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News on West Papua's human rights and conflict situation




Military member opens fire at group of protesters in Asmath regency - four protesters killed, four injured

alt The forceful dispersal of a group of supporters of a local candidate protesting duting the elections has resulted in the killing of four indigenous Papuans on 27 May 2019 in Basim Village, district of Fayit, Asmath Regency. Four other protesters were injured during the incident. According to local media outlets the protest started shortly after the local election commission announced the election results. At 10.00 am, an angry mob of approximately 350 protesters began vandalizing the house of a newly elected local parliament member. Three military members - namely second sergeant Jamaludin Retop, corporal Eko Saputro and sergeant FR - who were guarding a nearby military post saw the incident and attempted to disperse the crowd using fire arms instead of applying non-violent means to control the situation.
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AHRC on Indonesia: A Review of the Indonesian Government's Obligation under International Human Rights Instruments

altAs a member of the United Nations (UN), Indonesia has ratified at least six major international human rights treaties. Currently, Indonesia is a member of the UN Human Rights Council, therefore, it has obligations to increase the standard of human rights protection in its territory under the resolution of the UN General Assembly creating the Human Rights Council. This short paper will address the concern about the performance of the Indonesian Government regarding human rights obligations in accordance with international human rights law, regional human rights instruments and national law.
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WCC Executive Committee Statement: Concern and solidarity for West Papua
altThe executive committee of the World Council of Churches, meeting in Bossey, Switzerland, on 22-28 May 2019, recalls the many initiatives and expressions of concern about the situation in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and Papua Barat (together referred to herein as “West Papua” or “Tanah Papua”) by national, regional and international ecumenical and church-related organizations over many years. Since the joint World Council of Churches (WCC)/Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) delegation visit to Indonesia (including West Papua) in 1999, the WCC has repeatedly lifted up issues related to human rights, environmental degradation, and economic justice in West Papua, particularly from the perspective of the Indigenous Papuan people.
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Governments keeps restrictive policy for foreign journalists in West Papua

altOn an interview on 23 May 2019, the head of the immigration division in the regional office of the Ministry for Law and Human Rights in Papua Province, Mr. Hermansyah Siregar, has confirmed what human rights organisations had been criticizing since May 2015, when President Joko Widodo announced the opening of West Papua to foreign journalists. West Papua remains a restricted area for foreign journalists. Any journalist visa will only be approved once the applicant has obtained all necessary documents through the Clearing House procedure, a lengthy bureaucratic procedure which is mandatory for foreign journalists intending to cover news in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and Papua Barat.
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Papuan Provincial parliament drafts local regulation on the settlement of human rights violations

Fourteen legislators of the Papuan provincial parliament (DPRP) are in the process of drafting a local government regulation (peraturan daerah or PERDA). The law shall provide a legal framework to deal with human rights violations in the province of Papua. The legislators have met with NGOs, victims of human rights violations and other stakeholders, asking them to share their inputs on the draft. The draft regulation is planned to be incorporated into the local legislation program in 2019.
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Police officers shoot two indigenous Papuans in Deiyai Regency - one victim dead, another injured
altAccording to information received from the Secretariat for Justice and Peace (SKP) of the catholic deanery in Tigi, police officers have shot dead Yulianus Mote and severely injured Melianus Dogopia, both 18 year old, during two related incidents in the regency of Deiyai. The Jakarta Post and local media outlets published articles on the shootings, which were related to the burning of the police station in Tigi district. The victims’ families have apparently rejected any settlement of the case outside the law through a compensation payment, as it is commonly practiced by the police and military to avoid legal consequences for the perpetrators. They demanded authorities to initiate a prompt and effective legal prosecution against the perpetrators.
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Update Treason Trials: Imprisonment sentences for six KNPB activists and a Polish citizen
alt In early May 2019, judges found the Polish citizen Jakub Skrzypski and co-defendant Simon Magal guilty of having committed treasonous acts. Skrzypski was sentenced to five years, Simon Magal to four years imprisonment. The judges argued that the public prosecution and the police had gathered sufficient evidence that Jakub Skrzypski had planned to sell weapons to the West Papua National Liberation Movement (TPN-PB), while Simon Magal had allegedly facilitated the trade. Shortly after the decision, the judges sentenced the two political activists Yakonias Womsiwor and Erichzon Mandibarto to eighteen and fifteen months imprisonment respectively. Meanwhile a second political trial at the District court in Timika resulted in imprisonment sentences for three political activists. Yanto Awerkion was sentenced to one year, Sem Asso to ten months and Edo Dogopia to eight months imprisonment.
Read more on trials against KNPB members
Read more on Skrzypski & Magal trial
Read more on trial process


Amnesty International proposes human rights agenda for new president
alt Amnesty International had published a document proposing a human rights agenda for candidates during the Indonesian presidential and parliamentarian elections on 17 April 2019. The agenda consists of nine points addressing the most important shortcomings in the field of human rights in Indonesia. Several agenda items have a particular high relevance for the human rights context in West Papua. Point six of the agenda demands the government to respect human rights in Papua. Amnesty International calls on all presidential and parliamentary candidates to commit publicly to ensuring that human rights are protected, respected and fulfilled, as provided in international human rights law and standards and the country's own Constitution.
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Police cracks down on peaceful demonstrations in Bali and Malang
alt Police forces again cracked down on two peaceful demonstrations in the cities of Denpasar, Bali Province and Malang, Java Tengah Province. According to the Papuan news outlet Tabloid Jubi, the demonstrations were organised by the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) and the Indonesian Peoples’ Front for West Papua (FRI-WP). The demonstrations were held as a protest activity to the Indonesian elections on 17.04.2019. In Malang the protestors also demanded the closure of PT Freeport Indonesia’s Grasberg mine and the right for political self-determination of the Papuan people. The AMP and the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI LBH) claim that police officers ill-treated seven protesters during the violent dispersal of the peaceful rally.


Upset police officer pulls gun and opens fire at Asei Village, Jayapura Regency
Local media outlets have reported another case of police violence in Asei Kecil, a small village in the Sentani Timur District of Jayaura Regency in Papua Province. On 15 April 2019, police brigadier chief A.K. came to Asei Kecil Village to meet with Apner Kaigere (36 years) because Mr. Kaigere allegedly demolished a house inhabited by the officer's parents. As the discussion escalated into a heated dispute, brigadier chief A.K reportedly released two shots. Apner Kaigere sustained a bullet wound in the chest, while the second bullet hit Anderson Hengga in the buttocks. Both victrims had to be hospitalized.
In Memoriam Father Neles Kebadabi Tebay - 'a pioneer'
alt Fr Neles Kebadabi Tebay died at the age of 55 after fighting a devastating bone cancer. He has touched the hearts and minds of a lot of people and became one of the main resource-persons invited to share his insights into the complex situation of Papua in various international conferences and workshops. Over a couple of years he – often in cooperation with SKP and Elsham in Papua - was able to create an impressive network of contacts and international understanding and sympathy for the situation in Papua. Under the inspiring leadership of Father Neles, JDP organized consultation-meetings all over Papua, gathering Papuan communities, and at a later stage also reaching out to migrant communities, to discuss openly the situation in Papua.
AJAR publishes new report on female victims of violence in West Papua - I am here
alt The Indonesian NGO 'Asia for Justice and Rights' (AJAR) has published a new report on the situation of indigenous Papuan women who have become victims of violence and human rights abuses. The report compiles action research conducted from 2013-18 by members of the Papuan Women’s Working Group (PWG), an informal group established as a collaboration between Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR) and five Papuan organisations. The purpose was threefold: 1) to strengthen the voices of women victims of violence; 2) to take steps to counter impunity with practical local action; and 3) to strengthen understanding about the social-economic causes and impact of violence as experienced by indigenous Papuan women. This action research included participatory tools to document the experiences and voices of Papuan women. The research team created a process for “listening-in” to women who were speaking candidly about their own lives.
Download full report as pdf file


Human rights defenders raise allegations of torture and discrimination against Nabire Police
alt The Justice Peace and Integrity of Creation Desk (JPIC) of the Papuan Tabernacle Church (KINGMI Papua) documented a case of torture at the Oyehe Police Post in Nabire, Papua Province. Human rights defenders also raised allegations of discrimination in law enforcement against the Nabire Police. On 7 April 2019, Mr. Yusup Badii (39 years), a civil a servant working at the Nabire municipal cleaning agency, was allegedly attacked by a group traders, who collectively beat him with bare hands and a wooden stick. A plain cloth police officer arrested Yusup Badii. He was tortured by police officers in a cell at the Oyehe Police Post. Instead of arresting the attackers, the police officer arrested Yusup Badii. Yusup Badii and local human rights defenders believe that the police arrested him and not his attackers for reasons of racial discrimination.


Police officers arbitrarily arrest two Papuans and a baby in Sentani - both men subjected to torture during detention
alt The Association of Human Rights Lawyers for Papua (PAHAM Papua) has documented another case of arbitrary arrest and torture in the town of Sentani, Jayapura Regency. Police officers of the Sentani District Police arrested Atison Bahabol, Eki Balingga and his 13-months-old son Namu Balingga on 5 April 2019 in relation to a facebook post, showing Atison and Eki holding a leaflet with the slogan ‘Mobilisation for Referendum – Rally for Referendum - Boycott the elections on 17 April 2019’. Police officers allegedly tortured the two Papuan men in an attempt to obtain information regarding the whereabouts of the person who organised the leaflet campaign and uploaded the images on Facabook.
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Human Rights in Papua 2013

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Human Rights Report

More than 40 organisations in West Papua, Jakarta and worldwide have brought their analysis on the human rights and conflict situation in West Papua together. The executive summary of the 218-pages report explains how several human rights standards have deteriorated over the last two years. The report is compiled by the International Coalition for Papua (ICP) and the German Westpapua-Netzwerk (WPN).

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About the ICP

Human Rights and Peace for Papua is an international coalition of faith-based and civil society organisations (the Coalition) addressing the serious human rights condition in West Papua and supporting a peaceful solution to the conflict there. West Papua (Papua) refers to the western half of the New Guinea island in the Pacific and comprises the eastern most provinces of Indonesia. Indigenous Papuans are suffering from a long and ongoing history of human rights violations and security forces subject them to violence including killings, torture and arbitrary arrests. Impunity prevails. A lack of adequate access to health care and education as well as demographical and economical marginalisation and discrimination mark the living condition for Papuans. A heavy presence of Indonesian security forces, lack of access for international observers such as journalists, corruption and transmigration from other parts of Indonesia aggravate the situation. Political prisoners and the persecution of political activists shows the extent of repression with which freedom of expression and indigenous peoples’ rights are being violated. Papua’s wealth in natural resources attracts businesses and security forces resulting in exploitation through mining, logging, harmful agricultural projects, and environmental degradation. This dynamic challenges traditional indigenous culture while Papuans demand their right to self-determination.

visit our website at www.humanrightspapua.org