Some notes on the murder of Theys Eluay, leader of the Papuan people, on 10 November 2001 by Kopasus soldiers

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More on the Murder of TheysEluay, Chairperson of the Presidium of the Papua Council,
on Heroes Day, 10 November 2001, in Jayapuar, West Papua
Tuesday, 12 March 2002,
The KPN, the special national investigation commission, set up by President Megawati,
is now on the track of investigating not only the brains behind the murder, but also
possibilities of government departments or army sections which ordered the murder.
Elsham will come with a detailed report by the middle of this month.
In the meantime the judge in the court session against three PDP (Presidium Dewan Papua or
Presidum of the Papua Council) members pronounced them guilty of high treason (makar),
which carries a minimum sentence of 20 years. The judge said, according to the
CenderawasihPos, that he would not give a punishment because these acts of treason, the
organization of Mubes(MusyawarahBesar or Great Consultation) and Second Papua Congress,
took place in public with support from the police, the army, including the Pangdam (Panglima
Daerah Militer or the Commander of the Military Region of Papua and the Moluccas) and the
Indonesian Government. This is the reason why, though guilty of the offence, they will not be
sentenced (“tidakdipidana”). This is different from an acquittal (“pembebasan”). The difference
between one and the other is important.
The Jakarta Post mentions, wrongly, that the three defendants have been acquitted:
Papuan leaders cleared off all charges
R.K. Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura
[From: www.thejakartapost.com 5 March 2002]
A district court in the easternmost province of Papua acquitted on Monday three pro-
independence leaders of the Papua Presidium Council, who had been tried on charges of
subversion.
What does this mean? If the judge has the guts he should bring the army, police and the
Government to court for high treason. But the definition of high treason excludes such
possibilities and also the law. The verdict may also imply that in the past the previous
Government, that of Gus Dur, was wrong in allowing the Papua Congress, the Morningstarflag
and the PDP. The present Government, of Megawati, takes it seriously and now these actions
are really high treason. So the PDP may have to be disbanded. It also means that the three who
are now convicted still have to be considered criminals who have committed a very serious
crime. It may have for instance a negative effect on the career of Don Flassy, who is secretary of
Bappeda. Another problem with the verdict is that if this becomes jurisprudence it will lead to a
very undesirable situation. The murderers of Theys are brought to court. The judge says on the
basis of this verdict: We declare you guilty but there is no sentence as you have done this with
the connivance of the Government, the police and the army! The defendants should appeal, just
as the public prosecutors
Some more details about TheysEluay
(in response to comments on my article about Theys in Inside Indonesia of April 2002):
Theys took the show serious, when he went to court sessions or when he was called by the
police to present himself. He usually went there with three truckloads of black shirted satgas
Papua, bravely waving the Morning star flag. This outfit had little to do with adat. He wore a
small cap with a feather and shorts; He was bare breasted, with some neck chains. He looked
more like an American Indian or a hippy of the 60s than a traditional Sentani leader, who used to
wear bark cloth.
Herman Awom gave away a similar show. He went in December 2000 in his ministerial gown to
the police, with the bible in his hand, to be imprisoned, accompanied by the members of his
church council. Also in court sessions he would wear his gown and was then very similarly
dressed as the judge. The judge, who is a Christian, did not like this at all and went in person to
the chairman of the Synod to complain.
The business links of TheysEluay still have to be researched. George Aditjiondro found a link
between Yorris and one of the main donors of the Kopassus. None of my sources have
mentioned Theys' involvement in business. He is not known as being rich, like for instance Bas

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Suebu, the former governor. The main issue, I think, is the source of money for the satgas of
Theys and of his foreign journeys, which did not have much result. Yorris offered the money at a
time when the Soeharto family had money available to create chaos in the country to prevent a
trial. At the time, attar the visit of the Tim Seratus to Habibie in February 1999, TheysEluay
proclaimed himself, all of his own, as “the Great Leader of Papua People
(PemimpinBesarBangsa Papua, with the same initials as the United Nations) he also appointed
Yorris, leader of the PemadaPancasila, close to Soeharto, as the representative of the
DewanAdat Papua outside Irian Jaya (Papua).
The murder of Theys is different from previous murders, because of his role in the struggle of the
Papuans, at least as it is perceived by the foreign media and by foreign governments. The
murder would be an “uncomplicated story”. The murder on 26 March 1999 of Obed, a Me
(Paniai) lecturer of FajarTimur for instance, did not lead to protests outside the Me community
and the community of students of the Catholic theological college, where he had been teaching.
Obed had a master’s degree from Washington University. Nobody has any idea why he was
murdered. The journalist for Kompas, also from Paniai, Octavianus Mote, who was doing
research on the case was threatened and had to flee. He is now in America. Two witnesses
were also eliminated and the third fled for his life. 27 February 2001 a minister from
KampungHarapan, Robert Ongge, 33 year old, was shot dead in broad daylight by police in the
shop of his in-laws in Abepura. He had studied theology in Yogyakarta and after graduation had
worked for years in Jakarta, and married a Chinese girl there. He had two children. He had just
returned from Jakarta when he was killed. The perpetrators were never brought to court. The
police commander said his men shot because they were still young and inexperienced. This all
was "uncomplicated”, that is it went unnoticed by the international community. There are more
such cases.
The “disappearance” of the driver
There were people, using cars and motorcycles, with red number plates (i.e. government owned
vehicles) searching for Ari after his disappearance. Cars and motorcycles went at nighttime
along the small dirt road alongside the house of the parents of Ari at KampungHarapan. There
are, however, five witnesses who have seen Ari enter the Kopassus headquarters in Hamadi,
which, by the way, is at the same place as a logging company owned by the Soeharto family.
People, and also his parents, fear that Ari is dead.
I have been wondering why Ari did go to the Kopassus. He could have sensed that they were
the perpetrators. Could it be that he considered the Kopassus as his friends?
There have been several stories going on about possible motives of the murderers. But several
of these theories were seen as drawing attention away from what from the beginning was seen
as the real perpetrators. CenderawasihPos interviewed some young and pretty TV and movie
stars in Jakarta who revealed that they were very close to "Om" Theys, implying that women
could be a factor in the murder. Kopassus had spread before the murder photos of Theys with
naked girls. YanekeOhee did not like this and she found consolation with four Kopassus who
gave her pastoral counciling. They ate and slept in Theys' house when he was away in Jakarta
or Timika. The main thrust of the story of Elsham is that the murder was organized at the
instigation of elements in the central government, which want to maintain the national unity,
whatever the costs.
The role of the satgas Papua, an initiative of Theys
There were different types of satgas. Theys had Satgas, many from the Tanah Merah area of
Demta and Depapre. I have not noticed any tribalism. I have also not heard that Papuans were
intimidated by Satgas. It is true that Papuans, Satgas and non-Satgas have been pestering
shopkeepers, asking for free cigarettes and money to buy a drink. They focused in particular on
those shopkeepers who did not give job opportunities to Papuans. One's basic attitude towards
Papuans made the difference between having one’s shop burnt down or not.
It is clear that the Satgas never enjoyed the immunity of the army and police.
The Satgas never formed a serious threat to the migrants (“pendatang”). The "pendatang" can
roughly be divided into three groups. One group is the transmigrants that received a plot of land
with a title deed and a house in a remote place. Most of these are Muslim and they remain poor.
They live in a kind of enclave. They live too far from town and are too poor to become a factor in
the equation of the struggle for the emancipation of the Papuans. The urban migrants can be

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divided into two groups: Muslims and Christians. The Papuans have not much difficulty with the
Christian migrants who come from areas where they themselves are a threatened minority like
Ambon, Saparoa, Tanimbar, the Kei islands, West Timor, Flores, Minahasa, Toraja and the
Batak area. These migrants understand the feelings of the Papuans well and are even willing to
be show solidarity with them. The largest groups of the Christian urban migrants are the Torajas
and the Menadonese with the Ambonese coming third. The Christian migrants share their wealth
with the Papuans in their contributions to the Church. Some take the biblical demand that they
should share 10 % of their wealth literally! I estimate that one half to two third of the income of
the largest church in WP, the GKI, comes from congregations dominated by migrants. Half of
this money is channeled back to the poor presbyteries of Papuans in the interior. These
Christian migrants know that the strange logic of “spy war” could mean that they become the first
targets, not of the Papuans, but of the “provocateurs, the militias etc. to drive a wedge between
them and the Papuans. They should show solidarity with their Muslim compatriots against the
primitive, dangerous Papuans.
The migrants have remained in control all the time. Only 3 % of the Papuans are in government
service. 80 % of the army and police consists of non-Papuans. There is only one Papua judge.
Very few Papuans occupy any of the top posts outside the church. Posts like bank manager,
head of Bappeda, Dandrim, Kapolda, Kapolres, and Pangdam are occupied by, in most cases,
Muslim migrants. There are hardly any Papuan shopkeepers. No Papuan garage owners,
owners of carpenter's shop, blacksmiths, repair shops, VCD rental shops etc. Even the flesh
trade (prostitution, massage, karaoke, bars) does not employ Papua girls. Papuan women have
the pinang street trade, but not exclusively. The women also sell, like in our village, Yoka, palm
wine (saguer). Young Papuan men are now seen as parking attendants. This brings in Rp 1,000
for each parked car. This is a lot of money. These parking attendants are the last memory of the
Satgas Papua, who once claimed the streets of the towns back for the Papuans. But in the
economy in Papua Province these economic activities remain very marginal.
The amazing thing is, in fact, that the Satgas were, generally speaking, nonviolent. It could have
been quite different. There always was the understanding among Papuans that the Papuan
struggle was to be peaceful. It was in fact a religious struggle, comparable to that of the
Israelites who were led by Moses out of the bondage of Egypt. Theys and the other PDP leaders
over and over stressed the non-violence. Those Papuans who may have wanted violence were
accused of being traitors to the Papuan case, hired "provocateurs.
I see the Papuans in the first place as victims. There is a very high death rate among them. The
educational and health services are very poor and benefit disproportionately the migrants. The
aggression is elsewhere. The police is never eager to find the murderers if the victim is a Papua.
Almost every year a Papuan was murdered in the pasarSentani, in the four years we lived in
Sentani. Only in one case there was a retaliation by Papuans. The three Papua murderers of a
Bugineseojek driver were sentenced and imprisoned. Police sya they were unable to find the
Buginese murderer of a Papua in the pasar.
On Saturday 10 November the Kopassus celebrated “Heroes Day” at their barracks in Hamadi.
The people who were invited had some link with the integration of Irian into Indonesia in 1963.
According to people present at the party for the "heroes" of Irian Jaya, the commander of the
Kopassus got his microphone and said loudly goodbye to Theys when he wanted to leave
around 10 o'clock in the evening. "Goodbye to the Great Leader of the Papuans. Have a safe
journey home." Now people feel that this was to warn his men outside to be ready. A few days
after the abduction and murder Kopassus soldiers were seen cleaning the place of the abduction
in Skyline very thoroughly.
I see it as a form of Papuan creativity to turn a bad thing into something different. It was argued
that Theys should be buried near the DPR on the waterfront of Jayapura. Then some coined the
idea to have a Papuan Heroes Acre, just like the Indonesian army has it in Abepura, next to the
military prison. Arnold Ap and Thomas Wanggay should also be reburied there. The government
in Jakarta cannot be very happy to see so prominently the elaborate grave of Theys, decorated
with Morningstar flags, at night illuminated with numerous lamps. It is clearly visible for
everybody who enters Jayapurafrom the airport, as the field is just at the junction of the airport
road and the main road to Jayapura.

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The Morning star flag also still flies defiantly, half-mast, at the house of Theys in Sentani, now
without the Indonesian flag.