TRANSCRIPT: Irian Jaya – Human Rights, Corporate Wrongs
00:00:00 (music)
00:00:14, Narrator: In Irian Jaya’s provincial capital Jayapura, John Rumbiak is starting another day. He’s been getting ready for the job he’s been labouring over for years. Until recently, he thought his job was too dangerous to discuss publicly. Now John has decided to speak out about his work as a human right’s activist. A priest from the highlands has brought one of his young parishioners to tell his story of Indonesian army brutality.
00:00:44 (speaking native language)
00:52, Narrator: The 16-year old’s name is Apilanus. He’s come to see John Rumbiak. John has meticulously documented human rights abuses in the area near the Freeport Gold Mine, following the release of hostages in May 1996. Apilanus says last year he was fossicking for food near his home when he stumbled across evidence of an Indonesian army patrol.
00:01:14, Aplianus (speaking in native language): When I saw it, I prayed to God and then I ran away, but I heard the sound of gunfire. I ran away along the creek. I followed the creek up but then I heard bullets hitting the water like “Shhhh, shhhh, shhh.” And so I prayed to God because I was so afraid. While I prayed to God I saw the blood was coming from my side. Then I checked out my body where the bullet hit me, I’ll show you the spot… Then I checked all over my body again. And then I prayed to God, “Where are you now? I’ve been shot.”
00:01:55, Narrator: The priest tells John Rumbiac that the story of Apilanus is not unique. That the Indonesian military known as ABRI has treated his parishioners mercilessly.
00:02:06, Priest: There has been a lot of killing by ABRI and many have died of hunger, disease and suffering. That’s why I’ve come to report this matter, so you can do something about it.
00:02:23 (music)
00:02:28, Narrator: Irian Jaya occupies the western part of the island it shares with Papua New Guinea. John Rumbiak’s report covers the south highland areas near the Freeport Gold Mine. It alleges human rights abuses in the hamlets of Mapundua, where the hostages were taken, and Bela, Alama and Jila. The hostages, seen here during their captivity, were seized by the OPM: the Free Papua Resistance.
This small band of Irian Jaya fighters did succeed, temporarily gaining international attention. But after the hostages were rescued on a military raid, the OPM leader – Kelli Kwalik and his troops – were not the only ones to pay the price.
John Rumbiak claims that many villagers have also suffered at the hands of the army.
00:03:19, John: They shoot. They don’t care. They don’t care about whether they are children, or women or old people. It’s just plain intimidation to the people. To really, in some sense, you can see how, you can say it is a way, this is a very systematic way of genociding the people.
00:03:49 (chatting)
00:03:51, Narrator: John and a small group of colleagues can only operate because they work under the protection of Irian Jaya’s three Christian churches. In fact, John’s report was issued in the name of the churches.
(church music in background) The report claims that between December 1996 and October 1997, 11 people were shot and killed, two more disappeared, and three more were wounded. Many more probably died, but the report itself restricts itself to deaths that can be verified.
It also says ABRI burnt 13 churches, 29 traditional community houses, and 166 homes.
00:04:29, John Rumbiac concludes these were not a string of isolated events, but part of a systematic campaign to ethnically cleanse the Amungme people from their traditional lands surrounding the Freeport Gold and copper mine.
00:04:41, John: It’s incredible, and it’s very systematically destroying the people, because it’s really destroying the very fundamental aspect of the people, like houses of the people, cultural houses of the people, churches, and gardens, animals, any belongings of the people.
There is also discrimination. When they look at Melanesians, they have fuzzy hair, they wear penis guards, grass skirts, black skin, and they look at them inferior. In some cases we have found out that there is this kind of feeling also motivated the soldiers to kill the people.
00:05:28 (music)
00:05:36, Narrator: The area in question is in the highlands – not far from where these shots were taken during recent Australian Air Force drought relief missions.
00:05:43 (music)
00:05:48, Narrator: It’s been a no-go zone – an area outsiders are largely forbidden to enter.
John Rumbiak’s report claims more than 90 people may have died from hunger and disease inside this no-go zone. (music out)
00:06:03, The highland people live a traditional existence, tending to their subsistence gardens – their lives given meaning by their deeply-held Christianity and their profound spiritual attachment to their land. To be driven from their land is to lose their identity.
00:06:19, Father Jan is a catholic priest who has worked in the area for over 30 years.
00:06:24, Jan: The military has taken revenge on the local population. They burn the churches, they burn community houses, they burn also the gardens.
00:06:37, Narrator: Father Jan confirms that the area where the killings have taken place are controlled by the military and that foreigners – even priests and aid workers – are restricted entry.
00:06:46, Jan: No-one can get in without a special permit. And you can the special permit from the military, not from the normal administration, but must go via the military ranking.
00:07:06 (Father Jan driving)
00:07:10, Narrator: As he’s gone about his work, Father Jan has thought about why the Indonesian military has embarked on what he belies – is a systematic campaign against the villagers.
ABRI claims it is countering an insurgency by pro-independence OPM guerrillas. But Father Jan believes the rag-tag OPM poses no real threat, and that neither counter-insurgency, nor even bloody-minded retribution, fully explains the military’s systematic terror campaign. Instead, he believes ABRI is using the OPM as an excuse to drive people from their land, thereby freeing it up for commercial exploitation.
00:07:46, Jan: Now, when you look at a map and you look where all these kinds of things are happening now. It is close to the Ilaga area, A little more to the East. They are still in the concessions of mining companies. And it is known there is gold. And when they can get the people out, they are free to do what they like to do. Take all the gold away.
00:08:27 (mine sounds), Narrator: Adjacent to the military-controlled no-go zone, is the giant US owned Freeport mine – with gold and copper resources that make it probably the world’s richest mine. It’s also said to be Indonesia’s biggest tax-payer.
There’s no evidence Freeport condones ABRI’s brutality. But what is clear, is that future mines and logging operations will have carte blanche if the traditional owners have been driven from their lands.
00:08:50, video (background to Narrator): In Irian Jaya’s mainland and many outer islands are myriad distinct cultural groups and more than 250 different languages…
00:08.54, Narrator: At a hotel in Timika, the town that services the giant mine, Freeport runs its promotional video –
00:08:59, PR video: ‘The indigenous people of Irian Jaya are Melanesians, having darker skin colour and different physical features than people in other parts of Indonesia. There are major cultural and physical differences among the cultural groups of the lowlands and coastal regions, and the highlands of the interior.
00:09:16, Narrator: Freeport has recently offered significant royalties to traditional land owners, but the question remains – if the people are being driven from their land, how could they possibly be better off? (PR video ends)
00:09:27 (driving), Narrator: What the Freeport video failed to mention was that Timika is also the base for all the troops in this southern area. Locals say that as well as providing security for the mine, the military is also responsible for brutal intimidation.
00:09:43 (Narrator speaking over native talking until 00:09:54): Mother Josepha (pronounced: yo-se-fa) – who describes herself as the mother of the OPM resistance leader, Kelli Kwalik, the man who held the hostages two years ago. My understanding is that she’s probably using ‘mother’ in a figurative sense – not so unusual in Irian Jaya – as she comes from Kelli Kwalik’s community. She says she was singled out by the Indonesian military.
00:10:05, Josepha (speaking native language): They came to my house. Seven people entered my house.
Other man: Who?
Josepha: ABRI.
- ABRI.
- ABRI, ya.
- ABRI. They came and lifted my mosquito net with a rifle. Then they took me away. Five of us were taken. We were questioned at the Sempan army post. After that they brought us back and put us in a cell. (audio here with no subtitle)
I didn’t eat or drink anything for a month… A month, two days, and nights. I nearly died but God wanted me to live.
00:10:57 (music and sounds of Jayapura harbour)
00:11:06, Narrator: Irian Jaya was annexed by Indonesia in the 1960s, following negotiations with the former colonial power, the Netherlands.
A monument to the so-called “Act of Free Choice” can be found in the provincial capital Jayapura, as if to mock the aspirations of the West Papuan people.
(pause with music)
00:11:30, For although the act of free choice was endorsed by the United Nations, the indigenous people, originally promised independence by the Dutch, were given no real say.
The people here have nothing in common with their Indonesian colonisers – not race, not language, not religion, not culture. Now the province is being swamped by Javanese as part of Indonesia’s trans-migration program, and its resources are being exploited by multi-nationals and Indonesia’s crony class of capitalists.
00:12:01 (water and music)
00:12:06, Narrator: This young trainee priest is a supporter of the pro-independence OPM guerrilla movement. It’s not hard to understand why – the Indonesian army killed his mother.
00:12:16, Priest (speaking native language): She was shot. Shot by foot soldiers. When the shooting started we ran off into the jungle. Then the army just walked away.
00:12:28 (music)
00:12:30, Narrator: The OPM has never posed a real challenge for the Indonesians – for years dislocated groups have fought with little more than bows and arrows. Yet, this man claims the OPM is gaining strength and has new weapons from Australia and America. But for now, they’re following a policy of restraint.
00:12:47, Priest (speaking in native language): Even though we have plenty of weapons and good leaders, much better than before, we’ve been told to stop fighting. The struggle’s now in the cities. People are using their brains. That’s how it is. No more armed struggle.
00:13:09, external question (native language): None at all?
Priest (native language): We’ve been told to hold off.
00:13:12 (cockerel)
00:13:14, Narrator: One of the leaders of the political struggle in the city is Chrief Theyes Eluay. As one of the important traditional chiefs, he witness the declaration of the Act of Free Choice in the 1960s – now he bitterly refers to it as the act of no choice…
00:13:29, Chief (speaking in native language): As I said before, there’s no rule of law in this country. There’s only power. Anyone expressing their opinion is considered an enemy. They act outside the law. That’s why we’re afraid. When the Dutch were here there was rule of law. Other nations also obey the law. Law is above power. In Indonesia it’s different. Power is above law.
00:14:03, Narrator: Chief Theyes, like others in this story, is now prepared to risk Indonesian retribution by speaking openly. He believes that, with the overthrow of the Suharto regime in Jakarta, now is the time to speak out against Indonesian oppression and to agitate for autonomy. He says that the world should realise the OPM guerrilla movement is merely the smoke billowing from a deep-seated fire – the desire for independence.
00:14:29, Chief (speaking in native language): We have self-respect. We have rights as a nation. We’re not Indonesians, we’re a separate people. We must tell this to the government, other nations and the UN. The Act of Free Choice must be reviewed.
We thank the lord for our country’s wealth, its seas, its people, its law, and the right to self-respect. If we praise God he won’t ignore us. So we’re waiting got Him. We can’t win by using force. ABRI is more powerful than we are. So the answer is: wait for God to show us the way or the right time.
00:15:25 (music and children playing), Narrator: The Indonesian army is conducting a dirty war in Irian Jaya – as the riches of the province are plundered.
00:15:34 (music)
00:15:39, John Rumbiak: We need international pressure to the Indonesian government, especially the military so that they can open the areas so that church groups and also social groups, Non-Governmental groups and human rights groups can come into the area and monitor the situation of the people.
00:16:03 (music)
00:16:07, Narrator: The human rights violations so meticulously detailed in John Rumbiak’s report are an indictment of Indonesian rule, and challenge the international community to pressure the government of President Habibe to bring justice to the province.
00:16:20 (music)
END