Beanal suit against Freeport continues

Beanal suit against Freeport continues

JAKARTA (JP): Irianese tribal leader Tom Beanal's legal battle
against PT Freeport Indonesia and Freeport-McMoRan Copper and
Gold Inc. is not over, the plaintiff's lawyer said yesterday.

Martin E. Regan Jr. said the U.S. Eastern District Court of
Louisiana found that his client's claims against Freeport for
tribal genocide and human rights violations "did have a legal
basis".

"However, Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. is requiring the plaintiff,
Tom Beanal, amend his lawsuit to state with additional detail the
facts underlying Freeport's human rights violations and tribal
genocide," Regan told The Jakarta Post.

Regan was responding to the District Court of Louisiana's
April 9 dismissal of Freeport's motion to dismiss Beanal's
lawsuit in the Federal Court in New Orleans.

Judge Duval rejected Beanal's finding that "as destructive as
Freeport's corporate policies are to the natural habitat of
Indonesia, there is no definitive international environmental law
which applies to a private corporation".

But Regan said he was encouraged by the District Court's
detailed ruling which allows his client to proceed against
Freeport for serious human rights violations and on behalf of the
Amungme tribespeople.

"Beanal's lawsuit against Freeport will continue," he said.

"And we will comply with Judge Duval's instructions to provide
a more definite statement of the factual allegations which
support our claims of tribal genocide and human rights violations
against the indigenous people of Indonesia by Freeport," Regan
said.

Beanal is leader of the Amungme Tribal Council, located near
Freeport's mining site in Timika, and an outspoken critic of the
company.

The Freeport mine in Timika, some 3,000 km (1,870 miles) east
of Jakarta, sits on one of the largest known gold and copper
reserves in the world. (aan)