By Jakarta Globe on 12:22 am Dec 13, 2014
Members of the Papuan Student Alliance members (AMP) speak out during a demonstration in Solo, Central Java, on Dec. 10, 2014. They demand the government to stop the military violence in Papua and urge President Jokowi to immediately investigate shootings of civilians during a demonstration in Paniai District, Papua, on Dec. 8. (Antara Photo/Maulana Solar)
Jakarta. Indonesian President Joko Widodo must form a fact-finding team to investigate a bloody police crackdown on protesters in Paniai district, Papua, that saw five people killed, a prominent clergyman has said.
In a joint press conference in Jakarta with Sihol Manullang, chairman of the Jokowi for President Volunteers’ Front, the Rev. Neles Tebay of the Papua Peace Network said the independent team would shed light on what truly happened at Monday’s incident.
“Members of [the team] must come from outside of the National Police and the military,” Neles said. “Only an [independent] team can subdue the Papuan people’s rage at the moment.”
Joko had pledged to resolve prolonged tensions between civilians and security forces in the restive province where armed separatists have launched small scale insurgencies since Indonesia annexed Papua in 1969.
Failure to properly investigate the incident will erode chances of peace and stability in the resource rich region, Neles warned, as well as trust toward Joko, who enjoyed wide support among Papuan voters during July’s presidential election.
The priest said police had been very secretive about their internal investigation.
Victims and activists have said that the incident was prompted with the beating of a 12-year-old boy from the village of Ipakiye, five kilometers from Paniai district capital Enarotali, when the boy confronted a group of men in an SUV for driving at night with their headlights off.
The beating resulted in villagers marching to the capital to demand an explanation on Monday. At around 10 a.m. on the crowd spotted the same SUV and began attacking it. Police, witnesses said, then opened fire.
But National Police Chief Gen. Sutarman on Friday gave a different account of what happened, as well as denied that a high school student was among the five people shot dead by officers.
According to him, the victims were planning an attack against a local military base, where locals suspected the SUV driver was hiding.
Police stopped the crowd from advancing by setting up a barricade.
“Amid the protest, some [unknown] gunmen fired shots from the hills far away, causing the 200 or so people to riot,” the police general claimed.