PAPUA -- INCREASING ACCUSATIONS OF MILITARY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001838 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/ANP, DRL, DRL/AWH NSC FOR E.PHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/29/2018 TAGS: PGOV PINS PHUM ID SUBJECT: PAPUA -- INCREASING ACCUSATIONS OF MILITARY INVOLVEMENT IN WAMENA SHOOTING REF: A. JAKARTA 1770 ¶B. JAKARTA 1522 JAKARTA 00001838 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Dep/Pol/C Stanley Harsha, reasons 1.4 (b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission (KOMNAS HAM) has blamed the Indonesian military (TNI) for the fatal shooting of a Papuan during a peaceful August 9 rally. KOMNAS HAM officials have called on President Yudhoyono to establish a special team to pursue the case further. A separate investigation by a Papuan group also pointed to possible military involvement in the shooting. However, no conclusive evidence has yet emerged that proves TNI responsibility for the fatal incident. END SUMMARY. FLURRY OF ALLEGATIONS ¶2. (SBU) KOMNAS HAM has alleged that the Indonesian military (TNI) was responsible for the fatal August 9 shooting of Papuan Opinus Tabuni. (Note: Tabuni was killed during an August 9 rally to mark UN Indigenous Peoples Day in the central Papuan town of Wamena. Papuan activists raised the controversial Morning Star flag--which the GOI regards as a separatist symbol--during the rally, see ref B.) ¶3. (C) Commission member Yoseph Adi Prasetyo announced that forensic tests of the fatal bullet was from a 9mm firearm, which he claimed was a military rather than a police weapon. (Note: Police officials on September 12 told Ambassador Hume they had ruled out that the bullet came from any of the police weapons at the scene. At that time, however, they had not yet identified what sort of gun fired the fatal shot, see ref A.) Prasetyo said KOMNAS HAM would formally request that President Yudhoyono establish a commission to investigate the case. ¶4. (C) In a separate investigation, the Dewan Adat Papua (DAP),a group of traditional leaders, also accused the military of involvement in the shooting. (Note: The DAP organized the August 9 rally in Wamena. The have insisted that the illegal flag raising was not part of their plans for the rally.) Their investigation tried to reconstruct the sequence of events at the rally. (Note: The DAP interviewed may participants in the rally and some of the DAP officials who met with poloff were present there as well. Neither the DAP nor KOMNAS HAM has interviewed anyone who witnessed the actual shooting. ¶5. (C) DAP officials told poloff that Tabuni was shot away from the main area of the rally and was not involved in the flag-raising incident. They have asserted that the shooting occurred in an area where the military provided security. (Note: According to DAP, the police provided the first cordon of security around the rally site while the military controlled areas further away. Tabuni was shot in the military-controlled area.) DAP officials said they had provided results of their investigation to police investigating the case. ¶6. (C) Neither KOMNAS HAM nor the DAP has produced evidence definitively proving that military personnel were responsible for the shooting. Numerous gaps and inconsistencies remain in our knowledge of the incident. For example, mission officers have examined numerous photographs taken after the shooting--one of these show uniformed TNI personnel present at the scene.) SITUATION CALM BUT TENSE ¶7. (C) The situation in Wamena remains calm but tense, according to a British diplomat who visited the town September 16-17. While Papuans are angry that the police JAKARTA 00001838 002.2 OF 002 have not yet charged anyone for Tabuni's killing, they have acted with restraint. (Note: There have been a few small peaceful demonstrations on this issue in Jayapura, the provincial capital, but none in Wamena.) That said, the possibility of unrest triggered by the incident remains, especially in light of these new allegations. HUME