No Freeport ads please!

From Forum Keadilan

We have again been jolted by human rights violations in Timika, Irian Jaya. This time it was a counter-reaction experienced by the indigenous community of Amungme, to their protest of PT Freeport McMoran's expansion onto 2.6 hectares of land on which the Amungme community gain their living.

Security troops were deployed in response to the protests and, according to news media, illegally detained the protesters, tortured them, took away or destroyed their possessions and allegedly killed some. Subsequently, a team from the national human rights committee was sent to investigate the matter.

We know that since Freeport came to Timika in 1967, tremendous environmental and social decline and destruction have taken place at the cost of the indigenous ethnic groups. The profits raked in by Freeport may not equal the destruction generated or the endeavors to rehabilitate the inhabitants who have probably been contaminated by the heavy metals of mining.

The greatest concern in this country and abroad, is that the press competes to advertise Freeport's philanthropy as if the conditions in the most eastern part of Indonesia are safe and peaceful. We, the people of Irian Jaya, would therefore ask the press not to place advertisements by Freeport. Indirectly, the press is also responsible for the violation the rights of the indigenous community in Timika.

JOOST W. MIRINO

Salatiga, Central Java