Rights abuses rife in Irian: Report

By Neles Tebay

JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya (JP): Security authorities continued to commit human rights violations in Irian Jaya in the past year as popular resentment against the central government unfolded in the wake of an upsurge in separatist activities, a rights group and churches say.

The local Catholic diocese, the Christian Evangelical Church, Indonesian Bible Camp Church and Institute for Human Rights Studies and Advocacy (IHRSTAD) urged the government on Saturday to set up an independent international team to investigate rights abuses, dating back to last year's fatal shooting in Biak.

Police and the National Commission on Human Rights reported a man, Ruben Uroboy, 29, was killed in the incident when security troops opened fire to disperse hundreds of indigenous Irianese who were hoisting a West Papua Morning Star flag.

On Friday, a civilian, Daud Edward Waromi, 25, died after he was shot in the head at Jayapura Port. Three suspects, who are members of the Military Police in Sorong, 1,000 kilometers west of here, have been detained at the local Military Police Headquarters.

On Saturday, the churches and IHRSTAD unveiled new findings in the Biak case. They claimed that at least eight people died and 37 were hurt, with four of them left physically disabled by their injuries.

Their joint investigation team also linked the shooting to the subsequent recovery of 32 bodies from the sea off Biak. Signs of torture were found on the bodies, the team said. One of the bodies was clad in a high school student internal organization (OSIS) uniform and another in attire of the Golkar Party.

The local military said the bodies were victims of a tsunami in Aitape in Papua New Guinea who drifted the hundreds of miles to Biak.

IHRSTAD executive director Yohanes Bonay insisted the military explanation was nonsense.

"We all know that the tsunami occurred on July 17, 1998, eight days after the bodies were found. Besides, do Papua New Guineans wear Golkar or Indonesian student group T-shirts?"

The rights group and churches identified the fatalities as Ruben, Fransiskus Delton Gawe, 29, Wilhelminus Rumpaisum, 65, Paulus Mamoribo, 20, and Niko Smass, 24. The other three fatalities were reported by a witness at the local Navy hospital, but he could not identify them, Bonay said.

The four organizations also reported that arrests were made of locals without proper legal procedures.

Rev. Herman Awom, deputy chairman of the Christian Evangelical Church Synode, said the findings were unveiled because the government never publicly announced the results of its probe into the case and any legal measures taken against the shooters.

Awom said an independent team, involving Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the governments of Indonesia, Australia and Papua New Guinea, should be formed to investigate human rights violations in the country's easternmost province due to conflicting versions of reports.

The list of fatalities also included Steven Suripaty, a student who was shot to death on the campus of state Cendrawasih University during a proindependence rally on July 3 last year; a senior high school student, Roby Young, 19, who was killed by an Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) member following a dispute on June 7, 1999, in Genyem, 100 kilometers west of here; and two people who died of gunshot wounds in unrest which followed harsh measures used against locals who hoisted a West Papua flag on July 5, 1999, in Sorong.

Robby's killer, Pvt. Hadi Prajitno, was sentenced to five years in jail and dismissed from military service on Thursday.

Bonay said more Irianese would raise separatist flags to express their disappointment with the central government and their powerlessness to cope with suffering and the resolution of their grievances.

"The move reflects the people's protest against the government, which they said has never heeded their aspirations."

Natural resources-rich Irian Jaya has contributed billions of dollars from mining exploration to the country's coffers in the past three decades, but the province's people are rated among the poorest.

The rights group and churches recommended that the government initiate dialogs to listen to complaints, difficulties and the hopes of the Irianese instead of relying on repressive measures.

"Such an approach is the best and most humane way to root the problems in the province," Bonay said.

In the conclusion of their joint statement, the institutions urged the government to stop the use of violence, release political prisoners linked to the separatist movement and lift the province's status as a politically volatile territory.