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

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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