One dies in tribal conflict in Papua's Mimika regency

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura

A police officer revealed on Thursday that one person had been killed and more than 10 people were injured after renewed violence broke out in Mimika on Tuesday.

Otto Magal was killed on Wednesday afternoon on Jl. Freeport Lama on the outskirts of the town of Timika, the capital of Mimika regency, where the residents of two villages had battled since Tuesday with bows and arrows and spears.

Comr. Rhinto Prastowo, the deputy chief of Mimika Police precinct, said that the cause of death was unclear, but Dias Gwijangge, an activist with the Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy for West Papua (Els-Ham) said that the police must be held responsible for Otto's death.

"The police were firing live rounds to force village residents to retreat to their respective areas. Otto was shot in the chest and died on the spot," Dias told AFP.

Otto came from Kwaki Lama villages, but it was not clear which tribe he belonged to.

After the death of Otto, the situation in the Mimika calmed. Police were still patrolling the area and conducting a door-to- door search to seize weapons from the residents of Kwamki Lama and Djayanti.

Deputy speaker of Mimika Regental Council Mus Pigai asked police personnel to probe the case thoroughly and arrest any provocateurs.

He was certain that provocateurs had fueled tension in the area, after both Kwamki Lama and Djayanti residents, who consist of the Nduga and Damal tribes, became locked in a violent dispute last month.

"The dispute last month was settled after both Kwamki Lama and Djayanti villages lost two people each. But, why has the conflict continued between the two villages?" he said.

The conflict in Mimika began last month when residents in Kwamki Lama and Djayanti villages, mostly armed with bows and arrows, engaged in a violent battle over a trivial incident. The chiefs of the two villages agreed to a truce on June 15 because both sides had suffered the same number of fatalities.

But, the families of the victims demanded that the chiefs compensate them for their losses. They also demanded similar compensation from the local Mimika regency administration.

Police believe that the residents provoked a new round of violence in order to force the government to mediate and provide compensation.