Tribal war over Papua split faces uneasy truce

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura, Papua

The deadly clashes between opponents and supporters of the creation of Central Irian Jaya province has come to an uneasy truce, after it turned into a tribal war upon the local "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" principle.

The issue first flared up on Aug. 23, when Central Irian Jaya was declared by members of the local political elite and thousands of people in Mimika regency, prompting protests from opposing and supporting groups that soon escalated into violence.

Thom Benal, secretary-general of the Papua Presidium Council (PDP) and chairman of the Amungme tribal group based in Mimika, said the clashes were initially between the two rival groups, but turned into a tribal war after three people were killed.

"When a member of one tribe is killed, that tribe must avenge the death by killing a rival member. This is what we call (in Papua) the 'head with head' or 'blood with blood' tribal principle.

"The war will not stop until a rival tribe member is killed," he said.

The war started with the death on Aug. 24 of Jemy Kibak from the group opposed to the establishment of the new province in troubled Papua.

The day after Jemy was killed, his group avenged his death by killing Tinus Mom, a member of its rival tribe.

As the tribes had each lost one member, the situation became relatively calm. But on Aug. 25, the third day of the clashes, Jemy's fellow tribesman, Terry Murib, was killed, and the situation heated up again.

That night, when the two opposing groups suspended open fighting, opponents of the creation of Central Irian Jaya province snuck into their rival's camp and killed Lambertus Unioma and injured Yulita Takati. The situation again grew calm.

But Yulita died early on Friday, so the group supporting the division of Papua had lost three members, while the opposing group had lost two.

Because the toll was again uneven, the situation could have led to another revenge killing.

However, the warring groups agreed to end the fighting, and to compensate Yulita's death with money, pigs, a woman or other goods and property agreed upon by the two rival tribes.

Mimika regency, one of the six regencies that formed Central Irian Jaya province and intended provincial capital, is home to seven major tribes: the Amungme, the Dani, the Damal, the Nduga, the Moni, the Ekari and the Kamoro. It is not clear which tribes were directly involved in the war, nor which tribes were grouped in the opposing sides.

Based on the 2000 population census, the regency has a total of 89,861 people, including 35,813 indigenous Papuans.

Tribal wars could be triggered by various factors, such as murder, sleeping with the wife of another, stealing pigs and power struggles.

Though tribal wars are generally aimed at killing and defeating an enemy, there are unwritten codes of honor that are shared and followed by all tribes.

For example, women cannot fight wars and it is forbidden for men to sexually abuse women and children during a war. Looting during a war is also forbidden, as is killing women, children and elderly people.

A tribal war is fought on a battleground far from villages, and stops temporarily for lunch, when tribeswomen deliver provisions to the field.

After lunch, one of the rival tribes gives a sign to resume the fighting.

A tribal war can last months, even years, and generally ends when the number of casualties is equal on both sides.