PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS, PEACE AND DEMOCRACY IN INDONESIA

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The following is the text of a letter was sent by the West Papua Association UK to the President of Indonesia on 24 May 2002

See also press release dated 24 May 2002

President Megawati Sukarnoputri,
Istana Negara,
Jakarta, Indonesia

Your Excellency,

I am writing with regard to the abduction and assassination last November of the leader of the people of West Papua, Theys Hiyo Eluay, and the disappearance of his driver, Aristoteles Masoka.

The National Investigation Commission, KPN, which you set up to investigate the killing completed its investigations on 1 May and announced that six members of Kopassus were to be tried in connection with the crime. According to the head of the Commission, Kusparmono Irsan, the Commission failed to find any proof of a gross violation of human rights, although the two Papuan members of the Commission, the Rev. Phil Erari and John Ibo, have publicly disputed that conclusion.

Unfortunately the Commission’s report has not been made public although it was stated when you set up the Commission that its findings would be made public.

The results of the KPN's investigations have been greeted with dismay at every level of West Papuan society, for failing to identify the masterminds behind the crime as well as the perpetrators. The leading human rights organisations in West Papua, together with the Justice and Peace Commission of the Jayapura Diocese of the Catholic Church, have urged you to proceed by acting within the terms of the law and instructing the National Human Rights Commission to set up a special commission on human rights – KPP-HAM – to investigate the abduction and killing of Theys Eluay and the disappearance of his driver, Aristoteles Masoka.

The West Papua Association UK, which draws together a number of human rights organisations and individuals in the UK, herewith calls upon you:

1. To instruct the National Human Rights Commission to set up a special investigation commission – KPP-HAM – composed of persons of high integrity, known for their commitment to human rights and professional skills in such matters, to investigate these crimes.

2. To invite the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions and its Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances to visit West Papua to undertake their own investigations into these crimes.

We hope that this grave matter will receive your early attention so as to ensure that justice is done and the truth about these crimes is finally brought to light.

Yours sincerely,

Carmel Budiardjo
On behalf of the West Papua Association UK

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