|
Indonesian Soldiers Expected To Quell Separatist Movement
by Kazi Mahmood for IslamOnline
JAKARTA (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – The Indonesian army yesterday invaded Jayapura, the capital city of Irian Jaya in an attempt to quell separatism in the province.
Their objective is to remain in the city until the separatist movement tones down its rhetoric and refrains from declaring unilateral independence of the province on December 1st.
People living in Jayapura became uneasy on Thursday as soldiers and policemen moved in convoys around the capital city. The troop movement came as a surprise to many observers in Jakarta. They believe the government has finally decided to use force to end separatism in the province.
Troops of the Indonesian Defense Force (TNI), in full armor, could be seen from the Jayapura municipality to Sentani in Jayapura district.
The sudden troop movement prompted sidewalk vendors in Jayapura`s markets of Abepura, Sentani, Hamadi and Entrop to go home in haste. People also crowded at roadsides, waiting for buses to take them home.
By noon, most government, as well as private, offices were deserted, as soldiers secured the area surrounding the Irian Jaya Cultural Center building at the heart of the Jayapura city.
Soldiers have orders to lower down the separatist movement’s Morning Star flag.
Sidewalk vendors near the Papua Task Force headquarters - mostly non-Papuans - remained in business, indicating no sense of concern to what is happening around them.
Earlier in the day, security personnel conducted a show of force at Jayapura`s Permai business center, moving in a convoy from Jayapura to nearby Sentani.
Some residents closed their shops as the convoy passed.
According to Jayapura Police chief, Superintendent Daud Sihombing, the show of force was aimed at assuring the people that the security personnel are ready to protect them.
The provincial legislative assembly has called on locals and immigrants to stay calm and ignore provocations by irresponsible parties.
The show of force, however, intervenes at a moment when Jakarta has decided to crack down on the separatist movement with the arrest of three of its leaders, with arrest warrants also launched against other Papuan separatist leaders, sources said.
Police on Thursday confirmed that they arrested Don Flassy, a member of the Papua Presidium Council, which is fighting for an independent Irian Jaya.
The Chief of Irian Jaya Police’s detective unit, Senior Superintendent Tukarno, said Flassy was arrested when he was about to leave his office at the provincial regional development agency (Bappeda).
Flassy is the third separatist leader to be arrested after Council chairman, Theys Hiyo Eluay, and secretary general, Thaha Al-Hamid, on charges of disturbing public order and spreading hatred against the Indonesian flag.
The police are searching for three other leaders of the separatist movement, Reverand Herman Awom; Council vice chairman Tom Beanal; and former political prisoner, John Mambor.
All are accused of inciting hatred against Indonesia and would probably be charged with treason for attempting to secede the territory from the Republic.
Army convoys in Jayapura and Sentani airport did not stop the exodus of immigrants in Irian Jaya. Many left the province through its airports and at the seaports of Jayapura, Biak, Sorong and Manokwari.
Calls for independence have escalated in the mineral-rich province over the last two years amid complaints of human rights violations and unfair division of revenues from natural resources.
Independence supporters reject the 1969 plebiscite organized by the United Nations that integrated the former Dutch colony into Indonesia.
The plebiscite was conducted based on a 1962 agreement struck in New York between the U.N., Indonesia and the Netherlands.
The so-called "Act of Free Choice" plebiscite was sanctioned after the transfer of power over the western part of New Guinea from the Netherlands to Indonesia through the U.N. in May 1963.
Military hardliners blame the increase in separatist activities on Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid’s decision not to use force to quash separatist movements.
Wahid has been under increasing criticism for his policies and contentious statements, and over alleged involvement in at least two financial scandals.
About 150 lawmakers yesterday officially submitted a request for the House of Representatives to issue a memorandum against the embattled president.
The memorandum would open the way for a possible special session of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) to oust Wahid.
|
