Satgas Polri - TNI Evakuasi 344 Warga yang Terisolir di Tembagapura
Indonesia Evacuates Villagers after Shootings near Freeport Copper Mine

Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
Jum'at, 17 November 2017
Foto: istimewa

TNI dan Polri pada Jumat mengevakuasi warga desa yang menurut pihak berwenang diduduki oleh separatis bersenjata setelah serangkaian penembakan di dekat tambang tembaga raksasa Grasberg yang dioperasikan oleh Freeport McMoRan Inc di Papua.

Dua polisi tewas tertembak dan setidaknya 12 orang terluka akibat tembakan di daerah tersebut sejak pertengahan Agustus. Polisi menuding 'kelompok kriminal bersenjata', namun ada juga yang mengatakan bahwa orang-orang bersenjata itu terkait dengan pemberontak separatis.

Menurut laporan polisi, kelompok tersebut menempati Desa Banti dan Kimbely di dekat kota pertambangan Tembagapura dan telah mengisolasi sekitar 1.300 penduduk desa tersebut, yang mengakibatkan mereka kekurangan makanan.

Para pemimpin polisi dan militer mengatakan bahwa mereka telah mendesak orang-orang bersenjata tersebut untuk menyerah, namun juga memperingatkan bahwa tindakan keras dapat dilakukan jika pendekatan 'persuasif' mereka gagal.

Warga dievakuasi ke sebuah balai olahraga di Tembagapura, menurut seorang sumber di Freeport.

Lebih dari 340 warga dari dua desa dievakuasi dan daerah tersebut telah diamankan oleh polisi dan militer, menurut pernyataan resmi polisi.

"Kami berharap mereka bisa kembali dengan selamat ke desa masing-masing," kata Kapolda Papua dalam video evakuasi yang disebarkan polisi.

"Selama misi penyelamatan, terjadi baku tembak senjata api dari pagi sampai tengah hari," kata Kabid Humas Polda Papua, Kombes Ahmad Mustofa Kamal.

Wakil Bupati Mimika Yohanes Bassang meminta keluarga di Timika untuk membawa keluarga yang dievakuasi "untuk menghindari masalah lebih lanjut".

Bassang mengatakan bahwa banyak penduduk desa berasal dari Sulawesi dan datang ke daerah itu untuk mencari emas.

KKB yang mengklaim mereka sebagai Tentara Pembebasan Nasional Papua Barat (TPN-OPM), kelompok yang terkait dengan Gerakan Papua Merdeka, mengaku bertanggung jawab atas penembakan tersebut dan menyatakan perang melawan militer, polisi dan Freeport, namun membantah telah menyandera warga desa.

Seorang wakil dari kelompok tersebut, Hendrik Wanmang, mengatakan dalam sebuah wawancara sebelumnya bahwa kehadiran Freeport telah mengakibatkan 'intimidasi, pemerkosaan dan kematian ribuan warga Papua', serta merusak lingkungan dan habitat hewan.

Seorang juru bicara Freeport Indonesia menolak berkomentar mengenai hal tersebut. Situs perusahaan mengatakan bahwa pihaknya berkomitmen untuk memastikan kegiatannya 'sesuai dengan Deklarasi Universal Hak Asasi Manusia PBB, peraturan perundang-undangan di Indonesia, dan budaya masyarakat yang berasal dari wilayah operasi perusahaan kami'.

Freeport juga memastikan bahwa "pertimbangan lingkungan merupakan bagian integral dari semua perencanaan, rekayasa dan operasi", katanya.

Menurut beberapa warga yang diwawancarai oleh Reuters, petugas militer dan polisi mencegah mereka mendapatkan makanan dari Tembagapura, di mana bantuan makanan dikirim dalam sebuah kontainer kargo pada Sabtu.

"Atmosfer benar-benar memanas," kata seorang penduduk, merujuk pada penembakan dan kekhawatiran akan persediaan makanan dan keamanan yang dilansir MailOnline.


INDONESIA on Friday began evacuating villages that authorities said had been occupied by armed separatists after a string of shootings near the giant Grasberg copper mine operated by Freeport McMoRan Inc in the eastern province of Papua.

Two police have been killed and at least 12 people have been wounded by gunfire in the area since mid-August. Police have blamed an "armed criminal group", but others have said the gunmen were linked to separatist rebels.

According to police reports, the group occupied the villages of Banti and Kimbely near the mining town of Tembagapura and had prevented an estimated 1,300 residents from leaving, leading to food shortages.

Police and military leaders said they have urged the gunmen to surrender, but have also warned that tough measures could follow if their "persuasive" approach fails.

Residents were being evacuated to a sports hall in Tembagapura, according to a source at Freeport.

More than 340 residents from the two villages were evacuated and the area had been secured by the police and military, according to a police statement.

"We hope they can return safely to their respective villages," Papua Police chief said in a video of the evacuation distributed by police.

"During the rescue mission, there was an exchange of fire from morning to midday," police spokesman Ahmad Mustofa Kamal told Reuters.

Mimika Deputy Regent Yohanes Bassang asked families in Timika to take in evacuated relatives "to avoid further problems".

Bassang said many of the villagers were from the east Indonesian island of Sulawesi and had come to the area to pan for gold.

The separatist West Papua National Liberation Army (TPN-OPM), a group linked to the Free Papua Movement, has claimed responsibility for the shootings and declared war against the military, police and Freeport, but denied it was holding villagers hostage.

A representative of the group, Hendrik Wanmang, told Reuters in an earlier interview Freeport's presence had led to the "intimidation, rape and extermination of thousands of Papuan people", as well as destruction of the natural environment and wildlife.

A spokesman for Freeport Indonesia declined to comment on the matter. The company website said it is committed to ensuring its activities are "in line with the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the laws and regulations of Indonesia, and the cultures of communities native to operating areas of our company".

Freeport also ensures that "environmental considerations are an integral part of all planning, engineering and operations", it says.

According to several residents interviewed by Reuters, military and police officers were preventing them from getting food from Tembagapura, where food aid was delivered in a cargo container on Saturday.

"The atmosphere has really heated up," one resident said, referring to the shootings and concerns over food supplies and safety.

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