14 Sep 2002

Papua human rights group questions veracity of Indonesian report on Freeport killings

9:18 am on 14 September 2002

A human rights group in Papua says its has found inconsistencies in the Indonesian military's account of last month's attack near Freeport which left three people dead.

The military has blamed Papuan separatists for the fatal shooting of two Americans and an Indonesian.

But John Rumbiak of the Els-ham group says its investigation shows that questions remain about the veracity of some of the claims.

"The military claim that they found a body of a local - a Papuan - on the incident site. They claim him as a member of the Papua liberation movement, the OPM. However the autopsy done by their doctor from Freeport, whose name has been confirmed by police, proved that this body had died two days before this incident happened."

John Rumbiak also says the army failed to adhere to proper procedures in guarding the crime site and soldiers fired at police wanting to investigate the incident.