Three Papua villagers in hiding die of starvation

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura, Papua

Three residents of Kuyawage village in the Papua regency of Wamena have reportedly starved to death after fleeing their homes to avoid a sweep by the Army for those responsible for last month's raid on the arsenal of the Wamena military compound.

The identities of the three people were not immediately available.

The chairman of the regional office of the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI), Rev. Socrates Sofyan, told The Jakarta Post here on Tuesday that the three villagers, also members of the PGI, starved to death in the forest in which they had taken refuge.

He said all of the residents of Kuyawage village fled to the forest when the Army deployed hundreds of soldiers to search for those responsible for stealing rifles and ammunition from the military arsenal.

The villagers were fearful because in the past the military has accused them of supporting the Free Papua Movement (OPM), he said.

"So far three villagers have died and if this situation continues more and more villagers will also die," he said.

He said he and other church ministers could do nothing to help the villagers because the village and the surrounding forest were isolated and outsiders were not being allowed into the area.

The Army has deployed 140 soldiers from its Special Forces (Kopassus) and Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) to help in the hunt for the rebels though to be responsible for the killing of two soldiers and the theft of 29 rifles and guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

Twenty-two of the rifles and guns have been recovered and a number of people, including three soldiers, are being held as suspects in the raid.

Socrates called on the military to call off its operation and allow the villagers to return to their homes.

Local religious leaders also have expressed concern over the military operation, which they say could result in civilian deaths.

Iwan K. Nidoen, a member of a coalition of local non- governmental organizations (NGOs) carrying out its own investigation into the arsenal raid, said the military was targeting several villages suspected of supporting separatist rebels.

"Many villagers have been living in fear since the military swept through their villages looking for rebels. Many youths have been beaten, their houses ransacked and their belongings stolen," said Frederika, another member of the coalition.

Both Socrates and the coalition of NGOs called on the military to halt the operation and establish an independent team to investigate the arsenal raid.

Maj. G.T. Situmorang, spokesman for the Trikora Military Command overseeing Papua, declined to comment on the reports of the three civilian deaths.

All he would say was that Trikora Military Command chief Maj. Gen. Nurdin Zainal had been informed that the villagers had fled into the forest not because of the military operation but because they were afraid of the rebels.

"The villages were abandoned before the military operation was launched. The villagers went into hiding in the forest because of the rebels," he said.

He said that the local military would continue with its operation until all of the remaining rifles and rounds of ammunition had been recovered, adding that "we have called on the villagers to return to their homes and resume their daily lives if they were not involved in the raid".

Meanwhile, Jayawijaya military district chief Col. Agus Mulyadi told the Post by telephone on Tuesday that soldiers shot and killed a rebel, identified as Kabelek Hiluka, inside a house in Ibele village, 10 kilometers south of Wamena, at 4:30 p.m.

"The victim was shot for resisting arrest and trying to escape," he said, adding that 13 other people who were hiding in the house were detained, while another person, Harun Sikopere, escaped with a rifle.

Of the 13 people, 12 were released after being questioned while another man, Linus Siluka, admitted to being a member of the OPM and was detained for further investigation.