Deadly, heartless raid in West Papua raises outrage amidst Covid-19 fighting: New Zealander shot dead by West Papuan rebels
It was one quiet afternoon in Kuala Kencana, the West Papuan region, where the region and most of the people there were working from home amidst this coronavirus outbreak. A few workers there decided to come to the office for things they could not do at home.
The peaceful afternoon turned suddenly into a bloody mess as several armed men raided an office building owned by Freeport Indonesia. Three innocents were critically shot. One of them, a Kiwi, eventually passed away.
West Papua Liberation Army (TPNPB-OPM), who has been behind many attacks to civilians in Papua and West Papua provinces, clearly claimed responsibility for the shooting. A Kiwi man identified as Graeme Thomas Wall, a 57-year-old New Zealand miner from Ngaruawahia, Waikato, was shot dead.
The shooting also injured two Indonesian civilians who happened to be the employees of PT Freeport Indonesia. Both are, unfortunately, in critical condition and suffered mentally due to the trauma of that massive shotting.
The attack took place on a sunny afternoon, 30 March 2020, in Kuala Kencana, Timika, Papua, the West Papua region, at 2 pm local time. It was orchestrated by the West Papua’s pro-independence civilian army, a military faction of the Free Papua movement led by a local commander named Joni Botak, as confirmed by Indonesian authorities and reported by various media in Indonesia.
Their barbaric actions have so far damaged a series of peaceful campaigns and endeavors on developing the region promoted by both local West Papuans, local governments, and local NGOs there and also the Indonesian government.
Disarranged, conflicting factions within the rebel group
Some media implicitly indicate that that the shooting may be an undercover scenario taken by the Indonesian authority. A statement delivered by Mr. Benny Wenda, chairman of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), was quoted by an NZ media saying that the international media need to be cautious when evaluating this incident.
“The ULMWP urges the international media to treat claims about the shooting with extreme caution,” Mr. Wenda said. “There is a long history of the Indonesian military carrying out killings, posing as West Papuans, in order to justify further militarisation, security deals and crackdowns.”
It is actually saddening that the media from the country of the late Mr. Wall cannot see the situation clearly, or at least mourn the late Kiwi man. They should have straightly condemned the rebel group because it has been evident and blatant that the attrocity was undertaken by the rebels.
In their official statement, The West Papua Liberation Army, a West Papua’s pro-independence armed civilian group, has claimed responsibility on Monday, the same day of the attack’s undertaking.
Their spokesman Sebby Sambom warned in a statement that mine employees must leave the company areas as their group declared to be part of their battle zone, last 2017. “We will keep fighting until Freeport stops operating and talks for the independence of Papua begin,” Sambom said in the statement.
Mr. Sambom’s responsibility claim is totally contrary to Mr. Wenda’s statement which is clearly against blaming Mr. Sambom’s Liberation Army. At this point, what should be seen is that there must be a total disarrangement and conflicting agendas and principles among the pro-independence groups or factions in administering their actions and campaigns.
Last 2019, Mr. Benny Wenda issued some statement that he successfully unified their movement under “Vanimo Border Declaration.” The Oxford man claimed himself to be the leader of the three major factions of the independence movement under the leadership of ULWMP.
Mr. Benny claimed to be the leader of the political and military wings of the movement. Soon after, though, Mr. Wenda’s statement sparked immediate objections and rejections from the pro-independence factions, which even warned Mr. Wenda for not exploiting and manipulating the independence movements for ULMWP’s gain.
Of the recent bloody raid, Mr. Sebby told VOA Indonesia, that “That was a true shooting from TPNPB, and we are responsible. We have issued war orders in the region. For there was a shooting, that was us, not other criminal groups, with the aim of closing PT Freeport Indonesia. Then, Indonesia wants to sit at a negotiating table to discuss the rights of the Papuan people.”
Reportedly, there are at least eight West Papua separatists involving in this afternoon blatant raid, and three of them were carrying long rifles, as reported and confirmed by various media in Indonesia.
This situation has thus raised a high-security concern in Papua and West Papua despite regions’ efforts along with Indonesian civil society groups and security forces who are at the forefront of mitigation efforts to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the region.
Burdening the Native West Papuans even more
In response to this situation, the Indonesian Ambassador to the New Zeland H.E. Tantowi Yahya in his official statement, said, ”The shooting in Kuala Kencana will only add the burdens of the people and the security apparatus in Papua, who are now working hard in containing the Covid-19 epidemic. It demonstrates that the armed criminal group never cares about the impact of their actions to the Papuans”.
Alongside the local governments in Papua and West Papua, the Indonesian government is committed to maintaining peace and security in Papua and West Papua’s Provinces. One of the strategies is through many collaborative actions between civilian and military stakeholders in advancing many aspects of life there.
Even though rarely found in the media, there have been recently (before the Covid-19 outbreak) a vast flow of teachers, health workers, and volunteers both locals and foreigners coming to the West Papua region. They work hand in hand with the village chiefs and prominent religious figures in Papua to ensure that everyone living together in harmony, peace, and equality.
Besides, the Indonesian national vision also strengthened on fostering development in both Papua and West Papua Provinces, as stated in the 2001 Indonesian Law on Special Autonomy of Papua.
As the law will expire in 2021, the Indonesian Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD said that the government would continue to provide a special autonomy fund for Papua while preparing a new law to extend it. (*)
