2) Indonesian mission in NZ offers condolences, help to families of Freeport shooting victims
3) Freeport shooting: A sad tragedy, but don’t overlook past Papua repression
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1) Covid-19 opens world’s biggest gold mine to attack
Papuan rebels use Indonesia's coronavirus distraction to launch most audacious assault in years on US miner Freeport-run mine
By JOHN MCBETH APRIL 1, 202
Activists display placards at a rally in front of the Netherlands embassy in Jakarta on March 12, 2020 to draw awareness to Indonesia's Papua region. Photo AFP/Bay Imoyo
JAKARTA – With most Indonesians preoccupied with a coronavirus outbreak, security officials were caught off guard when at least three gunmen penetrated the US-based Freeport mining company’s residential housing area on Papua’s south coast, killing a New Zealand employee and wounding six other local workers.
The March 30 attack near the city of Timika was the most audacious yet by suspected members of the rebel West Papuan Liberation Army (TPNB), the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement (OPM), which has waged a war for independence since the 1960s.
It is not expected to affect work at the Grasberg, the world’s largest copper and gold mine, although it comes at a time when production is down by more than 50% as it undergoes transition from an open pit to a wholly underground operation.
After a series of conflicting messages from affiliates and allies, including a condolence letter to the family of New Zealand victim Graeme Wall, 57, the OPM finally issued a statement claiming “full responsibility” for the shooting, which was carried out in broad daylight in an office carpark.
It said the attack was led by “Brigadier-General” Guspi Waker and Jhoni Botak, under the command of “Lieutenant-General” Lekagak Telenggen and “General” Goliath Tabuni, and warned that keeping the mine open “will only endanger the lives of workers and other civilians.”
“The OPM/TNPB saw no other alternative but to accept that it is at war, to declare openly that it is at war, and that it is determined to win this war for the sake of the survival and respect of the right of self-determination of the people of West Papua,” it added.
The surprise raid deep into the lowlands was a departure from more than 90 armed incidents over the past decade which have mostly focused on the mountain road linking Timika with the mining town of Tembagapura in Papua’s Central Highlands.
The mine site and surrounding area is guarded by several companies of the paramilitary Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob), with a battalion of Army Strategic Reserve (Kostrad) troops securing a wide outer perimeter that stretches across rugged terrain.
Freeport said in a statement that it had evacuated its offices and a nearby shopping area in Kuala Kencana, opened by president Suharto in 1995 as American parent company Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold ramped up production at the Grasberg.
The company has also closed a light industrial park adjoining the purpose-built settlement of 18,000 residents, most of them employees and the families of Freeport and their contractors.
Kuala Kencana lies about 25 kilometers northwest of Timika and about half way to the point where the single, 112-kilometer-long access road leaves the lowlands and starts to climb more than 3,000 meters up precipitous mountain ridges.
“It is critical that everyone remains on high alert and be vigilant in reporting anything suspicious in communities and work areas,” Freeport said after the first major attack on the firm since the Indonesian government assumed majority control in late 2018.
Busy with efforts to combat the coronavirus outbreak, the government has yet to comment the attack. Papua and West Papua have so far reported only 10 out of Indonesia’s 1,677 confirmed cases of Covid-19, but officials have nonetheless called for a lockdown to prevent it spreading.
The last reported incident around Freeport was on March 15, when security forces killed four separatists in a gunfight near Tembagapura. Earlier, on February 28 and March 2, rebels killed one policeman and wounded two others in three separate attacks near the town.
A long-time employee, Wall is the first foreigner killed since an Australian worker died in an ambush on the Tembagapura road in July 2009 that forced Freeport to begin using armored buses to transport its workers to the mine site.
In an open letter to Wall’s family, which opened with the Maori greeting “kia ora,” Rev Socratez Yoman, president of the Alliance of West Papuan Baptist Churches, said he shared their sadness and deep sorrow at his death, but noted that Papua is a “market for conflict and violence” created, he said, by government security forces.
The letter inferred that the military was responsible for Wall’s “sacrifice,” pointing to a previous incident in 2002 when two American teachers and their Indonesian companion were killed on the mountain road when gunmen sprayed their utility vehicle with bullets.
The police initially blamed the military for that ambush, but an unprecedented US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) inquiry, conducted jointly with the Indonesian police, led to the arrest of OPM member Anthonius Wamang and 11 other defendants.
OPM insurgents have never been well armed, but they do have automatic weapons, mostly seized in clashes with government security forces. They appear to have had greater access to ammunition in recent years, all carrying the imprint of state-owned arms manufacturer Pindad.
Earlier this year, an Indonesian soldier was jailed for life for selling 2,600 rounds of 5.56 mm ammunition to the OPM while on guard duty around Timika, a ramshackle settlement of 200,000 people. Two other soldiers were also imprisoned for between two and a half and 15 years.
The government insists on referring to the rebels as Kelompok Kriminal Bersenjata (Armed Criminal Group) and refuses to engage in dialogue because of fears it will lead to calls for a referendum on independence, similar to events in East Timor in 1999.
Instead, by strengthening its police and military presence, particularly in the Central Highlands, President Joko Widodo’s administration has continued its security approach while expanding economic and social programs across the resource-rich province.
Last January, the Constitutional Court unsurprisingly rejected a request by a Papuan civil society group for a judicial review of controversial Law No 12/1969, which established then West Irian (now Papua and West Papua provinces) as autonomous Indonesian territory.
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2) Indonesian mission in NZ offers condolences, help to families of Freeport shooting victims
Apriza Pinandita The Jakarta Post
Jakarta / Tue, March 31, 2020 / 04:41 pm
The Indonesian Embassy in Wellington has expressed its deepest condolences over the shooting incident that left a New Zealander employee of the gold and copper mining company PT Freeport Indonesia in Papua dead and in which several Indonesian staff were also wounded.
The attack by a group of gunmen took place on Monday afternoon at the company site in Kuala Kencana district in Timika, the capital city of Mimika regency.
In a statement on Tuesday, Indonesian Ambassador to New Zealand Tantowi Yahya expressed his serious concerns over the incident and stressed that such an act “could not be justified from any perspective”.
Tantowi said that armed gangs in Papua always claimed they only attacked security forces, but the facts showed that most of their victims were civilians.
The shooting in Kuala Kencana would only add to the burden on the people and security forces in Papua, who were now working hard to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.
“It demonstrates that the armed criminals never care about the impact of their actions on Papuans. I hope this will open the eyes of many people to the true face of these armed gangs,” Tantowi went on, “Our deepest condolences to the family of the victims. We stand ready to help when needed.”
The New Zealander, identified as Graeme Thomas Wall, was engaged in construction work with colleagues on the company site in Kuala Kencana when the shooting took place at around 2 p.m. on Monday, Freeport Indonesia spokesperson Riza Pratama confirmed.
The shooting also left two other workers, namely Jibril M.A. Bahar and Ucok Simanungkalit, wounded. They were admitted to Tembagapura Hospital with serious injuries. Four other people sustained minor injuries and were treated in the company’s office, Riza said.
The Indonesian Embassy in Wellington said that according to the information collected by the police, the shooting was perpetrated by a group of eight people, three of whom were carrying rifles.
Based on witnesses’ accounts, the police have identified two of the shooters as Lino Mom Ilmar and Antonius Aim, who are known to be members of an armed criminal group led by Joni Botak, the embassy said.
Separatist group the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), however, through its Timika operational commander Hengky Wamang, claimed responsibility for the shooting to The Jakarta Post.
Local authorities and Freeport security officers have secured the location and evacuated all workers and residents near the vicinity following the attack.
Freeport management has also issued an incident notification alert asking workers to postpone all activities and find shelter following the shooting.
Papua has been the hotbed of separatism for years and armed groups, which authorities say operate in several regencies in the province, are reported to have been behind numerous violent incidents in the region.
The latest shooting incident followed weeks of tensions in areas around the Freeport mining site. The police said some 790 people living around the mining site fled their homes on March 7 to take refuge at the Tembagapura Police headquarters in Timika over fears of an armed gang, which had reportedly terrorized the villagers.
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3) Freeport shooting: A sad tragedy, but don’t overlook past Papua repression
COMMENTARY: By Laurens Ikinia
A sad story has taken place again in the PT Freeport Indonesia gold and copper mine area near Timika in West Papua on Monday with one New Zealander shot dead and two other workers being severely wounded as reported by Asia Pacific Report yesterday.
As one of the West Papuan students studying in New Zealand at Auckland University of Technology, I would firstly like to extend my deep condolences to the family members who are directly or indirectly effected by this tragedy.
My thoughts and prayers are with you, particularly Graeme Thomas Wall’s family here in New Zealand.
The tragedy leaves all New Zealanders with a question, who are the actual shooters in this attack?
As United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), the umbrella organisation of the independence movement, states in its media advisory notice, it is impossible for anyone to get to the site that is tightly guarded by the Indonesian special security.
“The West Papua Army is opposed to Indonesia’s illegal occupation, not ordinary citizens. We note that today’s shooting is reported to have taken place in a highly professional manner, at over 300 metres – the likely signs of an Indonesian special forces’ operation.
“The region around the site is extremely tightly guarded by the Indonesian security forces – how could this get through them?” ULMWP asked.
Past shooting examples
Also, the ULMWP gives some examples of shootings that have happened in the past, such as the killing of two Americans and one Indonesian in 2002 and the killing of a German tourist in Jayapura in 2012.
Also, the ULMWP gives some examples of shootings that have happened in the past, such as the killing of two Americans and one Indonesian in 2002 and the killing of a German tourist in Jayapura in 2012.
The ULMWP stated that this kind of attack has happened before in an attempt by Indonesian authorities to blame the West Papuan Liberation Army and claim that Papua is dangerous for international media and tourists.
“In 2002, as exposed by Human Rights Watch researcher Andreas Harsono and Deakin University anthropologist Eben Kirksey, the Indonesian military shot dead two Americans and one Indonesian, blaming West Papuans,” said the ULMWP.
RNZ Pacific reports that according to the local police officer, the shooting was led by a local commander of West Papua Liberation Army, Joni Botak.
Indonesia’s Ambassador to New Zealand, Tantowi Yahya, has condemned the shooting attack.
“The armed criminal group in Papua always claim they will only attack security forces. The fact shows that the majority of their victims are civilians,” he said.
“The shooting in Kuala Kencana will only add the burdens of the people and the security apparatus in Papua, who are now working hard in containing the Covid-19 epidemic.
“Our deepest condolences to the family of the victims. We stand ready to help when needed.”
My plea for the future
As a response to this tragedy, I believe there will be some action taken by the Indonesian authorities. Therefore, in order to reveal the truth and to avoid this kind of incident taking place in the future, I strongly request:
As a response to this tragedy, I believe there will be some action taken by the Indonesian authorities. Therefore, in order to reveal the truth and to avoid this kind of incident taking place in the future, I strongly request:
- First, the Indonesian government in Jakarta must allow the independent media and NGOs to enter the region and to conduct an extensive investigation to reveal who are actually the perpetrators.
- Second, the central government should take a constructive dialogue approach as recommended by Papua Peace Network (Jaringan Damai Papua), and
- Finally, all the media in Indonesia and foreign media that report this kind of tragedy should conduct a thorough investigations prior to publication.
Laurens Ikinia is a Papuan student on the Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies programme at Auckland University of Technology (AUT).
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