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Letter to UK Minister of State on military buildup in West Papua

Tapol - March 29, 2004

The following letter was sent today to Minister of State Douglas Alexander

29 March 2005

The Rt Hon. Douglas Alexander MP
Minister of State, Foreign Office
King George's Street
London SW1A 0AA

Dear Mr Alexander,

Military Build Up in West Papua

Last week, the Commander-in-Chief of the Indonesian Armed Forces, General Endriartono Sutarto, announced a major enlargement of the country's military forces with the establishment of 22 new territorial commands. This flies in the face of expectations that the TNI would undertake reform measures to cut back the number of territorial commands.

It was also announced that KOSTRAD, the Army's Strategic Reserve Command, is to create a third division, in addition to the two based in West and East Java.

The new division will be based in Sorong for regular duties there, along with additional combat forces. This means that in addition to the three battalions now stationed in Jayapura, Sorong and Nabire, new battalions will be located in Timika, Wamena and Merauke. One of the 22 new territorial commands will be located in Merauke.

Plans are also afoot to establish a KODAM (a military command normally set up alongside a provincial administration) in Merauke, which our source believes is in preparation for the creation of a new province in the south-east.

This points to the further partition of West Papua, undermining the Special Autonomy for Papua enacted into law in 2001. Merauke is also regarded as an OPM stronghold although no skirmishes have occurred for a long time.

One of the reasons given for the new deployment in West Papua is to locate troops in places closer to points 'in need of strengthening', which can only mean stepping up counter-insurgency operations. The Army is also known to be involved in illegal logging in Papua.

The deployments will double the number of troops in West Papua, to a total of 50,000 men.

While all this is happening, Papuans of all persuasions have been pressing for Papua to become a Zone of Peace and have called for dialogue with the authorities in Jakarta. Far from responding to these proposals, which could pave the way to a peaceful resolution of the problems in the territory, the government and Armed Forces seem bent on a military build up.

There have been a number of serious incidents over the past few years in which security forces were involved which are still unresolved. The most recent ongoing incident is in Puncak Jaya in the Central Highlands, where a conflict has developed between the security forces and members of the Tabuni tribe whose traditional land was seized last August without their consent for an airstrip and highway. A local Tabuni leader, Goliath Tabuni, who wanted to hold talks with the authorities regarding this dispute is now the target of a manhunt for allegedly being an OPM member. Last September, during the manhunt, a Christian minister, the Reverend Eliza Tabuni, was tortured, then shot dead by troops for failing to say whether he knew the whereabouts of Goliath. His son was injured but managed to escape.

Subsequent air and land operations around Mulia and Tolikara in the Central Highlands, when dozens of Papuan honai and family gardens were burnt and damaged, so terrified local villagers that they fled to safety from the troops.

After months in the mountains, they are suffering from serious lack of food and sixty have already died as a result.

We urge the British Government along with its EU partners to make representatives to the Indonesian authorities:

1. To end the build-up of troops, including the new KOSTRAD Division, in West Papua.

2. To respond to the proposal from West Papuan leaders for Papua to become a Zone of Peace and to enter into dialogue regarding continuing conflicts and the future status of West Papua. 3. To call a halt to the ongoing military operations in the Central Highlands and for the withdrawal of troops from the area, and to allow humanitarian groups to visit the villagers, to provide them with urgently-needed sustenance and help them return to their homes and gardens.

4. To permit Komnas HAM to send a mission to Puncak Jaya to investigate the circumstances in which the Reverend Tabuni was killed and the events that led to the villagers fleeing their homes and gardens.

Unless action is taken by the authorities to end the rapidly worsening situation in West Papua, we fear that instability will take hold, the consequences of which could be yet more conflict and suffering for the West Papuan people.

Yours sincerely,

Carmel Budiardjo

TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign
111 Northwood Road, Thornton Heath, Croydon
CR7 8HW, UK.

tel +44 (0)20 8771 2904
fax +44 (0)20 8653 0322
tapol@gn.apc.org
http://tapol.gn.apc.org
 
 

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