• The famous letter from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to Freeport-McMoRan cancelling $100,000,000 in risk insurance, October 10, 1995. Note that this cancellation was disputed by Freeport-McMoRan and the insurance was subseqeuntly reinstated by OPIC. Although this letter had been obtained under FOIA by early November, 1995 attempts to FOIA related supporting material have been successful for a full year.
• "As noted, OPIC has determined through its monitoring activities that Freeport's implementation of the Project, and especially its tailings management and disposal practices, have severely degraded the rain forests surrounding the Ajkwa and Minajeri Rivers."
• "the Project has created and continues to pose unreasonable or major environmental, health or safety hazards with respect to the rivers that are being impacted by the tailings, the surrounding terrestrial ecosystem, and the local inhabitants."

• Trouble at Freeport: Eyewitness accounts of West Papuan resistance to the Freeport-McMoRan Mine in Irian Jaya (West Papua), Indonesia and Indonesian military repression: June 1994 - February 1995, Australian Council for Overseas Aid (ACFOA), published April, 1995. (Note: some of this report has been very strongly disputed by Freeport. See a letter from Freeport-McMoRan Vice President Tom Egan. See also the statement "Freeport officials said the Australian council's report is riddled with unfounded allegations and blatant inaccuracies." -- "Australian group wants investigation of Freeport", Austin American-Statesman, December 21, 1995, p. A1.)
• "Not long after, ABRI [Indonesian Army] and Freeport security suddenly spread around to cover the crowd. Without warning the people, they raised their weapons directly to the crowd and started shooting."
• "Six relatives of the OPM leader, Kelly Kwalik, were tortured in Timika and have since disappeared, believed executed."
• "ABRI and Freeport security engaged in acts of intimidation, extracted forced confessions, shot 3 civilians, disappeared 5 Dani villagers, and arrested and tortured 13 people after an OPM flag raising in Tembagapura on 25 December last."
• "Six relatives of Kelly Kwalik, the rebel leader, in one of the transmigration sites in Timika, were captured and brought to the ABRI post in Timika in November where they were interrogated and tortured, and finally six of them disappeared."
• "In response, ABRI and Freeport security shot dead 3 civilians, 5 Dani people disappeared and 13 Waa and Banti civilians were arrested and tortured."
• "He said that ABRI tortured them with electric shocks, their bodies were sliced with razor blades ('gillettes' in original. Ed) and stabbed with knives."

• Paying for Protection: The Freeport mine and the Indonesian security forces (July 2005). Global Witness. Press Release. "Global Witness asked Freeport McMoRan whether the payments for security were actually required by Indonesian law or the terms of its contract. The company replied: 'At the [Indonesian] government's request, we provide financial support to ensure that the Indonesian government's security personnel (military and police) have the necessary and appropriate resources to provide security for our operations.'"

  This report detailed how Freeport Copper & Gold bought off the Indonesian military for protection of the Grasburg mine and other Freeport operations in the country. The company has failed to respond to most of the important allegations, but this report is the most damaging to Freeport's claims that it actively promotes human rights and environmental protection.

• More human-rights abuse on Freeport mine area of Irian Jaya (West Papua), Press release on Irian Jaya (West Papua), ACFOA, August 29, 1995.
• "Those shot were at prayer at the time of the killing and included a village pastor and two children aged 5 and 6."
• "The report alleges that the military used Freeport vehicles to transport detainees and Freeport containers for imprisonment. It also alleges that civilians detained were tortured at the Freeport workshop at Koperakopa in Tembagapura."

• Violations of human rights in the Timika area of Irian Jaya (West Papua), Indonesia: A report by the Catholic Church of Jayapura. Mgr. H.F.M. Munninghoff, OFM, The Bishop of Jayapura, August, 1995. Note on authenticity. Below we quote some sentences of the Bishop's report that mention 'Freeport'; the emphasis on that word is ours. However, in a subsequent letter, the Bishop states clearly, "My report is not a report about Freeport and does not contain accusations regarding Freeport."
• "After the interrogation they were brought to the place of detention which turned out to be a container owned by FIC (Freeport) in the vicinity of the post."
• "It is confirmed that on Christmas day, 25 December 1994, a demonstration took place near the Freeport Inc. mine in Tembagapura. This event was reported in the ACFOA publication but here we want to complete this report with a number of eye-witness accounts."
• "At 08.00 we were beaten and escorted to the KOMOP office in Tembagapura where we were detained in Freeport containers."
• "Around 12.00 a few soldiers while beating and kicking us forced us to dress again and forced us aboard Freeport bus no. 44 which was heading to Timika."
• "After the soldiers from Tembagapura "negotiated" with the KOTIS and other military leaders we were transferred to the Freeport workshop in Koperakopa (700 metres south of Wisma Pupurimina). Here, with their eyes taped shut (the 5 Dani from Waa) and their thumbs tied (9 Dani from Timika) we were beaten and tortured one by one by the soldiers who took turns."
• "Of the 15 Dani who went on the Freeport bus to Timika, 4 were killed and the others were detained, tortured and then released."

• Statement by Komisi Nasional Hak Asasi Manusia (Komnas HAM), the Indonesian Human-Rights Commission, "Based on information provided by 40 witnesses and 14 sources, the National Human-Rights Commission concludes that between October 1994 until June 1995 clear and identifiable human rights violations have occurred in the afore-mentioned areas, i.e.,:
1. Indiscriminate killings,
2. Torture and inhuman/degrading treatment,
3. Unlawful arrest and arbitrary detention,
4. Disappearance,
5. Excessive surveillance, and
6. Destruction of property,

which were inflicted by elements of the security apparatus on local denizens." Freeport spokesman Bill Collier has claimed that the Commission report "found that Freeport was not involved in any human-rights violations" (Daily Texan, November 14, 1995). However, see the following contradictory correspondence. The U. S. State Department notes that despite the fact that members of the Indonesian Human-Rights Commission are appointed by Suharto, they "in some cases showed themselves willing to question government actions." Genocidal murderer general Suharto (the CIA spells it Soeharto), has been "president" of Indonesia since 1968.

• Risky Business: The Grasberg Gold MineAn Independent Annual Report on P.T. Freeport Indonesia, 1998. By Project Underground.
• Freeport-McMoRan response to the commission report. How obtained: REB. Emphasis added by Robert S. Boyer.
• "Because of the growing population in this region and the vital importance of the PT-FI operations, the government has established a military presence in the region. The military had increased its presence in the area following the November 1994 shooting by unknown assailants of an Indonesian PT-FI employee who was part of a road maintenance crew. Under its Contract of Work, PT-FI, as well as other 'privatized' contractors, is obligated to provide to the Government, including the military, free and open access to its areas of operation and use of certain infrastructure assets, including roads, airstrips and ports. We provide other support, including food, transportation and shelter to military personnel involved in routine security detail, upon request. We do not provide transportation or other assistance to military personnel involved in combat operations."
• "Of the incidents described in the KOMNAS HAM report, one incident involved the deaths of eleven people in the Agani village near Hoea, which is located 90 kilometers east of Freeport's active operations area. It is not located in PT-FI's Contract of Work area. PT-FI had no knowledge of the incident until military leaders and International Red Cross requested the Company's logistical support several days following the incident to conduct an investigation."
• "Regarding the other incidents reported within PT-FI's Contract of Work area, it is important to point out that the facilities in which these events occurred were not under the control of PT-FI. Some of these incidents took place in the open communities near Timika. Regarding the reported incident involving a bus, PT-FI was asked by the Indonesian military for the use of a bus to transport individuals who were being questioned as part of an investigation into an incident involving armed dissidents. The shipping containers listed in earlier reports were storage vessels that the Indonesian military had requested several years ago for storage of material goods. The use of these containers for any other purpose was without the knowledge of PT-FI. With regard to an incident at a 'Freeport workshop' in Koperapoka, it should be noted that PT-FI has no workshops or company facilities in Koperapoka or the surrounding areas."

• Response to the results of Komnas Ham's (Indonesian Human Rights Commission) report on the human rights violations in Timika, sub-district of Fak-Fak, Irian Jaya, by five nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
• Amungme People's response to National Commission of Human-Rights findings, announced on September 22, 1995.
• "For us, the Amungme people, the root cause of the human-rights violations is Freeport but the title of the National Commission's report creates the impression that the Commission has tried to avoid making any link between the company [Freeport] and the abuses that have occurred inside and outside its concession area."
• "The National Commission mentions only that sixteen inhabitants were murdered and that four who were arrested in Timika had disappeared. But what about the three civilians who were shot dead by ABRI (Indonesian Armed Forces) troops in Owea, the five civilians (killed) in Tsinga after the OPM flag-raising on 21 May and 21 June 1994, the three civilians murdered or shot dead in Arwanop and Tembagapura after the OPM flag-raising and the peaceful demonstration on 25 December in the town of Tembagapura? What about the victims of other murders, arrests and torture involving the security forces and Freeport Security from May 1994 to June 1995? Reports from our own sources say that one hundred people or more were murdered during that period. And what about the thousands of our brothers and sisters who have been killed, arbitrarily arrested and tortured by the security forces and Freeport Security since the incident that occurred in 1977 in Agimuga sub-district?"

• Stop Freeport mine's destruction of Irian Jaya (West Papua) biodiversity: NGO (Nongovernmental organization) statement at Biodiversity Convention Conference of Parties II, November, 1995.
• Freeport letter to Udall, December 8, 1995. Obtained from Lori Udall.
• Statement concerning Freeport-McMoRan by the Vice President and General Counsel of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), December 15, 1995, to the MIGA Directors. Obtained from Lori Udall.
• Lemasa (Amungme People's traditional council) demand a settlement to the human rights violations which occurred in the Freeport concession area in 1994/1995, February 14, 1996.
• WALHI letter to MIGA, February 16, 1996. (Obtained from Lori Udall.)
• PTFI Environmental Audit Report, written by the engineering firm Dames and Moore, March 25, 1996. Obtained by writing to Freeport.
• Freeport's 1st quarter SEC filing. Reports on "$3.0 million for costs related to a civil disturbance". Figure also cited in the FY 2000 Annual Report, available online at http://www.fcx.com/inrl/ar.htm. "A March 1996 civil disturbance, in which area tribespeople engaged in acts of vandalism to PT-FI property, resulted in an approximate three day closure of the mine and mill as a precautionary measure. Full production was promptly restored after the Government of Indonesia (GOI) increased the military presence in the area. Concentrate shipments to customers were not interrupted. PT-FI and the GOI have launched a comprehensive economic and social development plan for the area in a series of open meetings with the local indigenous leaders. The plan, which represents the culmination of many months of effort including extensive interviews with local indigenous people, had actually been completed several days prior to the civil disturbance. PT-FI has dedicated one percent of its revenues over the next ten years to fund the plan which will include establishing a job skill and vocational training center and the continued enhancement of direct benefits to those tribes whose original tribal lands have been impacted by PT-FI's operations. FCX believes that its historical commitment to the area, improved dialogue with the indigenous population and increased military presence should serve to avoid future disruptions of the mine and mill operations."
• Freeport's offer to Amungme People, April 13, 1996, translation by Freeport, but with some commentary by Carmel Budiardjo, received from Carmel Budiardjo, tapol@gn.apc.org.
• Response of Amungme Naisorei, Lemasa, to the Response of PT Freeport Indonesia to the Ten Demands of the Local Inhabitants. April 17, 1996. Received from TAPOL, tapol@gn.apc.org.
• Freeport-OPIC Settlement, April 19, 1996.
• INFID (International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development) Statement on Freeport McMoRan Mining Operations in Irian Jaya (West Papua), April 26-28, 1996. Received from sugeng@nusa.or.id via apakabar@clark.net and darryl.malek-wiley@sfsierra.sierraclub.org.
• Beanal vs. Freeport. The original suit filing in United States District Court, Eastern District for Louisiana, case 96-1474, April 29, 1996. I have been informed that such court documents are public domain. I obtained a copy of this document from the law firm filing the suit - rsb.
• Alomang vs. Freeport. The original suit filing in Louisina district court Jun 19, 1996. I have been informed that such court documents are public domain. I obtained a copy of this document from the law firm filing the suit - rsb.
• Lemasa rejection of Freeport offer. June 29, 1996. Received via cscheiner@igc.apc.org from tapol@gn.apc.org.
• Lemasa expells Anggaibak and debunks "Amunge Foundation". July 12, 1996.
• Lemasa reports that Indonesian police are interfering with the US lawsuit. August 14, 1996.
• Minewatch review of the Dames and Moore report. September 2, 1996.
• Tribal rejection of Freeport solicitations. October 27, 1996. (dtecampaign@gn.apc.org)
• Statement in support of Tom Beanal, November 16, 1996. (dtecampaign@gn.apc.org)
• Kamoro protest to Freeport, January 25, 1997. (dtecampaign@gn.apc.org)
• Rape and Tribal Warfare near Tembagpura January 25-27, 1997, via Robert Bryce. Note that, as so often happens in claims about sexual assault, there are conflicting reports about whether this was rape.
• River Ajkwa polluted. Jayapura, Irian Jaya (West Papua): Jakarta Post, 27 March 1997, via tapol@gn.apc.org.
  

  "Residents along the Ajkwa River which flows from the outskirts of Tembagapura city to Timika the capital of East Mimika regency, have been warned against drinking the polluted water, Antara reported.

  Yusuf Tappang from the provincial administration's environmental promotion bureau said Thursday that studies showed the river was contaminated by PT Freeport Indonesia's mining waste 'The water is no longer potable,' Tappang said in a seminar.

  The mining waste, known as tailings, also affected thousands of hectares of forest along the river, Tappang said.

  Freeport has repeatedly denied pollution charges. Last year, it hired an international environmental audit agency to back up its claim of clean mining operations."

• Judge Duval's Ruling Dismissing Tom Beanal's Suit, April 9, 1997. 49 pages long.
• Beanal v. Freeport, Round II, April 23, 1997. Here is a new filing by Beanal, Lemasa, and others in Louisiana federal district court against Freeport-McMoRan, seeking damages for many alleged wrong-doings by Freeport in Irian Jaya (West Papua). Here is Freeport's response. Photo of Tom Beanal with U. S. Rep. Tom Lantos. This filing was also rejected, on August 8, 1997. See below.
• Speech by Tom Beanal at Loyola University, April 28, 1997.
• Churchmen Reject Second Phase of Freeport 1% Trust Fund. August 19, 1997.
• The opinion of Lemasa concerning the human rights situation and prolonged conflict in the area of operation of P.T. Freeport Indonesia, Mimika, Irian Jaya (West Papua), Lemasa statement to Komnas Ham, approximately Sept. 1, 1997.
• Social Audit on PT Freeport Indonesia Released Today. Freeport Press Release, Sept. 5, 1997.
• Press release from OPM International Information Office, October 15, 1997.
• More Mass Murder in Irian. May, 1998.
• Congressional Testimony: Indonesia's human rights violations against the people of West Papua. Congressman Eni Faleomavaega, American Samoa's Delegate in the U.S. House of Representatives. U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C., September 11, 1998.
  

  "The thousands of killings associated with the expansion of the Freeport copper and gold mines in West Papua are testimony to the brutality of the Jakarta central government. Incredible as it may seem, Mr. Speaker, estimates are that between 100,000 to 300,000 indigenous West Papuans have been killed or have simply vanished from the face of the earth during the years of Indonesian occupation. And this pattern of annihilation is being continued by the regime of Mr. Habibie despite initial promises of reform."

• An eye witness account of the trouble in Timika. September 11, 1998
• Lemasa statement about Freeport suit. December 14, 1998.

  New: INCIDENTS of MILITARY VIOLENCE AGAINST INDIGENOUS WOMEN in Irian Jaya (West Papua) (WEST PAPUA), INDONESIA. A Report by the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights and the Institute for Human Rights Studies and Advocacy, May 1999.

• 1999 Report of the Office for Justice and Peace of the Diocese of Jayapura .
• Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights report on Freeport, 1999. See also the full report.
• SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS OF THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE EVENTS OF 9 MAY 1996 IN WESTERN PAPUA, ENTRUSTED BY THE ICRC TO AN OUTSIDE CONSULTANT. ICRC, 2000.
• Presentation by Catholic Churchleaders in Papua in A PERSONAL MEETING WITH PRESIDENT ABDURRAHMAN WAHID JAKARTA 27 JUNE 2000.
• NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 18, 2000-- The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) concerning socioeconomic resources, human rights, land rights and environmental rights was announced today by leaders of LEMASA, the Amungme people's organization; LEMASKO, the Kamoro people's organization; and PT Freeport Indonesia (PT-FI), the Indonesian mining affiliate of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX).

Freeport has a web site with many press releases that respond to some of the human rights and environmental question raised about the mine. I have attempted to integrate links to some of these press releases into the chronology above, but as time goes by there will probably be more Freeport press releases that I have not yet seen, so checking their web site directly is a good idea. Equally interesting is Freeport's web page on the environmental and social impact of the mine. There are many subsidiary web pages there that are well worth browsing. I have not incorporated them all here because Freeport has already organized them well enough. But a balanced analysis involves reading thoroughly all these Freeport documents.

International Controversy and the Cries of the People. Otto Ondawame, July 15, 1999.