1.
Riots erupted recently in the towns
surrounding the American-owned
Freeport McMoRan copper and gold
mine in Irian Jaya, Indonesia. An
estimated 6,000 tribals attacked
Freeport's offices in three towns.
The episode followed soon after the
company announced its plans to
expand the mine.
Freeport has long been the target
of local ire and has been accused of
ravaging the area's environment.
According to Overseas Private
Investment Corporation, a US government agency, the massive deposition of mine tailings in the rivers
Ajkwe and Minajeri, has severely
harmed the surrounding rain-
forests. The mine dumps 110,000
tonnes of industrial wastes into
these rivers each day. Some years
ago, over 200 children in the area
died of copper poisoning.
The company is also accused of
indulging in violence to quell
protests by the tribals of the region
with assistance from the military
that occupies the land around the
mine. Last year, the Indonesian
National Human Rights Commission
reported that 16 Amungme (a local
tribe) had been murdered while four
others had disappeared. The locals
point their fingers at the company
for these killings and disappearences. Freeport has even gouged
out a huge crater in one of the
mountains sacred to the Amungme.
Freeport McMoRan however,
has denied all the allegations of complicity in human rights abuses. It has
also claimed that there has been no
fierce resistance to the proposed
expansion of the mine. Local and
international non-governmental
organisations {NGOs) -including
the London-based Survival International -have renewed the
demand for a public enquiry into the
human rights abuses in the area and
have called for the region to be
demilitarised. They have also
demanded that local people and
NGOs be allowed to set up environ.
meDt monitoring systems at the site
and along nearby rivers.
