The following letter from Bishop Munninghoff, and the rejoinder by the Statesman, appeared on p. A14 of The Austin American-Statesman, on December 2, 1995.

Munninghoff Letter

Dated the 3rd of August, 1995, I sent a report via the Indonesian Bishops Conference to the Indonesian National Commission for Human Rights about violations of human rights in the Timika area of Irian Jaya (West Papua) by members of the Indonesian Army.

I reported that 16 people were murdered and four others "disappeared" during the period from Oct. 1994 to June 1995.

My report is not a report about Freeport and does not contain accusations regarding Freeport.

The article in an American newspaper dated the 19th of November, written by Ralph K.M. Haurwitz, needs some corrections. In my report, I mentioned that members of the Indonesian Army killed 16 civilians and committed other human rights violations. But I did not add the words "... as part of efforts to safeguard a gold, copper and silver mine operated by Freeport." These words were added by Ralph Haurwitz himself.

Besides that, there is another correction, namely: 16 civilians were murdered. However, the killing of eleven of them took place outside the Freeport concession area.

The National Commission of Human Rights has confirmed my report as true. Before I sent the report to the National Commission, I had never had contact about it with Freeport.

The complaints of the local people were, for me, the only reason to report the violations of human rights to the National Commission. I knew about the report of the Australian Council for Overseas Aid and I had been alerted by it. So I did my own checking of witnesses and I have used their story as the basis of my report.

H. F. M. Munninghoff, Bishop of Jayapura, 22 November 1995, Timika, Irian Jaya (West Papua), Indonesia.

Statesman's reply

The above letter from Bishop Munninghoff was carried in a full-page Freeport-McMoRan advertisement in yesterday's American-Statesman. The letter was provided to us by Freeport. In a telephone discussion with the bishop, we verified the letter's authenticity.

We published the advertisement -- and print the Munninghoff letter again here today -- out of a desire to give Freeport an opportunity to have its say.

However, we want readers to know that we stand firmly behind the accuracy and fairness of Ralph K. M. Haurwitz's article in the Sunday, Nov. 19, edition. We are unaware of the need for any corrections.

In the fourth paragraph of his letter, Munninghoff writes that he did not add the words "... as part of efforts to safeguard a gold, copper, and silver mine operated by Freeport," and asserts these words were added by Haurwitz.

That may cause some to think that Haurwitz changed a Munninghoff quote. This is not true. The disputed words were part of the lead paragraph of the Haurwitz article, and amount to the reporter's summation of the interview.

We believed then, and believe now, that the lead was thoroughly supported by the other statements of Munninghoff -- statements quoted in the story and statements undisputed by the bishop in his letter.

In the fifth paragraph of his letter, the bishop writes that "there is another correction, namely: 16 civilians were murdered, however the killing of eleven of them took place outside the Freeport concession area." Although Haurwitz's article refers to 16 deaths, it makes no mention of where they took place. Therefore, the bishop is suggesting a correction of a statement not made.

-- Editors, the American-Statesman