Police kill two suspected Papuan rebels in West Irian

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.