Rights body to probe Timika case<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights vowed
\nyesterday to investigate allegations of human rights abuses on
\nthe part of authorities against villagers in Irian Jaya opposed
\nto the activities of the giant American copper mining company PT
\nFreeport Indonesia Company.<\/p>\n
Commission Secretary General Baharuddin Lopa made the pledge
\nafter meeting with representatives of five non-governmental
\norganizations who presented the results of their own field
\ninvestigation.<\/p>\n
\"We will soon set up a team of three people to check the
\nreport, gather material evidence and observe the situation in
\nIrian Jaya,\" Lopa told the NGO representatives.<\/p>\n
The pledge came some four months after the first report
\nindicating that there had been a series of clashes between the
\nmilitary and the local people early this year.<\/p>\n
The report, written by the Australian Council for Overseas Aid
\n(ACFOA), alleged that 17 people were killed by soldiers assigned
\nto guard Freeport's plant in Timika. It also claimed that 25
\ncivilians had been tortured and that four others were still
\nmissing.<\/p>\n
A Catholic bishop in Irian Jaya, H.F.M. Munninghof, has sent a
\ncopy of the report to the Indonesian Conference of Church Elders
\nin Jakarta and says that, while the report has not been
\nconfirmed, the strong allegations it contains mean the Church
\nmust give it serious attention.<\/p>\n
In April the Armed Forces denied the allegations made in the
\nACFOA report, saying that, while there were clashes between
\ntroops and Irian Jaya separatist rebels, there had been only one
\nor two casualties.<\/p>\n
PT Freeport's Executive Director Paul Murphy told The Jakarta
\nPost yesterday that security matters were the responsibility of
\nthe army and police in the area and that all the allegations were
\nfalse.<\/p>\n
\"In fact, PT Freeport's security personnel are not armed and
\ndid not participate in the incidents,\" Murphy said.<\/p>\n
The five organizations which filed the reports with the
\nCommission yesterday were the International NGO's Forum on
\nIndonesian Development, the Institute for Policy Research and
\nAdvocacy, the Indonesian Forum for the Environment, the
\nIndonesian Legal Aid Foundation and the Institution for Social
\nStudies and Development. (03)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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