1) TPNPB-OPM Claims to Have Shot Down Indonesian Military Aircraft in Yahukimo, Papua
Reporter Andi Adam Faturahman January 17, 2026 | 01:01 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Organization (TPNPB-OPM) claims to have shot down a Hercules aircraft passing through the Yahukimo region of the Highland Papua. The spokesperson for the TPNPB headquarters, Sebby Sambom, stated that based on reports from the Battalion Commander and HSSBI Kodap XVI Yahukimo Operations Commander, Enos M. Yoal and Wene Kobak, the shooting occurred on Friday, January 16, 2026.
"We shot it down because it entered the war zone in Yahukimo," Sebby said in a written statement on Saturday, January 17, 2026.
He explained that the shooting of the aircraft, allegedly belonging to the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), took place on Gunung Street, Yahukimo. Enos M. Yoal claimed that his forces had riddled the aircraft's body with bullets during the shooting.
Sebby urged civilian aircraft in Papua not to serve as military transport, including TNI equipment. "We are ready to shoot, please leave the war zone in Yahukimo," Sebby said.
Colonel Try Poerwanto, the commander of the Cenderawasih Regional Military Command (Kodam), stated that the widely circulated video footage of the aircraft being shot down in Yahukimo was an old issue being resurrected.
He explained that, as stated by the Commander of the Kodam XVII/Cenderawasih, the Vice President's visit to Yahukimo on Wednesday was canceled for security reasons. Therefore, he confirmed that the aircraft shot down was not an R1-2 aircraft.
"It wasn't an R1-2 aircraft that was shot down. It was an old video that was re-uploaded to create a tense situation," Try told Tempo on Saturday.
Previously, Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka canceled his working visit to Yahukimo, originally scheduled for Wednesday, January 14, 2026.
"Based on security considerations, it was advised to the Vice President not to visit Yahukimo," said the Commander of the Kodam XVII/Cenderawasih, Major General Amrin Ibrahim, at the Frans Kaisiepo International Airport in Biak, Papua, on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, as quoted in the official statement from the Vice President's Secretariat.
He explained that based on intelligence information, there was detected activity by groups that had the potential to disrupt security stability in that area.
Gibran's visit to Yahukimo should have been included in the Papua agenda after he visited Senior High School 41 and the fish market in Biak Numfor on Tuesday, January 13, 2026.
The Vice President's Secretariat stated in its official release that the working visit to Papua is a government effort to accelerate development in Papua.
Yahukimo is one of the areas designated by the TPNPB as a conflict zone in Papua. Sebby Sambom stated that there are 9 regions designated as conflict zones.
The nine regions referred to are Yahukimo Regency, Bintang Mountains, Nduga, Puncak Jaya, Intan Jaya, Maybrat, Dogiyai, Paniai, and Deiyai. "We will shoot anyone who enters this area," he said in April 2025.
On 2 January 2026, Indonesia enacted its new Criminal Code (KUHP) and Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP), prompting a coalition of civil society organizations to declare an “Indonesian legal emergency.” The new laws, which replace Dutch colonial-era criminal legislation, have drawn sharp criticism from legal experts, human rights defenders, and historians. They are concerned that the codes threaten fundamental freedoms and expand state power at the expense of citizens’ rights.
Among the most troubling provisions in the new KUHP are restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly. Article 256 now criminalises participation in demonstrations held without prior notification to the authorities, a significant departure from the previous law, which only penalised those who disrupted lawful protests. The code also increases the maximum punishment for treason from life imprisonment to the death penalty. Perhaps most alarming, Article 622 explicitly repeals key provisions of Law Number 26/2000 on Human Rights Courts, effectively eliminating criminal accountability for gross human rights violations. Human rights advocates say that his move will entrench impunity for past and future abuses.
The new Criminal Procedure Code has raised equally serious concerns about expanding police powers without adequate judicial oversight. Under Article 120, investigators can now carry out confiscations without obtaining a warrant from a court, requiring only the investigator’s own assessment of urgency. The code also grants National Police investigators authority to coordinate, supervise, and direct other investigative bodies. Human rights observers argue that the new KUHAP grants too much authority to the police. Additional provisions on wiretapping and digital forensics lack sufficient independent oversight, creating conditions in which abuses are likely to occur.
Amnesty International Indonesia Executive Director, Mr Usman Hamid, warned that these codes will encourage authorities to criminalise government critics, noting that provisions on insulting the president, vice president, and state agencies can be instrumentalised to counter dissent. This concern is particularly acute given ongoing detentions of activists arrested during protests in August 2025, which Hamid characterized as reflecting “a political policy of today’s administration to suppress criticism.” Former Attorney General Marzuki Darusman described the situation starkly: “The KUHAP should have been the last bastion protecting citizens from police arbitrariness. With these new laws, that bastion has collapsed.”
The legislative process itself has drawn criticism. The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation noted that civil society received the official KUHAP document only on 30 December 2025, one day before the bills became effective. Moreover, the bill was enacted with no implementing regulations (Peraturan Pelaksanaan, PP) in place.
That raises the question of whether Indonesia can still be considered a state governed by the rule of law. The new laws increase legal supremacy in the hands of the state, while the protection of citizens from government overreach was significantly weakened. Indonesian Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have called on President Prabowo to issue an emergency regulation postponing implementation until meaningful public participation and proper transition mechanisms can be established. They encouraged citizens to pursue judicial review before the Constitutional Court.
3) Military members accused of ill-treating Indigenous elderly in Sahbuku Village, Maybrat
16 January 2026 / 2 minutes of reading
On 31 December 2025, Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) personnel stationed at the Aisa Military Post reportedly ill-treated an elderly man named Mr Markus Sahbuku in the Sahbuku Village, East Aifat District, Maybrat Regency, Southwest Papua Province..
According to information received, military personnel approached Mr Sahbuku and his son after hearing gunshots in the area. The soldiers allegedly suspected them of supplying goods to members of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB). At the time the gunshots were reportedly heard, Mr Sahbuku was inside a church preparing for the New Year’s Eve service. Despite the absence of credible evidence, TNI personnel kicked Mr Sahbuku in the ribs at least three times, causing severe pain and physical suffering (see photo on top, source: independent HRD).
Human rights analysis
The reported conduct of TNI personnel violates the absolute prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment as enshrined in the International Convention Against Torture (CAT) and Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The victim was not posing any threat. The use of force was punitive and retaliatory, based solely on suspicion and collective stigmatisation of Indigenous Papuans as alleged supporters of armed groups. Such acts of racial profiling also undermine the principle of civilian protection and exacerbate fear and trauma within local communities.
4) Papua unveils plan to build 14,000 homes in one year
January 16, 2026 21:40 GMT+700
Jayapura (ANTARA) - The Papua provincial government announced plans to develop 14,000 homes for residents this year, starting in urban coastal areas.
“We have proposed constructing 14,000 housing units within one fiscal year,” Papua Governor Mathius Fakhiri said, adding that the program will begin with a pilot project on Kosong Island in Jayapura City.
Speaking in Jayapura on Friday, he said the housing initiative as part of the government’s strategy to improve public welfare while enhancing settlement arrangements and spatial planning.
"Housing development will certainly conform with local wisdom," he added.
Fakhiri further said his office will coordinate closely with municipal and district governments to assess actual housing needs, ensuring the program benefits those most in need.
"We are also awaiting support and program synchronization from relevant ministries so the housing program can proceed sustainably," the governor stated.
Last year, Housing and Residential Area Minister Maruarar Sirait said that subsidized housing must be made available nationwide to achieve social justice for all.
Sirait noted that the government consistently promotes housing financing assistance, such as the Liquidity Housing Financing Facility (FLPP) managed by the Public Housing Savings Management Agency (BP Tapera).
He remarked that BP Tapera had inked a collaboration agreement with the Home Affairs Ministry that outlines the Home Affairs Ministry's support in collecting data on civil servants eligible to apply for FLPP assistance.
The minister remarked that all innovations and breakthroughs in the program are made possible through collaborations among all stakeholders.
1) Indonesian military rescue 18 Freeport workers from rebel siege in Papua
The military used drones to deliver food and medicine to the stranded workers, before evacuating them to safety after three days, a spokesman said.
Reuters Jakarta Thu, January 15, 2026
The Indonesian Military (TNI) rescued 18 workers at gold and copper miner Freeport Indonesia that had been surrounded by armed rebels for three days at a company outpost in the insurgency-plagued Papua region, officials said on Thursday. The rebel group - the Free Papua Movement- says it is fighting for secession of the region from Indonesia, which has controlled half of the resource-rich island since 1969 after decades of Dutch control. The other half of the massive Pacific island - one of the largest in the world - is the independent state of Papua New Guinea, north of Australia.
The workers were fixing one of Freeport's electric towers in Tembagapura district in the mountainous Central Papua province, when rebels surrounded them last week, Indonesia defense ministry spokesperson Rico Ricardo Sirait told Reuters. "They intimidated the workers, fired shots to frighten or trouble them psychologically," Rico said. The military used drones to deliver food and medicine to the stranded workers, before evacuating them to safety after three days, he added.
Freeport Indonesia and the spokesperson of Papuan separatists did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The military did not provide details on the operation to extricate the workers, but said no shots were fired. "The rescue operation was carried out in extremely difficult terrain with a high level of threat and time constraints as crucial factors," the operation commander Maj. Gen. Lucky Avianto said in a statement. Footage shared by the military on YouTube showed two dozen armed soldiers passing through a forest and river at night, apparently near the site. Another photo showed the soldiers with the rescued workers.
Yahukimo is a remote regency in Papua's Highland region, a region where the TPNPB's guerilla fighters' conflict with Indonesia's security forces has escalated in the past several years.
Major Tabuni said that members of the Indonesian government did not represent the Papuan people.
Indonesia's vice-president cancelled a visit in West Papua after a shooting attack on an aircraft in the area.
Gibran Rakabuming Raka was scheduled to land in Papua's Yahukimo regency yesterday, but changed plans following reports that Papuan militants shot at a plane the day before.
Indonesia's military and government today both confirmed that the visit to Dekai, Yahukimo's capital, was cancelled due to "security concerns".
A statement from the West Papua National Liberation Army, the TPNPB, claimed responsibility, saying its troops have been firing on aircraft entering Dekai. It released videos of several fighters including one showing armed Papuan fighters shooting at an aircraft overhead.
The TPNPB's Commander-in-Chief, Goliath Tabuni, warned that his troops remain on standby and were ready to kill the vice-president if he set foot in Yahukimo.
Raka had been touring several major centres in Papua to check on development projects. His previous stops in the towns of Biak and Wamena had gone to schedule without incident, officials said.
However, his planned visit to Yahukimo was postponed, the government said, because local and national security forces believed "there was sufficient threat to public safety".
The government said it could not confirm the reported shooting at civilian aircraft, but suggested the TPNPB, who it describes as an "armed criminal group", was mistaken in thinking it was shooting at the vice-president's delegation.
"As of now we heard that fortunately there's no casualty or victim from that unprovoked attack," a spokesperson said.
Yahukimo is a remote regency in Papua's Highland region, a region where the TPNPB's guerilla fighters' conflict with Indonesia's security forces has escalated in the past several years.
Major Tabuni said that members of the Indonesian government did not represent the Papuan people.
PAPUAN peace advocates have called on Indonesia to initiate dialogue or peace negotiations to end 50 years of conflict.
The church and civil society groups said talks between President Prabowo Subianto and the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) were essential to a peaceful resolution of indigenous issues.
Indonesia annexed former Dutch New Guinea in 1963 and renamed it Irian Jaya, despite the Netherlands’ desire to allow the return of the territory to indigenous Papuans.
The move, supported by the United Nations, United States, and the United Kingdom, has been contested by Papuans and defended by Indonesia, leading to more than 500,000 deaths in sporadic clashes over more than 60 years.
“I believe that only through dialogue can all conflicts of economic, social, cultural, and political interests be discussed and a peaceful resolution agreed upon,” said Papua Peace Network spokesperson Yan C. Warinussy.
He said the JDP hoped for a positive response from the conflicting parties, as well as from the Catholic Church leadership in the Vatican, the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference, and the Communion of Churches in Indonesia.
Warinussy said peace was imperative because indigenous Papuans had been victims of armed conflict with economic and political backgrounds since 1963.
“During the 2025 Christmas and 2026 New Year celebrations, many indigenous Papuans were not in their hometowns but in the middle of the forest as refugee camps,” he said.
Warinussy claimed this violated the mandate of the 1945 Constitution, Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 39 of 1999 concerning Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Convention on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.
Papuan refugees have fled to areas outside military operations and armed conflict between the military and the West Papua National Liberation Army.
In October 2025, clashes between government troops and Papuan fighters at Teluk Bintuni Regency, West Papua, displaced 238 people. A military operation using helicopters in Lanny Jaya, Papua Highlands forced around 2000 residents to flee their villages.
The Papuan Church Council estimates there are 103,218 refugees across Papua.
4) Six Papuans arbitrarily detained and tortured during military detention in Dekai
15 January 2026 / 3 minutes of reading
On 9 January 2026, Indonesian military (TNI) personnel arbitrarily detained six Indigenous Papuans in Dekai District, Yahukimo Regency, Highland Papua province. At least three of them were subjected to torture during interrogation. All victims are Indigenous Papuans and civilians. The soldiers accused them of membership in the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB). The six men were apprehended following drone surveillance and forcibly detained at a military post. TNI personnel reportedly tortured them during interrogation and pressured them to confess to involvement with an armed group. They were released only after massive public pressure from families and traditional leaders, who occupied the Yahukimo Police Station in a peaceful protest.
At 10:10 am, TNI personnel conducted drone surveillance over Jl. Gunung. At 10:20 am, Yon Taipur and Yonif 5/Marines posts on Jl. Jend. Sudirman. Mr Eko Ussu, Mr Alesa Busup, Mr Usan Ossu, Mr Hengki Ossu, Mr Asam Ossu, and Mr Timeks Busop left the house in the Jl Gunung area and travelled towards Dekai town. At approximately 11:45 am, TNI personnel intercepted their vehicle in front of the Yon Taipur and Yonif 5/Marines posts on Jl. Jend. Sudirman. The six Papuans were apprehended, their mobile phones confiscated, and they were taken to the Marine post near Paradiso Dekai Airport.
From late morning until early morning the following day, TNI personnel interrogated the six detainees at the Marine post. Military personnel reportedly tortured and coerced them to admit affiliation with the TPNPB. On 10 January 2026, families, traditional leaders, church representatives, and other tribesmen organised a peaceful protest at the Yahukimo District Police Station, demanding unconditional release (see photos and videos below, source: independent HRD). After sustained public pressure and negotiations involving the police and district authorities, the six detainees were released at 5:50 pm and handed over to their families.
Credible victim testimony and visual evidence indicate that military personnel tortured Mr Timeks Busup, Mr Eko Ussu, and Mr Asam Ossu during detention. Injuries included severe facial swelling, bruising to the forehead and neck, and beatings to the thighs using blunt force (see photos below, source: independent HRD). The abuse occurred during interrogation and was aimed at extracting forced confessions of involvement with the TPNPB.
Human rights analysis
The described detention and torture allegations raise serious concerns under international human rights law and Indonesian domestic law. Military officers conducted the arrests without arrest warrants and without immediate judicial oversight, in violation of the right to liberty and security of a person under Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The use of military drone surveillance to justify civilian arrests, combined with coercive interrogations and torture, reflects a pattern of militarised law enforcement incompatible with civilian protection standards in the Papuan provinces. The documented acts of physical abuse violate the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), to which Indonesia is a member State. The targeting of civilians in a conflict-affected area further raises concerns under international humanitarian law, particularly the principle of distinction
Mr Timeks Busup, Mr Eko Ussu, and Mr Asam Ossu sustained visible injuries as a result of the torture they experienced during military detention on 9 January 2026
Families, traditional leaders, church representatives, and other tribesmen organised a peaceful protest at the Yahukimo District Police Station on 10 January 2026
5) Arbitrary detention and coercion of five indigenous Papuans by military personnel in Puncak Regency
15 January 2026 / 3 minutes of reading
Indonesian military (TNI) personnel arbitrarily detained five indigenous Papuans after returning from Sunday worship at a church in Jampul Village, West Beoga District, Puncak Regency, on 4 January 2026. The soldiers reportedly accused them of affiliation with the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) solely based on clothing bearing the Morning Star symbol and political content found on their social media account. Upon arrest, they were taken to a military post and coerced into pledging allegiance to the Republic of Indonesia before being released on the same day.
At around 12:00 noon, the five civilians were intercepted by Satgas Yonif 732/Banau members while walking home from church. According to information received by local human rights defenders, the military accused them of being members or supporters of the armed pro-independence movement because they wore T-shirts displaying the Morning Star emblem and had previously shared images related to Papuan self-determination on social media.
Iyan Wandagau, Maikel Uamang, Julian Wandagau, Oten Kum, and Eten Uamang were then forcibly taken to the Jambul Military Post. Thereupon, TNI personnel pressured them to sing the Indonesian national anthem (see photos and video below, source: independent HRD) and participate in an oath of allegiance to the Republic of Indonesia. This act reportedly took place under armed military supervision and was witnessed by pastors, church leaders, congregants, local officials, and community members who had just completed worship services. All five civilians were released later the same day without formal charges or judicial process.
Conflicting official narratives
Military-linked media outlets portrayed the event as a “humanistic approach” by the TNI, claiming that the five youths were former members of an armed group who voluntarily returned to the Republic of Indonesia and pledged loyalty during a ceremonial process at Bethel Church. This narrative contradicts information from local sources, who alleged that the individuals were civilians unlawfully detained, intimidated, and coerced while in military custody.
The existence of two sharply divergent accounts raises serious concerns about misinformation, forced confessions, and the instrumentalisation of civilians for military propaganda purposes in West Papua.
Human rights analysis
The detention and treatment of the five civilians constitute arbitrary detention, intimidation, and coercion, in violation of fundamental human rights standards. The deprivation of liberty was carried out without a warrant, judicial oversight, or lawful basis, contravening Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The targeting of individuals for wearing symbols or expressing political views also violates the rights to freedom of expression enshrined in Article 19 ICCPR. Forcing civilians to sing the national anthem and pledge allegiance under military control amounts to coercion and psychological intimidation, incompatible with the prohibition of degrading treatment under Article 7 ICCPR.
Five Papuans are coerced into singing the Indonesian National Anthem in Jampul Village on 4 January 2026
6) Unfair trial against Papuan student charged with murder in Yahukimo
15 January 2026 / 3 minutes of reading
On 5 May 2025, members of the Damai Cartenz Police Unit arbitrarily arrested 17-year-old Papuan high school student, Ivan Kabak, in Dekai town, Yahukimo Regency, Papua Pegunungan Province. While the initial arrest itself was arbitrary, serious human rights concerns in this case also arise from the subsequent criminal proceedings, which demonstrate systemic violations of the right to a fair trial, including denial of legal counsel, prosecutorial failure to prove charges, and a conviction issued outside the scope of the indictment.
Following his arrest, Ivan Kabak was charged under Article 340 of the Indonesian Criminal Code (premeditated murder) in connection with an alleged roadside incident in Kali Woh on 3 May 2025. The article carries a potential sentence of life imprisonment or up to 20 years’ imprisonment, despite Ivan being a minor at the time of the alleged offence.
Throughout the proceedings, the prosecution repeatedly expanded and shifted its narrative, associating Ivan with several unrelated and grave crimes, including killings in Angguruk District and Korowai, without presenting credible evidence or formally indicting him for those acts. These allegations were nonetheless allowed to circulate in the courtroom and public discourse, undermining the presumption of innocence.
The Public Prosecutor failed to establish the essential elements of Article 340, notably intent, premeditation, and a causal link between Ivan Kabak’s actions and any lethal outcome. Acknowledging this failure, the prosecution ultimately abandoned its initial position and requested a five-year prison sentence, a demand fundamentally inconsistent with the original charge. The defence consequently requested a full acquittal, arguing that the indictment was not legally proven and that continued prosecution violated the principle of nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege, and the right to legal certainty.
Despite the prosecution’s inability to substantiate the indictment, the panel of judges at the Wamena District Court found Ivan Kabak guilty under the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law and sentenced him to one year of imprisonment on 16 December 2025. (see photos in top and below, source: independent HRD)
Human rights analysis
The court decision constitutes a serious breach of fair trial guarantees, as Indonesian criminal procedure law (KUHAP) explicitly prohibits judges from convicting an accused based on legal provisions that were not included in the indictment. Article 193(1) KUHAP explicitly limits judicial conviction to the criminal act (perbuatan pidana) as formulated in the indictment (surat dakwaan). By introducing and applying the ITE Law ex officio, the court deprived the defence of the opportunity to prepare and contest the charge, violating the principles of equality of arms, legal certainty, and the right to defence.
The judicial handling of Ivan Kabak’s case reflects multiple and cumulative violations of the right to a fair trial, among them the erosion of the presumption of innocence through the introduction of uncharged and unproven allegations, the failure to acquit despite the prosecution’s inability to prove the indictment, the conviction outside the scope of the charges, amounting to judicial arbitrariness, and the discriminatory patterns in the treatment of Mr Kabak as indigenous Papuan, suggesting political and racial bias within the justice system.
Ivan Kabak at the Wamena District Court, 16 December 2025
7) Papua Lawmaker Rejects Prabowo's Palm Oil Plan, Military Projects
Reporter Dian Rahma Fika
January 15, 2026 | 10:31 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Paul Finsen Mayor, a member of the Regional Representative Council (DPD) from Southwest Papua, expressed his disapproval of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto's plan to encourage oil palm plantations in Papua. Finsen stated that his opposition represents the aspirations of the indigenous Papuan people.
He also asked Regional Representative Council (DPD) Speaker Sultan Bachtiar Najamudin to report the opposition to Prabowo and Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia. The request was made during an interruption of the DPD plenary session on Wednesday, January 14, 2026.
"Leaders, the indigenous people of Papua reject the oil palm initiative in Papua. So, convey this to Mr. Prabowo and Bahlil, stop with this project because Papuans don't like it," Finsen said in the plenary meeting room at the DPR, DPD, and MPR complex in Jakarta on Wednesday.
In addition to palm oil, Finsen also expressed his objections to the establishment of the Territorial Development Infantry Battalion (Yonif TP) in Papua. He believes that the Indonesian Army headquarters, which focuses on improving food security, is not aligned with the needs of Papuans.
This is because Yonif TP has a special company that handles agriculture and animal husbandry. "Papuans need schools and hospitals, not army headquarters," he said.
Finsen also reminded that the Papuan Special Autonomy Law mandates improving access to education and healthcare, rather than food security.
After hearing Finsen's concerns, Regional Representative Council (DPD) Speaker Sultan stated that he had gathered all input from his members. The former deputy governor of Bengkulu is seeking a face-to-face meeting with Prabowo to follow up on the senators' concerns.
"We are currently seeking a meeting schedule, including with the President in a consultation meeting to convey the same point," said Sultan.
One month ago, Prabowo pushed for the planting of oil palms in Papua, which can produce an alternative fuel to hydrocarbon-based fuels. He delivered this directive while briefing six governors and 42 regents in the Papua region, along with his cabinet members and the Executive Committee for the Acceleration of Special Autonomy Development in Papua at the State Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday, December 16, 2025.
"We hope that oil palms will also be planted in Papua so that they can also produce fuel from palm oil," Prabowo said.
Prabowo initially explained that the government is committed to achieving energy self-sufficiency to reduce dependence on imported fuel. If Indonesia develops alternative fuels, he estimates the country could save up to Rp250 trillion in fuel imports annually.
Therefore, in addition to oil palm, he also encouraged the development of new and renewable energy sources using locally sourced raw materials. For example, cassava and sugarcane plantations are being encouraged to produce ethanol.
Indonesia is currently overseeing the world’s biggest ever deforestation project in West Papua, while new research shows the extent of the UK’s involvement in an occupation that has been described as a ‘slow genocide’.
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Audio The World Unspun by New Internationalist
00:0027:23
The below transcript was AI-generated.
AD - SURVEY
SIG TUNE FADE UP AND UNDER
MONTAGE:
ARTICAL: Nobody knows about West Papua and it’s just as bad as Palestine and Gaza and people don’t know about it
VICTOR: I have received a number of serious threats. First is the physical threat, where my vehicle’s brakes were blown and I was almost run off a cliff. the second time my car was vandalised, including breaking the windscreen and windows. Another time, they threw a bomb at my house, and last year, they bombed my office.
BELLA: Me and my family, we are the only West Papuans currently living in England as of today
BENNY : Indonesia is destroying an area of forest the size of Wales, the largest deforestation project in human history
DAVID: If the Southeast Asian rainforest goes, then we can wave bye bye to the sustainability of the planet.
BENNY: Unity is what Indonesia fear most. It is our strongest weapon. We are one people with one soul, one destiny.
Welcome to The World Unspun.
I’m your host Maxine Betteridge-Moes.
You may not have heard of it, but West Papua is an extraordinary place. It is home to one of the world’s most important rainforests – third only to the Amazon and Congo basins – teeming with species found nowhere else on the planet. Civilizations here stretch back tens of thousands of years.
But it’s a region that is increasingly under threat from Indonesia’s military occupation. Rapid deforestation, resource extraction and deadly human rights crackdowns are on the rise.
VICTOR: I need people in the world to know the truth about West Papua. Because most of the information exposed from West Papua has been fake.
For those that have been following the situation in West Papua, these warnings are nothing new.
Many of our readers will know about the West Papuan struggle for independence from dedicated issues of New Internationalist magazine from 2002 and again in 2017. In fact, our office in Oxford is right across the hall from the Free West Papua campaign.
But today, this story needs our attention and action once again.
Indonesia is currently overseeing the world’s biggest ever deforestation project near the town of Merauke. New research shows the extent of the UK’s involvement in an occupation that has been described as a ‘slow genocide’.
In this episode, you’ll hear the voices of West Papuans fighting to be free. We’ll talk to experts about new research that exposes how extractive companies are profiting from Papuan repression, and hear Indigenous leaders lay out their visions of the new country they want to build.
With enough international support, those visions could at last become reality.
Stay tuned.
SIG TUNE FADE UP AND OUT
It's a grey and drizzly morning on December 1st and I’m heading to the West Papua independence day celebrations in Oxford.
As I walk through the city centre, I spot the blue, white and red Morning Star flag flapping in the wind above the Town Hall – flying this flag in West Papua or Indonesia is a criminal offence that could result in 15 years behind bars.
FADE UP AND UNDER NATIONAL ANTHEM
A few dozen of us gather inside one of the grand Victorian rooms, and we listen to the West Papuan national anthem. The mood is muted.
West Papua enjoyed less than a year of independence after the end of Dutch colonial rule in 1961. Within months a sham referendum organized by the Indonesian government saw their lands, forests and mountains handed over to Indonesian President Suharto’s military regime – along with the vast reserves of gold, copper and natural gas buried beneath them.
Today, the ambition and destructiveness of Indonesian development in West Papua continues to wreak havoc on people and the planet.
NATIONAL ANTHEM FADE UP AND OUT
Benny Wenda is an Indigenous leader from the Lani tribe who was arrested by the Indonesian government in 2002 for peacefully advocating for West Papuan independence. He is now the exiled leader of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, an umbrella group founded in December 2014, that unites the disparate factions of the freedom movement.
Benny addressed the room on December 1st, as his wife and daughter, Bella, looked on.
BENNY: Indonesia is destroying an area of forest the size of Wales, the largest deforestation project in human history.
In June 2024, Indonesia broke ground on a project to clear three million hectares of land for sugarcane and rice production within three years.
It’s the most destructive initiative in the history of West Papua, which has been under Indonesian occupation since the 1960s.
BENNY: From the beginning of 2018 until 2025 approximately 80,000 West Papuans have been internally displaced. And today, the number of displaced is over 100,000 forced from their homes by massacre and bombing. The Indonesian military use a drone, missile, helicopter, sniper rifle and fighter jet. They are made in Europe here.
The Indonesian military has been accused of carrying out a wave of brutal extra-judicial killings and torture in West Papua in recent months.
Last October, the Indonesian military killed 15 West Papuans, only three of whom were connected to the West Papua National Liberation Army, the armed wing of the free West Papua movement.
In 2024, soldiers were accused of killing teenager, Pianus Saniafter his body was discovered on the side of a road after an arrest. A high school student went missing after being arrested alongside a friend. Relatives say that the two were tortured as soldiers tried to get information about the armed struggle in the area, threatening to burn them alive.
In the same month Alex Sondegau, who was reportedly disabled with a mental disorder, was arrested. Photos later released show he was injured following his detention and although his body wasn’t found, his family believes that he has now died as a result of torture. In December 2024, 16-year-old Yulianus Abugau was allegedly tortured in Mamba Village, eventually dying from his injuries.
BENNY: While Indonesia is destroying West Papua, they also hide the crime. This is why UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has been denied access despite demand for more than 110 UN member states. It has been nearly seven years since Indonesia promised un fact finding mission. This is why we need you, our solidarity group, friends worldwide, to continue to advocate for our cause. What Indonesia hides is that which you will bring light.
Benny faced arrest numerous times while advocating for a free West Papua as a young man, including once when he had a smuggled copy of our 2002 issue in his backpack.
Here he is talking about the experience in a 2018 interview for our Youtube channel.
But this wasn’t the only time his life was at stake.
MUSIC FADE UNDER
BENNY: I was put in prison by Indonesian military just because of our peacefully campaigning … They charge me 25 years. So then one year I was in prison, and then they want to kill me in prison. So three times they're trying to assassinate me. If I stay, I will be killed. So that’s it, I decided to escape.
Benny climbed through the vents of the prison, scaling the border walls of broken glass and barbed wire.
BENNY: All bleeding and cut. Then I jump on the other side. And then from there, I almost two weeks across the border to Papua, New Guinea side. In the day I hide, and the night I walk on the road, if in the bush, I can't survive, because it's very difficult.
At this point, news of his escape had made international headlines.
BENNY: My life is danger, and radio Australia, Radio New Zealand, and broadcast very clearly. And even NBC News in Papua, New Guinea announced the rebel leader escaped from prison, and then along the border, Indonesian military already building up. So I have to, you know, make sure that I'm not caught by Indonesia so I have to be smart too
Finally after three months on the run, Benny made it to Papua New Guinea. He was able to fly to the UK where he was granted political asylum - he first lived in Norfolk before moving to Oxford, where he has remained ever since.
MAXINE: So you haven't been back to West Papua?
BENNY: No, no. If I go back there, I will be a dead man,
MUSIC FADE UP AND OUT
Benny says Oxford has become a second home to him. It’s here that he launched the Free West Papua campaign, which has received support from Oxford city councillors and the deputy mayor.
Their demands include a fact-finding mission to West Papua from the UN High Commission, full membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group and a new referendum for self-determination.
But while the movement is growing, so too is Indonesia’s increasingly repressive attempts to exploit the territory and crack down on dissent – including the journalists reporting on it.
Here’s Victor Mambor, a Papuan journalist I spoke to from his home in Jayapura.
VICTOR: I have received a number of serious threats. First is the physical threat, where my vehicle’s brakes were blown and I was almost run off a cliff. The second time my car was vandalised, including breaking the windscreen and windows. Another time, they threw a bomb at my house, and last year, they bombed my office.
Indonesia imposes a media ban on West Papua, which means the scant press coverage is often drawn largely from Indonesian military press releases.
This makes the work of people like Victor more important than ever.
VICTOR: Being a journalist in West Papua is not easy, because we face many challenges and problems, especially as indigenous West Papuan journalists. We are often stigmatised as part of the Free Papua Movement, and we face discrimination, making it difficult to get access and we often experience intimidation.
Indonesia claims that those advocating for West Papuan self-determination are a minority of separatists. But campaigners tell a different story. Between May and July 2017, a staggering 1.8 million people, representing 71% of the indigenous West Papuan population, signed a petition calling for an internationally monitored independence vote.
BENNY: So what I did, and with all the solidarity campaign, what we did is, we want to show Indonesia. So I let our people to choose. Some of them put their blood on it, you know, they can't sign it, and they just, you know, put their blood on it.
According to the Free West Papua Campaign, 57 West Papuans were arrested during that time for supporting the petition, and 54 were tortured at the hands of Indonesian security forces.
At the end of that summer, the petition was smuggled out of West Papua and officially validated by Dr Jason Macleod of the University of Sydney. As West Papuan leaders handed it to the UN’s Decolonization Committee in September 2017, Macleod confirmed that it was ‘an impressive example of community organization and mobilization across West Papua, one that reflects the sincere demands of the West Papuan people for self-determination.’
Indonesia called the whole thing a publicity stunt. Benny says the petition was ultimately not accepted by the UN because West Papua falls out of the committee’s mandate.
BENNY: Yes, before West Papua was listed, decolonization, but when Indonesia took over 1963 first of May 1960 they remove it. So that's why we this petition, to remind them we were there and to show that we coming back.
Today, Benny is still working to put West Papua on the agenda at the UN General Assembly, using the petition as evidence of his people’s vote.
Meanwhile, despite the information blackout, there are plenty of other things getting into and out of West Papua.
And for this, Indonesia has found Britain to be a friendly ally.
DAVID: British companies are all over West Papua. They're in three sectors … 1:06-1:10 agricultural plantation, metal mining and gas production.
To better understand this relationship, I spoke to an expert focused on law and corporate power.
DAVID: I'm David Whyte. I'm professor of climate justice at Queen Mary University of London, and I'm co director of the Centre for Climate crime and climate justice David and his co-author Samira Saunders have published the first ever audit of Britain’s involvement in the decades-long conflict in West Papua.
Their research reveals how household names, including BP and Unilever are profiting from mining, gas extraction and palm oil plantations that are poisoning water and food sources and tearing communities from their ancestral lands.
DAVID: Palm oil is highly contentious and a major source of conflict, and yet we have 14 major British investors who are profiting from the development of palm oil in West Papua, Indonesia is the biggest palm oil producer in in the world. And at the moment, another thing that we found looking at what's going on in West Papua. Now we think it's the biggest or it's the site where palm oil development is accelerating the fastest in Indonesia. So there's also a connection between the conflict and the rate of development of palm oil.
There’s also Grasberg – the largest gold mine and the second-largest copper mine in the world.
DAVID: So the Grasberg gold mine involved the British company Rio Tinto. The leading exporter of the of the gas in the region is BP.
For the Indigenous Amungme tribe, the mountain on which the mine is located is a sacred place. But every day an estimated 300,000 tons of toxic tailings, largely untreated, are deposited straight into the Ajkwa River.
Grasberg’s operations have also led to mass displacement of the Sempan and Komoro people and the destruction of the local ecosystem. The UN estimates that there are between 60,000 and 100,000 internally displaced people in West Papua – representing nearly two per cent of the population.
DAVID: So the Indonesian state has established a policy of transmigration, which is based on the destruction of traditional ways of living, the replacement of local foodstuffs by industrial plantations and so on. So that context is really crucial. This is a repression that's industrial and a racism that's also industrial, and that's quite difficult for people to contend with, because, of course, Indonesia, the post colonial state, is the repressive power in this in this context, but because there was a coalition of Western interests led by the US, of course, there are British companies involved. So British companies, even though they invest at a distance, and even though they might deny direct complicity in what is going on, are implicated because their money is behind this repression.
Another site of violence is BP’s Tangguh Bay liquefied natural gas processing facility, which occupies 3,200 hectares of land in the far west of the territory.
DAVID: Because journalists aren't allowed into that territory. We really don't know. You know, the extent to which BP security may have. Been involved, or may not have been involved in those in those evictions of people, but we do know that at least 10 villages have been evicted, and the people have been forced to relocate because of the Tangu Bay liquid natural gas facility since it was established. Obviously, BP doesn't tell us exactly how much profit it makes, but we can look at the production figures and the average revenue you get from from those production figures, and we estimate that the average annual revenue from Tango Bay alone for BP is well over $5 billion a year. So considerable profits is a very significant asset to BP. It's a very significant asset to the Indonesian government. that gas that the BP is producing over the lifetime of the fields in that facility it's going to produce, we estimate, about 1.5 billion tons of carbon. Now that's the equivalent of the net reduction of all European Union emissions between 2015 and 2030 that's just a comparison. So that so it basically obliterates 15 years of the reduction of emissions in all European countries, so that, I mean, that's that's hugely significant in terms of the climate. If the Southeast Asian rainforest goes, then we can wave bye, bye, to the sustainability of the planet.
Despite not having a seat at the UN table, the West Papua government in waiting have released a Green Vision for a new West Papuan state based on indigenous rights, forest protection and a rapid transition to a zero-carbon world. An independent West Papua would make ecocide a crime, provide free education and healthcare to its citizens while serving notice to extractive industries on its lands. It presents an inspiring blueprint for the kinds of climate action that a government might take, in stark contrast to the inadequate plans presented by so many sitting governments at UN climate events.
Here’s Raki Ap, the official West Papuan spokesperson for the Green State Vision at COP28 in Dubai.
RAKI: We’re going to be in international spaces and this is one of them. Because we have true solutions to protect our the forests and our ecosystem and for all people who want to stop climate change. So support us.
You can read more about this Green State Vision via the links in our shownotes.
MUSIC TRANSITION
Last year, more than ninety West Papuan tribes, political organisations, religious and political groups announced the first ever major boycott campaign of products and brands implicated in the Indonesian occupation.
These include brands associated with West Papuan palm oil including Hershey’s, KitKat, Smarties, Aero, Oreo, Ritz, Pantene, and Herbal Essences, as well as oil companies like BP.
Here’s Bella Wenda, the daughter of Benny Wenda, outside a protest at the BP headquarters in London last November.
BELLA: To feel so close to something as big that has had such an impactful, like, kind of huge detrimental effects, on deforestations, on the killings of my people, my family. It feels, it feels surreal. I feel angry.
My family all live in West Papua. I had families that have been killed due to deforestation. They've had to move houses. They had to flee, like all my grandparents, they can't move all the they live in the villages, and when the deforestation or the BP cut all of the trees and for the palm oils that's been currently produced as well. I had family, grandparents die. I had a cousins die because the elders, my elders that are too old to move, just die in the forest. I can't bury them. I can't go back to them. You know, it's I'm shaking right now. Actually, I'm literally shaking right now, because it's just like, it's a personal effect for me, but it is, is a bigger effect on the world.
MUSIC TRANSITION
Around the world, people who defend the land are being killed at an alarming rate. According to human rights group Global Witness, 2024 was the deadliest year on record, with a total of 324 land and environmental defenders killed or disappeared. Indigenous peoples, who protect much of the world’s remaining biodiversity, are disproportionately targeted.
This is particularly true in West Papua, where up to a quarter of Papuans have been killed since the 1960s. According to the Human Rights Monitor, the widespread impunity among security forces is a major driver of human rights violations in West Papua.
And yet, as of this year, Indonesia has assumed the Presidency of the UN Human Rights Council after the country was the only candidate from the Asia Pacific region to put itself forward.
A few weeks after my trip to Oxford I was at another event [hosted by Peace Brigades International] in London - this time to meet the human rights defender Lia Yewen.
Lia is an Indigenous Miyah woman working to protect her ancestral land in West Papua. Through her work with the Jakarta-based NGO Pusaka, she is involved in community organizing to help Indigenous people gain legal recognition, strengthen their rights to the land and restore local authority.
LIA: I choose to talk about land and forests because I think this is something that I need to talk we don't have money, we don't have powers, we just have land and forests.
The women of Papua find themselves at the bottom of the economic and social hierarchy, and yet they form the backbone of Papuan society.
In their day-to-day lives, they deal with hardship within their families and communities, where they are met with a lack of basic services, inappropriate or no education, social and economic marginalisation as well as political and domestic violence.
But Lia says this doesn’t silence them.
LIA: In West Papua recently, there are a lot of women that start talk about land and forests … and it's because, I think we have a reason we are women. We we are women. We will have children. I have a daughter, and then I have responsibility to do something like, I don't want to see experience something that I experience,
Still, she believes it’s not about singling out the oppression of women.
LIA: I always don't want to, like, separate any issue in West Papua … for me, all of that are connected each other, racism, human rights violation, marginalization, land disposition, all of these connected.
PAPUAN SONG FADE UNDER
In spite of everything I had come to learn about Papua over my months of research, the land grabbing, the killings, mass displacement, torture, and more, I wanted to know what keeps the Papuans going, where this strength of identity comes from - particularly in the face of global ignorance or indifference.
So I asked Lia what makes her proud to be Papuan.
LIA: I don't have any reason to not proud to be in Papuan. We are very rich. We have everything there. We have forests, we have everything. And I didn't realize that before, but right now, I'm really proud to be Papua.
Her answer wasn’t so different to something Benny told me when we met in Oxford.
BENNY: My culture been wiped out. My identity been wiped out by Indonesia… That is my fight is preserve my culture, my identity … I want to educate my children to understand … it's my obligation as a leader, as a father.
PAPUAN SONG FADE UP AND OUT
SIG TUNE FADE UNDER
Thanks for listening to today’s episode.
As you can imagine, there is so much more to the story of West Papua that we simply couldn’t fit within a single episode. Please do check out our shownotes for links to further reading on everything you heard in today’s episode, including links our two dedicated magazines.
Subscribers to New Internationalist get full access to our digital archive, dating all the way back to 1973.
This episode was hosted and produced by me, Maxine Betteridge-Moes, I’m the digital editor at New Internationalist. My co-editors are Amy Hall, Conrad Landin, Decca Muldowney, Nick Dowson and Bethany Rielly.
Special thanks to Roma Robinson for reporting support in London.
Our theme music has been produced by Samuel Rafanell-Williams and our logo design is by Mari Fouz. Audio editing is by Nazik Hamza.
