Lawyers ready to defend protesters in Irian Jaya

JAKARTA (JP): A group of 32 lawyers calling themselves the Team for Human Rights Protection in Irian Jaya have expressed their readiness, despite continued intimidation, to defend 20 people facing trial for involvement in violent demonstrations in the country's easternmost province.

Team member Albert Rumbekwan confirmed in Jayapura on Monday that the lawyers have been terrorized by unidentified men as a result of their decision to provide the suspects with legal counsel. The 20 protesters are facing subversion charges as a result of hoisting the flag of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) separatist movement during the demonstrations, Rumbekwan said as quoted by Antara.

Between July 1 and July 7, anti-Indonesia demonstrations took place in Biak, Jayapura, Sorong and Wamena. Clashes with security forces in Biak officially led to death of at least one person, Ruben Arboy, while 35 others were injured.

However, there have been reports that more people were killed and went missing during and after the clashes.

The lawyers met with members of the National Commission on Human Rights here on Monday, after which they urged the government to change the current approach to maintaining security in the province.

"The current approach to security has resulted in serious human rights violations," Sadaarihta Ginting, a lawyer in the group, told the commission. The team also urged President B.J. Habibie's government to investigate numerous human rights violations in the province during the New Order era.

A team from the Indonesian Community of Churches (PGI) said in a recent report on a pastoral visit to Jayapura and Biak that the Irianese people, including religious leaders, had started to demand independence following serious human right violations in the province.

The team said military atrocities and the unfairness with which the government routinely treated the province had made the Irianese lose their patience. "This bad experience has... encouraged them to demand an independent Papua," Rev. Karel Phil Erari, a member of the PGI, said here recently.

The pastoral visit was instigated after a series of student demonstrations were staged in the two towns in July. The visit lasted from Aug. 11 to Aug. 18, 1998.

Karel said the Irianese had suffered too much at the hands of an authoritarian government, a repressive military and an unfair development policy. "Their aspirations have been heard and ignored. Now, their only demand is for independence," he said. (rms)