The national human rights body vowed on Monday to carry out a lengthy investigation into the deteriorating security situation in the Papua mining town of Timika, following complaints by local residents.

Nur Kholis, deputy chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), said the commission would set up a special team to conduct a three-month investigation into the complaints.

“The special Papua team will have wide-reaching authority and can speed up our investigation because they can go in there and call witnesses,” he said.

He added that the results of the investigation would be presented openly as a form of public accountability.

The announcement came as a group of representatives from Timika in Mimika district, which services the massive Grasberg gold and copper mine that is run by US-based Freeport-McMoRan, visited the Komnas HAM headquarters in Jakarta to complain about a recent spate of attacks that have claimed nine lives, including those of six Freeport workers.

On Monday, the police chief of the town of Mulia in neighboring Puncak Jaya district was reportedly assaulted and shot dead by unknown attackers.

One contract worker and two others were shot by unknown gunmen early on Friday. Several days earlier, five Freeport workers were killed — two by police trying to control a crowd and three by unknown gunmen.

Sammy Rumbiak, a member of the Timika delegation, said the climate of fear first descended on the area in 2009.

“I worked at the underground mine in Freeport and I always felt safe. But since 2009 I have felt threatened, without the freedom to live in my own country,” he said.

“For how long must I feel unsafe in my own land, even though I am an Indonesian citizen? Especially since we are led around everywhere by men with guns.”

Sammy said that ever since the first shooting incidents in 2009, widely blamed on the separatist Free Papua Organization (OPM), no single case had been resolved, resulting in heightened anxiety among the public.

“We want President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to roll up his sleeves and visit the site directly to see for himself what’s going on, because we have been living in terror for the past three years,” he said.

Nur Kholis said Komnas HAM would deliver a recommendation to the government following its investigation.

“Restoring security is the most important thing to do in order to prevent more serious incidents,” he said.

“Therefore, we are going to coordinate with the police, both the national and Papua branches [to work to make it happen].”

Oktavianus Kalilago, a resident of the neighboring town of Kuala Kencana, where Freeport’s operations are headquartered, said the people were fed up with the climate of fear that had “robbed them of their lives, freedom and sense of security.”

“We demand that concrete, firm and fair steps be taken immediately by the government to protect all those who live near Freeport,” he said, reading from a prepared statement. “We no longer want to live in constant fear of the threat of violence, terrorism or other acts that rob us of our dignity.”

Oktavianus also called for the swift resolution of all the shootings in the area and demanded that the perpetrators be brought to justice. He said that ultimately, the people of Timika, Kuala Kencana and other areas in Mimika district wanted to be able to live their lives in a climate of security and peace.

Shokilin, another resident, warned that the area was fast running out of badly needed food and medicine because of the blockade of the main access road there by Freeport workers who since mid-September have been striking for higher pay.

He said the blockade, in place since Oct. 10, had “severely impacted” the local population.

“It’s affected not just Freeport but also the residents, because the only way that supplies reach us is through Freeport, and now the only road leading to us is blocked,” he said.

Orpa Padwa, a resident of Kuala Kencana, confirmed that food and other supplies were quickly running out.

“We mothers can only cry and can’t do anything else,” she said. “Our children cannot go to school because we’re afraid [of the attacks].”

She said she hoped that the standoff between Freeport and the striking workers, as well as the spate of shootings and other attacks, could be resolved as soon as possible “because we want to celebrate Christmas peacefully.”

Human rights activists held a silent protest outside the Australian Embassy on Monday to demand justice for Indonesian minors currently incarcerated in Australia.

Febi Yonesta, from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta), said most of the underage prisoners came from impoverished fishing communities and were less than 15 years old. They were not aware of the risk of transporting illegal immigrants into Australia, he said.

“Dozens of them are currently being detained in adult prisons for allegedly being involved in people-smuggling syndicates,” Febi said.

“Fishing doesn’t pay enough, but working with people-smuggling syndicates offers far more money.”

He added that the problem was compounded for fishing communities in East Nusa Tenggara when an oil spill in the Timor Sea in mid-2009 spread over much of their fishing grounds and impacted their catches.

Eko Waluyo, from the organization Indonesian Solidarity, said it was unfair that the minors continued to be held in adult facilities while Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and Prime Minister Julia Gillard could insist on the release of a 14-year-old Australian boy currently detained in Bali for drug possession.

“There is not one but rather more than 70 Indonesian youths, 15 years or younger, in Australian adult prisons or detention centers for working on boats carrying refugees in transit from Indonesia to Australia,” he said.

The Australian boy was moved out of Kerobokan prison in Denpasar on Saturday to a facility in Jimbaran, built specifically for foreigners, after newly appointed Justice and Human Rights Minister Amir Syamsuddin declared Kerobokan overcrowded and inhumane for underage inmates — despite the fact it also held nine Indonesian children.

Another official reiterated the fact that other underage inmates had to stay in Kerobokan since Bali did not yet have a good juvenile prison.

Abdul Kadir Wokanubun, advocacy and campaign director at the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), decried the people-smuggling charges leveled against the Indonesian youths in Australia, which could see them face a maximum of 15 years in prison and fined the equivalent of Rp 1.5 billion ($170,000).

He added that the Australian Embassy had not provided activists with information on what it planned to do with the youths, nor had there been any action from the Indonesian government.

“Australian officials handling the youths are not convinced that they are underage,” Febi said. “The lack of official documents was used as a basis for the Australian government to put them in adult facilities.”

He added that a team of lawyers from Australia would visit Indonesia next month to gather the documents needed to prove the youths’ ages.

He said they came from as far afield as East and West Java, East and West Nusa Tenggara and South Sulawesi.

Additional reporting by Ulma Haryanto

Papuans living near the giant Grasberg mine operated by United States mining giant Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc say they are running out of food and medicine as Indonesian security forces maintain their blockade of the road leading to the mine.

Unknown gunmen killed three people in three separate attacks near the mine on Friday. Freeport has blamed strikers for several earlier incidents, including a clash with police that left two people dead and an alleged attack on a mine pipeline. Most of the mine’s unionized workers have taken part in the strike, which began on Sept. 15.

Sholikin, speaking at the National Commission of Human Rights (Komnas Ham) in Jakarta on Monday, said the blockade had “severely impacted” on the local population.

Orpa Padwa, 45, a resident of Kuala Kencana in Mimika district, said food was running out.

“We mothers can only cry and cannot do anything else,” Orpa said as she wept. “The children cannot go to schools because we are afraid.”

She said she hoped the problems could be resolved as soon as possible “because we want to celebrate Christmas peacefully.”