TNI to deploy more troops to Papua

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.