Interview by S. Eben Kirksey and Three Key Survivors
Interview conducted May 2003, on Biak.
Transcribed and translated June 2013, Sydney.
Woman One: On July 6th, 1998, at about 5 am the encampment was attacked in a dawn raid. It was slightly after 5, it was getting light, and it was raining. If it wasn’t raining perhaps they would have raided at 5.00am. Because of the rain, perhaps the attack was delayed a little bit. Every morning I had been delivering food with my friends to the camp. On that day when we delivered food we saw a few trucks. The truck out front had Kopasgat forces inside. We couldn’t tell which other security force divisions were inside the other trucks.
Eben Kirksey: What is Kopasgat?
Woman One: Kopasgat are Orange Berets with the Air Force (AU-RI). When they started shooting, they called us and told us to wait. But we were afraid. We saw the military and we ran, still carrying all the food and the water. They chased us and continued shooting. We yelled out “The enemy is here.” Our friends, who had set up a checkpoint further away from the water tower, sent up an alarm by banging on a metal electricity pole. Everyone ran and gathered under the water tower. Shots were coming in from all directions, including from the direction of the ship, the Indonesian navy ship (AL-RI). There were several ships in the harbor during the attack.
Eben Kirksey: Yes, I took pictures of those ships.
Woman One: Yes there were several ships. So we started running. But they chased down the others under the water tower. Women were hit, dragged. Many were dragged aboard the ship. We were trying to flee. Many of our friends were lined up in the harbour. As it grew light we didn’t know where everyone was. We were all scattered. We were taken to the military base (Kodim Maranatha) and then sent home with Air Force trucks (AU-RI). Those who were detained and taken to the Navy Base (AL-RI) were also eventually returned home. That was because they captured us during daylight. It was already light when we were captured. Those who were captured at night, we don’t know where they were taken, it was still dark. Some were taken from houses, because they ran and hid in houses. They took us straight to the military base (Kodim Maranatha) and Mr. Ayub Sumarta ordered our release. He said that the police will investigate this matter later. So that morning they released us and let us go home. People who were captured at night, we still don’t know where they are. Today they are still missing. There were a lot of my friends screaming for help that night but I couldn’t see where they were taken to. We only know that some were taken away with cars and there were also several trucks that night. Some were thrown into the sea.
Eben Kirksey: This was during the day?
Woman One: The attack started around 6:00 am. At the time of the attack a lot of women were told to get in vehicles. We don’t know where they were taken to. We only know about the fate of the people who were captured during the daylight, from 8.00 to 9.00 am, the people who were captured in nearby houses. They were taken to the navy compound and the police station, then freed to return home. But people who were captured at about 6:00 am, we don’t know. Lots of my friends went missing, both men and women. Some of my guy friends were shot in the chest. Others were shot in the stomach. Some were throwing stones at the soldiers when they were shot. Others were just shot straight away.
Eben Kirksey: Were they taken to a particular place and then shot?
Woman One: No, they were shot while they were trying to run away. The people who were taken away with the cars, we don’t know where they were taken to. I was running away with a group of about ten women, when some mobile brigade police troops from Ambon caught us (Brimob Pattimura). We were screaming for help. Those police troops said “Yes, you should call Jesus for help. Call as loud as you want so that Jesus comes to help you.” That’s what they said. Then there was a soldier with the military, also from Ambon, who said “Ma’am we share the same faith. We will help you. We’ll start shooting and then you run.” So they began shooting and we ran. While we were running they were shooting but maybe in a different direction. While they were shooting, we were running. So initially we got away. But, we were captured eventually. It was 8.00 am when we were caught. Other friends were being chased as well. We ran in the direction of Sinar Kayu. I hid and was then captured there.
Eben Kirksey: This is still in the first day, right?
Woman One: Yes, the first day, July 6th. So we were captured at 8:00 am and then by 9.00 am we were all told to go home. I was captured in Sinar Kayu, near Maranatha Church, and then taken to an army post right nearby. Ayub Sumerta, who was the Head of the People’s Council (Ketua DPR), told the troops to release all the women.
Eben Kirksey: So you were allowed to go home on the first day?
Woman One: Yes everyone went home [who was captured during the day]. But I was scared, so I hid. A soldier who was an ethnic Papuan said “When you get home hide for a while, because the situation is still tense. They may re-capture you again.” This is standard in Indonesia. So I went into hiding. Not at my house, but out in the forest. My husband and kids would bring me food to eat. After I returned home, they knew I was back. So the police sent a summons so that they could question me.
Eben Kirksey: How many days were you hiding in the forest?
Woman One: Months. I was hiding several months until September 1st, when I was summoned by the police to be questioned. There is forest around our village, so I hid there during the day and went back home at night. But I also moved around from one house to another. I have lots of relatives so I constantly moved, staying the night at different houses. Because I was still traumatised, I was still scared. Even eating was hard, I couldn’t eat because I was scared.
Eben Kirksey: What do you mean by trouble eating?
Woman One: I had trouble eating, I couldn’t even drink water. Because I was afraid. I’m still afraid. One night I stayed over at a relative’s place, someone who worked for the police. Because I was still afraid, I didn’t feel safe. I had to leave, to head towards my own home, to look for another place to stay.
Eben Kirksey: In the middle of the night?
Woman One: I left in the middle of the night because I was scared. After that, when investigation by the police was finished, I would go and visit my friends who were still in police custody, in jail. From that point forward our activities never wavered. We started demonstrating when our imprisoned friends were in the court, demanding them to be released because it was their right.
Eben Kirksey: Are any of them still imprisoned?
Woman One: They are all free now. Those of us who were released right away united and fought so that our imprisoned friends would be released. Some were released after eight months, others after a year in jail. Filep Karma was transferred from Biak prison to Jayapura on the 3rd of February 1999. We followed him to Jayapura, visiting him because he was still detained. Our visit happened to coincide with the Team of 100 who left for Jakarta to meet President Habibie. Filep was in the hospital for an operation to fix the scar tissue where he was shot in his legs [during the July 6th demonstration]. We watched over Filep in the hospital. After he left the hospital we went home to Biak.
Later I went to West Biak with a few friends and several students, five people, to collect data about past military abuses. This area was officially a Military Operation Area (DOM) from 1967 to 1984. There are a lot of mass graves. There are also many Papuan women who where raped. In the villages we visited, almost all of the mothers were victims of rape. They said when the troops came to the villages they didn’t go to the forest to shoot at people, they ordered the villagers to dig holes. Then they gathered all the men, shot them, and put them in the hole. The women were raped. In other villages the military came and raped wives in front of their own husbands. Husbands sat and watched while the soldiers raped their daughters and wives. Even elderly women were raped, 60 and 70 year old women were raped.
And the violence is still ongoing. Just yesterday a lot of people were murdered, we don’t know who was responsible for these killings. People died floating in the sea and in the forest, we don’t know who killed them. But we Papuans always think that these killings are done by Indonesia military, because Papuans don’t kill people randomly.
Eben Kirksey: Thank you. Does anyone else have something to add?
Woman One: Thank you. Maybe one of you can talk about the navy ship during the massacre [on July 6th, 1998], about how women had their breasts and genitals cut. We didn’t know who they were. We only know that they were our friends and they were taken and never came back again.
Man: When the corpses were carried to the general hospital we happened to be there doing a human rights training. We, the participants, had asked the committee if we could have a medical doctor present. During the discussion on forensics we had so many questions. We asked Dr. Ansor, Head of the Government Health Office, about the floating bodies. He said that according to medical science and the forensic record, it made no sense that the bodies drifted from Papua New Guinea to this place. Then we asked him, “Where did the bodies come from?” He did not answer. He just said that they are probably from around here. He did not say that the bodies are from that massacre, he just said that the bodies are from here, nearby, as it would be impossible for bodies from PNG to get here. We concluded that the bodies we saw were our friends who were picked up that morning and still have not returned home.
Many families were afraid to report their children missing. We surmised that some of the bodies might be from people who lived in distant villages. The night before the attack there were people talking about wanting to return to their villages. People often come into town to sell produce at the market and sleep there if they cannot find a car to return. With the attack that night, they probably also picked up people sleeping in the market [which is about 20 meters from the water tower]. The villages are so far from city. Some families still haven’t shown up to report their missing children, they must be afraid. We know this because people are still traumatized in West Biak, North Supiori, South Supiori, North Biak regions, from living in a Military Operation Area. Prolonged trauma makes them afraid. They are afraid to speak.
Woman Two: I’d like to continue the story about what took place in the harbor. The attack on July 6th took place in the morning, when we were under the water tower. During the initial attack the troops assembled around us in a U formation. There were Brimob police in riot gear, army troops (Kopasgad), a company of soldiers from the local Kodim barracks, as well as Navy personnel. They formed a letter U around us and then shot at us repeatedly while we were still under the water tower. They kept shooting, telling us to head down to the dock. We were herded down to the dock. So at around 6:30, I was led by two Indonesian military officers directly to a Naval Ship. The ship has a number on its side, 534. They took me to this ship. Some of my friends were already on the ship, they had been taken on before me.
There was a soldier from Toraja [an ethnic group in South Sulawesi] who saved me. So the ship was here, the dock would have been about as far away as that motor boat over there, less than 100 m. He told me to jump from the back of the ship. He told me to jump. But I must not tell his name or point him out as the person who saved me. I have to keep him secret. So I jumped and swam from the boat to the dock.
Eben Kirksey: What do they do on the ship?
Woman Two: Many things. One of my friends, a women, was raped in front of me. She just told me to find her family if I made it. They beat her, but she refused to tell them anything—her family name, where her parents lived—she did not tell. There were many people on the ship. I wanted to help them, but how could I? I could not help them. I just jumped into the ocean to save myself.
Eben Kirksey: How many people were in the ship?
Woman Two: Lots. There were people in the front, middle and in the back.
Eben Kirksey: Like several dozen, or several hundred?
Woman Two: Well, we couldn’t count the people up front one-by-one, there were many. We did not know their names. We just knew that we were taken together from the tower to the dock and then made to board the ship. There were children on board the ship. They were begging for help. But how could I help. I just looked at them.
Man: That night they took many many people. There were lots of trucks that night. The ones who were able to run made it, but those who didn’t run were all taken.
Woman Two: When I was on the ship I saw the beatings with my own eyes. Some were already dead, the women were mostly taken up front. One woman was raped right next to me. The ones who were taken up front, I don’t know if they were they dead, or alive. There is a strong possibility they were all killed because once you were on the ship, how could you get free? So there is a possibility they are all dead. Two ships. The one I mean was 534, the ship that regularly comes to Jayapura.
Eben Kirksey: What about the others?
Woman Two: I have no idea about the other ship.
Man: We were afraid at the time.
Eben Kirksey: Where was the ship headed to? Where was it going?
Woman Two: When we got to this point, I was told to jump. I have no idea where they wanted to take the others, no idea where it was going. It just docked for a moment, picked us up, and went out to sea. So there is a strong possibility that they killed everyone and then threw them overboard.
Woman One: The morning of the attack was just like a war. Exactly like a war. Because we heard gunfire from all around—from here, from there—so we were confused too. Scared. Where could we run?
Woman Two : The ships were also shooting.
Eben Kirksey: There were shots from the ship too? The big ship?
Woman One: The ship was also shooting. So those of us who survived are probably alive only because the love of God. If not we would be dead. Their behaviour was inhumane. Some people were already dead, but the soldiers kept shooting at them. Filep told the ones under the tower to lie down. But they shot down on the ground, kicking up rocks. No one could stand. So they shot down at them. While Filep was praying they shot him in both legs. All of my friends who ran in that moment were shot dead. The ones who lay down were also shot, because the soldiers were shooting down at the ground. They didn’t run, but they were shot where they lay.
Woman Two: Then they were taken away with a container truck. Who knows where they dumped the bodies.
Woman One: Transported with a container truck. And the night before the attack, women were selling bamboo shoots (rebung) and beetle nut (pinang), by the side of the road. When it rained in the morning they found shelter in the health clinic. That night we opened a big brown tarpaulin to sleep on as usual. They took the flag and other things as evidence, but the tarpaulin was not there. In the morning they sprayed under the tower and the road with water. Probably there was a lot of blood so they sprayed.
Eben Kirksey: Yeah, I happened to pass by under the tower on the 8th, after all this was done. And yeah, I saw many bullet shells but there was no blood. They probably already flushed it with water.
Woman One: Indeed the behavior of the military that morning was savage. Women were beaten until their clothes were ripped up. There were old people, grandmothers who sell beetle nut, thrown down on the asphalt road. They had no idea what was going on. Some people from the villages don’t speak Indonesian. When the soldiers asked about their activities, they were unable to speak. They had no idea what was going on, but were killed anyway.
Eben Kirksey: After the first day, on the 6th, what happened next? What happened on the 7th? Because it seems like the shooting started in the morning and I heard constant shooting on into the night.
Man: Yes, there was shooting on the 6th and there was still shooting on the 7th. They shot people who ran. The ones on the run were being hunted by the military. Some went into the jungle. Informants told the soldiers about their movements, so the military kept hunting. And when people were taken from those places, we just don’t know what became of them.
Eben Kirksey: Thank you very much for speaking with me. Listening to these stories makes me very sad. I hope I can help a little by conveying these stories to…
Woman One: Eben, if you have time, I hope you can go to West Biak. There are many mass graves there, many bones. On the coast they collected the bones and buried them. But in the forest, we saw places where the military officers just shot people. Along the river, and along the road, there are heaps of big and small bones. Bones are scattered all around.
Eben Kirksey: Thank you very much for sharing your testimony with me.
