One shot dead as police open fire in Irian violence
One shot dead as police open fire in Irian violence
JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya (JP): One man was killed when police
opened fire on mobs attacking a Mobile Brigade (Brimob) police
headquarters in the easternmost province of Irian Jaya, police
said on Tuesday.
Some 50 residents of Nabire, 560 kilometers west of the
provincial capital of Jayapura, many armed with arrows, swords
and spears, attacked the headquarters late on Monday afternoon,
Antara quoted local police chief Lt. Col. Faisal A.N. as saying.
The Institute of Human Rights Studies and Advocacy (IHRSTAD)
identified the casualty as Manase Erary, 28, a student at the
local Public Administration Institute, who died when Brimob
troops opened fire to stop the mobs from entering their compound.
IHRSTAD's executive director, Aloysius Renrawin, told The
Jakarta Post on Tuesday that the latest violence followed a
weapons sweep by Brimob troops against the proindependence
supporters who were heading home in the Karang Tumaritis
district. The group carried the Morning Star rebel flag.
"Manase was shot when he was trying to calm the two warring
groups," Aloysius said.
Faisal said five men in the crowd, who claimed to be members
of the Papua Task Force, were arrested following the attack.
He denied, however, that Manase was killed by Brimob troops,
saying the autopsy showed the protester was killed by a hunting
rifle bullet, which is not used by Brimob.
One Brimob officer also suffered a serious stomach injury
after he was hit by an arrow, Faisal said, adding that another
protester had been shot in the legs.
IHRSTAD activists said six other civilians suffered gunshot
wounds in the clash.
Tension continued to grip the small town on Tuesday, with many
shops seen closed and people refraining themselves from outdoor
activities.
Earlier this month, nine policemen were injured and three
residents suffered gunshot wounds when police opened fire during
similar attacks on the local state radio station RRI and a police
office in Merauke.
In late January an RRI station was also vandalized in the
Irian Jaya town of Fakfak, because the station referred to the
province as Irian Jaya rather than Papua.
President Abdurrahman Wahid recently restored the province's
old name of Papua to appease people opposed to the Indonesian-
given name of Irian Jaya. The House of Representatives has yet to
approve the change.
Calls for an independent West Papua state in Irian Jaya have
been on the rise since the fall of former president Soeharto in
May 1998.
On Saturday 500 people attending the first Papuan Congress
renewed the independence demand and rejected the 1969 plebiscite
that incorporated the territory into Indonesia. (eba)