Bintang Papua, 26 July 2011Abridged in translation by TAPOL

Police chief says: ‘Shoot on sight’

Jayapura: The many cases of petty thefts and harassments directed mostly against women has led to the police deciding to take strong action. The chief of police in Jayapura, Imam Setiawan has issued an order to ‘shoot on sight’ (door ditempat) for people engaging in such activities in Jayapura. ‘I have told my men to deal with these people either with sharp weapons or other equipment.and they should not refrain from using their weapons.’

In the past three months, the police have received reports of 28 such cases; 99% of these cases were targeted  against people who were on their motorbikes . In some cases,weapons have been used. There was a stabbing which was almost fatal, and in another case, someone had grabbed the person’s bag  which led to her falling to the ground and suffering permanent damage to her face’ In another case, someone carrying a sharp weapon threatened the victim to hand over the motorbike.’

In view of these many cases, the police have set up a team  to handle these  crimes, including the many thefts of motorbikes which have become much more frequent recently.And many of the cases have occurred in the busy parts of town. Police reports show that the worst areas were North and South Jayapura. However there were no thefts of motorbikes in Abepura during the past three months. The police have warned women not to go out alone on motorbikes in the busy parts of town.