W. Irian rebels resist Indonesian attacks

Press, 30 August 1979, Page 16

W. Irian rebels resist Indonesian attacks

PETER TATCHELL,

, in West Irian, describes the

growing war between Indonesia and the native inhabitants of the western half of New Guinea island.

Nearly half the population of Indonesia’s mineral and oilrich territory of West Irian is living in areas claimed to have been liberated by separatist guerrillas. West Papua, as it is known by the Operasi Papua Merdeke (O.P.M. — Free Papiia Movement), was formerly known as Dutch New Guinea until it was handed over to Indonesia in 1963 by the United Nations. The handover agreement provided for a plebiscite to be held by 1969 to allow the population to determine their future, but the Indonesians instead took a vote only among selected representatives. The O.P.M. was founded in 1970 by Seth Rumkorem. a West Papuan officer in the Indonesian army. Soon afterwards, the independent Republic of West Papua was declared.

The nationalist army now has 2000 regulars and an 8000-strong village militia. They are hampered by a severe shortage of modern weapons and ammunition. Indeed. some of the guerrillas are armed only with spears, axes, and bows and arrows, while many carry World War II weapons. Others have guns captured from Indonesian soldiers.

Indonesian troops only rarely, and at considerable risk, venture into the liber-

ated areas, where the rebel administration has established its own agricultural co-operatives and health and educational programmes. Using American - supplied Bell helicopters and OV-10 Bronco counter - insurgency aircraft armed with rockets, Indonesia has carried out intensive bombing raids against rebe Istrongholds. On July 5, 1977, 1291 villagers are said to have been killed by napalm and anti-personnel cluster bombs in the Yamsi-Arso border area.. More than 50 Australian servicemen taking part in a three-year join survey and mapping project with the Indonesian army in the Papua New Guinea border area were withdrawn after a series of incidents.

West Papuan sources claim that a uniformed Australia!! serviceman piloted a helicopter which bombed a village in Warnena Province in mid-1977, killing 250 people. There are also allegations that a Royal Australian Air Force (R.A.A.F) helicopter on combined mapping exercises joined with Indonesian planes in strafing border villages. In August, 1977, a R.A.A.F. plane was hit by ground fire near Wamena, and an Iroquois helicopter was shot down, killing the pilot.

Throughout 1977, the pipe-

line from the Americanowned Freeport Copper Mine was repeatedly blown up by O.P.M. saboteurs. Telephone lines and oil supplies were cut off, and access roads blocked. The Indonesian authorities retaliated by arresting and transporting to Jayapura Prison 200 West Papuan mineworkers suspected of aiding the O.P.M. Later, all the remaining West Papuan employees were sacked. After attacks on the Freeport installations in February, 1978, Indonesian troops rounded up 50 villagers from Tembagapura, locked them in cargo containers, and threw them into the sea to drown. In July last year a major Indonesian offensive involving 5000 troops with air and artillery support destroyed the O.P.M. base camps at Markas Victoria and Markas Lehreh. Before retreating to a new sanctuary, the guerrillas captured 83 Indonesian soldiers and killed 178 for the loss of 140 of their own men and the deaths of several hundred villagers. When the Indonesians entered the area, they burned villages to the ground, and executed 47 tribesmen for refusing to give information and act as guides. In retribution, rebel forces wiped out a detachment of Indonesia’s elite Red Beret Commandos, dumping 78 bodies in the Parni River.

According -to the 0.P.M., between 1976 and 1978; 8782 people have been killed in 50 major battles and six largescale aerial bombardments of villages. Of these, 3515 have

been Indonesian soldiers, and 5267 were tribespeople and O.P.M. guerrillas. The total number of West Papuan nationalists in detention is unknown. However, it is reported that mass protests during the May, 1977, elections resulted in the arrest of 1000 people who were taken to Digu! River Prison. At the nearby Merauke Prison, another 600 families are held.

It was at this prison that 200 refugees who returned from Papua New Guinea in

early 1978 were executed. The executions provoked widespread uprising and Yamas villagers ambushed and killed 43 Indonesian soldiers in retaliation. Amnesty International is investigating reports that in July, 1977, at Tembagapura, 30 political detainees were tortured and imprisoned in “sweat box” cargo container crates for three months. Most of the weaponry Indonesia deploys against the rebels comes from Britain and the United States. Senator John Glenn, Chair-

man of the United States Senate Sub-Committee on East Asia and the Pacific, last year warned that Jakarta’s continued deployment of American-supplied Bell helicopters and OV-IO Bronco counter - insurgency aircraft could jeopardise military sales to Indonesia. A number of West Papuans recently filed a suit against the Netherlands Government over its sale of three corvettes to the Indonesian navy. 0.F.N.5., Copyright.