Rebellion at Freeport

[SW <sjwright@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>From the 20/3/96 edition of _GreenLeft Weekly_:

http://www.peg.apc.org/~stan/224/224p2b.htm

> Rebellion at Freeport
>
> By Norm Dixon
>
> Thousands of West Papuan villagers have rebelled against the giant
> Freeport gold and copper mine in the Indonesian-occupied western
> half of New Guinea. The uprising caused extensive damage to the mine
> and forced its closure for several days.
>
> Freeport is controlled by the US company Freeport McMoran. The
> Anglo-Australian company RTZ-CRA recently acquired 12% of the
> project in a deal that guarantees it 40% of any increased output.
>
> Resentment against the world's largest gold mine has been simmering
> over the massive environmental damage, denial of traditional land
> rights and the mine management's collaboration with the Indonesian
> military to maintain operations. Support for the Free Papua Movement
> (OPM) is reported to be strong in the area.
>
> Indonesian army personnel guarding the mine killed up to 37 people
> during 1995. In February, army officials were found guilty of
> ordering troops to shoot villagers.
>
> On March 8, a Freeport vehicle was involved in an accident in the
> mining town of Tembagapura which injured a local villager. Relatives
> of the man were denied access to him in hospital, and feelings ran
> high. Then on March 10 a woman and her son were manhandled by
> Freeport security guards at the Tembagapura shopping centre. This
> sparked the riots.
>
> A petrol dump was set alight, and Freeport buildings and airport
> facilities were attacked. Timika, a town of 50,000 some 85
> kilometres away, was placed under martial law by the Indonesian
> authorities after villagers forced the closure of the airport.
> Indonesian troops fired rubber bullets as 500 villagers surrounded
> an aircraft with a senior army officer on board.
>
> West Papuans in touch with the protesters told the Inter Press
> Service's Pratap Chatterjee on March 13: We fight against Jim
> Moffett [chief executive of Freeport McMoran], Freeport and the
> government. We fight because our rights are not recognised, our
> resources are extracted and destroyed while our lives are taken.
>
> The activists told Chatterjee that after the woman was attacked by
> the security guards at the shopping centre, she returned to the
> settlement of Banti and told the villagers. A crowd of 3000 men,
> women and children who were really mad marched to Tembagapura to
> confront the Freeport security. They were armed with bows, arrows,
> sticks and stones and they attacked the security office. The
> violence continued on Monday morning [March 11] when they attacked
> offices, schools and the shopping centre Seven security guards were
> injured.
>
> On March 12, the protests spread to Timika, where demonstrators
> reportedly commandeered Freeport buses and bulldozers. One group
> proceeded to the airport and the Sheraton Hotel [owned by Freeport]
> and the environmental laboratory, the activists told Chatterjee.
> They were met by army troops who prevented them from going any
> further. Some army troops also joined the protesters. Meanwhile
> another group proceeded to Kuala Kencana, he added.
>
> Kuala Kencana is a new Freeport company town under construction
> eight kilometres from the Timika airport. According to the
> London-based human rights group Tapol, thousands of people ran riot
> in Kuala Kencana, attacking security offices and company buildings
> and equipment.
>
> It's like civil war. The Indonesian army sent in over 500 new troops
> from Jayapura, activists told Chatterjee. Two protesters were
> wounded, and several villagers have been arrested. The streets are
> now being patrolled by heavily armed troops. The mine reportedly
> resumed operations on March 15.
>
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