Timikans hang high hopes for rights body
JAKARTA (JP): Residents of Timika in Irian Jaya urged the National Commission on Human Rights to come and probe the unrest that hit the town recently, a call which was promptly answered by the rights body.
A local church source said tension had dissipated but the involved tribes were still hopeful that the feeling of security could be restored with the commission's visit.
Four Ekari tribesmen died prior to and during the unrest in Harapan Kwamki Lama village last week. Two died reportedly because they fell off a moving vehicle on Aug. 20 while the other two were shot by troops attempting to curb the riots on Aug. 22.
"The presence of security personnel here is so strong that we feel uneasy," the source told The Jakarta Post by phone. He estimated that about 1,000 members of the military and police were deployed in the town with a population of 50,000.
Local military officers could not be reached for comment.
The deputy chairman of the rights commission, Marzuki Darusman, said the body will send a team to Timika tomorrow. However, contrary to the church source's hope, the team will not be conducting an investigation; instead, the delegation will just "familiarize" itself with the surroundings.
"It's just a familiarization visit, and besides, we're making the visit because of the local people's expectations," Marzuki told the Post in a separate interview yesterday.
The team will consist of Samsuddin, Bambang Soeharto and Marzuki himself. The commission's last visit to Timika was in 1995, which Marzuki said was different from the one the commission was about to make.
"We made the 1995 visit because there was (a reported violation of human rights) that we needed to probe, while tomorrow's is just a friendly visit," Marzuki said.
The local source contacted yesterday said that members of the tribe were hopeful that the commission would look into the unrest as "one of the many local problems" rather than as "just another incident".
Wide press coverage was given to the town 80 kilometers south of PT Freeport Indonesia's Grasberg mining in Tembagapura last week.
The influential Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) alleged recently that the unrest was related to a glitch in the disbursement of Freeport's one percent trust fund intended to boost local community development.
Last year, tribal warfare erupted over the share of the fund. Twelve people died in the unrest.
Walhi's executive director Emmy Hafild told the Post separately yesterday that the core problem in Timika was Freeport and the local government's failure to understand what the local tribespeople want.
According to Emmy, the local tribespeople -- especially the large Amungme and Kamoro tribes whose ancestral land is the current Freeport mining site -- should be involved in deciding what was the best for them.
The population of Amungme and Kamoro is 15,000 and 16,000 respectively.
"Building schools and health facilities is not enough, because these people are of an egalitarian nature and need recognition and the opportunity to actualize their potential," Emmy said. (aan)