Team vows to seriously investigate Abepura case

R.K. Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura

Members of an ad hoc team assured Papuans on Monday that they were serious in investigating the Abepura incident, which resulted in the death of two proindependence students and two policemen in December, 2000.

"We are not playing a game in the investigation into the case. The questioning of at least 74 witnesses is the first step," said Putu Sutedja, who leads the team established by the Attorney General's Office in Jakarta.

Speaking at a media conference in the Irian Jaya capital of Jayapura, he said the team was confident that it would be able to reveal those behind the tragedy.

Sutedja was apparently responding to claims by many Papuans that the probe was designed only to appease them following various unexplained human rights cases in the troubled province, including last year's murder of top rebel leader Theys Hiyo Eluay.

At least five separate teams were set up to look into the Theys murder case. But the masterminds of the incident remain unknown.

Local analysts said that should the Abepura case be unraveled, it would help diminish the offenses against Papuans.

"What Papuans need is law enforcement, so their right to justice is respected," Jayapura-based political observer Yance K. Nugroho told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

"Therefore, don't be surprised if the people here are skeptical about any investigative teams arriving in Papua because the results of their work have mostly never been proven or are merely lofty promises," he added.

The Abepura incident occurred on Dec. 7, 2000 when a group of 50 armed proindependence people attacked the Abepura police station, killing at least two policemen.

In a counterattack local police immediately raided the Namin student dormitory in the town of Kotaraja and arrested 24 students there suspected of supporting separatism in Irian Jaya.

Witnesses said members of the police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) were violent toward the detainees during the interrogations, leaving at least two of them dead and tens of others wounded.

The 2-member ad hoc team arrived in Jayapura on Apr. 2 and concluded its field investigation on Monday after questioning at least 52 of the 74 witnesses.

They were unable to quiz the remaining 22 witnesses as most of them were not in Jayapura. Five of them included local officials, whose investigation required the approval of the home affairs minister.

Those questioned in the case included civilians, students, Brimob members and medical staff.

Sutedja could not say whether the fatal Abepura incident was a serious human rights abuse or a procedural error.

The investigation followed the recent findings by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), which categorized the same incident as a human rights abuse.