TNI to deploy more troops to Papua

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Military (TNI) is planning to immediately dispatch four battalions to the country's easternmost province of Papua, where bloody clashes killed at least five people and injured dozens of others two weeks ago.

TNI Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said here on Wednesday that the four battalions would be assigned to several places in Papua, especially along the border with Papua New Guinea (PNG), boosting the strength of three other battalions already stationed in the area.

"The three battalions are not enough, moreover they must oversee more than 500 kilometers of territorial borders," Endriartono said during a hearing with members of the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission I, which oversees security affairs.

Endriartono's announcement came barely two weeks after bloody clashes flared up for five days between supporters and opponents of the Central Irian Jaya province in Timika, Papua, killing at least five people and injuring dozens of others.

After several days of calm, Timika again became tense on Monday after two migrant motorcycle taxi drivers were killed by locals due to a minor misunderstanding.

Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Tuesday that one person had been arrested as a suspect and stressed the murders were common crimes that had nothing to do with ethnic tensions.

Due to the volatile situation in Timika, authorities had deployed hundreds of police to Timika. They came from the provincial capital of Jayapura and neighboring province of South Sulawesi.

During the hearing, Endriartono took the opportunity to blame provocateurs for instigating the bloody clashes. "Noting that Papuans are simple people, the TNI believe that there must be outside provocateurs behind the clashes," Endriartono told the legislators.

Clashes have occurred frequently in Timika, following the declaration of Central Irian Jaya province by chairman of Mimika Council Office Andreas Anggaibak on August 23. Timika was supposed to be the capital of Central Irian Jaya province.

The establishment of Central Irian Jaya was made possible following an instruction by President Megawati Soekarnoputri on the accelerated establishment of West and Central Irian Jaya provinces.

Through the presidential instruction, the government formally divided Papua into three provinces, namely Papua, West Irian Jaya and Central Irian Jaya.

The instruction was supposed to be a follow-up to Law No. 45/1999 on the establishment of North Maluku, West and Central Irian Jaya provinces, as well as several regencies in Papua.

The two rulings were fiercely opposed by Papuans who believed that the rulings were parts of efforts by the central government to divide and rule Papua, where a poorly organized separatist movement -- the Free Papua Movement (OPM) -- has been fighting for independence for the resource-rich province since the 1970s.

Separately, a number of councillors of Papua province met with the chairman of the newly established Constitutional Court Jimly Asshidiqie on Wednesday to study the possibility of demanding a judicial review for the two rulings.

Meanwhile in Papua, chairman of Papuan Legislative Council Jhon Ibo said the bloody clashes occurred partly due to pluralism in Papuan society, especially Timika, believed to be the most prone to conflict.

"In Timika, there are groups that support and oppose the division of Papua. There are also groups that are anti and pro Indonesia. Differences among those groups spark conflicts, and if it is played up by irresponsible parties, the conflicts will eventually explode," Jhon Ibo said.