported a
dialogue.
The West Papuan Presidium was
formed in July 1998 after the massacre by
soldiers of many peaceful protestors on Biak
island off the north coast. The massacre galvanised
Papuan opinion and led to even pro-Indonesian
Papuans such as Eluay, who had been an MP
for the ruling Golkar Part for 15 years, to
change sides and support independence.
Although over 100,000 Papuans
have died at the hands of the Indonesian military
over three decades, the Presidium opted for
peaceful methods to achieve independence.
Nothing less than independence would satisfy
Eluay said last month: "We do not want
to be part of Indonesia any more. We are a
separate people with our own culture and identity."
More recently, the Presidium
appointed lawyers to challenge the legality
of the 1962 New York Agreement which had forced
Holland to cede West Papua to Indonesia; and
also the dubious 1969 Act of 'Free' Choice
where 1,025 hand picked Papuan tribal chiefs-including
Eluay-voted for full "integration"
with Indonesia. The Presidium has continually
demanded a referendum on independence similar
to that held in East Timor in 1999.
And Indonesian migrants mostly
from Java and Sulawesi, who now make up 40%
of the population, completely dominate the
economy and government, causing fierce resentment.
"The so-called development
policies of Jakarta are seen by Papuans as
a new form of colonialism that exploits our
resources and marginalises us," says
John Rumbiak of human rights groups, Els-Ham.
Papua's incorporation into
Indonesia was a farce, top U.N. officials
say
By SLOBODAN LEKIC
Associated Press Writer
[This article by Slobodan Lekic
is a major break through. Narasimhan who was
central to the whole UN involvement in West
Papua in the 1960's has publicly
admitted that it was a sham.....]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Wracked
by separatist struggles across its vast
chain of islands, Indonesia is being especially
haunted by a referendum 32
years ago that former U.N. officials now admit
was a sham.
The region in question is Irian
Jaya, Indonesia's easternmost province, and
the referendum legitimizing the Dutch colony's
annexation is proving to be a
source of intensifying separatist fervor.
U.N. officials who conducted
the 1969 vote by tribal chiefs now say most
citizens of the province covering the western
half of New Guinea island were
intentionally excluded from the process.
''It was just a whitewash.
The mood at the United Nations was to get
rid of
this problem as quickly as possible,'' said
Chakravarthy Narasimhan, a
retired U.N. undersecretary general who handled
the takeover.
''Nobody gave a thought to
the fact that there were a million people
there
who had their fundamental human rights trampled,''
he said in a telephone
interview from his home in Madras, India.
The ballot immediately sparked
an uprising in the region, which is also
known as Papua. Indonesia's army has failed
in repeated attempts to crush
the rebellion, and support for independence
has strengthened since Gen.
Suharto, Indonesia's dictator, was forced
from office in 1998.
In the past, bloody protests
have erupted on Dec. 1, the anniversary of
Papua's 1961 independence proclamation. So
Indonesian security forces are
bracing for more trouble Saturday, the 40th
anniversary of the proclamation.
Independence activists have
been further galvanized by the U.N.-supervised
referendum in 1999 that allowed nearby East
Timor to break away from
Indonesia and become independent after years
of fighting Indonesian forces.
They are demanding a similar plebiscite for
Irian Jaya.
The mysterious killing on Nov.
10 of Theys Eluay, a prominent
pro-independence politician, has added to
tensions. Many Papuans accuse the
government of responsibility for the death
of Theys, who was found strangled
after attending a dinner with Indonesian army
commanders.
Opposition to rule from Jakarta
appears almost universal among Papuans. But
the Indonesian government is adamant about
holding the region, the nation's
biggest and home to rich natural resources.
When the Dutch originally granted
independence to the Indonesia archipelago
in 1949, they retained control of Papua, arguing
it had no ethnic,
linguistic or cultural links with the other
islands.
Unlike Indonesia's mainly Malay
inhabitants, Papuans are racially distinct
Melanesians. While 85 percent of Indonesians
are Muslims, Papuans are either
Christians or animists.
The Netherlands announced it
would grant statehood to Papua and set up
a
local legislature Dec. 1, 1961.
Indonesia reacted by launching a series of
cross-border incursions.
The invaders were easily routed by Dutch marines.
But the U.S.
administration of President Kennedy feared
a military defeat could drive
Indonesia into the Communist bloc and pressured
the Dutch to hand over the
colony.
The Dutch eventually agreed,
and in 1962 the United Nations was brought
in
to prepare a ''one man, one vote'' referendum
for self-determination by
1969. Within a year, however, the world body
relinquished administration of
the region to Jakarta, and left Suharto's
military dictatorship in charge of
preparing for a democratic plebiscite.
The Indonesians, sensing overwhelming
opposition to the takeover, decided
to canvass only 1,025 hand-picked supporters.
The result, not surprisingly,
was a unanimous vote for integration.
Lobbied intensely by Washington,
the U.N. Security Council endorsed the
vote.
''Suharto was a terrible dictator,'' Narasimhan
said. ''How could anyone
have seriously believed that all voters unanimously
decided to join his
regime? Unanimity like that is unknown in
democracies.''
Other former U.N. officials
agreed. ''It wasn't our most glorious hour,''
said Brian Urquhart, another retired U.N.
undersecretary general.
''It was arranged to have the
U.N. put the seal of good housekeeping on
the
easiest but not necessarily most democratic
way to resolve the problem,'' he
said in a telephone interview from his home
in Massachusetts.
Hero chief becomes 'mulch
for the people'
By CHRIS McCALL
SENTANI, WEST PAPUA
The Age
Sunday 18 November 2001
Wailing, beating drums and hooting
like birds, a throng of tearful mourners
converged here yesterday to pay their last
respects for slain separatist
leader Theys Eluay.
At the football field where
he was buried under a hastily erected shelter,
with traditional carving on its pillars and
a corrugated steel roof to keep
off the sun, a banner quoted Mr Eluay's own
words.
"Let my body and blood
become mulch for the struggle for an independent
Papua," it read.
At least 10,000 mourners attended.
Among them were representatives of local
police, who kept a discreet presence during
the event. The banned Morning
Star flag was everywhere to be seen, over
Mr Eluay's coffin and flying
defiantly around it. No action was taken to
stop it.
Yet the ceremony did not pass
without controversy. It was briefly held up
as
a group of Papuans from other areas demanded
the members of the separatist
Papuan Presidium Council, which Mr Eluay chaired,
give an account to them.
There has been frustration at the presidium's
failure to get results since it
was appointed at a Papuan Congress last year.
There was also friction over
how and where the murdered leader should be
buried. Dani tribesmen from the remote Baliem
valley had offered to mummify
him, a traditional practice there for great
chiefs. Others wanted him buried
at the provincial legislature, where he long
sat as a legislator and where
his body briefly lay in state after it was
discovered last Sunday.
In the end, his family's wishes
were followed. He was buried in traditional
lands of the Sentani people, of whom he was
chief.
Mr Eluay's former deputy Thom
Beanal vowed Mr Eluay's death would not mean
the end of the independence struggle.
Agence France-Presse
November 17, 2001
10,000 mourners bury Irian
Jaya pro-independence leader
[The date in paragraph should
be November 10, not September 10.]
About 10,000 people, some delirious
with grief, gathered peacefully for the
funeral of Irian Jaya independence leader
Theys Hiyo Eluay, who died
mysteriously last week.
Mourners staged a two-hundred
meter (yard) procession from Eluay's home
on
Saturday, some 50 kilometers (32 miles) west
of the provincial capital
Jayapura, to a soccer field where the charismatic
leader was buried.
The emotional crowds sang religious
hymns as Eluay's body was laid to rest in
the field, which has been redesignated a "Papuan
Heroes" cemetery.
Members of the pro-independence
Papua Task Force militia carried Eluay's
coffin, which was draped in the secessionist
Morning Star flag. A tribal rite
was performed before the procession.
The throngs, many of whom had
come from other regions in the sprawling
province bordering Papua New Guinea, showered
the coffin with flowers. Many
mourners shed tears and screamed: "Father,
don't leave us behind."
Papua is the name that independence
activists use for Indonesia's easternmost
province, the scene of sporadic separatist
unrest for decades.
Residents climbed trees and
roofs of their homes to catch a glimpse of
the
ceremony, which was attended by senior officials
from the local government,
police and military.
"We thank God that the
ceremony went peacefully. We have passed a
critical
moment," Reverend Herwan Awom, a member
of the pro-independence Papua
Presidium which Eluay had headed before his
death, told AFP.
In his funeral message, the
deputy chief of the presidium, Tom Beanal,
called
on the United Nations to hold a referendum
on self-determination in Irian
Jaya.
Security was tight with police
deployed along the road leading to Eluay's
home, checking visitors who wanted to attend
the ceremony. Many had feared
violence would erupt during the funeral.
The province was on top military
alert against possible rioting, the state
Antara news agency reported.
Eluay, 64, who was the chieftain
of the Sentani tribe, went missing on his
way home on September 10 from a military ceremony.
His driver, who is still
missing, told the family in a brief telephone
call that they had been
abducted by a group of non-Irianese.
The Jayapura police chief, Senior
Commissioner Daud Sihombing, said he had
been informed that Eluay's driver was alive
but that his whereabouts were
still unknown.
Eluay's body was found the following
day in his crashed car. The face was
darkened and the tongue was sticking out.
The national police have described
the death as "unnatural" and sent
investigators to the remote province. Rights
groups have described the death
as an assassination.
Eluay and four other members
of the presidium had been on trial on charges
of
subversion for demanding independence.
The group had rejected Jakarta's
decision to grant the resource-rich province
greater autonomy, as had the Free Papua Movement
which has been waging a
low-level guerrilla war.
The autonomy law, which takes
effect next month, renames the province Papua.
It will have its own flag and anthem and will
keep between 70 and 80 percent
of revenues from its natural riches.
Rebels, sometimes using primitive
weapons including bows and arrows, have
been fighting sporadically for an independent
Melanesian state since the
former Dutch colony became an Indonesian province
in 1963.
Independence supporters say
a 1969 UN-sponsored plebiscite, which reaffirmed
Indonesian sovereignty over Irian Jaya, was
flawed.
Nov. 11, 2001: Abducted Papuan
separatist leader found dead
[This criminal act which is
likely to have profound political repercussions
in Papua, appears to have been deliberately
perpetrated in order to plunge
Papua into a state of confusion and unrest.
The international community
should take action to impress upon the Indonesian
government to need for an
immediate investigation into the premeditated
kidnap and murder of Papua's
foremost pro-independence figure. TAPOL]
JAKARTA (JP): Papuan separatist
leader Theys Hiyo Eulay was found dead in
his
abandoned car near the Papua New Guinea border
on Sunday, less than 24 hours
after his reported abduction, Antara reported.
Theys, who was undergoing a
trial for his separatist campaign in a court
in
Jayapura, was found inside his Kijang car
on the road near the border town
of Skouw, an Antara reporter said.
Marks of wounds were found around
his wrists and there was dry blood on his
body, the reporter said, adding that police
and investigators were already
on the scene.
Some of the car windows were
shattered and the car appeared to have hit
a
tree and stopped 50 meter short of a ravine.
Theys, the chairman of the Papuan
Presidium Council, had been on trial along
with three other presidium members, on charges
of subversion.
They were accused of fanning
separatist sentiments when they organized
a
massive congress in April last year (sic,
May-June) in which they demanded
a referendum for self determination for the
people in Irian Jaya, or Papua as the territory
is now unofficially called.
Although on trial, the four
were not under police arrest. The court trial
had been scheduled to resume on Monday.
The House of Representatives
in Jakarta last month passed a new law granting
sweeping autonomy for Papua. But many separatist
leaders said the law was
not enough and they insisted on independence
from Jakarta.
Theys was traveling from Jayapura,
capital of the province, to Sentani some
45 km when he was abducted by a group of unidentified
men on Saturday night.
His driver, who was dumped by the kidnapers,
reported the abduction to his
wife, who in turn notified the police
STATEMENT ISSUED ON 20 OCTOBER
2001 BY THE PAPUAN PRESIDIUM COUNCIL
The Papuan Presidium Council
(PDP) and the Chair and Secretary-General
of the
Panel of the Papuan Presidium Council held
a meeting in Kotaraja on 19 and 20
October. The meeting discussed the following
agenda items: Implementation of
the People's Mandate, Intensification of Military
Operations and Armed
Resistance which has resulted in Human Rights
Abuses, the Basic Rights of the
Papuan People, the Intentions of the Central
Government with regard to
Special Autonomy for Papua, and the PDP Strategy
towards these issues and regarding the Rectification
of History.
The Papuan Consultative Assembly
and the Second Papuan Congress in 2000 gave
a mandate to the Papuan Presidium Council,
thereby making it the lawful and representative
body of the Papuan people, at home and abroad,
in the struggle to uphold their basic rights,
including their civil and political rights,
by peaceful means, while giving priority to
a Dialogue to Rectify History, nationally
and internationally.
As holder of the Mandate of
the Papuan People, the meeting issued the
following statement:
1. The Papuan People express
their deep appreciation to the leaders and
people of the member states of the Pacific
Islands Forum for their solidarity
and support for the Papuan people's struggle
for the restoration of their
political rights and sovereignty by peaceful
means. The Papuan people also
urge the Dutch Government, the Government
of the Republic of Indonesia, the
Government of the United States of America
and the United Nations to honestly
and responsibly reconsider their role in the
political conspiracy against the
status of the land of Papua (Dutch New Guinea
or West Irian).
2. For 36 years, the National Liberation Army
Free Papua Organisation
(TPN/OPM) has conducted a guerrilla struggle
in the bush for an Independent
Papua in keeping with the innermost yearnings
of the people of the land of
Papua. While expressing the highest respect
for their struggle, we call for an
end to armed confrontation and to work together
to press for peaceful efforts
through political dialogue in the struggle
for the Political Rights and
Sovereignty of the Papuan nation.
3. We most earnestly call upon the Indonesian
National Armed Forces (TNI) and the Police
of the Republic of Indonesia (Polri) who have
made it a habit of using repressive military
operations to stop these military operations.
These operations have resulted in hundreds
of thousands of deaths among the Papuan people.
The land of Papua is no longer a Military
Operations Zone. The TNI/Polri should adopt
a different approach which is humane, which
respects the dignity of the Papuan people
and their basic rights and should actively
strive to resolve the Papuan political conflict
by means of a just and democratic political
dialogue.
4. The Central Government has now given its
full support for Special
Autonomy, after the Papuan People demanded
the restoration of their political
rights and sovereignty. But this will not
promote a comprehensive, peaceful
solution to the Papuan political conflict.
The Indonesian Government is
trying to impose this social contract. It
has not only ignored the aspirations of
the Papuan people but, with the arrogance
of those in power, it has shown no
understanding of the real substance of the
Papuan question and has forced
through the wishes of those in power. The
enactment of the law on Special
Autonomy is yet another example of the way
in which the fate of the Papuan
people has been decided by others, just as
happened with the New York
Agreement of 1962 and the People's Consultation
in 1969. Bearing in mind this political tragedy,
the Papuan people urge the Central Government,
the Parliament (DPR), the Regional Government
and the Regional Assembly (DPRD) to ensure
that all political decisions that relate to
the fate of the Papuan people should be based
on wishes and sovereignty of the Papuan people.
The Papuan Council
herewith declares that it firmly rejects Special
Autonomy for Papua and will
wage a peaceful and democratic struggle for
the restoration of the political
rights and sovereignty of the Papuan people.
Development is the right of the
people and the responsibility of the government
and must be implemented in
full accord with the political aspirations
of the people. Throughout their
struggle, the Papuan people have never demanded
Special Autonomy. What they demand is a
Dialogue on the Rectification of History,
and acknowledgement of legal and
political rights for the land and people of
Papua.
5. The Papuan people deeply regret the Indonesian
Government's policy of
discrimination. In the case of Aceh, it continues
to seek dialogue while
rejecting peaceful dialogue with the Papuan
people. Ever since the Papuan
Consultative Assembly and the Second Papuan
Congress of 2000, the Papuan
people have consistently called for Political
Dialogue between the Papuan people and
the government of the Republic of Indonesia.
The Indonesian government must
explain the background and the reason for
the discrimination in its approach
towards the political conflicts in Aceh and
Papua.
6. The Papuan people regard the arrest and
trial of the Presidium and
Papuan Council Panel members who have been
accused of rebellion as a legal
process aimed at the entire Papuan people.
The Papuan people support all
efforts to uphold the supremacy of the law
but, for the sake of justice, the
Indonesian government must show a greater
will and more actively push for the
resolution of the Papuan question by political
means, in step with actions to
arrest and put on trial the Papuan people.
7. We call upon the entire Papuan people to
resist all forms of
provocation and the policy of divide and rule
and to do everything in their power to strengthen
the unity of the people in the spirit of Papuan
nationalism. Based
on this awareness, the Papuan Council calls
on all sectors of society to be
pro-active in ensuring consolidation and conciliation
in the spirit of One
Nation One Soul. All Papuans must restrain
themselves and avoid doing
anything that could lead to people discrediting
each other, because the struggle to
restore the political rights and sovereignty
of the Papuan people is a noble
struggle based on the aspirations of all the
sons and daughters of the land of
Papua.
Jayapura, 20 October 2001
On behalf of the Papuan Presidium
Council:
Theys Hiyo Eluay
Rev. Herman Awom, S. Th
Moderator
Thaha Mohammad Alhamid,
Secretary-General
HOTSPOTS OF VIOLENCE AND
BRUTALITY EMERGING IN MANY PARTS OF WEST PAPUA
Report prepared by TAPOL
on the basis of information received on 19
October
2001 from ELS-HAM, the Jayapura-based Institute
for Human Rights Study and
Advocacy.
While the situation in Wasior
(Manokwari district) continues to
deteriorate, there are clear indications of
a wave of brutality by the
security forces in other parts of West Papua.
In some cases the brutality
has been sparked by actions from the TPN,
(Tentara Pembebasan Nasional),
the armed wing of the OPM but the brunt of
the brutality is felt by civilians.
[Note: the army's regional command
in Jayapura, under its commander
Major-General Mahidin Simbolon, has concocted
a new name for the TPN, 'KSB'
which stands for 'kelompok separatis bersenjata'
or 'armed separatist
gang', insisting that there can only be one
army in the territory, the TNI.]
Ilaga, Central Highlands
Following three days of clashes between the
TPN/OPM and the security forces
(TNI and the Indonesian police), a number
of extra troops were flown into
Ilaga where they have been behaving very brutally
towards the local
population. As a result, local people, including
non-Papuans, have fled to
sub-distrct Simak in the district of Mulia.
ELS-HAM sources report that all
the villages in the sub-district of Ilaga
are now occupied by army and
police, and a number of school buildings and
churches have been burnt down,
along with all their contents.
According to this report, the
events leading up to the three-day clash in
Ilaga were as follows:
On 25 September, a TPN/OPM unit
led by Titus Murib, while on patrol from
their base in Desa Pinapi , met up with a
man from Desa Kuyawagi who
suggested that they go and seize weapons from
a TNI base in Ilaga, so as to
increase their own supply of weapons. They
followed his advice.
Three days later, on 28 September
a police office named Harun was attacked
while on his way home from prayers and his
weapon was seized. The Kimmak
village head who saw this happen threw a rock
at one of the TPN men
involved in the attack, hitting TPN member
Ikiapik Murip in the back. He
fell to the ground and his two colleagues
fled. Members of the local police
force and army command, Koramil, came to the
scene and shot Ikaipik Murip
dead as he lay on the ground.
The news of Murip's death spread
through the area, leading to three days of
clashes between forces of the TPN/OPM and
the security forces. The security
forces then called in reinforcements from
Nabire and Timika, after
spreading (false) reports that three of their
men had been killed. The
reports led to a lull in the fighting, but
when the TPN men realised that
the reports were false, they responded by
burning down local government
offices.
We were informed in an earlier
comment by a local Catholic police that
feelings in the area were already running
high because assurances that had
been given by the security forces when two
Belgian hostages were released
some weeks earlier had been breached.
On 1 October, additional troops
were dropped in the area by helicopter. As
they were landing at Amunggarub in Ilaga,
the troops opened fire, injuring
a local man. After landing, nearby houses
were destroyed and livestock were
shot dead. Many of the local people fled.
One TPN member, Das Kokoya, was
shot dead but his body has not been found.
Wamena town tense
After a local man named Thomas Hubi, 35, was
shot dead, normal life in the
town came to a standstill, with shops closing
and no one seen on the
streets. Armed troops were out in force.
An ELS-HAM local contact reports
that the victim was shot in the mouth and
the bullet exited through his brain. A plea
by the victim's family to the
local police to investigagte the murder has
not been heeded.
Angered by the lack of any investigation,
the victim's family said they
wanted to take action but were prevailed on
not to do this by the local
ELS-HAM volunteer.
ELS-HAM in Jayapura has warned
that any delay in police action following
this murder could result in retaliatory action
against the police and cause
new problems in Wamena, a year after the Wamena
Tragedy of 6 October 2000.
Arrests of 7 TPN members in Kali Kopi, Timika
Following a report in The Jakarta Post on
Friday that seven members of
TPN/OPM had been captured by the army in Kali
Kopi, Timika, the local press
has reported that two of the seven men were
taken to hospital under heavy
guard. One of the men, AW, is known to have
undergone an operation but the
nature of his condition is not known. Tight
security surrounds the two men
in hospital.
The other men are reported to
be under investigation and are likely to face
charges connected with possessing weapons.
One TPN member, John Magai, was
shot dead when the seven men were arrested,
and five soldiers were killed,
according to an ELS-HAM source.
People attending a funeral feared
dead in Kampung Pama, near Timika
Meanwhile, a church source in Timika told
ELS-HAM on 16 October that troops
based in Timika involved in operations in
Kali Kopi surrounded Kampung Pama
in the village of Nagaro, Kali Kopi, 6 kms
east of Timika. It is feared
that some inhabitants of the village have
been shot dead.
The source reports that on 14
October, a large crowd of people from Timika
travelled in a number of vehicles to Kampung
Pama to attend the funeral of
an acquaintance, Anderaes Koyoga, 35, who
had died following a snake bite.
Before leaving Timika, they had made their
intentions known to the local
police and had been given the go-ahead to
make the journey.
However, on the following day,
while a large crowd of mourners was gathered
in Kampung Pama, the area was surrounded and
attacked the security forces.
Three people, including one woman, managed
to escape the encirclement and
say that they fear that some people were shot
dead during the operation.
The area is now sealed off making
it impossible for church officials and
humanitarian activists to monitor the situation.
A church official in
Timika has appealed to the regional commander,
Major-General Simbolon to
withdraw his men and allow church officials
to enter.
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights
Campaign
Gus Dur to testify in court
October 17, 2001
R.K. Nugroho, The Jakarta
Post, Jayapura
Former president Abdurrahman
"Gus Dur" Wahid is scheduled to
appear at the
Jayapura District Court on Oct. 22, 2001,
to give testimony on behalf of
several executives of the Papuan Council Presidium
(PDP) who have been
charged with subversion.
A team of lawyers who accompanied
the defendants in the subversion case, said
they had gained confirmation from the former
president that the latter would
testify in court.
"We have met with Gus Dur
at his residence in Jakarta and he has confirmed
his readiness to testify. Gus Dur will arrive
in the city on Oct. 22 from
Bangkok, where he is scheduled to deliver
a speech during a seminar on
international terrorism," Latifah Anom
Siregar, coordinator of the lawyers
team, said upon arrival here from Jakarta
over the weekend.
Gus Dur is to give testimony
in connection with his Rp 1 billion contribution
for the Dec. 1, 2000 Papuan People's Congress
in the city.
Aside from Gus Dur, Bambang
Wijoyanto, director of the Foundation of
Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) and
former Irian Jaya deputy governor
Djopari, will also appear as witnesses in
the court session. Bambang is to
testify as an expert witness while Djopari
is to testify to the court in
relation to his role of granting permission
for the congress to be held.
Theys Hiu Eluay, PDP chairman,
Thaha Al Hamid, PDP secretary-general, Don
A.
Flassy, chairman of the Independent Youth
Organization, Rev. Herman Awom and
John Mambor, a PDP member, are facing life
imprisonment for their alleged
involvement in the movement to incite the
Papuan people to fight for the
province's independence.
The congress had sparked clashes
between PDP supporters and local riot police
leaving scores of police personnel and civilians
injured. At least six people
were killed in a bloody clash between proindependence
Papuans and security
personnel in Merauke a day after the congress.
The defendants appreciated Gus
Dur's willingness to provide testimony to
the
court.
"For the Papuan people,
Gus Dur is not only a statesman but also an
intellectual who has a special place in the
hearts of the Papuan people,"
Thaha Al Hamid, PDI secretary-general, said.
Paul Barber
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign
The following is the text
of the letter to Mary Robinson, drafted at
the
Second West Papua Solidarity in Germany, held
in Neuendettelsau from 15 -
17 October 2001.
Mary Robinson,
United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights,
Geneva,
Switzerland
16th October 2001
Petion against Human Rights
Abuses of West Papuan People
by the Indonesian Military and by the Indonesian
Police Force
Your Excellency,
We, the delegates attending
the Second International Solidarity
Conference on West Papua held in Neuendettelsau,
Germany, from 15-17th
October 2001, wish to express our alarm at
the continuing human rights
violations committed by the Indonesian military
and police in West Papua.
Most specifically, we call for the ongoing
military and police operations
in Wasior subdistrict of Manokwari and Ilaga
in the Central Highlands to be
halted immediately. These operations are causing
great suffering, and loss
of life and property. We are particularly
concerned about the savety of
human rights defenders, who have been threatened
and prevented from
carrying out their work. We strongly condemn
the pressure being exerted on
the local media for reporting human rights
abuses. We urge you to impress
upon the Indonesian government the need to
convene a Human Rights Courts in
Makasar, to consider the crimes against humanity
committed by the police in
Abepura in December 2000. We call on you to
consider sending the Special
Rapporteurs for Extra-judicial Killings, Torture,
and Freedom of
Expression, and the Working Group on Arbitary
Detention to West Papua as
soon as possible.
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights
Campaign
111 Northwood Road, Thornton Heath, Croydon
CR7 8HW, UK.
tel +44 020 8771 2904 fax +44 020 8653 0322
tapol@gn.apc.org www.gn.apc.org/tapol
Secret operation launched
to undermine and destroy the pro-independence
movement in West Papua
October 12, 2001
TAPOL
It can now be revealed that
top-ranking Indonesian government officials
and
military and police intelligence agencies
were so disturbed by the stunning
success and political impact of the Grand
Congress held in Jayapura last
year that led to the creation of the Papuan
Presidium Council (PPC), that
they conspired to launch a counter-intelligence
operation to undermine and
destroy all pro-independence activities in
West Papua.
The plan was put into operation
in June 2000, initially for a six-month
period, to be following by a second phase.
(We also have received leaked
copies of documents from the police force
in
Irian Jaya to the chief of the Indonesian
police, marked 'Secret' and dated
November 2000, which contain operational plans
of the provincial police 'to
handle the activities of the separatist Free
Papuan movement in order to
uphold the law'. We hope to be able to produce
a summary of the contents of
these documents in due course.)
Much that has happened in West
Papua especially since October 2000 when
provocative actions by the police in Wamena
in the central highlands led to
a major incident during