[Kabar-Irian] Irian News - 11/14/02

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- Kopassus implicated in fatal Freeport ambush
- Indonesian forces implicated in Papua killings 
- Kopassus in frame over ambush
- Kopassus suspected of involvement in Papua attack, police say 
- Government plans direct elections for heads of regions by 2004 
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Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Thursday, November 14, 2002. Posted: 21:46:39 (AEDT) 
Kopassus implicated in fatal Freeport ambush

Officers from Indonesia's controversial Special Forces unit, Kopassus, have 
been accused of conducting a fatal ambush on an American convoy near the 
Freeport mine earlier this year.

A native Papuan man has told local police he acted as a guide for the 
attackers - who were a local unit of Kopassus.

The incident left two American teachers who were working at the mine, and one 
of their Indonesian colleagues dead.

Defence officials say they have not received any official report about the 
police investigation, but say they will not hesitate to act if there are 
suspicions members of the military were involved.

Indonesia has denied accusations aired in The Washington Post that its military 
officials discussed an operation against Freeport before the ambush, with the 
aim of discrediting separatists from the Free Papua Movement.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ABC Radio Australia News 
14/11/2002 23:03:07
Indonesian forces implicated in Papua killings 

Indonesian special forces soldiers are suspected of involvement in an ambush 
that killed two Americans in Papua province in August.

Papua deputy police chief Brigadier General Raziman Tarigan says a native 
Papuan told police a week after the ambush that he knew the names of four of 11 
soldiers involved in the attack. 

Brigadier Tarigan says police have photographs of the four. 

Two American teachers and an Indonesian colleague were killed when gunmen 
opened fire on buses carrying them near the United States-owned Freeport gold 
and copper mine in Timika district on August 31. 

Brigadier Tarigan says police had told top military personnel about the 
possible involvement of the Kopassus soldiers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sydney Morning Herald
Kopassus in frame over ambush
By Ahmad Pathoni in Jakarta
November 15 2002

Police in the Indonesian province of Papua said yesterday that they have 
photographs of four Indonesian special forces soldiers suspected of involvement 
in the ambush near the Freeport mine that killed two Americans in August.

The news came as the head of the notorious Kopassus special forces was named a 
suspect for gross human rights violations allegedly committed during the fatal 
shooting of 24 people at Tanjung Priok, north Jakarta, in 1984. 

The reports could seriously undermine United States and Australian efforts to 
resume full military ties with Indonesia, restricted since the military-backed 
violence in East Timor in 1999. 

Australia's Defence Minister, Robert Hill, said last weekend that Australia 
should consider resuming links with Kopassus following the Bali bombing and 
threats of other terrorist attacks. 

Papua's deputy police chief, Brigadier-General Raziman Tarigan, said a native 
Papuan told police a week after the Freeport ambush that he knew the names of 
four of 11 soldiers involved in the attack. 

He said the man, Deky Murib, had been an informer and guide for a local 
Kopassus unit.

"He regretted his involvement [in the ambush] and reported to the police," 
General Tarigan said. 

He said police have photographs of the four. He identified them as a captain, a 
first lieutenant and two privates, but added: "These people are intelligence 
operatives. They can use any name and rank as they wish." 

Two United States teachers and an Indonesian colleague were killed when gunmen 
opened fire on buses carrying them near the giant US-owned gold and copper mine 
in Timika district on August 31. 

General Tarigan said police had told the top military brass three weeks ago 
about the possible involvement of the Kopassus soldiers and 

had shared information with a military team that visited Papua on Wednesday to 
investigate the shootings.

The Herald reported early this month that US intelligence agencies had 
intercepted messages between Indonesian Army commanders indicating they were 
involved in the ambush. 

A source close to the US embassy in Jakarta was quoted as saying the motive was 
to pressure Freeport to continue an annual protection payment.

Kopassus has long been accused of rights abuses. 

Prosecutors said yesterday that the force's present chief, Major-General 
Sriyanto, had been named a suspect over the Tanjung Priok shootings. Human 
rights trials could begin next February for him and 13 other serving and 
retired officers.

The Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights says soldiers shot dead 24 
people and wounded at least 54 outside a police station as they marched on the 
local military command. 

They were demanding the release of four members of the local Islamic community 
being held at the military base.
-- Agence France-Presse
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
National News
November 15, 2002
Kopassus suspected of involvement in Papua attack, police say 

The Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) soldiers are suspected of involvement in 
an ambush which killed two Americans near the gold and copper mining site 
belonging to PT Freeport Indonesia here in August, a senior police officer said 
Thursday.

Papua deputy police chief Brig. Gen. Raziman Tarigan said a native Papuan told 
police a week after the ambush that he knew the names of four of 11 soldiers 
involved in the attack. 

Tarigan told AFP that police have photographs of the four. 

He said the man, Deky Murib, had been an informer and guide for a local unit of 
the Kopassus special forces. "He regretted his involvement (in the ambush) and 
reported to the police," Tarigan said. 

He identified the four as a captain, a first lieutenant and two privates but 
added: "These people are intelligence operatives. They can use any name and 
rank as they wish." 

Two U.S. teachers and an Indonesian colleague were killed when gunmen opened 
fire on buses near the U.S.-owned giant Freeport mine on Aug. 31. 

The Indonesian Military (TNI) headquarters has sent an eight-member team to 
investigate the possible involvement of its personnel in the incident. Tarigan 
said he had shared information on the suspected involvement of Kopassus with 
the military team. 

Meanwhile, in Jakarta TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said he would seek a 
public apology from U.S. daily The Washington Post for its report that he and 
other top military officials had discussed an unspecified operation against 
Freeport before the ambush, with the aim of discrediting separatist guerrillas 
of the Free Papua Movement. 

He will file a US$1 billion lawsuit against the paper, if they refuse to 
apologize to him. 
-- JP 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
Headline News
November 15, 2002
Government plans direct elections for heads of regions by 2004 
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In a bid to get more support for the revision of the regional autonomy law, the 
government announced on Thursday that it would include a clause on direct 
elections for governors, regents and mayors across the country in its proposed 
bill to amend the law.


The plan received support from autonomy expert Ryaas Rasyid, former state 
minister of administrative reforms. Nevertheless, he cautioned the government 
not to use the moment to overhaul the law to take back some authorities already 
relegated to local administrations. 

Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno, nevertheless, said that the proposed 
direct election for regional heads aimed to allow the people to directly choose 
their leaders and prevent possible dismissals of regional heads by local 
legislative councils as has been the case in several provinces in recent 
months. 

"That way, we would minimize political maneuvers by regional councils to unseat 
the heads of local administrations," Hari said. 

The country has seen a number of cases where a governor or regent is fired by 
local legislative councils, without clear reasons. And such dismissals were 
conducted simply by a no-confidence vote, and not through a lengthy process of 
legislative investigation. 

The latest incident occurred in Kampar regency, Riau, where local legislative 
council voted on Oct. 12 to oust Kampar regent Jefri Noer and his deputy A. 
Zakir for poor performance. 

Before that, the South Kalimantan legislative council also voted out Governor 
Sjachril Darham. Also, Surabaya (East Java) legislative council successfully 
unseated mayor Sunarto Somoprawiro, and later once again got rid of Sunarto's 
successor, Bambang Dwi Hartono. 

The government has put all the dismissals of regional heads on hold, except for 
Sunarto. 

Ryaas Rasyid said he supported the government's plan to amend Regional Autonomy 
Law No. 22/1999 if the motive was to introduce direct elections for regional 
heads. 

Such direct elections, according to Ryaas, would not only prevent irresponsible 
dismissals of regional heads by local councils but also it would be a check 
against too much intervention by local councils into the affairs of local 
administration. 

"I think it is a good idea to revise the law as long it aims to introduce 
direct elections at regional levels and not to restore centralization of power, 
Ryaas told The Jakarta Post. 

The Regional Autonomy Law, passed during the administration of former president 
Abdurrahman Wahid when Ryaas was a member of the Cabinet, has given much 
greater authority to local administrations and local councils. 

President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who was handed the presidency after 
Abdurrahman was pushed out by legislators, considers the Autonomy Law a danger 
to the unitary state of Indonesia, and therefore she has been pushing for 
revisions. 

The plan for revision, however, has met strong resistance from various 
quarters, especially regents, mayors and local legislative councils. 

If the process of the revision proceeds smoothly, Hari said, the proposed 
direct elections for governors, regents and mayors could be implemented before 
the 2004 direct presidential election. 

"Just wait for the revision of the regional autonomy law, we hope it will be 
done before the 2004 general election," Hari added. 

Hari's statement on direct elections for regional heads was the first of its 
kind voiced by a Cabinet member. 

Several non-governmental organizations such as the Center for Electoral Reform 
(CETRO) have proposed direct elections as the best solution to solve rampant 
conflicts between heads of local administrations and legislative councils. 

Direct regional elections could also solve the problem of separatism, as this 
could satisfy the demand of self-governance by separatist groups such as in 
Aceh.