Team established to probe rights violations in Irian

Team established to probe rights violations in Irian

JAYAPURA (JP): Minister of Human Rights Affairs Hasballah M.
Saad announced on Saturday the establishment of a special team to
probe humanitarian crimes in Irian Jaya.

Speaking to journalists after meeting with pro-independence
advocates and local leaders in Jayapura, Hasballah said as an
initial step, he had sent a team of four to the province to
gather facts from the people.

The team will fully cooperate with local non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) and human rights organizations, like the
Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam), he claimed.

Its working method will eventually follow the fact-finding
teams that probed human rights abuses in Aceh, Sambas, West
Kalimantan, Maluku and Tanjung Priok, Jakarta, the minister
further noted.

"Many reports of human rights abuses actually are just an
expression of social conditions and not legal facts. That is why
the cases could not be processed in the court," Hasballah
explained.

Citing his experience in handling human rights cases in other
provinces, the minister cautioned that it could be a tough task
to prove past human rights crimes in Irian Jaya. He also stressed
that the investigation could not be concluded overnight.

The minister held a dialog on Saturday with among others local
church leader Rev. W. Rumsarwir and Baptist church secretary
Sofyan Nyoman at the State Building in Jayapura.

Rumsarwir told the minister to truly resolve human rights
cases rather than just making empty promises.

Rumsarwir asserted that human rights abuses had begun with the
integration of the territory into Indonesia in May 1963.

Sofyan pointed out that the frustration of the Papuans was
based on their feeling of being treated with discrimination by
the central government for 37-years.

"Those are among the factors why people here are demanding
separation from Indonesia," Sofyan said.

Following a plebiscite under the aegis of the United Nations
and a New York agreement with the former Dutch colonial power,
West Irian became part of Indonesia in May 1963.

Ten years later, then president Soeharto renamed the province
Irian Jaya (Glorious Irian).

Covering an area of some 422,000 square kilometers, the
province is three and a half times the size of Java. However
statistics in 1995 show that the population was only about two
million.

Demands for separation have been increasing and a recently
concluded Papuan People's Congress resolved that the province be
independent from Indonesia.

During Saturday's dialog, Hasballah refused to touch on
independence demands, saying he had no legal capacity to discuss
that issue.

"I need to listen and gain a better understanding about the
real situation and people's sentiment here," said Hasballah.

After the dialog, Filep Karma, a senior leader of the Free
Papua Movement (OPM), handed a Morning Star separatist flag to
the minister.

Papuan Presidium Council's Secretary General Thaha Al Hamid
expressed his distrust of the minister's human rights team saying
the government had launched several investigations before without
any concrete results.

"Several times members of Komnas Ham (National Commission on
Human Rights) visited Irian Jaya and gave a dozen
recommendations. But the reports were never followed up. So it is
simply time wasting, money wasting," added Thaha.

Hasballah, a native Acehnese, whose province is also facing a
separatist movement, became the first minister to visit the
country's easternmost province since the Papuan People's
Congress.

Summons

Meanwhile, Papuan Presidium Council Chairman Theys Hiyo Eluay,
expressed his ire over a police summons to question him over the
congress which demanded independence for the province.

Theys asserted that the Congress was held after receiving
approval from President Abdurrahman Wahid, who also is called as
Gus Dur.

"Even President Gus Dur agreed with the congress," Theys
said.

The government did initially help finance the congress under
conditions it did not assert Irian Jaya independence. Since then
the government has attacked the congress as illegitimate.

In a separate development the National Committee of Youth
Organizations (KNPI) has protested the government's decision to
allow the separatist Morning Star flag to be flown as long as it
was smaller and beneath the Indonesian national flag.

They maintain that the decision is an affront to Indonesian
nationalism and unity.

KNPI chairman, Adhiyaksa, said that the government should show
a persuasive but clear stance against separatism in order to
maintain Indonesia's sovereignty over the province.

"Besides employing a persuasive approach, the government
should also take strict measures against separatist activities,
including the hoisting of the OPM flag," he told journalists at a
press conference in Jakarta on Saturday.

Adhiyaksa said the government should advance development
programs, especially in the economic and education sectors, to
win the hearts of the Papuan people and international support for
the province's continued integration.

He said the government should also investigate atrocities in
the past and control military operations to create a sense of
safety among local people.

"The government must guarantee that the Papuan people can
conduct their daily activities free from the military's terror
and intimidation and make sure that they are 'lords' of their
homeland," he said. (eba/rms/prb/)