‘year of setbacks’

OPM reckons ’81 as ‘year of setbacks’

Sources in the Free West Papua movement (OPM) regard 1981 as a year of setbacks, and consider that the Indonesian and Papua New Guinean authorities came off best for the year. They allege that the PNG and Indonesian Governments co-ordinated a well-planned as sault against them in the two main centres of West Irian activism Jayapura and the refugee community in Port Moresby.

The PNG Government was the more succesful because it contributed to the suppression of an attempt by refugees to maintain an information office and issue a ncwletler. A number of alleged OPM sympathisers among the refugees were de ported to Irian Jaya, or had life made difficult for them. They were subject to house raids and dismissal from employment.

West Irianese maintain that such tactics by PNG security

personnel ‘transform moderates into radicals’. House raids in Port Moresby, Madang and Vanimo followed the seizure by police of a letter, purporting to have originated from OPM sources, which was addressed to an intermediary in Turkey and which requested Russian assist ance (PIM Sep ’Bl p 45). The letter had been returned Irom Turkey unclaimed.

House raids occurred in A pril and nothing of note was found by security. They seized a number of photographs which contained pictures of people whom authorities considered may be foreign sympathisers of the OPM. Those included group shots of Japanese and ni- Vanuatu, and Hilda Lini, sister of Vanuatu’s prime minister, was seen among the latter group. Legal aid was necessary to secure return of the photos.

Afterwards security leaked to the press the reason for the raids alleged Cuban involve ment with the OPM. Following this incident, PNG security requested neighbouring countries to crack down on alleged OPM sympathisers.

A few months earlier, secur ity was responsible for the leaking of information that two OPM factions in the PNG-Irian Jaya border region were at loggerheads. Eki Bemey, the newly appointed successor to Martin Tabu and Jacob Prai, was supposedly looking for Seth Rumkorem, another OPM leader. To achieve his purpose, PNG sources stated that he kidnapped a village headman who, he thought, knew the location of Rumkorem’s hide out. OPM officials in Jayapura claim that this incident never

occurred, and was fabricated by authorities in an attempt to discredit them. The headman was a person who in 1978 had his headman’s salary of 120 Kina a month withdrawn in an attempt to bring him to heel. He was accused at the time of helping foreign journalists who wished to visit OPM camps in the border region.

In May, West Irian refugee groups in Port Moresby opened an information centre to dis seminate information from Irian Jaya and function as a community centre. In July, they attempted to produce a newslet ter, but authorities warned printers not to have anything to do with it. Printing took place elsewhere and two issues were produced before financial prob lems caused the eight-page pub lication to close down for the time being.

During the year there have been sporadic attempts to influence the Vanuatu govern ment to expel the only West Irian resident in Porl-Vila. This man arrived in Vanuatu in February after being given

Vanuatu travel documents, fol lowing attempts by PNG authorities to restrict his activi ties, and consider him for de portation to Irian Jaya.

Inside Irian Jaya, Eki Bemey is still in control of the largest OPM group. He was born in the Gengem area of Irian Jaya, and his initial experience of political activism occurred during the 1967 disturbances. He later became a government employee and fled to the bush in 1980 to join Martin Tabu, when the Indonesian authorities were searching for Tabu.

During 1981, the OPM en gaged in sporadic attacks on Indonesian army camps and strategic installations. The most successful raid occurred when the OPM attacked a sawmill and camp where they captured 50 hostages, mainly Indonesian management personnel and workmen. Authorities at tempted to intercept the guer rillas but were unsuccessful. At the time of writing, the 50 hostages are still with the OPM in the mountains south of Jaya pura. OPM sources claim that

the main problem involved in holding so many hostages is acquiring food for them.

In August, OPM guerrillas attacked the gaol at Adapura, south of Jayapura, which con tained many OPM captives.

During the skirmish, there was heavy loss of life on both sides.

The Indonesians and OPM issued conflicting claims con cerning the number of casualties. The former claimed

that 15 OPM and one Indonesian soldier were killed.

Guerrilla sources stated that casualties were much higher.

They pul OPM dead at 51 and wounded at 141. In addition, they claimed that of 268 Indonesian troops involved in the engagement, 139 were killed or wounded.

What seems certain is that Indonesian casualties were much higher than the official figures.

Outside Jayapura and other urban areas, the OPM are in effective control, and this has led to a reluctance by the Indonesians to travel by land where the probability of am bush is high. Most travel by authorities is done by helicopter to keep casualties down.

Many skirmishes in Irian Jaya go unnoticed by the world media. This is due to strict censorship of news by Indonesian authorities and rela tively inefficient and sporadic communications between the OPM guerrillas and refugee groups outside Irian Jaya. By a Special Correspondent.

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