Papuan leaders oppose any military operations
Papuan leaders oppose any military operations
Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura, Papua
Papuan religious leaders have expressed regret over the deaths of
two soldiers and an alleged separatist rebel during the theft of
weapons from a military base in Wamena last Friday, but called on
the central government not to use it as a reason to launch
another military operation in the province.
The leaders, in a joint statement released Thursday, said
previous military operations had resulted in the deaths of
thousands of unarmed civilians.
The statement was signed by Jayapura Bishop Mgr. Leo Laba
Ladjar OFM Cap, Papuan Protestant Church Synod (GPDP) chairman
Rev. Andreas Ayomi, Indonesian Protestant Church Synod Secretary
General Rev. Berotabui, Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) local
chapter chairman Zubaer Hussein and Indonesian Hindhu Darma
Association (PHDI) local chapter chairman I Nyoman Sudha.
The Indonesian Military has deployed 144 soldiers from the
Army's feared Special Forces (Kopassus) and Strategic Reserve
Command (Kostrad) to Wamena to help the local military in the
hunt for the rebels, who the Army claim stole 29 rifles and
thousands of rounds of ammunition. Nineteen of the stolen rifles
have been recovered, including six weapons found at the Wamena
military district headquarters, the very place where the rifles
were stolen.
The military suspects the involvement of Army soldiers from
the local military in the burglary. An investigation is ongoing.
Jayapura Archbishop Mgr. Leo Laba Ladjar, who spoke on behalf
of the religious leaders during a press conference on Thursday,
said the military operation to find the rebels should not target
civilians, as had happened in the past.
"The soldiers should be professional in conducting the
operation to avoid unrest and prejudice among the people," he
said, saying the gunfight during the botched burglary had damaged
chances for peace that all sides were trying to build in the
province.
He said the soldiers should not be suspicious of locals or
accuse them of collaborating with the thieves as they did after
rebel attacks on military offices in Wasior and Abepura in 2001.
"We express our deep concern that such military operations
claimed civilian lives in the past," the bishop said.
Leo said the burglary should not be used as an excuse for the
government to launch a major military operation as it has in the
past.
Thousands of civilians were killed when former president
Soeharto's New Order regime launched a military operation in the
province to quell the Free Papua Movement (OPM) during the 1980s
and 1990s.
Rampant human rights abuses during the New Order era have made
the Papuan issue more complicated.
The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) granted the province
special autonomy in 2001.