TNI accused of abusing Red Cross emblem

TNI accused of abusing Red Cross emblem

JAKARTA (JP): The International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) accused the Indonesian Military (TNI) on Tuesday of
abusing the Red Cross emblem during a 1996 raid to release
hostages in Irian Jaya.

ICRC Director General Paul Grossrieder said the conclusions of
an inquiry commissioned by the ICRC found that "military forces
involved in the operation made perfidious use of the ICRC's role
by employing a white helicopter that could have been perceived by
the local population as an ICRC helicopter".

The ICRC appointed an independent consultant named Piotr
Obuchowicz to lead a team to look into the May 1996 incident when
the Army's Special Force (Kopassus) raided an Irianese rebel
hideout in Geselama mountain to free 13 researchers who were held
hostage for nearly five months.

Kopassus, which was at the time led by Lt. Gen. (ret.) Prabowo
Subianto, were able to free eleven hostages. Two died in the
rescue.

But a report from Irian Jaya's Institute for Policy and Human
Rights Advocacy (Elsam) chapter alleged that ICRC insignias and
members were involved in the attack.

The report was then used as a basis for a documentary titled
Blood on the Cross released in July last year.

It was following the release of this documentary that ICRC
then commissioned an investigation.

The inquiry team visited Indonesia in October.

The final report, which alleged that TNI had misused the ICRC
logo, was presented to the ICRC some three months ago.

"Use of the Red Cross emblem is a serious violation of
humanitarian law," Grossrieder, who was on a 10-day visit here,
said.

He added the report vindicated that ICRC members were not
involved in the raid.

"It's a little bit late, I have to admit," Grossrieder said
about the report, which cleared ICRC of any wrongdoing.

"We should have done it before, but the ICRC probably
underestimated the seriousness of the problem at the time,"
Grossrieder said.

Grossrieder said the ICRC had also presented the report to the
Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 7 in a bid to
seek clarification on the matter.

"We need to seek clarification from the Indonesian government
as we (ICRC) were declared clean in the investigation,"
Grossrieder said.

However, the ministry has not given a response yet.

Officials from both the ministry and TNI could not be reached
for comment on Tuesday.

Refugees

In a separate development, the spokesman for the Irian Jaya
Governor's office, F.X. Soeryanto, said at least 170 Irianese
living in Papua New Guinea (PNG) would return home to Merauke
regency by the end of this month.

"They are returning out of their own desire and not because of
any pressure," Soeryanto told The Jakarta Post.

Soeryanto claimed that a total of 903 Irianese in Papua New
Guinea had also decided to return home. However, no timeframe was
given.

The returning villagers have reportedly lived in Papua New
Guinea for several years after they were forced to flee their
homes in Mindiptanah district near the border when a clash
erupted between security forces and the Irianese separatist
group, the Free Papua Movement (OPM).

Soeryanto said the people would be repatriated with the help
of the Mission Association Fellowship (MAF).

He said MAF had scheduled 12 flights using a Twin Otter plane
to transport the returning villagers from Kiungga, Papua New
Guinea, to Mindiptanah.

Soeryanto added that local authorities were also assessing the
necessary facilities for their return, such as schools, health
clinics and roads.

"The local government has been ready to receive the villagers
since last year," he said. (eba/emf)