Activists rally behind Papua probe
Netty Dharma Somba and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura/Jakarta
Papuan human rights activists said they were prepared to support the planned investigation by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) into alleged atrocities in the province.
Activist Iwan K. Niode, who joined the preliminary probe conducted by the commission, said that the Koalisi LSM -- which groups several non-governmental organizations in Papua -- would help find witnesses and other data needed to support the formal investigation.
"I have been asked by the commission to join the inquiry team, along with several activists and we are ready to do our jobs," Iwan said on Saturday.
The commission decided to launch a legal probe into the possible gross rights abuses by the Indonesian Military (TNI) and police in Wasior in June 2001 and Wamena regency in April 2003.
Aside from Iwan, local activists Demianus Wakman and Rika Korain of the Koalisi LSM have been included in the investigation team.
Trikora Military Commander overseeing Papua Maj. Gen. Nurdin Zainal regretted the planned inquiry, saying that the rights body had jumped to conclusions without consulting the military.
"When they came here for the preliminary investigation they held talks with me, but then after they completed the probe they never confronted me with their findings," Nurdin said.
He doubted the accuracy of the data collected by the commission, saying that security officers had not detained as many people as reported by the rights body in the Wamena incident.
"They said we detained 48 people, whereas we had never held that many people," Nurdin said.
He was convinced that the military did not violate standard operating procedures during the Wamena case, in which TNI personnel reportedly tortured the detainees and killed seven of them and forcibly evacuated some 7,000 residents, following raids by the Army after alleged Free Papua Movement (OPM) rebels broke into a TNI armory.
Spokesman for the Papua Police Sr. Comr. David Sihombing also denied accusations that operational procedures had been violated during the raid in Wasior, after six Mobile Brigade police were killed by rebels. At least three people were killed and 16 others tortured during the raid.
In Jakarta, the House of Representatives said that the legislative body would wait until the rights body completed its probe before disclosing its stance.
Chairman of the House Commission II on legal and home affairs Agustin Teras Narang said that the rights body had the right to proceed with the investigation, according to the law.
"They should continue with their investigation and remain independent," Teras said over the weekend.
He said that both the House and government could not hamper the investigation as it is part of the country's commitment to upholding human rights.
According to the 2000 human rights law the House decides whether alleged crimes against humanity will be heard in the ad hoc human rights court.
So far the House has approved the rights trials of people implicated in gross human rights violations in East Timor in 1999 and in the North Jakarta area of Tanjung Priok in 1984.
The legislators, however, declared that no human rights violations had occurred in the incidents at Trisakti University and the Semanggi clover-leaf, both in Jakarta, in 1998 and 1999 respectively.