PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS, PEACE AND DEMOCRACY IN INDONESIA

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30 November 2001

TAPOL strongly condemns the decision of the Indonesian Government to set up a joint military and police team to investigate the abduction and killing of Theys Hiyo Eluay on 10-11 November and reiterates its call made immediately after the body of Theys Eluay was found nearly three weeks ago for the Indonesian Government to set up an independent team to investigate the crime.

In a letter today to the Minister of State at the Foreign Office Ben Bradshaw, Carmel Budiardjo of TAPOL said:

Theys Hiyo Eluay, the chairperson of the Papuan Presidium Council, was abducted on 10 November, a short distance from the Tribuana base of the army's elite corps Kopassus, on his way home after having dinner at the base. His driver Aristoteles Masoka made a distressed phone call to the wife of the victim to inform her of the abduction, and has since disappeared. The body of the victim was discovered on the following day. An autopsy found that he died as a result of foul play and his body showed signs of strangulation and swellings.

In a press conference in Jayapura today, Papua's leading human rights organisation ELSHAM described the crime as ‘an act of terror and provocation by the security forces aimed at stirring up conflict in Papua’, and said that it was ‘pre-meditated and politically motivated’. In other words, it was a crime against humanity.

In such circumstances, the decision of the Indonesian Government to leave it to the police and military to investigate this crime will not satisfy the basic requirements for a thorough investigation to identify not only the perpetrators of the crime but also those who masterminded and planned it.

The circumstances suggest that members of Kopassus may have been involved in the crime. These special forces have a history of involvement in abductions and killings. In the months before the fall of President Suharto in May 1998, Kopassus was responsble for the abduction and murder of a number of Indonesian pro-democracy activists. After Suharto's removal from power, some low-ranking members of Kopassus were tried in court for the crimes and given derisory sentences. The investigations also led to the 'honourable dismissal' from the army of Lieutenant-General Prabowo who was the commander of Kopassus at the time.

In its letter to Minister Ben Bradshaw, TAPOL called on the British Government to urge the Indonesian Government to set up an independent team to investigate this crime against humanity. The commission should be free from the military and should include academics, human rights activists and persons with the necessary forensic skills. Someone from Papua should be included and the commission should be instructed to make its findings public.

It also urged the British Government to impress on the Indonesian Government the need to ascertain the whereabouts of the key witness, Aristoteles Masoka, who was driving the car when Theys Eluay was abducted and who has since disappeared, and to take firm measures to offer protection to all persons willing to come forward as witnesses.

In conclusion, Carmel Budiardjo said: 'Without a proper investigation of this crime against humanity that wins the confidence of the Papuan people and the international community, we fear that the aftermath of this horrific crime can only further inflame passions in the territory and result in yet more disturbances and unrest.'

ENDS

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