PAPUAN SEPARATIST LEADER KELLY KWALIK REPORTED

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 002070

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, EAP/ANP,
DI/IP/EAP/ DS/ITA/EAP
NSC FOR D.WALTON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/17/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV PNAT ASEC ID
SUBJECT: PAPUAN SEPARATIST LEADER KELLY KWALIK REPORTED
KILLED IN SHOOTOUT WITH POLICE

REF: JAKARTA 1561 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: Dep/Pol/C Daniel A. Rochman, reasons 1.4 (b+d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Indonesian police reportedly killed
well-known Papuan separatist leader Kelly Kwalik during a
December 16 shootout. Kwalik is widely believed to have been
involved in a series of shootings that targeted the Papua
operations of U.S. mining company Freeport-McMoRan, including
a 2002 attack that killed two Americans. An Anti-Terrorism
Assistance Program (ATA) trained Detachment 88 team conducted
the raid on the house in Timika. Some Papuans have
peacefully protested the police action and maintained that
Kwalik is innocent. While Kwalik's death will be a blow to
separatist groups, an unknown number of his associates remain
at large, and further attacks are possible. END SUMMARY.

SHOOTOUT DURING EARLY MORNING RAID


2. (SBU) The Indonesian National Police (INP) appear to have
killed Kelly Kwalik, a key leader of the Free Papua Movement
(OPM),during a raid in the early morning of December 16.
ATA-trained Detachment 88 and the INP's Mobile Brigade led
the operation near Timika, a town on the southern coast of
Indonesia's Papua province. (Note: Papua is the site of a
low-level separatist insurgency, fueled by long-standing
political and economic grievances among indigenous people.
Efforts to address these grievances through a regional
autonomy arrangement has been slow to produce results.)
Police reportedly fired when Kwalik shot at them as they
approached a house where he was staying. According to
sources, Kwalik sustained gunshot wounds to the chest and leg
and died several hours later in a clinic operated by
Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold, which runs a large mine in
the area.


3. (SBU) Police officials cautioned that they could not
definitively confirm Kwalik's identity until after conducting
DNA and other forensic tests. Our contacts in the Timika
area all believe that Kwalik was killed in the raid. Police
also took five other people into custody during the raid,
including a ten-year old boy. They remain in custody in
Timika where police are questioning them. The police have
not yet charged any of those detained nor provided any
details about them.

KWALIK SUSPECTED IN NUMEROUS INCIDENTS


4. (S) The INP believes Kwalik played a leadership role in a
series of shooting attacks on Freeport that began July 11
(see reftel). The series of sixteen attacks killed one
Australian and two Indonesians and left around 30 Indonesians
wounded. Brigadier General Tito Karnavian, commander of
Detachment 88, told us that police had established Kwalik's
involvement in the attacks through monitoring his mobile
phone communications. Papuan separatists frequently
criticize Freeport and claim that the company does not
provide any benefits to the Papuan people. Prior to this
series of shootings, armed attacks on the company's
operations were rare.


5. (C) Kwalik also admitted involvement in a 2002 shooting
near Timika that killed two Americans and one Indonesian
during an interview with the FBI. Several other perpetrators
of that incident have been tried and remain in prison in
Indonesia. However, Kwalik managed to elude capture and has
remained at large in the Timika area.

TENSE REACTION IN TIMIKA


6. (C) Kwalik's death has raised tensions in the Timika
area. Several prominent Papuan traditional leaders and
members of the Papuan People's Council (MRP) have asserted
that Kwalik was not involved in the recent shootings.
Instead, they point to an alleged feud between the police and
military--a popular but unsubstantiated view among Papuans.
Throughout the day on Thursday, December 17, between 200 and
300 people held a peaceful protest in front of the local
legislative building in Timika. Protest organizers
maintained that Kwalik was innocent and criticized the police
action. While the situation in Timika remains tense, there
have been no incidents of violence. Civil society contacts
in Timika told us that the police appear to be managing the
situation well and acting with restraint.


JAKARTA 00002070 002 OF 002


THREATS REMAIN


7. (C) Kwalik's death will have some impact on the OPM's
operational abilities but it does not eliminate the threat
the group poses. The OPM is a highly fractious and
decentralized organization and other leaders remain at large
across the province. While Kwalik was a well-known and
charismatic figure, it remains unclear that he had much
direct operational control over the small bands of OPM
fighters in jungles around Timika. Moreover, we have no
confirmation that the police have captured the individuals
who actually carried out the attacks. Further attacks,
either on Freeport or the Indonesian security forces, thus
remain a possibility.

HUME