More on the Murder of Theys Eluay in 2001

More on the Murder of Theys Eluay, Chairperson of the Presidium of the Papua Council, on Heroes Day, 10 November 2001, in Jayapuar, West Papua Tuesday, 12 March 2002, The KPN, the special national investigation commission, set up by President Megawati, is now on the track of investigating not only the brains behind the murder, but also possibilities of government departments or army sections which ordered the murder.

Elsham will come with a detailed report by the middle of this month.

The judge in the court session against three PDP (Presidium Dewan Papua or Presidum of the Papua Council) members pronounced them guilty of high treason (makar), which carries a minimum sentence of 20 years. The judge said, according to the Cenderawasih Pos, that he would not give a punishment because these acts of treason, the organization of Mubes (Musyawarah Besar or Great Consultation) and Second Papua Congress, took place in public with support from the police, the army, including the Pangdam (Panglima Daerah Militer or the Commander of the Military Region of Papua and the Moluccas) and the Indonesian Government. This is the reason why, though guilty of the offence, they will not be sentenced (“tidak dipidana”). This is different from an acquittal (“pembebasan”). The difference between one and the other is important.

The Jakarta Post mentions, wrongly, that the three defendants have been acquitted: Papuan leaders cleared off all charges R.K. Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura [From: www.thejakartapost.com 5 March 2002] A district court in the easternmost province of Papua acquitted on Monday three proindependence leaders of the Papua Presidium Council, who had been tried on charges of subversion.

What does this mean? If the judge has the guts he should bring the army, police and the Government to court for high treason. But the definition of high treason excludes such possibilities and also the law. The verdict may also imply that in the past the previous Government, that of Gus Dur, was wrong in allowing the Papua Congress, the Morningstarflag and the PDP. The present Government, of Megawati, takes it seriously and now these actions are really high treason. So the PDP may have to be disbanded. It also means that the three who are now convicted still have to be considered criminals who have committed a very serious crime. It may have for instance a negative effect on the career of Don Flassy, who is secretary of Bappeda.

Another problem with the verdict is that if this becomes jurisprudence it will lead to a very undesirable situation. The murderers of Theys are brought to court. The judge says on the basis of this verdict: We declare you guilty but there is no sentence as you have done this with the connivance of the Government, the police and the army!

The defendants should appeal, just as the public prosecutors Some more details about Theys Eluay (in response to comments on my article about Theys in Inside Indonesia of April 2002): Theys took the show serious, when he went to court sessions or when he was called by the police to present himself. He usually went there with three truckloads of black shirted satgas Papua, bravely waving the Morning star flag. This outfit had little to do with adat. He wore a small cap with a feather and shorts; He was bare breasted, with some neck chains. He looked more like an American Indian or a hippy of the 60s than a traditional Sentani leader, who used to wear bark cloth.

Herman Awom gave away a similar show. He went in December 2000 in his ministerial gown to the police, with the bible in his hand, to be imprisoned, accompanied by the members of his church council. Also in court sessions he would wear his gown and was then very similarly dressed as the judge. The judge, who is a Christian, did not like this at all and went in person to the chairman of the Synod to complain.

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The business links of Theys Eluay still have to be researched. George Aditjiondro found a link between Yorris and one of the main donors of the Kopassus. None of my sources have mentioned Theys' involvement in business. He is not known as being rich, like for instance Bas Suebu, the former governor. The main issue, I think, is the source of money for the satgas of Theys and of his foreign journeys, which did not have much result. Yorris offered the money at a time when the Soeharto family had money available to create chaos in the country to prevent a trial. At the time, attar the visit of the Tim Seratus to Habibie in February 1999, Theys Eluay proclaimed himself, all of his own, as “the Great Leader of Papua People (Pemimpin Besar Bangsa Papua, with the same initials as the United Nations) he also appointed Yorris, leader of the Pemada Pancasila, close to Soeharto, as the representative of the Dewan Adat Papua outside Irian Jaya (Papua).

The murder of Theys is different from previous murders, because of his role in the struggle of the Papuans, at least as it is perceived by the foreign media and by foreign governments. The murder would be an “uncomplicated story”. The murder on 26 March 1999 of Obed, a Me (Paniai) lecturer of Fajar Timur for instance, did not lead to protest outside the Me community and the community of students of the Catholic theological college, where he had been teaching.

Obed had a master’s degree from Washington University. Nobody has any idea why he was murdered. The journalist for Kompas, also from Paniai, Octavianus Mote, who was doing research on the case was threatened and had to flee. He is now in America. Two witnesses were also eliminated and the third fled for his life. 27 February 2001 a minister from Kampung Harapan, Robert Ongge, 33 year old, was shot dead in broad daylight by police in the shop of his in-laws in Abepura. He had studied theology in Yogyakarta and after graduation had worked for years in Jakarta, and married a Chinese girl there. He had two children. He had just returned from Jakarta when he was killed. The perpetrators were never brought to court. The police commander said his men shot because they were still young and inexperienced. This all was "uncomplicated”, that is it went unnoticed by the international community. There are more such cases.

The “disappearance” of the driver There were people, using cars and motorcycles, with red number plates (i.e. government owned vehicles) searching for Ari after his disappearance. Cars and motorcycles went at nighttime along the small dirt road alongside the house of the parents of Ari at Kampung Harapan. There are, however, five witnesses who have seen Ari enter the Kopassus headquarters in Hamadi, which, by the way, is at the same place as a logging company owned by the Soeharto family.

People, and also his parents, fear that Ari is dead.

I have been wondering why Ari did go to the Kopassus. He could have sensed that they were the perpetrators. Could it be that he considered the Kopassus as his friends? Ari's father has, reputedly, worked five or ten years for the Kopassus.

There have been several stories going on about possible motives of the murderers. But several of these theories were seen as drawing attention away from what from the beginning was seen as the real perpetrators. Cenderawasih Pos interviewed some young and pretty TV and movie stars in Jakarta who revealed that they were very close to "Om" Theys, implying that women could be a factor in the murder. Kopassus had spread before the murder photos of Theys with naked girls. Yaneke Ohee did not like this and she found consolation with four Kopassus who gave her pastoral help and ate and slept in Theys' house when he was away in Jakarta or Timika. The main thrust of the story of Elsham is that the murder was organized at the instigation of elements in the central government, which want to maintain the national unity, whatever the costs.

The role of the satgas Papua, an initiative of Theys There were different types of satgas. Theys had Satgas, many from the Tanah Merah area of Demta and Depapre. I have not noticed any tribalism. I have also not heard that Papuans were intimidated by Satgas. It is true that Papuans, Satgas and non-Satgas have been pestering shopkeepers, asking for free cigarettes and money to buy a drink. They focused in particular on those shopkeepers who did not give job opportunities to Papuans. One's basic attitude towards Papuans made the difference between having one’s shop burnt down or not.

It is clear that the Satgas never enjoyed the immunity of the army and police.

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The Satgas never formed a serious threat to the migrants (“pendatang”). The "pendatang" can roughly be divided into three groups. One group is the transmigrants that received a plot of land with a title deed and a house in a remote place. Most of these are Muslim and they remain poor.

They live in a kind of enclave. They live too far from town and are too poor to become a factor in the equation of the struggle for the emancipation of the Papuans. The urban migrants can be divided into two groups: Muslims and Christians. The Papuans have not much difficulty with the Christian migrants who come from areas where they themselves are a threatened minority like Ambon, Saparoa, Tanimbar, the Kei islands, West Timor, Flores, Minahasa, Toraja and the Batak area. These migrants understand the feelings of the Papuans well and are even willing to be show solidarity with them. The largest groups of the Christian urban migrants are the Torajas and the Menadonese with the Ambonese coming third. The Christian migrants share their wealth with the Papuans in their contributions to the Church. Some take the biblical demand that they should share 10 % of their wealth literally! I estimate that one half to two third of the income of the largest church in WP, the GKI, comes from congregations dominated by migrants. Half of this money is channeled back to the poor presbyteries of Papuans in the interior. These Christian migrants know that the strange logic of “spy war” could mean that they become the first targets, not of the Papuans, but of the “provocateurs, the militias etc. to drive a wedge between them and the Papuans. They should show solidarity with their Muslim compatriots against the primitive, dangerous Papuans.

The migrants have remained in control all the time. Only 3 % of the Papuans are in government service. 80 % of the army and police consists of non-Papuans. There is only one Papua judge.

Very few Papuans occupy any of the top posts outside the church. Posts like bank manager, head of Bappeda, Dandrim, Kapolda, Kapolres, and Pangdam are occupied by, in most cases, Muslim migrants. There are hardly any Papuan shopkeepers. No Papuan garage owners, owners of carpenter's shop, blacksmiths, repair shops, VCD rental shops etc. Even the flesh trade (prostitution, massage, karaoke, bars) does not employ Papua girls. Papuan women have the pinang street trade, but not exclusively. The women also sell, like in our village, Yoka, palm wine (saguer). Young Papuan men are now seen as parking attendants. This brings in Rp 1,000 for each parked car. This is a lot of money. These parking attendants are the last memory of the Satgas Papua, who once claimed the streets of the towns back for the Papuans. But in the economy in Papua Province these economic activities remain very marginal.

The amazing thing is, in fact, that the Satgas were, generally speaking, nonviolent. It could have been quite different. There always was the understanding among Papuans that the Papuan struggle was to be peaceful. It was in fact a religious struggle, comparable to that of the Israelites who were led by Moses out of the bondage of Egypt. Theys and the other PDP leaders over and over stressed the non-violence. Those Papuans who may have wanted violence were accused of being traitors to the Papuan case, hired "provocateurs.

I see the Papuans in the first place as victims. There is a very high death rate. The educational and health services are very poor and benefit disproportionately the migrants. The aggression is elsewhere. The police is never eager to find the murderers if the victim is a Papua. Almost every year a Papuan was murdered in the pasar Sentani, in the four years we lived in Sentani. Only in one case there was retaliation by Papuans. The three Papua murderers of a Buginese ojek driver were sentenced and imprisoned The Buginese murderer of a Papua could not be found by police.

On Saturday 10 November the Kopassus celebrated “Heroes Day” at their barracks in Hamadi.

The people who were invited had some link with the integration of Irian into Indonesia in 1963.

According to people present at the party for the "heroes" of Irian Jaya, the commander of the Kopassus got his microphone and said loudly goodbye to Theys when he wanted to leave around 10 o'clock in the evening. "Goodbye to the Great Leader of the Papuans. Have a safe journey home." Now people feel that this was to warn his men outside to be ready. A few days after the abduction and murder Kopassus soldiers were seen cleaning the place of the abduction in Skyline very thoroughly.

I see it as a form of Papuan creativity to turn a bad thing into something different. It was argued that Theys should be buried near the DPR on the waterfront of Jayapura. Then some coined the idea to have a Papuan Heroes Acre, just like the Indonesian army has in it Abepura, next to the military prison. Arnold Ap and Thomas Wanggay should also be reburied there. The government

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in Jakarta cannot be very happy to see so prominently the elaborate grave of Theys, decorated with Morningstar flags, at night illuminated with numerous lamps. It is clearly visible for everybody who enters Jayapura by plane, as it is just at the junction of the airport road and the main road to Jayapura.

The Morning star flag also still flies defiantly, half-mast, at the house of Theys in Sentani, now without the Indonesian flag.

Appendix: Interview of Al Hamid by Radio Nederland Thaha : Perbuatan Itu Tidak Dapat Dipidana Pengadilan Negeri Jayapura membebaskan tiga orang tersangka makar kongres Papua. Salah satu alasan putusan Hakim ini karena kongres itu dijalankan sepengetahuan pemerintah, Kapolda, Panglima dan pemerintah daerah. Kami menghubungi Sekjen Presidium Dewan Papua, Thaha Al Hamid dan menanyakan apa tanggapannya terhadap putusan hakim ini.

Thaha Al Hamid [TAH] : Dalam Amar putusan Hakim tidak memakai istilah dibebaskan tetapi tidak dapat dipidana karena biarpun unsur makar dalam perkara itu seperti perbuatan berlanjut, perbuatan bersama-sama semuanya terbukti secara syah dan meyakinkan. Namun hakim berkeyakinan bahwa perbuatan itu tidak dapat dipidana karena dilakukan atas sepengetahuan dan ijin bahkan bantuan pemerintah pusat maupun pemerintah Papua. Kami melihat bahwa ini memberikan keyakinan pada rakyat Papua bahwa peaceful dialogue yang selama ini menjadi pendekatan, itu telah terbukti lebih baik dan terbukti menjadi sebuah pendekatan yang bermartabat.

Radio Nederland [RN] : Jadi anda tida puas dengan putusan ini ya, karena tidak dinyatakan benar-benar bebas?

TAH : Oh tidak, justeru keputusan Majelis Hakim Jayapura ini sungguh-sungguh keputusan yang sangat berani. Karena kali ini Majelis tidak lagi memakai pendekatan-pendekatan konvensional tapi Majelis justeru melihat bahwa biarpun toh unsur-unsur makar terlihat dalam peristiwa itu akan tetapi bagaimana itu bisa dikatakan makar apabila pemerintah terlibat, apabila pemerintah memberikan bantuan satu milyard, apabila pengibaran bendera itu melalui pembicaraan resmi dengan Kapolda dan Panglima. Yang ini oleh hakim akhirnya dijadikan bahan pertimbangan dan dinyatakan bahwa atas perbuatan itu maka tidak dapat dipidana. Saya kira ini sebuah Ijtihad hukum yang sangat baik sekali yang hakim di pengadilan negeri Jayapura lakukan.

RN : Nah kalau dalam putusan yang sama Hakim itu mengatakan bahwa membebaskan para tersangka makar. Maka mungkin dengan alasan yang sama bisa membuat pemerintah kemudian juga tentara dan pihak-pihak yang menyelenggarakan kongres itu juga disebut makar kan. Artinya bisa menjadikan mereka tersangka, dalam kasus ini. Menurut anda?

TAH : Benar, dengan pandangan Hakim seperti tadi, maka sebenarnya Hakim mau bertanya : kalau yang ada di depan ini saya hukum lalu bagaimana dengan Presiden Gus Dur yang terlibat memberikan bantuan, bagaimana dengan Kapolda dan Panglima yang memberikan ijin bagi pengibaran bendera, bagaimana dengan pemerintah daerah yang memberikan bantuan pada kongres baik itu bantuan bis, bantuan fasilitas dan seterusnya. Di sini soalnya apakah mereka juga akan dilibatkan sebagai turut serta melakukan itu kejahatan terhadap negara? De facto mereka tidak diajukan ke pengadilan. Sehingga hakim mengatakan bahwa semua perbuatan ini dilakukan berdasarkan sepengetahuan pemerintah, ada ijin dan bahkan pemerintah memberikan bantuan.

RN : Dalam rangka hari ulang tahun Kostrad, Panglima Kostrad Riyakudu di Jakarta mengatakan bahwa Kostrad akan kembali kepada semangat Majapahit yaitu melibas habis semua gerakan separatis. Kalau ini diterapkan kepada Papua, rasa-rasanya kok semangat Majapahit ini tidak sesuai ya untuk Papua. Karena bagaimanapun dalam kasus Papua, khususnya dalam kasus pembunuhan Tehys Eluay, tentara kan terlibat dan bagaimana mungkin pernyataan ini pas untuk Papua gitu?

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TAH : Yang pertama jelas Papua tidak pernah terlibat dengan Majapahit. Majapahit itu masa lalu ya, dan ingat bahwa dengan cara seperti itu maka Majapahit kemudian runtuh. Jadi 40 tahun operasi militer dilakukan di Papua, toh tetap tidak ada hasil. Keputusan Pengadilan negeri hari ini membuktikan bahwa ternyata pendekatan hukum juga tidak pernah ada hasil. Satu-satunya pendekatan yang hari ini harus dimajukan adalah peaceful dialogue dan itu yang menjadi tuntutan rakyat Papua.

Nah sehingga kalau pemerintah masih tetap menggunakan pendekatan konvensional, operasi militer, pendekatan hukum, proses hukum, tangkap tahan dan adili ini menunjukan bahwa pemerintah semakin tidak memiliki pilihan apa-apa, base concept untuk menyelesaikan persoalan-persoalan Papua terutama karena perjuangan Papua adalah berjuang secara damai dan bermartabat. Apakah pemerintah takut berdialog dengan orang Papua. Jadi saya kira itu hanya akan mempercepat dan mengingatkan kita kembali bahwa pendekatan itu memang dipakai oleh Majapahit tetapi dengan pendekatan itu juga Majapahit runtuh. Indonesia tidak bisa lagi dipertahankan hanya dengan moncong senjata, dengan kekerasan, dengan sepatu lars, tidak mungkin. (RN)

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