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)