26 Sep 2002

Amnesty International calls for independent investigation into human rights violations in Papua

4:25 pm on 26 September 2002

Amnesty International has called for an independent investigation into allegations of human rights violations in Wasior in Indonesia's Papua province.

Earlier this year Amnesty conducted an investigation into the operation which ran over six months last year, and their just released report documents a series of human rights violations.

The operation followed the killing of nine people, including five police, by unidentified armed groups.

It was the largest police operation in the province in five years and was carried out by troops from Brimob, a paramilitary force which Amnesty says has a notorious human rights record.

As with the recent killings at Freeport, the deaths were blamed on the separatist group, the OPM, but Amnesty says there are still doubts it was involved in any of the attacks.

Amnesty says rather than identifying and bringing to justice the individuals responsible, the Brimob operation appears to have turned into a campaign of revenge against the immediate community and beyond.

At least seven people died during the operation, including one person who died as a result of torture while in custody.

Amnesty says the Indonesian government should ensure that the allegations of human rights violations are investigated independently and that those responsible are brought to justice.

It says failure to take credible and effective action to investigate such cases entrenches impunity further and contributes to security problems in the province.