Ambiguous orders caused Irian killing
Ambiguous orders caused Irian killing
JAKARTA (JP): A platoon commander gave an ambiguous order to shoot during an operation against separatist rebels in the Irian Jaya jungle, resulting in the deaths of three civilians last year, a military prosecutor said in Jayapura yesterday.
On trial is a second lieutenant, identified by Antara by his initials MR, who headed a platoon of the 732d Company during a patrol in Agani village in the Paniai regency.
The defendant, according to prosecutor Lt. Col. Balukia, led the platoon on a patrol to Kampung Putih village, following reports that some people who had been hiding in the jungle had come out and were returning to their villages.
During the operation, he told his unit to shoot anyone who tried to get away.
The order however was not clear as to whether the soldiers should shoot in the air as a warning, or shoot the villagers down. He was not clear either whether the troopers should distinguish between ordinary villagers and those who were known to support the rebels.
The lack of clarity was a violation in procedure and resulted in the shooting of three civilians during the operation, the prosecutor said. He added that the defendant tried to cover his tracks by filing a false report on the incident.
The defendant is one of four soldiers being tried in the Jayapura military court in connection with the incident. The three others were his subordinates who were accused of shooting the civilians. They are being tried separately.
The report did not say precisely when the incident took place.
The prosecutor said the defendant received an order from his superior on April 15 to take his platoon on the patrol mission.
In Jakarta, the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation criticized the military court in Jayapura for declaring that all the papers presented as evidence in the trials are "state documents", making them inaccessible to public scrutiny.
The foundation said that such trials should be fully open to the public, including access to the documents.
The incident was one of several to take place last year in Irian Jaya after the military admitted to have committed errors. The National Commission on Human Rights said 16 Irian villagers were killed this way. Only four soldiers have been tried so far. (emb)