Rogue soldiers may have staged Papua ambush: Minister

Rogue soldiers may have staged Papua ambush: Minister

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

Rogue Indonesian soldiers might have staged an ambush on Aug. 31
which killed two American teachers and an Indonesian when they,
along with a dozen other employees of the PT Freeport mine in
Timika, Papua, were traveling along the street leading to the
company complex, the country's top security minister said on
Friday.

"The government sees three possibilities. First it could have
been carried out by the Free Papua Movement (OPM); second, by
rogue military personnel; or by a third party linked neither to
OPM nor the military.

"There are indications and theories. So let the ongoing
investigation continue," Coordinating Minister for Political and
Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told reporters as
quoted by AFP after holding a Cabinet meeting.

Susilo was responding to an earlier statement by Papua deputy
police chief Brig. Gen. Raziman Tarigan as the latter said that
police investigators had found evidence linking the Indonesian
Military to the deadly ambush, that included forensic test
results that showed that military-issue weapons, including an M-
16 machine gun, an SS-1 rifle and a Mauser rifle were used in the
Aug. 31 attack.

Tarigan further said that these weapons were used by Army's
Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) that was stationed in the
area.

The Indonesian Military (TNI) has rejected accusations that
the Army was involved in the shooting.

"If Kostrad members were involved in the ambush, we would no
doubt have to punish them, but without compelling evidence, the
police will only be committing a blunder by pointing at a certain
military institution," Army chief spokesman Brig. Gen. Ratyono
told The Jakarta Post by phone.

TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin concurred and
said: "An incomplete investigation may cause misjudgment."

Sjafrie further admitted that both the police and the TNI had
sent a joint investigating team on Dec. 23 to conduct a thorough
investigation -- including determining whether or not the
military was involved in the ambush -- and is expected to finish
its task on January 5, 2001.

Sjafrie said that the sending of the joint team led by the
deputy commander of the National Military Police Brig. Gen.
Hendarji was in response to public demand, considering that "as
of today, the previous military investigating team has concluded
that none of our (military) soldiers were involved in the
ambush."

"Isn't it perplexing that the police have been inconsistent as
they previously accused Kopassus, but now they have disclosed
that it was Kostrad battalion 515 (not battalion 514 as earlier
reported) which committed the ambush?," Sjafrie asked.

Maj. Gen. Mahidin Simbon, chief of the Trikora Military
Command overseeing Papua, declined to comment on the police
investigation, saying: "No comment for the time being".

Previously, Mahidin denied that any servicemen were involved
in the incident, saying he would sue those who pointed to the
military. He also had made a similar remark in the murder of pro-
independence Papuan leader Dortheys "Theys" Hiyo Eluway in
November, 2001 but, later was silent when the National Military
Police brought a number of military officers and law-ranking
servicemen of Kopassus to the tribunal for their involvement in
the murder.

Rights activist Ifdhal Kasim of the Institute for Policy
Research and Advocacy (ELSAM) criticized the military's stance,
saying that the institution had to be more cooperative with the
police while the latter was conducting a probe into the deadly
ambush.

"Is it really necessary for the military to send its own
investigating team when that task belongs to the police?," Ifdhal
cautioned.

"To us, it is clear that the police hold the authority to
investigate any criminal cases for the sake of public
accountability," he further said, referring to the People's
Consultative Assembly Decree No. VII/2000 on the separation of
duties between the TNI and the National Police.

The U.S. administration has proposed that the joint
investigating team allow the participation of the U.S. Federal
Bureau Investigation (FBI) in the investigation.