PAPUA -- AMID ONGOING TENSIONS, ARMY RIOT QUICKLY

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 000767

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/ANP, EAP/RSP
NSC FOR E.PHU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/30/2019
TAGS: PGOV PINS MARR ID
SUBJECT: PAPUA -- AMID ONGOING TENSIONS, ARMY RIOT QUICKLY
QUASHED

Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: An army battalion in Jayapura--the capital
of restive Papua Province in eastern Indonesia--rioted when
their commander ordered them to pay for the burial expenses
of a fellow soldier. Sources told us that the commander was
widely suspected of skimming money from the funds allocated
to pay for soldiers' support. Military officials quickly
brought the situation under control. There was some damage
and some injuries. The short-lived mutiny comes amid a spike
in tensions in Papua. END SUMMARY.

SOLDIERS GONE WILD


2. (U) Members of the army's 751 battalion rioted and
trashed their headquarters in Jayapura, the capital of
eastern Indonesia's restive Papua province, on April 29.
(Note: The unit is responsible for security on the
Indonesia-Papua New Guinea border.) Several hundred troops
ran amok, fired their weapons in the air and attacked
journalists and several bystanders who were watching the
melee. None of those attacked suffered serious injuries
although several journalists' cameras were destroyed.


3. (U) The fracas started when the battalion commander
Lt.Col. Labok Sihotang told soldiers that they would have to
pay for the cost of transporting the body of a dead comrade
to his hometown for burial. (Note: The soldier in question
had died following an unspecified illness.) As Sihotang fled
the battalion HQ before the incident began, the rioting
soldiers turned on the deputy commander. He reportedly
suffered a severe head wound.

CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS


4. (C) The burial payment dispute reportedly tapped into
long-standing anger among personnel in the 751 battalion.
Agus Sumule, a senior advisor to Papua governor Barnabas
Suebu, told poloff that the provincial government has been
concerned about the situation in the unit for some time.
Soldiers had accused Sihotang of skimming money from the
funds allocated to pay for battalion expenses. As a result,
battalion personnel believed they were receiving substandard
food and other supplies.


5. (C) Officials from the provincial military headquarters
in Jayapura moved to end the incident quickly. Senior
officials, including the provincial commander, met with the
rioting soldiers and promised an investigation into the
allegations of corruption against the commander. Military
officials also promised an investigation of the soldiers'
conduct during the riot.

PAPUAN TENSIONS


6. (C) The short-lived mutiny comes amid a heightening of
tensions in the region. So far, there do not seem to be any
political or ethnic tensions behind the April 29 incident.
Since early April, however, there have been a number of
violent incidents in the region pitting anti-Jakarta PapuansQ
against security forces. While not directly linked to the
ongoing tensions, the breakdown of command structure in this
Indonesian military unit during the April 29 incident must be
of concern against this troubled backdrop.

HUME