The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | National | Sun, February 01 2015, 12:00 PM
Rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo should uphold human rights in Papua and bring perpetrators of rights abuses to justice.
The group said in its World Report 2015 that Papua’s festering low-level pro-independence insurgency led by the Free Papua Movement (OPM) has continued to result in human rights abuses by Indonesian security forces.
At least 69 Papuans were imprisoned for peaceful advocacy of independence as of late October. The National Police arrested two French journalists, Valentine Bourrat and Thomas Dandois, on charges of “working illegally” on Aug. 6, 2014. They were released for time served on Oct. 24, after a Jayapura court sentenced them to two-and-a-half months in jail.
HRW deputy Asia director Phelim Kine said although President Jokowi indicated in July that he would seek to end the government stranglehold on foreign media access to Papua, he had not done so by year’s end.
“President Widodo should uphold human rights and prosecute those who abuse them,” said Kine in relation to the group’s 25th report released on Friday.
“Indonesians have waited a long time for a government that will protect their rights rather than coddle the abusers. It’s time for President Widodo to deliver,” he said.
The World Report 2015 noted that the Indonesian government made some important progress on human rights in 2014. The House of Representatives passed the Mental Health Law in July to address the country’s dire mental healthcare situation.
“President Widodo himself has explicitly promised to investigate specific enforced disappearances in 1998. He also gradually lifted the taboo on discussing the 1965 anti-communist massacres, the focus of Joshua Oppenheimer’s award-winning film The Act of Killing,” said HRW.
In February, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement that allowed Indonesian domestic workers in Saudi Arabia to keep their passports, communicate with their families, be paid monthly and have time off.
“President Widodo has spoken of the need for greater respect for human rights in Indonesia. He needs to back up those words with concrete actions,” said Kine.