Papua murders haunt survivors, strain U.S.-Jakarta relations
Papua murders haunt survivors, strain U.S.-Jakarta relations
Dean Yates, Reuters, Timika Papua
Nearly a year has passed, but American couple Saundra Hopkins and
Ken Balk cannot shake off the terror of waiting to die.
Crouched in terror behind the tire of their vehicle, they
waited for gunmen who had ambushed two carloads of mainly U.S.
schoolteachers in Indonesia's rebellious Papua to cross a
mountain road and kill them and their six-year-old daughter.
For 45 minutes on August 31 last year, gunmen sprayed 200
bullets from rifles and shotguns at the group near a giant U.S.-
owned copper and gold mine not far from the lowland town of
Timika. When it was over, two Americans and one Indonesian were
dead. Ten others were wounded, Balk almost fatally.
One year later, police have made no arrests nor named any
suspects in a case that is becoming a major thorn in ties between
Washington and the world's most populous Muslim nation,
especially over accusations soldiers might have been involved.
The United States has warned Jakarta of the ramifications
should it fail to cooperate with the FBI in resolving the case.
"The initial volley that came at us, I still feel the thunder
of the noise as we were rained down upon," said a composed
Hopkins, speaking by telephone from her home in Sunriver, Oregon.
"Then the fear became that we were going to see boots coming
across that road, and those boots would be carrying guns that
would finish us off."
Indonesia's powerful military has repeatedly denied a role in
the ambush, blaming the attack on rebels who have waged a low-
level war for decades in this remote eastern province. It has
said its own investigation had shown no troop involvement.
Major-General Sulaiman A.B., chief of Indonesia's military
police, told Reuters there were no fresh developments.
"The investigation continues," he said on Tuesday.
U.S. Congressional documents say the shooting, which took
place in thick fog, "appears likely to have been perpetrated at
least in part by members of the Indonesian military".
The sprawling mining town of Timika, enclosed by a green
carpet of mangrove swamps and rainforest and home to bars and
rundown shops, is the base for a road that leads up mountains to
the mine operated by U.S.-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold
Inc. The mine, and the ambush site, is closed to the media.
After simmering for months, the case hit the headlines in July
when the U.S. House of Representatives moved to block Jakarta
from receiving military training aid, complaining it had
conducted a lax investigation into the killings.
Jakarta warned that would hurt ties, although it has not said
how. While Indonesia is a partner in the U.S.-led war on terror,
some played down suggestions cooperation on that front could be
affected, arguing Jakarta realized its commitment to fighting a
scourge that was killing Indonesians overrode its pique.
On the Papua investigation, one senior U.S. official said
results were needed. "There's a limit, I think, to how far you
can drag this out," the official said.
Some Papuan human rights groups say military elements could
have staged the ambush to discredit the rebels or get higher
payment for their key security role guarding Freeport.
The teachers worked at a school serving Freeport expatriates.
The dilemma for the U.S. administration is it wants to re-
engage Indonesia's military despite concerns over its human
rights record, and broaden its strategic relationship with
Jakarta in a world fixated on terrorism, rights activists say.
Victims fear any U.S. response could be held hostage to such
priorities, especially since a bomb attack on the Marriott Hotel
in Jakarta on August 5 that killed 12 people and wounded 150.
The U.S. House vote blocked $600,000 from the International
Military Education and Training (IMET) program for fiscal 2004.
IMET monies of $400,000 for 2003 have been passed but not
disbursed. Analysts say that could also be held up.
The amounts are not large, but are seen as highly symbolic as
IMET benefits officers. Fiscal 2003 IMET would be the first since
it was cut in the early 1990s over violence in East Timor.
Overall military ties were largely cut in 1999 after East Timor's
bloody vote to break from Indonesian rule in that year.
Ed McWilliams, a former State Department official who was
political counselor with the U.S. Jakarta embassy from 1996-99,
said any Jakarta retaliation would be "petty" actions such as
refusing high-level visits, not dragging its feet on terrorism.
"Frankly, I don't think Indonesia has much leverage in that
sense. It has a responsibility to its own people to eradicate
terrorism and to the international community," McWilliams said.
"I think if Jakarta and particularly the military do not
cooperate with the FBI and there is no persuasive prosecution of
those responsible, I think Congress, both the Republican side and
the Democrats, would not allow the administration to move
forward, certainly with military to military cooperation."
So why didn't the gunmen cross the road and finish the job?
A year later, that question still haunts Hopkins and Balk. The
attack ended after several other vehicles came along.
And there are the constant reminders. For Balk, it's every
time he takes a step and feels where one bullet smashed his
femur. Then there is watching their daughter relive the incident.
"I think she will have for most of her life a very strong
reaction to sounds. The 4th of July fireworks were extremely
distressing for her, she panicked," said Hopkins.
With reporting by Jerry Norton and Telly Nathalia in Jakarta