PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS, PEACE AND DEMOCRACY IN INDONESIA

111 Northwood Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey CR7 8HW, UK
Tel +44 (0)20 8771 2904 Fax +44 (0)20 8653 0322
Email tapol@gn.apc.org Website http://www.tapol.org

< PRESS RELEASES

6 February 2002

The decision of the government of Megawati Sukarnoputri to set up a commission of investigation into the assassination of the Papuan independence leader, Theys Hiyo Eluay, which includes members of the military and police, shows an utter disregard for the clearly and repeatedly expressed objections by civil society in Papua, TAPOL declared today.

It was announced in Jakarta today that the government commission would include 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 of all members of the Commission as a human rights expert of integrity.

Theys Hiyo Eluay, chairperson of the Papuan Presidium Council, was abducted on 10 November last year, shortly after attending an event at the Kopassus Tribuana base near Jayapura. His body was found on the following day. Minutes after the abduction, Theys's driver, Aristoteles Masoka, made a frantic phone call to the independence leader's wife to inform her of the abduction. The driver, a key witness, has since disappeared.

Since that time, there has been a barrage of pressure on the Indonesian government from religious leaders and human rights organisations in Papua and from international human rights NGOs, calling for the crime to be investigated by an independent investigation commission, free of any military or police involvement. However, the Megawati government has turned its back on these calls and set up a commission that is bound to put it on a collision with civil society in Papua.

Carmel Budiardjo of TAPOL said:

'President Megawati has clearly bowed to pressure from powerful elements from the military within her government who are fearful that a truly independent investigation would reveal the true facts behind this cowardly crime, that was clearly aimed to destabilise the situation in West Papua and undermine the Papuan independence movement by bumping off its most outspoken leader, Theys Eluay.'

In a letter today to the British Government, TAPOL called for strong pressure to be exerted on the Megawati government to rescind its decision to set up this investigation commission. It called for pressure on the Indonesian government to heed the proposal made on 22 January by the religious leaders of Papua for an independent commission that would exclude the military and the police and that would have full authority to question witnesses from within government and society, with subpoena powers, and would have unfettered access to government documents related to the killing.

TAPOL's letter states among other things that 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.

TAPOL goes on to say that if Kopassus officers were the perpetrators, it is essential to establish the line of command that led to their action so as to uncover the forces within the military or government intent on destabilising the situation in West Papua. 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,' TAPOL said in its letter.

ENDS

Press archive

top