Article launches investigation into U.S. mining company's pay-offs to Indonesian military

In a statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the New Orleans-based mining company Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold confirmed that it has received informal inquiries from governmental agencies about revelations by The New York Times that the company paid almost $20 million to Indonesian military officers and units between 1998 and 2004. The military benefactors were stationed near the massive Freeport mine in Indonesia’s Papua province. The late December Times report also detailed the environmental consequences of the company’s dumping mine tailings into a nearby river system. In a letter to the editor [PDF], Freeport President and CEO Richard C. Adkerson defended the company’s operations and stressed its commitment to corporate social responsibility. However, he did not comment on Freeport’s work with Indonesian military intelligence officers to monitor the email and phone calls of environmental activists.

Source: The New York Times, January 19, 2006