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Jokowi urged to establish inquiry into Paniai tragedy
A joint forum of Papuan church leaders has urged President Joko âJokowiâ Widodo to set up a commission of inquiry on human rights violations (KPP HAM) to investigate alleged rights abuses in the Paniai shooting incident that left five civilians dead on Dec
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joint forum of Papuan church leaders has urged President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo to set up a commission of inquiry on human rights violations (KPP HAM) to investigate alleged rights abuses in the Paniai shooting incident that left five civilians dead on Dec.8, 2014.
The church leaders united under the Oikoumene partnership forum in Papua voiced their request in a press conference at the Papua Kingmi Sinode office in Jayapura, on Monday.
'We are entering the fourth month after the incident and we have not yet seen any sign of authorities' efforts to uncover the facts behind the shooting of the students in Paniai. Ongoing investigations have not given clear information to the families of the victims about those who were responsible for the incident,' said Rev. Socratez Yoman, head of the Papua Baptis Church Sinode.
He said investigation results presented by the Papua Police in a meeting facilitated by the Papua Human Rights Regional Commission secretariat on March 5 lacked details.
'In the report, there is a sense that the police want to protect their officers. It seems that the police want to break the incident into separate cases that are not related to each other so that it will be difficult for us to find the perpetrators of the shooting,' said Socratez.
Responding to the statement, Papua Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Rudolf Patrige said all elements of society should support and communicate with each other to find a resolution to the Paniai incident.
'The main obstacle investigators are facing during investigation is that people still have not come forward to provide statements on what they heard and saw or experienced,' he said.
Kingmi Sinode head Rev.Benny Giai said there was a widespread sense among people that their statements would probably be pointless.
'They think, 'why do I have to give statements to the perpetrators? That would be pointless',' said Giai.
With such reluctance, he said, it would be better for President Jokowi to establish the KPP HAM so that the Paniai case could be resolved completely. (ebf)
