Deerd Tabuni, Chairperson of Papua House of Representative (Jubi)
Jayapura , 10/2 ( Jubi ) – An attack on 10 Indonesian fishermen allegedly carried out Papua New Guinea ( PNG ) soldiers off the coast of Karu , PNG , last week was inhumane, Papua House Speaker Papua Deerd Tabuni said.
“It was inhumane action and a crime. This points to a human rights violation because the fishermen said their boat were burned and their money was stolen,” Tabuni said on Monday ( 10/2 ) .
He said the fishermen had an official document to cross the border and they had planned to buy see cucumbers, not to commit crime
If the fishermen from Meruake had done anything wrong, they should still have been treated humanely and be questioned.
“They could have asked nicely and inspected according to the procedures. But they burned the speedboat and stole the fishermen’s money,“ he said.
Tabuni urged the Navy and police to take action and find out the truth about the incident because five of the fishermen had not been found.
“We hope the authorities will immediately follow up on this issue so everything is clear. This should be resolved by the PNG government. The PNG government must punish the soldiers who committed the act, if it’s true,“ he said.
Earlier, one of the fishermen who survived, Anton Basik-Basik told tabloidjubi.com, Saturday (8/2) that he and nine others were using a speed boat to buy sea cucumbers in PNG but when they arrived in the waters of Karu, a number of armed people suspected to be PNG soldiers boarded the boat.
They burned the boat and made off with the fishermen’s cash and cigarettes. Five of the fishermen managed to swim ashore while the rest were still missing. (Jubi/Arjuna/Frans)
