Irianese backed in quest for policy change

Irianese backed in quest for policy change

JAKARTA (JP): A retired Army general, a human rights
campaigner and a number of activists have found many shortcomings
in the government's policy on Irian Jaya, especially in the area
of human rights.

At a seminar on Transformative development and Human Rights in
Irian Jaya organized by the Forum for National Concern of Human
Rights in Irian Jaya, participants heard first-hand accounts from
Amungme tribespeople alleging rampant human rights violations in
their home province.

Maj. Gen. (ret.) Sembiring Meliala, a former Trikora Military
Commander, who oversaw Irian Jaya and Maluku, said the
government's development policy has caused envy among the
Irianese tribe as they lose out in competition for employment,
both in public and private sectors, to better educated migrants
from other provinces.

Both sectors should accommodate as many Irianese as possible
to allow them greater participation in development, so that they
have a better sense of becoming part of Indonesia, he said.

"Never give the impression that Irian's natural resources are
for people from other provinces," said the former member of the
House of Representatives.

Sembiring said the natives could turn hostile to the
government if they feel they have been unfairly treated in cases
of land acquisition.

Some of the criticism during the seminar was aimed at PT
Freeport, the giant American mining company which operates from
Timika town in the Irian Jaya hinterland.

Asmara Nababan, a member of the National Commission on Human
Rights, said that during a visit to Freeport last year during the
course of an investigation, he was shown a long list of what the
American company has done to improve the welfare of the Irianese.

"But the natives hardly feel the benefits because the
facilities are provided without PT Freeport asking them what they
actually need," he said.

Asmara was a member of the commission team sent to Irian Jaya
last year to investigate allegations that 16 civilians were
killed during military operations in and around Timika. The
investigation confirmed most of the allegations and the military
has so far court-martialled four people responsible for some of
the killings.

Asmara also noted a tendency for people from other provinces
to look down on the Irianese people.

"You know why natives in Wamena often cover their koteka
(penis gourd) when a stranger passes by? They are afraid the
chauvinist will tap his cigarette ash into it," he said.

Reverend Daud Palilu, who works in Irian Jaya, said tribes
around the Freeport operation, such as the Amungme, Ekari and
Dani, feel that they have been robbed of their land and their
basic rights trampled on in the name of development.

Respect of human rights should come first if the government
wants development in Irian Jaya to succeed, Palilu said.

"People have complained that the military treatment is harsher
now than that in the 1970s," he said. "They say that the military
treatment of natives is often inhumane."

He recalled an incident in 1977 in which scores of Amungme
tribespeople were killed for rebelling against the presence of
Freeport in their midst. "Ever since then, people have been
terrorized and labeled trouble makers if they dare to protest.
The question is, should the government sacrifice indigenous
people for a foreign company?" he asked.

The seminar also heard representatives of the Amungme tribe
who have been in Jakarta for the past week alerting the
government of their misgivings about the presence of Freeport.

The representatives, "Mama" Josepha, Bartolomeus Nagal,
Porogolamum and Tom Beanal, said that the presence of PT Freeport
and Indonesian soldiers who guard its operation have brought more
environmental and social conflict to the natives. (pan)