Police kill two suspected Papuan rebels in West Irian

Nethy Dharma Somba and P.C. Naommy, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura/Jakarta

Police officers shot dead two Papuans, after firing at a crowd of villagers in Meriedi, Teluk Bintuni regency, some 200 kilometers west of Manokwari, the capital of West Irian province, a senior police officer said on Wednesday.

The police immediately described the two victims as members of rebel Free Papua Movement (OPM), and identified them Bernard Furima and Matius Nasira.

The deadly incident began on Tuesday morning when 12 policemen were escorting several employees of timber company PT Djajanti, who were about to hand over Rp 150 million (US$18,750) in land compensation to local residents.

On their way to the village, they were ambushed by a group of nine Papuans with traditional weapons, such as machetes and spears. The police then shot at them, which forced the gang to flee into the nearby forest.

The police and the PT Djajanti employees continued their journey, but stopped at Furuata village, in order to seek information on the attackers.

The Furuata village head speculated that the attackers might be OPM rebels under the command of Manase Furima.

After the group finally arrived in Meriedi village at 11:30 a.m., they met with the head of Meriedi village, Franciscus Arfah and informed him of their purpose of visiting the village. As the employees and the police personnel were talking to the head of Meriedi village, suddenly a person, allegedly a member of the Manase Furima group, approached them and expressed displeasure with the arrival of the police and the employees of PT Djajanti in the village. The policemen asked him whether he was a member of the Manase Furima group, and shortly thereafter, a group of 30 people, similarly armed with traditional weaponry, appeared and approached the police officers.

Deducing that the Papuans were apparently ready to attack them, Second Insp. Wattimena warned them not to make trouble. The group of Papuans were apparently unfriendly and defiant, so it forced the police personnel to fire warning shots to disperse them. The armed men then panicked and began to attack the officers.

The police then began shooting directly at them, and killed two of them. Other members of Manase Furima group fled the area.

Separately in Jakarta, Brig. Gen. Soenarko, the spokesman of the National Police, said that the police were looking into the case.

The ambush and attacks on the police and military personnel have seemingly been on the increase in the troubled province of Papua, where a low-level armed revolt for independence has been taking place by several disparate groups, some since 1963. Indonesia took over the administration of the Papuans from The Netherlands in 1969 after about 1,000 village chiefs agreed to become part of Indonesia. The United Nations accepted that agreement.

However, Papuans have long been disappointed with the Indonesian government, whom they accuse of exploiting Papua resources, such as timber and mining, but give very little back to Papuans.