Precedence: bulk >Date: 14 Jun 99 14:15:23 MET DST A boy shot in Jayapura, West Papua The shooting of Roberth Yaung (alias Roby) by members of Garuda I Kostrad at the Sabron Samon-Sebayap-Genyem junction. On 7 June, shortly after voting had ended in the general election, two members of Kostrad (Army Strategic Command), Second Privare HP and First Private S were standing on the side of the road at the the Sabron samon-Sebeyap-Genyem junction. They were trying to flag down passing vehicles to take them to their barracks in Sebeyap. A Cary PickUp Genyem on the way to Jayapura drove past with a large cupboard in the back. A young man named Roby Yaung was standing by the cupboard to hold it steady. As the vehicle drove past, the two soldiers waved to it to stop but it was unable to stop because it was going down a steep hill. When it failed to stop, the soldiers fire shots in the direction of the vehicle, and the 20-year-old man fell. He had been struck in the chest by an M-16. The bullet had gone straight through his body, exiting through his back. The driver of the vehicle immediately drove to a command post in Boroway to report that two soldiers had opened fire and that the young man in the back of the truck had been shot dead. The incident was reported to a more senior officer and soon after, the two soldiers were taken away to Jayapura and placed under arrest. The body was placed in a coffin and later taken to the dead man's family who were told that he had died as the result of an accident but his mother broke open the coffin and investigations showed that he had been shot dead. News of the shooting rapidly spread among three local tribes Nimboran, Kemtuk and Gresi. A large crowd of people gathered, intending to take the body to the regional assembly building in Jayapura. On 9 June some two hundred vehicles with up to one thousand people drove in convoy in the direction of Jayapura. On hearing of the approaching convoy, anti-riot troops from the police and the military command were dispatched to prevent them from entering the city. But the convoy managed to enter the city and when they reached their destination, a series of demands were read out: a. The military command should apologise to the family and to the man's tribe, the Nomboran, for the killing. b. Compensation of Rp500 million should be paid. c. The withdrawal of all troops brought in from outside West Papua, leaving security in the hands of the police and Koramil, the local military command. d. To allow the dead man's body to be taken in procession through the city, so as to inform the people that the army are murderers of the people, not their protectors. Agreement was finally reached for the body to be driven in procession though people were required to remain in the vehicles. The body was later taken home to Genyem and buried near the Nimboran koramil as a constant reminder for the military. The authorities were given three days to pay the compensation or face an act of revenge against the army. On the day of the procession, at 12.30, all shops, schools and offices in the city closed. The shops remained closed until 5 pm, while commercial activity and traffic came to a standstill in Sentani and in the district of Genyem. There have been many other unprovoked killings of young Papuans by members of the Indonesian armed forces in Sorong, Manokwari, Jayapura, Merauke and other places recently. The above report is based on eye witness accounts of the incident. *********************************************** OTTIS SIMOPIAREF PO Box 545 6700 AM Wageningen The Netherlands Ph.: +31.6.51700331 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] FREE WEST PAPUA from the Indonesian Colonialism *********************************************** ---------- SiaR WEBSITE: http://apchr.murdoch.edu.au/minihub/siarlist/maillist.html
