Antara, 21 March 2006

1. NAVY SEIZES RP7.6 BILLION WORTH OF POACHED FISH FROM FOREIGN VESSELS
2. CERTAIN PARTIES WANT HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATED IN ABEPURA INCIDENT : MINISTER
3. CABINET DECIDES TO LET FREEPORT CONTINUE OPERATIONS IN PAPUA
4. FOURTEEN PEOPLE DECLARED SUSPECTS IN ABEPURA INCIDENT

1. NAVY SEIZES RP7.6 BILLION WORTH OF POACHED FISH FROM FOREIGN VESSELS

Timika, Papua  - Indonesian Navy patrols in the Aru and Arafura seas in Papua province have seized  thousands of tons of illegally caught fish worth Rp7.6 billion (almost US$76,000)  from tens of foreign fishing vessels, a Navy spokesman said.

ANTARA reported the foreign ships which had poached in Indonesian waters and had been detained at the naval  bases in Timika and Maumere in Papua were from China, Korea, Thailand and Taiwan.

The navy ships also seized five Indonesian boats that had been  fishing in the waters illegally and secured about 1,540 tons of fish from the trawlers.

Most of the captured vessels  were trawlers equipped with modern facilities such as cold storages that allowed them to be at sea for days on end.

Timika naval base commander Lt Col Alex Firmansyah and a number of reporters observed the hauls which included sharks.

One of the detained fishermen, Thai national Katonhsak (33) said his boat was captured because it was using  banned nets.

"I have been using the nets for the past four years," he said.

Lt. Col. Alex said his unit was interrogating 345 crew members of 10 Thai, three Chinese, two Taiwanese  trawlers and one Indonesian fishing boat.

Meanwhile, the naval base in Maumere district was detaining  seven Chinese, two Thai, three Taiwanese trawlers including one which was carrying 60 tons of illegal fuel oil, one Korean trawler and five Indonesian fishing boats.

Alex said if found guilty the skippers of the detained trawlers could be imprisoned for five years or ordered to fines of up to Rp200 billion.

    Timika district court head Puji Harjono said the conficated fishes would be auctioned and the auction's proceeds  contrubuted to the  state  coffers.

2. CERTAIN PARTIES WANT HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATED IN ABEPURA INCIDENT : MINISTER

 Jakarta  - Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said investigations into last Thursday's bloody incident in Abepura, Papua, had produced proof that certan parties had wanted the security troops involved to act in violation of human rights so that the Papua problem could be internationalized.

"There were certain parties that wanted the security forces to commit human right abuses in the Abepura incident, so that Papua problem could become an international issue," Juwono told reporters before attending a limited cabinet session at the presidential office here  Monday.

Juwono also said there were indications that the Abepura riot in which four security officers died  and tens of others were injured had not happened without some people making certain preperations for it.

Three policemen and one Indonesian Air Force member were killed after they failed to flee the area after the security troops were outnumbered by the rioting demonstrators.

The mob used big stones to fight and main security officers confronting them. 

"It (the incident) would not have occured, if there had been no preparations from the stones to weapons," the minister said.

He added the security agencies were now investigating why problems always arose in connection with the operations of American companies  such as giant mining company of PT Freeport Indonesia and the oil company PT ExxonMobil.

"Who knows that later a problem will also emerge in relation with US investment in  Natuna," he added.

Police in Papua have named 12 suspects in the riot that took place in front of the Cendrawasih University last Thursday.

Head of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) Syamsir Siregar, meanwhile, said investigations carried out by his men had shown that  local non-govermental organizations (NGOs) were involved in the incident.

"There were several NGOs with oversea ties took  part in sponsoring the incident," he added.

Asked about the possible involvement of local public figures or former officials in the incident, Syamsir said, "Whoever, or of whatever rank or position he or she is, if they are proven to be guilty, they will be processed before the law."

Thursday's anti-Freeport demonstration turned into a bloody clash  after security offices asked the demonstrators to remove the blockade they put up on the road between Jayapura, the provincial capital, and Sentani airport.

3. CABINET DECIDES TO LET FREEPORT CONTINUE OPERATIONS IN PAPUA

Jakarta  - A limited cabinet session led by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono here Monday decided that PT Freeport Indonesia should continue its mining operation in Papua, and the way in which the company's funds for community development was channeled, examined or audited.   

"PT Freeport should continue to operate for the sake of all the parties involved," Economic Affairs Coordinating Minister Boediono told the press in a briefing on the results of the cabinet meeting held at the presidential office.

The decision comes days after the occurrence of a violent clash between members of the local community including students demanding PT Freeprt's closure and security personnel in Abepura, Jayapura, Papua on Thursday last week.

In the confrontation four security officers were killed and dozen of other security personnel and civilians injured. 

Boediono, in the company of Political, Legal and Security Coordinating Minister Widodo AS and Energy and Natural Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, said the Freeport issue was  specifically discussed for three hours during the cabinet meeting.

In the meantime, Political, Legal and Security Minister Widodo AS said the demonstration which took place in Abepura had gone  beyond the legal corridor.

"In our view, that the street rally went beyond the existing legal corridor," said Widodo who visitted Jayapura last week together with National Police Chief Gen Sutanto and Indonesian Intelligence Agency Chairman Syamsir Siregar at the request of the head of state.

Widodo said Freeport each year allocates Rp400 billion to the people living in the vicinity of its mining area under a community development program.  In addition, two biggest tribes such as Amungme and Komoro respectively receive Rp5 billion.

"We will audit the funds in the sense whether it is fully used for the community or not," he said.

Meanwhile, the Papuan office of the National Commission on Human Rights has established a team to investigate the violence in  Thursday's incident in Abepura.

'The death of four officers is a strong indication that human right violations have taken place. But before we jump to any conclusion, we will conduct a thorough investigation," Commission secretary Friets Ramandey said.

4. FOURTEEN PEOPLE DECLARED SUSPECTS IN ABEPURA INCIDENT

Jayapura, Papua - Police have so far questioned a total of 76 people in connection with the bloody Abepura incident but only 14 have been declared suspects, a spokesman said here Monday.

Director of the Papua police's criminal investigation department, Senior Commissioner Paulus Waterpauw said, "Only 14 out of the 76 people we have questioned were declared suspects" in the clash that killed three officers of the police's elite Mobile Brigade and a member of the Air Force. 

Waterpauw said earlier 12 people were believed to have committed a criminal offence during the clash. 

On a separate occasion, Papuan Police Chief Inspector General Tommy Yacobus said he had pulled out Mobile Brigade members who had  combed a number of student dormitories and local people's residences near the scene of the Abepura in search of the perpetrators of the violence. 

Yacobus also offered his apologies to four journalists of Metro TV, RCTI, ANTV and daily Tempo for harsh action of his subordinates in the field who were reported to have mistreated them.

The incident happened after hundreds of university students in front of the Cendrawasih University campus set up road blocks accentuate their demand for the closure of PT Freeport operations in Papua.