Timika, Papua: A community leader from one of the villages caught up in a conflict inside Papua's giant mining area has insisted that all villagers are safe.
Authorities had claimed an "armed criminal group" was preventing villagers from entering or leaving two villages in the mining area of Tembagapura, with military chief Gatot Nurmantyo at one point even suggesting they were "holding civilians hostage".
"I would like to stress we are not being held hostage," Jonathan Kibak, a community leader from the village of Banti, told Fairfax Media. "No one in the village is being stopped from doing daily activities."
Banti and another village, Kembeli, are located in an area where the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPN) are clashing with security forces in a dispute over the massive Freeport gold and copper mine.
The dispute is part of the long-running pro-independence movement in Indonesia's restive, easternmost province of Papua.
The group sees the lucrative Grasberg mine as the primary reason why Indonesia acquired Papua, after a widely discredited ballot for independence in which only a handful of the local population were allowed to vote.
The mine is majority owned by US mining giant Freeport McMoRan, Indonesia's largest taxpayer.
Banti has a population of about 1000, including both native Papuans and Indonesians from other parts of the archipelago.
Mr Kibak said native Papuans such as himself, were farmers who could live on the cassava, soybeans and other produce that they grew, and had no desire to be evacuated from the area. However he said they were scared the military and police might mistake them for members of the West Papua National Liberation Army.
Mr Kibak said the non-Papuans were also safe. "The non-natives are not being held hostage, they are free, but TPN can't guarantee their safety if they go through the battle zone and get caught in gunfire."
Mr Kibak said the West Papua National Liberation Army searched the shops of non-Papuan villagers to ensure they were not smuggling things in for the military, but the shops had not been burned down.
"They are safe, they are not being treated differently. They are our neighbours."
Mr Kibak met with Fairfax Media in the town of Timika, about 64 kilometres from the conflict zone in Tembagapura, after he had walked through the jungle and then hitched a ride in a Freeport helicopter on November 2.
"As you can see, I am here, no one stopped me. I will return next week," he said.
West Papua National Liberation Army commander Hendrik Wanmang stressed that villagers from Banti and Kembeli had not been targeted but were effectively trapped because the villages were located near the conflict zone.
He said the native Papuans did not want to be evacuated but he was discussing how to allow the non-natives access to leave the villages.
"I am still considering how to get them out of here," he told Fairfax Media by phone.
"Then, if I get them out, I have to consider what the TNI (military) and police will then do against the native Papuans."
Mr Wanmang said he could not blindly make a decision and had to carefully weigh up the consequences of any actions.
"I don't want any lives lost, I don't want anybody from the community to fall victim," he said.
Mr Wanmang said the West Papua National Liberation Army were freedom fighters who wanted to "free the nation".
"Our fight's main goal is to demand sovereignty and freedom for Papuans. (We want) acknowledgement by the Indonesian government and the Dutch, Americans and UN, who were the main perpetrators who orchestrated for the benefit of Freeport that resulted in Papua being integrated into Indonesia," he said.
"It is all linked to the chain of deceit."
Papua police spokesman Ahmad Musthofa Kamal said police had handed over supplies to Banti villagers at the weekend after appealing for community leaders to be allowed to come and pick up food.
"We didn't ask any of them to inform us of the conditions in the village because we don't want them to be thought of as our informants," said Mr Kamal. "The villages are cornered, so we avoid that. The important thing for us is the humanity side of things.
"We hope that with the villagers starting to come, information can be passed to the village and the rest can also come here."
Police spokesman Suryadi Diaz said authorities were still attempting a "persuasive approach" to deal with the standoff. "Our officers are ready at their posts, but that is only if all negotiations fail, it would be a last resort," he said.
"We can't just recklessly take action. The group is mixed with the villagers. We have to be very careful, we have civilians there."
Tensions in Papua have escalated recently amid negotiations between Freeport and the Indonesian government over the divestment of the Grasberg mine. Local elections are also due next year.
There have been a string of shootings in the area near the mine in recent weeks. A police officer was killed on October 22 and an ambulance belonging to Freeport was shot at, injuring a woman who had just given birth.
Police have issued a wanted list of 21 men suspected of being involved in the shootings and possessing illegal firearms. The maximum punishment for two of the potential charges is the death penalty.
"We ask the groups to surrender immediately to avoid victims because we do not wish that to happen," Mr Kamal said. "Papua needs peaceful conditions especially for the upcoming Christmas in 2017."
A recent report by the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict said even if the Free Papua Organisation (OPM) was blamed for the shootings "Papuans will be asking who else was involved".
"Any violence in the Freeport area can involve multiple actors with multiple interests," the report says.
