Soldiers blamed
An independent investigation has found Indonesian marines fired directly at protesters in this week's shooting that left four people dead, an official said yesterday.
The findings from a government watchdog contradict the navy, which said the marines only fired into the air and onto the ground to scare armed protesters who were threatening them.One senior navy official has suggested the bullets ricocheted off the rocky ground, killing the protesters. The National Commission on Human Rights said preliminary findings from its team of investigators has found marines took aim at the villagers rallying over land ownership outside Pasuruan on the main island of Java. "Our preliminary findings reveal there were serious human rights violations in this incident," said commission head Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara. "We found navy officers not only fired into the air and into the ground but also directly shot at civilians," he told ElShinta radio. "Based on evidence at the shooting area and from witnesses, we concluded the military chief' statement that marines fired into the air and into the ground was untrue." The chief of the military has apologised for the incident on Wednesday that killed four people, including a pregnant woman, and injured a three-year-old boy among others. They were protesting development of land recently reclaimed by the navy in East Java. The firing started after the crowd became angry and started throwing stones at the marines who were trying to disperse them, some witnesses have said. The commission will hand its final report to the attorney general' office for possible action.
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