Papua Shooters Identity | British Arms to Indonesia

1) Papua shooters OPM, not us: TNI

2) Papua Shooters' Identity Is Already Known: BIN

3) Shameless Cameron's hypocrisy in arms peddling

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/04/11/papua-shooters-opm-not-us-tni.html

1) Papua shooters OPM, not us: TNI

Bagus BT Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 04/11/2012 5:34 PM

A top military officer was quick on Wednesday to blame the Free Papua Movement (OPM) for a recent shooting at an airport in Papua that killed one and injured four even though the investigation into the incident has not concluded.

'Of course the suspect were OPM members, who else?'the Indonesian Army chief of staff, Gen. Pramono Edhie Wibowo, told reporters at Merdeka Palace before attending a State Ceremony to welcome British Prime Minister David Cameron.

He was responding to questions regarding the shooting of a Twin Otter plane operated by privately run Trigana Air. The small aircraft was shot at on Sunday morning shortly after it touched down at Mulia Airport in the Puncak Jaya regency.

A journalist was killed and four other people onboard, including the pilot and first officer, were injured. The pilot lost control and the plane hit a nearby warehouse.

Pramono was quick to deny any involvement of TNI members in the recent string of violence in Papua.

'To be honest, I think those who accuse the TNI do not have hearts,' the brother-in-law of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said.

'We are working together with the police to probe the incident.'

Puncak Jaya regency is known as the 'red zone' for its record of numerous attacks by unidentified perpetrators.

Numerous attacks in Indonesia's easternmost province, which have killed dozens of civilians, remain unresolved. This has resulted in speculation that the attacks were part of intelligence or military operations.

Pramono said cracking down on armed groups in Papua would not be easy given the region's deep forest and mountainous area.

'The region is difficult. Maybe I should ask journalists to come along sometime so you learn how tough the area is,' he said. (nvn)

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http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/papua-shooters-identity-is-already-known-bin/510794

2) Papua Shooters' Identity Is Already Known: BIN
Banjir Ambarita, Arientha Primanita & Farouk Arnaz | April 11, 2012

The identity of the gunmen who on Sunday fired machine guns at a commercial plane in Papua may already be known by authorities.

The chief of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), Lt. Gen. Marciano Norman, on Wednesday told journalists: 'The position of this group has already been identified. They are currently being pursued.'

Speaking to journalists at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Marciano declined to give further details, only saying that the hunt for the attackers was now focused on the location of the shooting in Mulia, the district town in Puncak Jaya, on the western coast of Papua.

Meanwhile, military leader Maj. Gen. M. Erwin Safitri said that the separatist Free Papua Organization (OPM) was behind the shooting of the airplane in Mulia, which caused the death of one of the passengers on board the Trigana Air aircraft .

'This was an act of the OPM. No other group in Papua has caused chaos there, and this has happened several times before,' Erwin said.

He said that while elsewhere in Papua the military have prioritized peaceful dialogue, Puncak Jaya was an exception, and 'even more so since Goliath Tabuni [the local OPM chief] is still conducting a guerrilla campaign in the forests there,' he said.

National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said that police were coordinating with the local authorities to safeguard the area.

'We have coordinated with the administration in Puncak Jaya and all security personnel there,' Timur said.

Indonesian Armed Forces Commander Adm. Agus Suhartono said that the military was ready to assist the police in securing the area and both forces were coordinating well in Papua.

'We will provide the back up and we already have troops there,' he said.

Papua Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Johannes Nugroho Wicaksono said the Mulia airstrip will be operational today after local authorities agreed to increase the security presence in the area.

The airstrip has been the site of several shootings in recent years. Last year, a local police chief was ambushed and gunned down.

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http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/117722

3) Shameless Cameron's hypocrisy in arms peddling

Wednesday 11 April 2012

by Rory MacKinnon

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David Cameron may have once been a West Papuan hero but activists poured scorn on the PM on Wednesday after he promised their Indonesian oppressors "the best defence equipment in the world."

The PM arrived with an entourage of arms dealers in Jakarta, praising his hosts as a land of "great opportunities" - despite its lengthy record of human rights abuses by both police and the military.

Mr Cameron told Indonesia's Kompas newspaper that Britain had one of the most rigorous and careful export licence schemes in the world.

"But at the same time we believe that democratic and responsible countries like Indonesia have a right to defend themselves and to buy the equipment needed to do so.

"Britain makes some of the best defence equipment in the world and it is right that it's available to Indonesia, under the very same criteria that we apply to all our partners around the world," he said.

But while his comments curried favour among the Indonesian elite, West Papuan activists voiced outrage. Annexed by the Suharto dictatorship in 1969, the region has seen decades of human rights abuses including arson, torture and massacres at the hands of Indonesian forces.

As recently as October, three people were killed and 90 injured after police in armoured carriers opened fire on peaceful protesters, while just last month five men were jailed for three years on charges of treason for organising the event.

But the outcry over Mr Cameron's comments was personal as much as political.

Mr Cameron became an unlikely celebrity among West Papuans on the 2010 campaign trail, when he said exiles in his electorate had described a "terrible situation."

The comment, coupled with a meeting with exiled separatist leader Benny Wenda, sparked celebrations across West Papua as news spread of the coalition's election win.

Villagers gathered to wave pictures of Mr Cameron before reporters, while political prisoners Buchtar Tabuni and Victor Yiemo were pictured holding a "Congratulations David Cameron" placard - against the bars of their cell.

The Free West Papua Campaign described the PM's sales pitch as "one of the worst outcomes imaginable.

"How can David Cameron meet Benny Wenda and describe the situation in West Papua as 'terrible' when it was Benny's village that was bombed by British-made BAE Systems Hawk jets which continue to be sold to Indonesia?

"This really is one of the worst outcomes imaginable of David Cameron talking about Indonesia."

Campaign Against The Arms Trade co-ordinator Kaye Stearman said Britain had a "terrible record" in the wake of the Hawk jets.

Britain had already approved £48m worth of Indonesian sales since 2008, including £33m in parts for aircraft, helicopters and drones.

"Now Cameron is to sell even more weaponry to a country which, although ostensibly a democracy, is still prosecuting a largely hidden war."

Mr Cameron's press office had not returned requests for comment at the time of print.

ENDS

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