No closure yet in 1998 Biak shooting
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)