"The obstacles include a lack of evidence to prove some of the allegations. We also see, in several cases, a lack of witnesses to testify, since the cases occurred years ago," Wiranto told journalists on Thursday.

Nevertheless, he reiterated that the government remained committed to settling rights abuse cases, claiming law enforcers had made some progress by intensifying investigation efforts to deal with gross violations in Papua, so that the cases could be immediately prosecuted at the Attorney General's Office.

Similarly, Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Paulus Waterpauw said there were some difficult cases that the force was currently trying to settle, including the incident during the third Papuan People's Congress in 2011, when action by police and military officials to disperse the crowd allegedly resulted in the death of at least three Papuans.

Aside from that case, Papuan Police were currently handling three other cases, namely the Wamena incidents, the Yapen Waropen case, as well as the disappearance of Aristoteles Masoka, the driver of Theys Hiyo Eluay, one of Papua's best-known separatist leaders, Paulus said.

Meanwhile, other cases on a list of 12 incidents of alleged gross human rights violations in Papua, including the 2003 Wasior incident and the Paniai shooting of 2014, were being investigated by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and the AGO. (dmr)

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