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/)