Markus You, Jayapura – Demanding justice for the fatal shooting of Tobias Silak and the wounding of Naro Dapla in Dekai, Yahukimo regency, Papua Highlands, national actions were held in several cities on December 16.
Aside from Jayapura, similar actions were held in Jakarta, the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar and other cities.
A peaceful action was held by the Justice Front for Tobias Silak in Jayapura in front of the Waena Expo portal. A statement was read out from the Waena expo stage by various youth and student organisations in Jayapura.
Meanwhile, a similar peaceful action was held by the Justice Front for Tobias Silak in Jakarta. The action, which took place in front of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) offices, was marked by the burning of a tyre which was referred to as a symbol of lighting the fire of justice for Silak.
The simultaneous actions were held in response to a call for national actions to demand justice for the shooting incidents that killed Silak and injured Dapla. The call, which was made by Justice Front for Tobias Silak coordinator Herlina Sobolim, was issued on December 12.
The peaceful actions were also a response to the slow progress of the investigation into the shootings by the Papua Regional Police (Polda).
The delays have been apparent since August 20 when the Yahukimo District Police made out a police report, which was then sent to Papua Regional Police investigators to conduct an investigation and had evidence in the form of witness statements, documents (visum et repertum, official autopsy report), expert statements (from doctors) and material evidence in the form of the motorbike, the victim's clothes and other items.
Up until now however, the Papua police investigators have still not yet named a suspect in the case. The slowness of police investigators in naming any suspects goes against the provisions of the Criminal Procedural Code (KUHAP), which state that by having two pieces of evidence a suspect can be named.
In this case, the investigators have more than two pieces of evidence, so the demonstrators questioned why up until now, after six months have passed, the Papua police have not yet declared a suspect.
In speeches at the demonstrations, it was revealed that the shootings were carried out by members of the Cartenz Peace Operation Task Force. This may be one of the reasons why Papua Police investigators have been unable to determine who the suspect is.
In response to this, the Justice Front for Tobias Silak in Jakarta and Jayapura conveyed a number of demands.
- That Komnas HAM immediately announce the results of the investigation into the shooting of Tobias Silak and Naro Dapla.
- That the perpetrators of the shootings be arrested, dismissed and tried in court.
- That the Papua Regional Police immediately hand over the case investigation files to the prosecutor's office.
- That Komnas HAM and the Papua Regional Police reveal the intellectual actor behind the shootings.
- That the Cartenz Peace Operation Taskforce be disbanded and removed from the land of Papua.
In Makassar, University and High-School Student Papuan People's Solidarity Forum of Concern (FSMPPRP) together with the Justice Front for Tobias Silak urged Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Human Rights Minister (Menham) Natalius Pigai to immediately uncover and resolve all cases of human rights violation in Papua, including the shooting of Silak and Dapla.
Notes
The original Suara Papua article did not specify on what date the actions were held but other media sources reported that they took place on December 16.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Aksi Damai Tuntut Pelaku Penembakan Tobias Silak dan Naro Dapla di Dekai Segera Diproses".]
