Irian protesters call for probe into Timika
JAKARTA (JP): Some 70 Irian Jaya university students held a peaceful demonstration at the House of Representatives yesterday calling for a thorough investigation into allegations of human rights abuses by military authorities in Timika, a village in Irian Jaya.
"We demand a full investigation in Timika to be conducted in a transparent manner," according to a statement by the group who call themselves the solidarity forum for Irian victims of human rights violations.
Some of the banners and criticisms attacked PT Freeport Indonesia, the giant American copper mining company which has a huge operation in Timika.
On banner read "Freeport developing or killing?" while another said "They killed the people of Amungme for gold and copper".
"We don't care who did it, Freeport or the security troops, but punishment should be meted out to the guilty party," Sicilia, one of the coordinators of the protest said.
Freeport representatives in Jakarta have denied any part in any clash between the security officers and protesters in Timika.
Complaint
The protest on the Timika case started when five non- governmental organizations filed a complaint earlier this month to the National Commission on Human Rights over allegations that 17 civilians had been killed, 25 tortured and four others had disappeared in Timika.
The NGOs based their claim on a report written by the Australian Council for Overseas Aid.
Bishop Munninghof of Irian Jaya later picked up the report and alerted the Indonesian Bishop Conference in Jakarta of its existence, hoping that a thorough investigation would be conducted to clarify the allegations.
The National Commission of Human Rights has already launched an investigation and the team -- comprising Marzuki Darusman, Clementino Dos Reis Amaral, Djoko Sugianto, and Soegiri -- have visited the site to obtain firsthand information.
The team's initial investigation did not find any evidence corroborating the allegations but it plans to return to Irian Jaya again later this week to talk to some more people.
Yesterday's statement also demanded that the "security approach" currently used by the authorities in handling Timika problems should be replaced with a more humanely socio-cultural approach. It also called on the government to stop referring those who want to see that justice is done in the Timika case as "separatists".
Samsudin, a legislator representing the Armed Forces faction in the House said that proper punishment should be imposed on whoever proves to be guilty.
The two-hour demonstration ended peacefully after all the protesters were received by House members Aisyah Amini, Marbun, Theo Sambuaga, and Andi Rashidi.
An official of the Indonesian Environmental Forum said that the protesters have planned to stage another protest at PT Freeport's head office here today. (03)