Information on the Moffett Building Controversy, February 1996
- "the predominant position in West Papua of the Indonesian military and big business in the form of Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold/RTZ"
- "the allegations of torture, killing, intimidation and cultural suppression in West Papua,"
- "Freeport signed its first Irian contract, gaining rights to 24,000 acres, in 1967. Since then, it has become the biggest foreign taxpayer in Indonesia. A new contract gives Freeport access to nine million acres in the central range -- an area one and a half times the size of Vermont. `This is elephant country,' said Freeport's Pete Doyle, using the geologist's term for terrain with extra rich deposits. At the company's exploration office in the lowland town of Timika, Doyle uncovered a map of the new concession, where geologists have identified 75 target areas. As George Mealey, president of Freeport-McMoRan, tells me later, `Someone will be mining here for the next century.' That frightens some people. Highland villagers have claimed that Freeport drove them off their traditional lands. The Komoro people on the coast say mine tailings in the Aikwa River caused flooding that ruined their sago palm stands. Provincial legislators and community activists complain that Freeport hires too few Irianese, only 10 percent of the workforce, while Indonesians from elsewhere in the archipelago get the bulk of the jobs. Tensions between the mining company and the local people dramatically worsened not long after my visit when soldiers on mine property killed a number of demonstrators. Freeport denies any involvement. In response to complaints, Freeport has improved its environmental testing, begun health-care and work-training programs, and helped start some small local businesses. Still, in elephant country, it is the little people who get trampled." p. 29.
- Caption to a two-page aerial photograph of Freeport's Grasburg mine, p. 21. "A mountain laid bare, the 13,000 foot high Grasburg mine contains the largest gold reserve in the world. Operated by U. S. -based Freeport-McMoRan, the open-pit behemoth straddles the lofty spine where the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates collide, a zone of great mineral wealth. Freeport has recently identified an additional 75 sites in the highlands for possible drilling. While a boon to the national economy, the mining giant has met fierce opposition from tribal groups who claim tailings have caused the flooding of their lands".
- "Ignoring appeals to let the issue die, the Faculty Council will vote on a resolution to rename the molecular biology building in honor of former UT professor and U.S. Rep. Barbara Jordan at its next meeting."
- "`There is a strong interest in a resolution of this sort, but whether this will pass I don't know,' said Gretchen Ritter, an assistant professor of government, who submitted the resolution."
- "Cline's resolution would appoint a committee to `inquire' about the circumstances of the donations and naming of the building."
- "On January 31st, the Austin American-Statesman excerpted only a small portion of the first part of the entire Times-Picayune report. In so doing, the people of Austin didn't get the whole story and in some cases received a distorted view from incomplete information."
- The original caption to the picture of the child with a mud-caked head was "Muddy tailings coat the head of a boy from the Amungme tribe as he swims with others in the Ajkwa River near the village of Timika in Irian Jaya (West Papua). Tribal customs involve putting mud on the face and head as decorations or as part of rituals, such as funerals and feasts. Freeport officials say the mine wastes are not toxic."
- "Freeport has devoted considerable time, thinking and resources to managing tailings ... Unfortunately, Austinites missed the complete description of this effort."
- On p. B4: "Freeport estimates that the Ajkwa River, left unchecked, would clog with tailings, spread out, and eventually affect 230 square miles of land. ... Freeport is building a $28 million levee system to contain the Ajkwa River within a narrow corridor. If successful, the levees will limit the affected area to about 50 square miles. ... Some Freeport environmental officials worry about the ability of the river to handle an unlimited amount of sediment."
- "An army officer has been jailed by a military tribunal over a series of killings and human rights violations in Indonesia's eastern province of Irian Jaya (West Papua), the military said Thursday. The officer, named as Mardjaka (Eds: one name), was jailed for 16 months by the court martial in Irian Jaya (West Papua) and also dismissed from the Indonesian armed forces, a military spokesman told AFP by telephone."
- "The incident occurred during a military operation against local separatist rebels in Hoya village, Paniai district at an unspecified date in 1995. Chief judge Amiruddin Rais of the Jayapura military court, quoted by Hidayat, said Mardjaka was found guilty of ordering his subordinates to shoot villagers immediately if they ran away when challenged."
- "Thirteen soldiers, including two majors, three captains and three lieutenants, have been questioned over six counts of human rights violations linked to raids on villages from mid-1994 to mid-1995, the military have said. The raids occurred in the Paniai and Fakfak regions."
- "Mardjaka, 33, was also found guilty of giving a false report on the number ofpeople killed during the operation. He originally reported that 10 people had been killed, although his subordinates said only three had died, the prosecution said."
- "Life science faculty members will present to the Faculty Council a petition calling for the renaming of the Louise and James R. Moffett building on Monday."
- "`We want the Faculty Council to know how we feel,' said Mark Kirkpatrick, professor of zoology. More than 40 faculty signatures have been collected."