Army chief denies involvement in Freeport attack
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu denied on Thursday allegations that soldiers stationed in Papua were involved in a shooting last month near the Freeport mine that left two Americans and one Indonesian dead.
Ryamizard was responding to allegations by John Rumbiak, a human rights investigator with the Papua-based Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy (Elsham), that soldiers from the Army's Special Force (Kopassus) were involved in the deadly ambush on employees of the American-owned Freeport copper and gold mine.
"We cannot arbitrarily accuse people of committing a crime until we obtain solid evidence. The military and police always need time to complete an investigation into criminal cases allegedly involving their members
"Let us just wait for the police to finish their investigation into the Freeport shooting. Should it be proven that my soldiers were involved, I will not hesitate to punish them. Many of my soldiers have been dismissed because of undisciplined behavior," Ryamizard said on the sidelines of a meeting he held with chief editors at the Army's headquarters.
Ryamizard further brushed aside allegations that the attack was triggered by a dispute between soldiers over territorial arrangements.
"When I was in charge of Kostrad, I told the Freeport executives that my soldiers should not be asked to guard the mine compound. But the company insisted on asking for help," Ryamizard said. Kostrad is the Army's Strategic Reserves Command, which has nearly 40,000 troops.
For years, Freeport has asked for military help to protect its compound because of security concerns raised by the activities of the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM).
The police have yet to charge anyone for the attack on the Freeport employees. The military has blamed the shooting on followers of Kelly Kwalik, a local OPM leader.
Because of this continued uncertainty, Elsham called on the U.S. government to launch its own investigation into the killings, in cooperation with the Indonesian authorities.
Separately, Indonesian Military (TNI) spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said allegations of military involvement in the attack were not based on any legal evidence, and were aimed at discrediting Kopassus and TNI.
"They have not provided proper evidence to support the allegation. It is slander and we (the TNI) are considering a lawsuit," Sjafrie told The Jakarta Post.
The military has also denied involvement in the killing of Papuan independence leader Theys Hiyo Eluay last November, as well as other politically related cases in the province. Nine Kopassus members have been arrested in relation to the Theys killing.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International charged on Thursday that the Indonesian police killed, tortured and jailed dozens of people last year during a crackdown in Papua.
The London-based rights group said in a report that police went on a bloody rampage after unidentified gunmen twice attacked logging companies in the province and killed nine people, including five police officers.
"Rather than identifying and bringing to justice the individuals responsible for the attacks on the logging companies, the operation appears to have turned into a campaign of revenge against the immediate community and beyond," the rights group said in a statement.
Provincial police chief Brig. Gen. I Made Mangku Pastika dismissed Amnesty International's report, saying it needed examining. "Amnesty International's reports are always exaggerated," he was quoted by AP as saying.