“Fifteen years ago today – 6 July 1998 – a massacre was taking place,” said Prof. Nicholas Cowdery, on Saturday in his Opening Statement to a Citizens Tribunal held at the University of Sydney. “The massacre took place in the dawn hours and later during the day. It was carefully planned and executed by Indonesian security forces in response to indigenous leaders who were using tactics of peaceful protest and non-violent civil disobedience.”
Massacre survivor Danny Rayar was camped out in the harbor of Biak, an island off the north coast of West Papua, with other protestors on 6 Juy 1998, the day the Indonesian military opened fire. He was hit on the head with a rifle butt by an Indonesian solider then stabbed in the stomach with a knife. Rayar feigned death. He saw three of his classmates killed that day. At the time of the Biak Massacre Rayar was 17 years old, and a student in high school. In 2006 he escaped to Australia on a canoe with 41 other Papuan refugees. Danny Rayar is a pseudonym.
Scores were killed in the Biak massacre. “Many survivors of this initial assault were loaded onto boats, brought into open ocean, and dumped overboard to drown,” said Dr. Eben Kirksey, who took pictures of some of these boat in the Biak harbor on 6 July 1998. Dr. Kirksey also saw chest-height bullet holes in a wall near where the protestors were killed and heard gunfire throughout the day. Ferry Marisan arrived in Biak one week after the massacre to conduct human rights research. He collected research about the scores of bodies, many which were mutilated, which washed up on the beaches of Biak. Mr. Marisan, other investigators, and the survivors of the massacre experienced direct intimidation from Indonesian security forces.
On Tuesday, July 9th, this Citizens Tribunal will release full video footage of the event on their website: https://www.biak-tribunal.org/. Eyewitness testimonies, original documents, and other direct evidence is already available on this website. “Due to the serious nature of the allegations made at the Tribunal the distinguished panel of Presiding Jurists have requested more time to review the evidence,” said Dr. Eben Kirksey, one of the organizers of the event. The Biak Tribunal used a system of Coronal Inquest, a formal inquiry into a death. It will issue formal findings about the conduct of key perpetrators and recommendations for future action.
Contacts
Dr. Eben Kirksey, (English and Indonesian), UNSW, +61.40.274.6002
Danny Rayar, (Indonesian and English), Witness and Victim, +61.41.343.3445
Prof. Nicholas Cowdery, (English), UNSW, +61.487.976.219
Ferry Marisan, (Indonesian), Elsham Papua, +61.45.0716.964
Dr. James Elmslie, (English), University of Sydney, +61.40.791.3870
Panel of Jurists
The Biak Citizens Tribunal followed the format of a Coronial Inquest, which is a formal inquiry into a death. This inquiry looked and acted much like a court. Counsel Assisting performed a role much like the prosecution, while the Other Interested Parties acted much like defense attorneys—critically evaluating evidence and cross-examining witnesses. The tribunal will issue formal findings about the conduct of various actors and recommendations about possible future proceedings and additional avenues for investigation.
Presiding Jurists
Hon John Dowd, President, International Commission of Jurists, Australia. Chancellor of Southern Cross University. Justice Dowd Chaired the Biak Tribunal.
Dr Keith Suter, Chair, International Commission of Jurists (NSW). Director of Studies, International Law Association (Australian Branch)
Ifdal Kasim, Indonesian Lawyer. Former Head of the Indonesian Government Human Rights Commission (Ketua Komnas HAM).
Jose Carlos Marroquin, Guatemalan journalist and newspaper publisher. A key force in the recent genocide trial of former Guatemalan President José Efraín Ríos Montt.
Counsel Assisting
Gustav Kawer, a West Papuan human rights lawyer who has worked for the Papua Legal Aid Foundation since 2000. Recipient of the 2013 Lawyers for Lawyers Award in Amsterdam.
Prof Nicholas Richard Cowdery, Visiting Professorial Fellow at UNSW. Former Director of Public Prosecutions for New South Wales and President of the International Association of Prosecutors.
Other Interested Parties
Graham Turnbull SC, New South Wales Barrister. Called to the Bar by Grays Inn in London after working for legal aid in New South Wales, he has been involved in terrorism cases, extradition prosecutions and cases involving incitement to racial hatred.
Dan O’Gorman SC, Queensland Barrister. Appointed Senior Counsel in 2006, he has represented numerous high profile defendants in criminal trials as well as indigenous people in prominent human rights and civil cases.
2 comments
Wendy Flannery says:
Jul 15, 2013
The people of West Papua have suffered too long, with successive Indonesian governments seemingly unwilling or unable to exercise any control of the actions of their armed forces there. It is shameful that neither any major international human rights organisation nor the UN took action in response to the Biak massacre. Hopefully the work of the tribunal will finally provide the momentum for justice for the victims and survivors.
steve says:
Dec 17, 2013
What about the massacre of particular ethnic in May 1998’s riot prior the downfall of Soeharto? There have been quite a number of people whose mouth were shut and killed just because they were the victims, witnesses’s family member who stood up for their right.
The riot is believed has military involvement. There are numbers of suspected people who are able to walk around freely whether inside or outside the country, they even want to compete with other candidate on the Presidential election in 2014.