The Wire

West Papuan civil society groups have written to the Indonesian president to request the removal from office of a Colonel who was indicted for war crimes in East Timor. Colonel Burhanuddin Siagian, recently appointed as commander of the Jayapura sub-regional military command in Papua, previously served in the Indonesian military in East Timor. Its alleged that whilst there in 1999, he made speeches threatening to kill East Timorese independence supporters. It’s also alleged that he was behind the murders of seven men. The UN-backed Special Panel For Serious Crimes indicted him on charges of crimes against humanity, however, like many, he is yet to stand trial.