Tribes wiped out in secret war

Michael Donald, The Observer, United Kingdom, June 1, 1969.

Thousands of primitive tribesmen preparing for an act of self-determination under United Nations observance have been slaughtered in West Irian, the western half of the Pacific island of New Guinea, in an unreported war with the Indonesian Army.

For three years Indonesia's bitter confrontation with the people of West Irian has been a closely guarded secret. Early this month unconfirmed press reports forced the Jakarta Government to admit that rebels had captured five airstrips near the town of Enarotali and that several hundred parachute troops were being sent in to recapture the area.

But the trouble at Enarotali is only the latest in a long string of secret military operations in West Irian which have been unreported until now because until shortly before I went there, no foreign correspondents were allowed into the territory. Soon after I left West Irian the ban on correspondents was reimposed.

250 killed in "quiet year"

It is officially admitted that 250 Irianese rebels were killed in the "quiet year" of 1968--with a loss of "about 50" Indonesian soldiers. Actual figures may be very much higher: the rebels claim they have killed several hundred Indonesians since 1966.

Irianese who have spoken publicly of independence from six years of economically disastrous Indonesian rule have been imprisoned, deported 2,000 miles to Java and even executed. They include members of the West Irian regional parliament and the Indonesian-appointed governor of the island-territory. Other political prisoners claim to have been tortured.