Indonesia arrests elite troops over murders, mutilations in Papua: ‘we will not tolerate it’
- Villagers in the restive region were shocked on Friday to find sacks containing body parts, including heads, legs and torsos, dumped in a nearby river
- A spokesman for an armed separatist group called the killings a ‘crime against humanity’. Security forces said the victims were suspected sympathisers
“We are committed to upholding the law in this case,” Papua military chief Major General Teguh Muji Angkasa told reporters in Jayapura, the capital of restive Papua province, on Monday. “If any of our soldiers are involved in criminal acts, we will not tolerate it.”
Residents of Iwaka village in Mimika district were shocked on Friday by the discovery of four sacks, each containing a headless and legless torso, in the village river. Two other sacks were found separately, one containing four heads and the other eight legs.
Police determined that the victims were residents of neighbouring Nduga district who officers said had driven a rented van to the location to buy an AK-47 rifle and a gun from someone for 250 million rupiah (US$16,800). Police said the men’s mutilated bodies were placed in sacks filled with rocks and thrown into the river.
Conflicts between indigenous Papuans and Indonesian security forces are common in the impoverished Papua region, a former Dutch colony in the western part of New Guinea that is ethnically and culturally distinct from much of Indonesia. Papua was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 after a UN-sponsored ballot that was widely seen as a sham. Since then, a low-level insurgency has simmered in the mineral-rich region, which is divided into two provinces, Papua and West Papua.
Papua military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Herman Taryaman said the victims are suspected of having been sympathisers of an armed separatist group.
“The victims were actively looking for weapons and ammunition in Mimika,” Taryaman said.
Papua police spokesman Ahmad Musthofa Kamal said the perpetrators also set fire to the men’s van and took the money that was intended for buying the weapons. Police arrested three civilians over the weekend for suspected involvement in the killing, and that led to the arrest of the six soldiers by military police, Kamal said.
“This is a crime against humanity by the Indonesian government through its security Forces,” Sambom said in a statement, adding that his group is ready to carry out “retaliation operations” if the government ignores their demand.
02:11
Indonesian protesters set a government building on fire as civil unrest continues
Conflict in the region has spiked in the past year, with dozens of rebels, security forces and civilians killed.
