Papuanese students burn tyres on a street during a demonstration over Freeport in Jayapura. Indonesia must allow an independent investigation into deadly riots in Papua and lift all restrictions on media access to the remote region, Human Rights Watch said
(AFP) |
Indonesian police have arrested 57 people after deadly clashes with protesters demanding the closure of a massive US mine in the restive province of Papua.
The bloody incident occurred Thursday outside a state-run university in the provincial capital Jayapura, during which three policemen and an air force officer were beaten to death.
The violence could trigger further unrest in the isolated province, where Indonesia has grappled with a sporadic separatist conflict for decades and the mine has come to symbolise longstanding local grievances with Jakarta.
Papua police spokesman Kartono Wangsadisastra said that 57 people had been arrested and said they were still looking for others.
"We will never stop hunting these people who have created havoc and murdered our officers," he said, adding that many of the arrested said they were students.
The head of the armed forces, the national police chief and the archipelago nation's top security minister were meeting with religious and community leaders in the mainly Christian region to ease tensions, he said.
Thursday's bloodshed was the climax of weeks of rallies over the world's largest gold and copper mine, which is run by US giant Freeport-McMoRan and is a top source of revenue for the Indonesian government.
The company has been variously accused of not giving enough to the people of Papua in return for the mine, polluting and being responsible for human rights abuses through their use of the military for protection.
In a statement it said that many of the protesters were Papuans who had come from regions outside the mine's operational area, and their demands included a share of benefits from programs established by the company.
"Freeport Indonesia will continue its efforts to ensure that the local people of Papua will share in the economic and social benefits resulting from its operations," it said.
The company currently gives one percent of annual profits to seven tribal groups living near the mine.
Albert Rumbekwan of the Papuan National Commission on Human Rights said his organization would investigate the incident when the situation calmed.
"Right now we are still worried about our safety. Police raided student dorms and houses and arrested people they suspect of being involved in the clash," he said, adding that details of the incident were still vague.
A local church minister who tried to mediate in the protest, Benny Giay, told AFP that police fired live bullets to disperse about 1,000 students who were protesting, injuring 12 as well as a five-year-old child.
"All the students from the highlands have been ordered (by police) to come out to be interrogated. So they have vacated the dorm (where they stayed) and we're going to find a safer place for them for a few nights," he said.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono late Thursday condemned "the anarchic action" and ordered an investigation into Freeport's activities.
He said he wanted to ensure that Freeport's annual community development programs, which he said totaled some 400 billion rupiah (43.75 million dollars), had been used effectively.
Human Rights Watch said that Indonesia must allow an independent investigation into the clash and lift all restrictions on media access to the mountainous region.
International media are banned from travelling freely in Papua.
The US-based rights group also said it was concerned about retaliation by the security forces against civilians.
Protests flared last month after Freeport security forces tried to evict local miners who prospect among the mine's waste, alleging their activity was illegal. Their blockade forced the mine to close for several days.
The stand-off was resolved when Freeport agreed to allow the miners to resume their work but it sparked fiesty demonstrations in Jakarta, Jayapura and elsewhere.
