Here is the latest situation of the Wunin and Guyagwe people after the attack and the clearance committed by Kujang YONIF 310  Special Force last March.  In this attack the military burned houses, livestock and gardens and killed innocent civilians.

The situation in Wunin and Gweyage villages is still silent and empty. The community traditional houses (honay) and gardens have been left by their owners. All community members of Wunin village and Gweyage village are still in the forests and until now their existence has not yet been identified (by the Indonesian military).

Based on the SPM News crews' direct observation in the field, the houses in the two villages had been empty since the military clearance and massive attack last March. The military special force [KOPASSUS] personnel from KUJANG YONIF 310 still guarded the area, searched and had operation to chase the civilians. The military personnel burned the community's houses, destroyed their gardens and stole their livestock for the consumption of the military personnel and they also gave the benefits to the military district commander in Wamena and the Trikora High chief commander.

The villages, which before were beautiful and full of laughter, are now empty. Houses are without inhabitants because their owners had been forced to flee. Wild grass and plants have grown and covered the area where the houses were burned and the houses have become home for the mice and other animals.

The people's lives are threatened because there is no food. Their health has deteriorated because there is no medicine especially for women, children and older people. They have no homes and blankets for people to lay their bodies. When babies are crying, there is no cassava to feed them. People are suffering from injuries they had when they tried to save their lives from the military's attack.

Life is very difficult. Mosquitos, rain, cold and hot weather threaten the health of the people. Lots of people are seriously ill and are in a critical condition. Women and children are dying from hunger and illness. There has not been any food and medicines provided in their hiding place for 2 months.

Based on the information received from SPM News crews in Wunin and Gweyage, the community's condition is in a critical condition. Their place is difficult to reach. The people do not want to return to their place because they feel insecure. Their village where they have lived for many years from their ancestor's time until now is left in ruins.

The regency leaders of Tolikara have ignored the situation. The regent, Billy Jamlean and John Tabo have not made any serious attempt to rebuild Wunin and Gweyage villages. There have also been no efforts from the Government to seek to help the people who have fled to the forest to save their lives from the military personnel who do not care about human beings and are always willing to commit crimes.

Billy Jamlean, is one of the best known figures from Key Tanimbar tribe and John Tabo, is one of the best known figures from Toraja Makassar tribe. The intelligent officers from the Indonesian intelligence agency (BIN, BAIS, and BAKIN) in Jakarta had trained these two migrant leaders. Their job was to prepare the ground for the killing and the annihilation of the Tolikara community. This is in line with the plan to build a military regional force (KODAM 765 Wamena). In doing this, they cooperated with John Banua, an Indonesian intelligence officer/agent in Wamena.

As described above, the villages were destroyed and left without the community. The community is now suffering from hunger and illness. As human beings, we should not let this situation continue. We predict that within a few days of sending out this report, we will hear news about more deaths of members of the Wunin and Gweyage communities.
This is not a new thing because it has been a secret strategy of the Indonesian military for many years that in order to kill a significant number of civilians, the military just perform a clearance operation and force the community to flee to the forests where there is no food, medical supplies, homes, etc., and as a result the community will die because of hunger and illness. Through this way the military try to save their face from the accusation of state institutional crime.

A clear indication is shown by the presence of the military special force personnel [KOPASSUS] from TNI YONIF KUJANG 310 along the road from Wamena to Tolikara and especially in every village and on the border between Wunin and Gweyage. At the time this report is sent out, the military personnel are still conducting clearance operations. To make the situation even worse, the military not only secured the area but also killed and stole the community's livestock.

As a result, the people are afraid to return to their villages because they will have terror and threats from the TNI who are still conducting clearance operations. This supports the evidence as to why the community has not been found. Several church leaders have attempted to search for the existence of the community, but they have not found them yet. Besides, the community do not easily trust people (from the outside) as they feel that the people visiting them are spies from military who are trying to find their hiding place.

Our expectation is that all the people of West Papua and the international community will take notice of this situation, which has been intentionally created by TNI/POLRI as a military operation zone. The military operation zone has become a 'fertile land' for the TNI and Police projects particularly for those who seek higher rank and position. In order to achieve promotion, the TNI and the Police must diligently create conflicts in every area on Papuan land.

Richard Samuelson
Free West Papua Campaign
Oxford, U.K.
E-Mail: samoxen@aol.com
Tel: +44 (0)1865 241200
www.freewestpapua.org