ABRI investigates NGO allegedly behind Irian riots
ABRI investigates NGO allegedly behind Irian riots
JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces (ABRI) is investigating an
allegation that a Jakarta-based non-governmental organization has
been masterminding the recent spate of rioting in Irian Jaya.
Chief of ABRI's General Affairs Department Lt. Gen. Soeyono
said in Semarang yesterday that the authorities had seized
leaflets, with the organization's name on it, exhorting Irianese
to revolt.
Soeyono declined to name the organization. He also stressed he
would only name it and accuse it of sowing hatred toward the
government if the investigation finds hard evidence.
The non-governmental organization has also disseminated its
message through radio and facsimile, he said.
"It is also possible that the actual instigator used the
organization as a coverup. We are investigating all
possibilities," he was quoted by Antara.
The easternmost province of Irian Jaya has been rocked by a
flurry of violent rioting that authorities alleged was the work
of secessionist Free Papua Movement (OPM) rebels.
On Monday, hundreds of angry people burned down the Abepura
market near the Irian capital of Jayapura after they were barred
from seeing the body of OPM activist Tom Wanggai. He died while
serving a 20 year prison term in Jakarta.
Earlier, tribal people around the premises of the giant copper
and gold mining company PT Freeport in Timika had rioted after a
native was hit by a vehicle belonging to a company employee.
Soeyono said ABRI is tracking down those "irresponsible
people" it believes were behind the rioting in both Timika and
Abepura.
In Jayapura, the Protestant church has condemned the Abepura
rioting earlier this week, in which four people were killed and
89 arrested in the aftermath.
Irian Jaya's three largest churches, the Evangelical Church,
the Pentecostal Church and the Indonesian Christian Church issued
a joint statement in which they said that Christianity does not
support violence.
Officials of these churches made their position clear in a
meeting with local tribal leaders and military officials at the
Trikora military command headquarters in Jayapura on Wednesday
night.
Spokesman for the churches Rev. Andreas Ayomi made it clear
that Christianity strictly forbids any form of violence.
Besides torching the Abepura market, the angry mob also set
fire to vehicles and pelted buildings with stones on Monday,
causing considerable material losses.
Ayomi called on the people to stop the violence, warning that
such unlawful acts might be exploited by irresponsible parties
which wish to see Indonesia disintegrate.
Wanggai's relatives, he said, were able to accept the official
version that the Free Papua Movement (OPM) activist had died of
illness, and was not murdered as is rumored.
Ayomi also called on OPM supporters to forget their dream of
making Irian Jaya a state independent from Indonesia.
He also pointed out that the government should pay serious
attention to the well-being of Irian Jayans, so that the province
can catch up with other provinces. (pan)