Team vows to seriously investigate Abepura case

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.