http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/lawandorder/papua-police-chief-says-recent-attacks-linked-to-local-elections/573856?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=jgnewsletter Papua Police Chief Says Recent Attacks Linked to Local Elections SP/Roberth Vanwi & SP/Carlos Paath | February 25, 2013
Indonesia military soldiers carry a coffin containing the remains of a victim from a shooting in Jayapura on Feb. 24, 2013. Indonesian authorities suspect separatists were behind the slaying of eight soldiers in Indonesian Papua on Feb. 21, in the biggest attack on security forces in the restive region's recent history. (AFP Photo/Syamsuddin Levi Lazore) Jayapura. The two armed attacks in Puncak Jaya that left eight soldiers and four civilians dead last week were linked to the local district elections, Papua Police Chief Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian said over the weekend. "We have evidence that Goliath Tabuni is the actor behind the attacks and ambush in Tingginambut and Sinak," Tito said late on Sunday, following a ceremony for the release of the bodies of seven of the eight dead soldiers in Jayapura. He said Goliath himself has laid claim to the attacks through a telephone call made to an individual, Tito said without identifying the individual for security reasons. In the telephone call, Goliath claimed that the attack and ambush were related to the elections for the Puncak Jaya district head and his deputy. "It is true that to determine the real motive, the perpetrator should be arrested first, but from our analysis, this case is local in nature and is related to the district elections," Tito said. Goliath, he said, is believed to be close to one of the candidates running in the elections, and the violence may have been to scuttle the elections and the vote counting. "The incidents took place two days ahead of the plenary to count the ballot and determine the vote count. They took place on Thursday while the plenary was on Saturday," he said, adding that ballot casting proceeded safely because the winners were not yet apparent. But in a press release issued late on Sunday, the armed wing of the Free Papua Organization (TPN-OPM) denied any links between the shootings and the district elections. The statement, signed by Maj. Gen. Teryanus Satto, the chief of staff of the West Papua TPN, contained nine points. The first was that the TPN was not a "security-disturbing group" as the government called them, but a structured organization fighting for self-determination and the freedom of West Papua. It vowed to fight until their aims were reached and also emphasized that they were not a group of armed civilians but a military force possessing armaments. The statement claimed that the shooting of soldiers in Puncak Jaya district was carried out purely by the TPN-OPM under its paramount commander, Gen. Goliath Tabuni, and had nothing to do with the district's elections or anywhere else in Papua. "But we do reject the programs of the Indonesian government, including the district elections in Puncak Jaya or elsewhere in Papua land," the statement said. It added that the actions were not to get the government to pour money, housing developments and others into Papua, but to claim the political rights of the people of West Papua for self-determination. The shootings on Feb. 21 were a rejection of the government's offer to Goliath, although the statement did not give any details on the offer. It only said that the TPN-OPM rejected the "persuasive approach" taken by the government through its administration in Papua, police and armed forces. "The TPN-OPM is not asking for anything from the government of Indonesia. TPN-OPM demands the political rights of the Papua nation for independence and to be fully sovereign so that they sit equal with other countries in the world," the statement said. Meanwhile, in Jakarta, Deputy House Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso, who deals with politics, justice and security, on Monday said that there was a need to beef up security in Papua. "I think troop reinforcement is necessary. Non-regular troop reinforcement should be considered but it does not mean that it should be a show of force, just make it soft," he said. It was the duty of the police and the armed forces to provide a feeling of safety and security in Papua, he said, and therefore the House of Representatives would soon summon the government to be briefed on the problems in Papua. Priyo said the violence in Papua was now so complex and interrelated. "Especially regarding the latest incident, whatever the reasons, we cannot tolerate it because so many security personnel have lost their lives while on duty," he said. The Golkar Party lawmaker called on the security forces to go after the assailants and capture them. "This is a heavy violation, a cruel action," he said. "I have asked that all the security personnel hunt down the perpetrators and act firmly against them." +++++ http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/lawandorder/papua-ambush-just-one-attack-survivor/573757 Papua Ambush Just One Attack: Survivor Banjir Ambarita | February 25, 2013 Details of an armed ambush that killed 10 people in Papua’s Puncak Jaya district were revealed after a survivor told his version of being attacked. Police had reported that an armed group ambushed military convoys at two locations in the restive district, killing eight soldiers. A military helicopter managed to evacuate the dead and survivors of the attack to the Papuan capital,Jayapura. On Sunday, one survivor recounted that there was one attack and said that only seven soldiers were killed while three more were injured but survived. The survivor also said that three civilians were killed in the incident. Johanes Johni, the civilian who survived the attack, said that he was in a military convoy consisting of 10 soldiers and four civilians who were working at a community health clinic in the Peak District’s Sinak. The convoy was travelling from Sinak to an airstrip two kilometers away. Johanes said his convoy was attacked on three sides. “The first was some shots fired from the front. Everyone immediately took cover on the ground, then there were shots from the mountains. Next thing you know there were people with machetes attacking us,” he said at Dian Harapan Hospital in Waena, Jayapura, where he was being treated. Johanes said the soldiers were wearing civilian clothes and were not carrying their weapons at the time. “Because they were not carrying weapons, the soldiers could not fight back. They just ducked down while bullets showered down on us,” he said. “The attackers were not all men. There were also women and children, but most of them are men. They came with machetes and arrows.” Johanes said that amid the chaos he tried to run but was slashed in his right arm before leaping into a ravine and got stuck at the row of trees below. “The three soldiers who survived were also spared for jumping into the ravine,” he said. Maj. Gen. Christian Zebua, commander of the Cendrawasih Military Command that oversees operations in Papua, said two platoons have been deployed to pursue the attackers. He identified them to be members of the local chapter of the armed rebel group the Free Papua Movement, led by guerilla leader Goliat Tabuni. “Two members of the Goliat Tabuni gang have been shot dead and several others were injured as we conducted a pursuit at the Gunung Lima Jari area in Tingginambut [subdistrict],” the three-star general said. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
