1)
Indonesian Military Says Informant Played Role in Papua Attack
2) Location problem hampers Papua shooting investigation
3) Papua’s Governor-Elect Lukas Enembe
Seeks Solutions to Conflicts, Violence
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http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/indonesian-military-says-informant-played-role-in-papua-attack/574247
1) Indonesian Military Says Informant Played Role in Papua Attack
Anastasia Winanti | February 27, 2013
The Indonesian military has identified a Papuan man, Wani Tabuni, as having acted as an informant for a rebel group that was responsible for the death of a soldier in Tingginambut, Papua, last week.
Military spokesman Rear Adm. Iskandar Sitompul said Wani helped the Papuan rebel movement GPK in a shootout at an Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) base in Tingginambut that resulted in the death of First Private Wahyu Prabowo. Second Lt. Reza Gita Armena was also injured in the firefight.
“A civilian by the name of Wani Tabuni visited the TNI post in Tingginambut. Thirty minutes after he left, the post was under heavy fire. We sent reinforcements and we fought back,” Iskandar said on Tuesday.
“We’re still not sure of Wani’s role in the shootings but we believed he’s involved. We suspect that he was leaking information on the post’s weaknesses and soon after he left, the GPK launched an attack.”
Iskandar said Wani was suspected of acting as a double agent. The TNI was not suspicious of Wani’s visit because he was known to have a close relationship with the military.
“We’re tracking his whereabouts right now. After the shooting, he fled into the forest, making him hard to find,” he said.
Last week eight soldiers and four civilians were killed in two separate incidents in the mountains of Puncak Jaya district, known as a rebel stronghold.
“We tried to reduce the use of guns in the region to reduce tensions, but our good intention was misinterpreted and was taken advantage of,” Iskandar said.
The TNI and police are still investigating the attacks, but have yet to determine if they were related.
“We’re still chasing the separatist movement. The police have set up 11 teams of Mobile Brigade [Brimob] to investigate this. We will back them up,” Iskandar said.
Iskandar said there were three separatist movements in Papua, each consisting of 50 to 100 members and armed with 15 to 20 rifles and machetes.
“They could have gotten their guns from outside parties or taking other people’s weapons,” Iskandar said. “We will chase, hunt and arrest the killers. They will be put to justice.”
Military spokesman Rear Adm. Iskandar Sitompul said Wani helped the Papuan rebel movement GPK in a shootout at an Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) base in Tingginambut that resulted in the death of First Private Wahyu Prabowo. Second Lt. Reza Gita Armena was also injured in the firefight.
“A civilian by the name of Wani Tabuni visited the TNI post in Tingginambut. Thirty minutes after he left, the post was under heavy fire. We sent reinforcements and we fought back,” Iskandar said on Tuesday.
“We’re still not sure of Wani’s role in the shootings but we believed he’s involved. We suspect that he was leaking information on the post’s weaknesses and soon after he left, the GPK launched an attack.”
Iskandar said Wani was suspected of acting as a double agent. The TNI was not suspicious of Wani’s visit because he was known to have a close relationship with the military.
“We’re tracking his whereabouts right now. After the shooting, he fled into the forest, making him hard to find,” he said.
Last week eight soldiers and four civilians were killed in two separate incidents in the mountains of Puncak Jaya district, known as a rebel stronghold.
“We tried to reduce the use of guns in the region to reduce tensions, but our good intention was misinterpreted and was taken advantage of,” Iskandar said.
The TNI and police are still investigating the attacks, but have yet to determine if they were related.
“We’re still chasing the separatist movement. The police have set up 11 teams of Mobile Brigade [Brimob] to investigate this. We will back them up,” Iskandar said.
Iskandar said there were three separatist movements in Papua, each consisting of 50 to 100 members and armed with 15 to 20 rifles and machetes.
“They could have gotten their guns from outside parties or taking other people’s weapons,” Iskandar said. “We will chase, hunt and arrest the killers. They will be put to justice.”
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http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/87534/location-problem-hampers-papua-shooting-investigation
2) Location problem hampers Papua shooting investigation
Wed, February 27 2013 13:39 | 162 Views
Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA News) - Chief of Papua Provincial Police Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian said the location problem in regard with the recent shooting incident that left eight soldiers killed, has hampered investigation in the province.
"The difficult condition of landscape becomes the main obstacle to reveal shooting cases that occurred in Papua," he told ANTARA News here on Tuesday regarding the least unidentified shooting cases disclosures in Papua.
It was reported earlier that ten members of the Sinak Resort Military Command of the 1714/Puncak Jaya Military Command were on the way to Sinak airstrip to pick up logistics and radio packages from Nabire when they were ambushed. Eight soldiers were killed in the shootings.
The slain soldiers were First Sergeants Udin, Frans, Ramadhan, and Edi, First Private Mustofa, Wahyu Bowo as well as Chief Private Jojo Wiharja and Wempi.
Meanwhile, the civilians killed in the incident were identified as Markus Kevin Rendenan, Yulius, Rudi, and Yohanis Palimbong.
"Usually after shooting their target, the perpetrators directly escape to the forest around the scene and that hampered the officer`s pursuit," Tito said.
The police, however, will continue investigating the shooting cases, Tito said.
"We hope that the residents help the security officers by reporting suspected persons to the nearest security posts," he noted.
Previously Tito said that the shooting incident was not related to the rebellion movement in Papua.
Police suspected that the incident was related to the district head elections at the time.
(Uu.B019/B003)
"The difficult condition of landscape becomes the main obstacle to reveal shooting cases that occurred in Papua," he told ANTARA News here on Tuesday regarding the least unidentified shooting cases disclosures in Papua.
It was reported earlier that ten members of the Sinak Resort Military Command of the 1714/Puncak Jaya Military Command were on the way to Sinak airstrip to pick up logistics and radio packages from Nabire when they were ambushed. Eight soldiers were killed in the shootings.
The slain soldiers were First Sergeants Udin, Frans, Ramadhan, and Edi, First Private Mustofa, Wahyu Bowo as well as Chief Private Jojo Wiharja and Wempi.
Meanwhile, the civilians killed in the incident were identified as Markus Kevin Rendenan, Yulius, Rudi, and Yohanis Palimbong.
"Usually after shooting their target, the perpetrators directly escape to the forest around the scene and that hampered the officer`s pursuit," Tito said.
The police, however, will continue investigating the shooting cases, Tito said.
"We hope that the residents help the security officers by reporting suspected persons to the nearest security posts," he noted.
Previously Tito said that the shooting incident was not related to the rebellion movement in Papua.
Police suspected that the incident was related to the district head elections at the time.
(Uu.B019/B003)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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3) Papua’s Governor-Elect Lukas Enembe Seeks Solutions to Conflicts, Violence
Yeremia, Carlos Paath & Markus Junianto Sihaloho | February 27, 2013
Yeremia, Carlos Paath & Markus Junianto Sihaloho | February 27, 2013
Newly elected Papuan Governor Lukas Enembe says he will form a special team to resolve conflicts and violence in the province as soon as he is inaugurated.
Lukas said in Jakarta on Tuesday that the team, expected to work during his first 100 days in office, will be people with vested interests to help take in different views on how to solve problems. Those problems, he says, have roots in high unemployment, poverty, underdevelopment — as well as in pro-independence and anti-government sentiment.
The governor-elect, who won the gubernatorial race by a landslide 52 percent earlier this month, also said the team will talk to the opposition as well as pro-independence groups such as the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) to find common ground.
“I am sure that once I am in office, there will be a huge change in Papua. The team that will be formed will at least give a voice to our brothers who have opposing views with NKRI,” Lukas said.
Papua has seen a series of armed insurgencies since the 1960s, when the resource-rich province became part of Indonesia.
In the latest violence, a military convoy was ambushed, resulting in the death of eight soldiers and four civilians.
The central government has poured trillions of rupiah into the region since it declared it a special autonomy area in 2001. It disbursed Rp 28.5 trillion ($2.9 million) for Papua last year. However, many of the region’s residents remain poor.
Even the presence of US mining giant Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, which operates the world’s largest copper mine in Papua, could provide little help to the province where three of every 10 residents live in poverty.
According to the Central Statistics Bureau (BPS), the poverty rate in Papua was 31 percent as of September 2012, while in West Papua province it was 27 percent. More than 1.1 million people in the two provinces are living below the poverty line.
Lukas, who was in Jakarta to discuss the region’s expansion, said Papua’s problem is so complex that it goes beyond special autonomy as a solution.
He said the central government’s development policy was often not in line with regional implementation and the will of Papuans. He called on the government to closely monitor development in the region.
“So many policies have been implemented yet they are still not what the Papuans want or hope for. As long as Papua is still seen as a land to make profit, the problems here will not go away,” Lukas said, adding that state budgets for Papuan development were a ripe target for corruption.
Velix Wanggai, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s special adviser on regional autonomy and development, said that the key to developing Papua was keeping up intense communication with local leaders and public figures.
“The spirit of the special autonomy is balancing socioeconomic development,” he said.
Velix added that the government was constantly increasing its budget for Papua.
Meanwhile, calls for the president to visit Papua in order to assess the province for himself rather than leaving it to the military and other bodies, is mounting.
La Ode Ida, deputy chairman of the House of Regional Representatives, told the government to refrain from using a militaristic approach in handling the situation in Papua as it could make matters worse.
But military spokesman Rear Adm. Iskandar Sitompul said it had refrained from using force in an effort to gain public trust and reduce tension, warning that such moves have often been exploited by armed rebel groups to launch attacks against soldiers and civilians — as seen in the recent incident.
“They see us getting along with the Papuan [people] and they don’t like that,” he said, adding that the rebel group shot at the military because it was losing influence over locals.
Lukas said in Jakarta on Tuesday that the team, expected to work during his first 100 days in office, will be people with vested interests to help take in different views on how to solve problems. Those problems, he says, have roots in high unemployment, poverty, underdevelopment — as well as in pro-independence and anti-government sentiment.
The governor-elect, who won the gubernatorial race by a landslide 52 percent earlier this month, also said the team will talk to the opposition as well as pro-independence groups such as the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) to find common ground.
“I am sure that once I am in office, there will be a huge change in Papua. The team that will be formed will at least give a voice to our brothers who have opposing views with NKRI,” Lukas said.
Papua has seen a series of armed insurgencies since the 1960s, when the resource-rich province became part of Indonesia.
In the latest violence, a military convoy was ambushed, resulting in the death of eight soldiers and four civilians.
The central government has poured trillions of rupiah into the region since it declared it a special autonomy area in 2001. It disbursed Rp 28.5 trillion ($2.9 million) for Papua last year. However, many of the region’s residents remain poor.
Even the presence of US mining giant Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, which operates the world’s largest copper mine in Papua, could provide little help to the province where three of every 10 residents live in poverty.
According to the Central Statistics Bureau (BPS), the poverty rate in Papua was 31 percent as of September 2012, while in West Papua province it was 27 percent. More than 1.1 million people in the two provinces are living below the poverty line.
Lukas, who was in Jakarta to discuss the region’s expansion, said Papua’s problem is so complex that it goes beyond special autonomy as a solution.
He said the central government’s development policy was often not in line with regional implementation and the will of Papuans. He called on the government to closely monitor development in the region.
“So many policies have been implemented yet they are still not what the Papuans want or hope for. As long as Papua is still seen as a land to make profit, the problems here will not go away,” Lukas said, adding that state budgets for Papuan development were a ripe target for corruption.
Velix Wanggai, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s special adviser on regional autonomy and development, said that the key to developing Papua was keeping up intense communication with local leaders and public figures.
“The spirit of the special autonomy is balancing socioeconomic development,” he said.
Velix added that the government was constantly increasing its budget for Papua.
Meanwhile, calls for the president to visit Papua in order to assess the province for himself rather than leaving it to the military and other bodies, is mounting.
La Ode Ida, deputy chairman of the House of Regional Representatives, told the government to refrain from using a militaristic approach in handling the situation in Papua as it could make matters worse.
But military spokesman Rear Adm. Iskandar Sitompul said it had refrained from using force in an effort to gain public trust and reduce tension, warning that such moves have often been exploited by armed rebel groups to launch attacks against soldiers and civilians — as seen in the recent incident.
“They see us getting along with the Papuan [people] and they don’t like that,” he said, adding that the rebel group shot at the military because it was losing influence over locals.
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