Financial Times; Sep 06, 2002
ASIA-PACIFIC: Army's role queried in gold mine killings
By Shawn Donnan and Tom McCawley in Jakarta
When gunmen ambushed a convoy of foreign workers attached to the massive US- owned Grasberg gold and copper mine in the troubled province of West Papua last Saturday, the Indonesian military was quick to blame separatist rebels.
In the days since, it has launched a new offensive in the area of the mine, operated by New Orleans-based Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold. The goal, ostensibly, is to find gunmen who killed two American teachers and an Indonesian colleague, and wounded 10 others.
But diplomats, human rights workers, and other analysts have expressed doubts about whether the members of the Free Papua Organisation (OPM) could have undertaken such an attack.
More and more observers believe the military, with its long chequered history, may have had a hand in the raid. At a time when its stock is diminishing elsewhere in Indonesian society, analysts say, the military may be the only institution with something to gain. Especially if it uses the attacks as an excuse to reinvigorate its campaign in Papua, one of a number of provinces where it is fighting separatists.
Indonesian officials have blamed the attack on the rebels, saying it suited the OPM to destroy the confidence of international investors in Indonesia's security environment. But analysts say the attack was out of character for the OPM, which is more renowned for its use of bows and arrows than its tactical wherewithal. In the four decades it has been fighting for independence, the OPM has never killed foreigners. While it has kidnapped westerners, it has always released them relatively quickly and unharmed.
The movement would also have nothing to gain by attacking US citizens in the post-9/ 11 climate and Papuan activists have been quick to condemn the attack.
The OPM commander, Kelly Kwalik, has denied being involved and had been discussing a ceasefire. Those who know him also question whether his band had the firepower for such an ambush.
"I know Kelly Kwalik and his men," said John Rumbiak, a West Papuan human rights advocate. "They only have two guns! They only have arrows and bows!"
Mr Rumbiak believes the attacks may have been motivated by a desire to play to the US and its war on terrorism as Washington and Jakarta discuss restoring military ties. If that was the objective, the gunmen may have succeeded. US diplomats dubbed the attack "an outrageous act of terrorism".
If the military was involved, the attack could also be a sign of fraying relations between Freeport and military stationed at the mine, which is both the world's largest gold and copper mine and Indonesia's single largest taxpayer.
Denise Leith, the author of a forthcoming book on Freeport's relationship with the military, said the company and the soldiers it pays to provide security have often had a tense relationship. Human rights activists have long blamed Freeport's close ties to the military for abuses around the mine. But the military, Mrs Leith said, also has a history of pilfering from the company and reacting badly whenever it tried to stop them. "When Freeport annoys the military (the military) stage an incident to prove to Freeport that they can't do without the military," she said.
However, the economic damage may already have been done. Direct foreign investment approvals more than halved to $2.67bn in the seven months to the end of July, against the same period last year.