Papua Police conduct field inquiry into border shooting

Nethy Dharma Somba and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura/Jakarta

The Papua police conducted on Sunday an on-site investigation into Saturday's shooting which targeted three women, including the wife of a human rights activist who accused the military of involvement in the Aug. 31 ambush at an American-owned company, PT Freeport Indonesia.

The field inquiry team, led by Jayapura Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Totok Kasmiarto at the Wutung area bordering with Papua New Guinea (PNG), extracted several pieces of evidence from the scene: 20 projectiles and nine arrows.

In addition, the police investigation team also received other evidence, including 26 projectiles, a backpack and a man's pouch, collected by soldiers of the Bukit Barisan Military Command's 132nd Bima Sakti Task Force, who are stationed at the Papua-PNG border.

"We still have to conduct further forensic tests to determine what weapons used in the attack," Totok said, adding that the police needed to test the collected projectiles as there was a similar attack on Dec. 16 on a vehicle carrying F.X. Soeryanto, head of the Papua's border agency.

Also witnessing the field investigation were Trikora Military Command chief of staff Brig. Gen. Nurdin Zainal, 172nd Military Resort chief Col. Agus Muljadi, Jayapura Military District chief Lt. Col. Seno Purbo, Commander of the 132nd Military Task Force chief Lt. Col. T. Aritonang.

Unidentified men shot at a vehicle carrying, among others, Elsie Rumbiak Bonay, 40, the wife of Johanis G. Bonay, director of the Papua-based Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy (Elsham). The people were traveling to visit their relatives in Vanomi, Papua New Guinea, and were headed towards the border crossing.

Elsie sustained injuries on both legs during the attack, while her daughter Marlin Bonay injured her shoulder and another woman, Yeni Irew Merauje, 35, sustained injuries on her right leg.

The injured women underwent surgery at the Army hospital in Jayapura. Yeni was flown to Jakarta on Sunday to undergo further medical treatment at the St. Carolus General Hospital in Central Jakarta.

Brig. Gen. Nurdin Zaenal blamed a separatist group for the attack.

He argued that the separatist group might have thought that high-ranking officials from Jakarta were inside the vehicle, which sports a Jakarta-registered license plate.

Elsham deputy director Allosyus Renwarin speculated earlier that the attack against Bonay's wife might be related to the human rights group's recent accusation that the military was behind the Freeport ambush, in which two Americans and an Indonesian were killed and 18 others injured.

Elsham's accusation was supported by an investigation by the Papua police, which revealed that the ambush was very likely to have been carried out by Army soldiers.

The Army has rejected the accusation.

Meanwhile in Jakarta, Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urged people not to politicize the shooting and wait for the police to conduct an investigation into the attack.

"Please give some time for the security officers to investigate the shooting, as I myself will directly monitor the progress for the time being.

"I also ask people not to politicize the case," Susilo said on Sunday on the sidelines of a gathering at the Jakarta Fairground in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, of government officials and Acehnese living in Greater Jakarta.