Law and Human Rights Minister Amir Syamsudin said Wednesday that the Indonesian government had never detained any Papuans, as well as other citizens elsewhere, without clear and honest legal procedures.
"We have never detained anybody for expressing his/her freedom of speech as has been accused by some parties,” he said.
He continued that the people, who had been under detention, including those in Papua, were those who had obviously violated Indonesia's laws.
“Therefore, it's misleading to address them as political detainees," Amir told reporters on the sidelines of a hearing with the House of Representatives Commission III overseeing law and human rights.
The minister’s was responding to lawmakers’ questions on the escalating violence in Papua and human rights violations against several Papuans, including Filep Karma, who some claim has been imprisoned solely for his political beliefs.
Papuan activist Filep Karma is currently serving a 15-year in prison for promoting separatism.
He was first detained in 1998, when he led a ceremony to raise the Rising Star flag in Biak, Papua.
Karma's case was in the spotlight during the United Nations Human Right’s quadrennial Universal Periodic Review last month. Some countries, such as Germany, asked the Indonesian government to release Filep and other Papuans detained for political reasons, saying they had the right to peaceful assembly and association.