No closure yet in 1998 Biak shooting

JAKARTA (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights dismissed suggestions the government ask independent international investigators to probe the July 6, 1998 military shooting in the Irian Jaya town of Biak, Antara reported.

Commission secretary-general Clementino dos Reis Amaral and his colleague Albert Hasibuan were in Biak to meet with victims of the violence and relatives of those who died and went missing in the incident. Amaral said he would suggest instead that President B.J. Habibie establish an independent team to investigate the incident.

"There are many Indonesians who can be recruited for the independent team," Amaral said.

The shooting occurred as security personnel attempted to disperse a crowd of protesters waving separatist West Papua flags in Menara Air, near the plant of the state-owned water company in Pelabuhan Laut district, Biak.

Amaral refused to say how many casualties his organization had identified from the incident.

"Don't ask me now about how many were killed or went missing," he said, adding that data and evidence gathered from victims and relatives of victims were enough to pressure the government into establishing an investigative team.

Meanwhile, Albert Rumbekwan of the Institute for the Study and Advocacy of Human Rights was quoted as saying by Antara that at least five people died and four others went missing in the incident.

Rumbekwan identified those who died on the spot as Ruben Oroboi, Fransiskus Gawe, Arius Boseren, Wilhelmus Rumpaisum and Nico Smas. The missing were identified as Yuslin Sroeyer, A. Boseren, Paulus Msiren and Daniel Mandowen.

He said three other people died at Biak Navy Hospital, but they had not been identified.

Eduard Iwanggin, who is on trial for his involvement in the separatist demonstration, questioned the efficacy of the rights commission. He said that after one year of investigation, the commission had failed to resolve the case.

Amaral responded by saying the rights commission was only able to investigate and present its findings and recommendation to the government. "It's the government's responsibility to take follow- up action."

The Irian Jaya Catholic diocese, the Christian Evangelical Church, the Indonesian Bible Camp Church and the Institute for Human Rights Studies and Advocacy recently urged the government to set up an independent international team to investigate human rights abuses, including the Biak incident.

The groups also unveiled in July the results of their investigation into the Biak shooting. Among their finding were that at least eight people died and 37 were injured, including four people who were left physically disabled. Their joint investigation team also linked the shooting to the subsequent discovery of 32 bodies in the sea off Biak.

The team said signs of torture were found on the bodies. The military, however, said the bodies were victims of a tsunami which hit Aitape in Papua New Guinea, hundreds of miles from Biak.

The investigation team said the tsunami occurred on July 17, 1998, or eight days after the bodies were discovered. (swe)