Govt called on to respect Irianese

JAKARTA (JP): A recently released Irianese political prisoner has appealed to the government and the Armed Forces (ABRI) to lift the province's status as a military operation zone, investigate human rights violations and release all political prisoners as part of moves to bring about a reconciliation in the troubled province.

Jacob Rumbiak, released from Cipinang prison here on Thursday, told a media conference yesterday that the government should show respect to the right of the Irianese people to live peacefully by pulling out combat troops from the province.

"You can't imagine how many people have been killed, tortured and arrested in military operations in the past and how many people will experience the same fate if combat troops continue to remain in the area," he said emotionally.

He remarked that many people in the province continue to live in fear of being arrested, tortured and shot because of the presence of an excessive number of combat troops.

"The Irianese people have long been oppressed and that is why students have started to stage demonstrations, raise the OPM separatist group's flag and demand independence," he said referring to the recent surge in separatist sentiment in the province.

Jacob contended that besides resolving problems linked to the military's presence, the province should also be given more autonomy in political and economic spheres.

"The Irianese have the right to get a bigger share of the benefits resulting from the exploitation of the province's natural resources such as oil, copper and gold. Some of the proceeds should be used to develop the province and improve the people's social welfare," he said.

He hailed Irian Jaya governor Freddy Numberi's recent demand that the Irianese people be given 80 percent of the profits from PT Freeport's copper and gold mine in Timika.

Yacob was sentenced to 17 year in jail by the Jayapura District Court for his involvement in student demonstrations in the city in 1989.

He said that he had lived through good and bad times while being moved from one prison to another in Irian Jaya and Java throughout his incarceration.

He said that despite his release, he was still obliged to report to the police once a month and was prohibited from criticizing the government and any further involvement in political activities.

In a related development yesterday, Foreign Minister Ali Alatas denied the existence of any document signed by the government which would grant independence to Irian Jaya.

"There is no agreement other than the agreement on the plebiscite," Alatas told reporters after meeting the House of Representatives fact-finding team for the province, led by Deputy Speaker Abdul Gafur, at the foreign ministry.

Gafur said that during his recent visit to investigate the riots that erupted following pro-independence demonstrations, local religious leaders told him that the so called "Rome document" promised to grant independence to the mineral-rich province sometime after its integration into Indonesia in 1969.

"It's true that there was a meeting between (former) foreign minister Adam Malik and his Dutch counterpart in Rome in 1969, but there was never any such agreement entered into," Alatas said.

Alatas said that the province was transferred from the Netherlands to Indonesia through the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA) in 1962.

The agreement was signed by Indonesia and the Netherlands on August 12, 1962, at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

He said that full administrative control was then transferred to Indonesia in May 1963.

"A plebiscite was held in 1969 to confirm the integration of the province," Alatas said.

Alatas noted that there were still critics who said the plebiscite was not conducted on a "one man one vote" basis.

"(These criticisms) are incorrect because it was agreed that the plebiscite could not be carried out on a "one man one vote" basis.

"The UN and the Netherlands did not demand that condition because of the physical characteristics of the province," Alatas said.

The province was hit by a wave of pro-independence protests in early July following the resignation of the veteran ruler Soeharto in May.

At least three people were killed during the clashes between protesters and security personnel in Biak and the provincial capital of Jayapura.

Activists have reported that at least five people are still missing in the wake of the Biak incident and allege that the military have been responsible for serious abuses of human rights throughout the province over the past three decades. (rms/byg)