Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura | Archipelago | Tue, February 04 2014, 4:58 PM
An official has urged police to put an end to illegal-firearm smuggling activities in Papua, following the arrest of a Papuan student at Sentani Airport in Jayapura regency, Papua, for the possession of ammunition.
“The police need to be all out in tracking down who is behind the smuggling of illegal firearms to Papua. Their failure to deal with this could lead into an increasing number of human rights abuses in the future,” National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) commissioner Natalis Pigai said Tuesday.
He said there was a high possibility that the police had failed to detect other smuggling cases in Papua. He added that he had been informed of the situation by Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian, who told him that many illegal firearms were smuggled from Java and Philippines.
“The police should walk that extra mile to prevent these firearms from being smuggled to Papua,” he said.
Regarding the arrested student, who has been identified as KDM, Sentani Police deputy chief Comr. Gustav Urbinas stated that he was still being questioned.