Indonesian military admits hundreds killed in West Kalimantan

By James Balowski

Recent reports on the death toll following more than a month of unrest in West Kalimantan suggest that many more have been killed that the authorities first admitted.

Official reports initially claimed that only nine people had died and 21 were "missing". But on February 12, the British human rights organisation Tapol confirmed that at least 17 Dayaks were killed by Indonesian troops when they tried to break through a roadblock in Sintang, East Pontianak.

The army has denied the claim, saying, "If soldiers had fired, it would only have been warning shots in the air".

An article in the British Guardian on February 13 quoted "reliable sources" as saying that the death toll exceeded 1000 and cited a recent -- but unnamed -- newspaper which put the figure as high as 2000.

The article also quoted an army spokesperson as saying, "That's not true. Only a couple of hundred people have been killed in the violence." No official comment on the casualties has been made by either the government or the military.

The unrest started on December 30 following a dispute between local people and Javanese migrants. Although two battalions of troops were flown in in early February to try tod control the situation, Malaysian authorities were so concerned they closed the border between Sarawak and Kalimantan on February 4.
[The SBS television program Dateline on Saturday, Februay 22, is expected to include a report on the riots in Indonesia.]

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