PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS, PEACE AND DEMOCRACY IN INDONESIA

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The following letter was sent by TAPOL to UK Foreign Office Minister, Ben Bradshaw on 6 February 2002

See also press release dated 6 February 2002

Ben Bradshaw, MP,
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State,
Foreign and Commonwealth Office,
London SW1A 2AH

Dear Mr Bradshaw,

Presidential Decision on Investigation Team for Theys assassination

In defiance of clearly and repeatedly expressed objections from civil society in West Papua, including leaders of the four main religions in the province, it was announced in Jakarta today that President Megawati has set up a commission to investigate the killing of Theys Hiyo Eluay, chairperson of the Papuan Presidium Council, with army and police involvement.

The commission includes five government officials, among them Major-General Djasri Marin, commander of the military police, and the senior detective from Polri, the national police force. It will be headed by a former police general, Kusparmono Irsan, a member of the National Human Rights Commission, who has one of the poorest records among all members of the Commission as a human rights expert of integrity.

The three main human rights organisations in West Papua, ELS-HAM, the Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy, Kontras, the Commission for the Disappeared and the Victims of Violence, and the legal aid institute, LBH-Papua, have jointly reiterated their opposition to the inclusion of anyone from the military or the police in the investigation commission, while religious leaders representing the Catholic and Protestant churches and the Muslim Ulamas Council of Papua have called on the president repeatedly not to include anyone from the military or the police. The leadership of the Papuan Presidium Council has expressed similar views on a number of occasions.

Similar views have also been expressed by the governor of Papua, Jaap Salossa, members of the local assembly, the DPRD, the local police chief, and a number of academic and humanitarian activists.

The widely held view in West Papua is that the assassination of Theys Eluay was politically motivated. The only way in which this can be proven one way or the other is by setting up a totally independent Commission of Investigation. By ignoring the views of civil society in West Papua, the Megawati Government has put itself on a collision course with Papuan public opinion.

Even before the composition of the government commission was formally announced in Jakarta, an army team headed by Major General Djasri Marin had arrived in Jayapura to conduct its own investigations into Theys’ death. The team appears to be aimed at investigating the involvement of several Kopassus officers in the murder, leading subsequently to indictments that would treat the crime as an ‘ordinary crime’ perpetrated by ‘rogue elements’ in the army, as has already been hinted by the chief of staff of the army, General Endriartono Sutarto. This would dispense with the need for any investigation into the background of the crime. Furthermore, such a finding would lead to the crime being handled within the jurisdiction of the military criminal code and tried by a military court.

If indeed Kopassus officers perpetrated the crime, it is essential to establish the line of command that led to their action and reveal those forces within the army or the government whose intentions may be to de-stabilise West Papua and undermine the pro-independence movement of which Theys Eluay was the most outspoken and symbolic leader. This cannot be handled under the jurisdiction of the military criminal code but should be a matter for the human rights court provided for under Indonesia’s Law 26/2000 on Human Rights Courts.

The Investigation Commission set up by President Megawati will thwart such investigations and can only arouse widespread public disquiet in West Papua.

In a letter to President Megawati on 2 February, the Bishop of Jayapura, Mgr Leo Laba Ladjar said that the government’s intentions to include army and police representatives in the investigation team signals a ‘refusal to heed the complaints of its citizens, especially here in Papua, who want the facts about the Theys Hiyo Eluay case to be exposed fairly, transparently and independently, without the involvement of the army and the police’.

Two weeks earlier, on 22 January, the four religious leaders had submitted a detailed proposal for a truly independent team of investigation. It is a disgrace that this proposal has been totally ignored by President Megawati and her government. It is decision that could have serious political repercussions in West Papua.

We call on the British Government:

1. To press the Megawati Government to withdraw its decision to set up this Investigation Commission and to pay heed to the repeatedly expressed views of civil society in West Papua calling for an independent investigation team without military or police involvement.

2. To press the Megawati Government to pay heed to the detailed proposal made to her by the religious leaders of Papua on 22 January calling for a truly independent team of investigation.

3. To ensure that the Theys case is handled according to the principles of transparency and fairness and by a truly independent commission of investigation, paving the way, if necessary, for the case to be heard before a human rights court.

4. To ensure that the European Union make similar and immediate representations to the Megawati Government.

Yours sincerely,

Carmel Budiardjo
Director, TAPOL

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