After kidnapping Susi Air pilot Philip Mark Merthenz and using him as a diplomatic instrument to seek international community support for Papuan independence, the effort ultimately failed. Instead of sympathy and empathy, the international community condemned and rejected the actions of Egianus Kogoya’s group.
The international community is logical and scientific. This community understands the rules of engagement in conflict and war as governed by international law. Using civilian or humanitarian workers as propaganda and political tools in conflicts and wars is a serious violation of the 1907 Hague Convention, the 1949 Geneva Convention, and its four additional protocols. These provisions of international law cannot be ignored or disregarded.
One example of the international community’s response to this hostage-taking case is Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s condemnation of the kidnapping of the Susi Air pilot by the Egianus Kogoya group:
Australia Soroti Kekerasan di Papua dan Kutuk Penyanderaan Pilot Susi Air
Having failed to use hostages as a diplomatic tool for Papuan independence, the Egianus Kogoya group devised another scenario, sacrificing civilians in Mugi District, Nduga, Papua.
Civilians from Mugi District, parts of Paru District, and surrounding villages were mobilized under the threat of armed force to attack the Indonesian military (TNI) security forces in Mugi District. Approximately 36 TNI members from Kostrad and Kopassus units were stationed at the post.
Civilians in Nduga were used as human shields. Mugi civilians, especially women and children, were mobilized from various angles to attack the security forces preparing to break their fast before dusk.
The Indonesian Military forces (TNI) were unprepared to respond to the dilemma caused by the sudden attack by women and children, accompanied by gunfire from behind the civilian crowd by the Egianus Kogoya group.
The TNI doctrine “To kill or to be killed” was put into doubt. If enforced or prioritized, a second Santa Cruz massacre, or more precisely, a bloody Mugi Nduga massacre against Papuan civilians, would occur.
Deaths from TNI gunfire could reach 500-1000, based on rough estimates of the population in Mugi District and its surroundings. If it were to happen on April 15, 2023, hundreds to thousands of Papuan civilians would be killed by TNI forces, prompting New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, who always play an offshore balancing strategy in the Pacific’s Papua issue, to urge the UN Security Council to enforce the Responsibility to Protect principle through humanitarian intervention in Papua.
A referendum on self-determination for Papua could be held immediately. This is the true design of the Egianus Kogoya group behind the attack on the TNI security post in Mugi District, Nduga, Papua.
To thwart the scenario of the Egianus Kogoya group and the intellectual actors behind it, a heavy price must be paid. Five of the best TNI soldiers had to fall to prevent the internationalization of the Papuan independence issue from this bloody Mugi incident.
This is my article to expose the crimes against humanity and war crimes orchestrated by the Egianus Kogoya group for their political and economic interests behind the bloody Mugi case on Saturday, April 15, 2023.
Marinus Mesak Yaung
Lecturer, Cenderawasih University
