1) MEDIA STATEMENT: Comment by UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on Papua and West Papua, Indonesia

 

2) UN Highlights Arrests, Killings in Indonesia’s Papua Region 

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https://bangkok.ohchr.org/papua-statement/

1) MEDIA STATEMENT: Comment by UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on Papua and West Papua, Indonesia 

BANGKOK/GENEVA (30 November 2020) – We are disturbed by escalating violence over the past weeks and months in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua and the increased risk of renewed tension and violence.

In one incident on 22 November, a 17-year-old was shot dead and another 17-year-old injured in an alleged police shootout, with the bodies found at the Limbaga Mountain, Gome District in West Papua.

Earlier, in September and October 2020 there was a disturbing series of killings of at least six individuals, including activists and church workers, as well as non-indigenous residents. At least two members of the security forces were also killed in clashes.

An investigation by the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) found one church worker, Rev. Yerimia Zanambani, a pastor of the Protestant Evangelical Church, may have been killed by members of the security forces, and that his killing was just one “of a series of violence occurring across the regency throughout this year.”

We have also received numerous reports of arrests. At least 84 people, including Wensislaus Fatuban, a well-known human rights defender and human rights advisor to the Papuan People’s Council (Majelis Rakyat Papua or the MRP) and seven MRP staff members, were arrested and detained on 17 November by security forces in Merauke Regency in Papua Province.

Their arrests came ahead of a public consultation organised by the MRP on the implementation of the Special Autonomy Law in Papua and West Papua provinces. Fatuban and the others were released on 18 November.

UN human rights experts have also repeatedly expressed serious concerns regarding the intimidation, harassment, surveillance and criminalisation of human rights defenders for the exercise of their fundamental freedoms.

The recent violence and arrests are part of a trend we have observed since December 2018, following the killing of 19 individuals working on the Trans-Papua Highway in Nduga regency by armed Papuan elements.

There was a further escalation in in August 2019, when anti-racism protests and widespread violence erupted in Papua and elsewhere following the detention and discriminatory treatment of Papuan students in Java.

Military and security forces have been reinforced in the region and there have been repeated reports of extra-judicial killings, excessive use of force, arrest and continuous harassment and intimidation of protesters and human rights defenders.

We are concerned about reports that both armed elements and nationalist militias have been actively involved in the violence.

We urge the Government of Indonesia to uphold people’s rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association in line with its international obligations, particularly ahead of 1 December, when there are often protests, tensions and arrests.

We also call on the authorities to pursue thorough, independent and impartial investigations into all acts of violence, in particular killings, and for all perpetrators – regardless of their affiliations – to be held accountable.

At a time of ongoing discussions related to the Special Autonomy Law, we urge all sides to work to prevent further violence. There is an urgent need for a platform for meaningful and inclusive dialogue with the people of Papua and West Papua, to address longstanding economic, social and political grievances. There is also a clear need to ensure accountability for past and recent human rights violations and abuses.

ENDS

Watch the Video Statement here: https://vimeo.com/484722895/bc8c4f7144

Download the Video Statement here: https://owncloud.unog.ch/s/0xu2GuNZqCJ4FOt

For more information and media requests, please contact:  in Bangkok, Todd Pitman (+66 63 216 9080 / todd.pitman@un.org) or Wannaporn Samutassadong (+66 65 986 0810 / wannaporn.samutassadong@un.org; or in Geneva, Rupert Colville – +41 22 917 9767 / rcolville@ohchr.org or Ravina Shamdasani – +41 22 917 9169 / rshamdasani@ohchr.org or Marta Hurtado – +41 22 917 9466 / mhurtado@ohchr.org or Liz Throssell – +41 22 917 9296 / ethrossell@ohchr.org

Tag and share – Twitter: @UNHumanRights and @OHCHRAsia / Facebook: unitednationshumanrights and OHCHRAsia

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https://thediplomat.com/2020/11/un-highlights-arrests-killings-in-indonesias-papua-region/

2) UN Highlights Arrests, Killings in Indonesia’s Papua Region 

Recent tensions have been connected to Jakarta’s planned extension of the region’s Special Autonomy Law.

By Sebastian Strangio

November 30, 2020

 

The United Nations has once again voiced its consternation about the tense political situation in Indonesia’s Papua region, after months of escalating tensions between the authorities and pro-independence activists.

In a statement dated November 30, U.N. Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani pointed to a rash of violence and arrests that have taken place since the killing by separatists of 16 laborers working on the Trans-Papua highway in 2018.

“Military and security forces have been reinforced in the region and there have been repeated reports of extra-judicial killings, excessive use of force, arrest and continuous harassment and intimidation of protesters and human rights defenders,” the U.N. statement claims.

In particular, Shamdasani referenced a November 22 incident in which a 17-year-old was shot dead and another 17-year-old injured in an alleged police shootout in the Gome district of West Papua province. This came after a “disturbing” series of killings of at least six individuals in September and October, including activists and church workers. At least two members of the Indonesian security forces were also killed in clashes.

 

Indonesia’s Papua and West Papua provinces, which form the western half of the island of New Guinea, have seen a simmering separatist conflict since Papua was incorporated into Indonesia in a deeply flawed referendum in 1969. The Indonesian state’s attempts to quash the insurgency led by the Free Papua Movement (Organisasi Papua Merdeka, or OPM) have resulted in a perennial crop of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, disappearances, restrictions on residents’ movement and freedom of expression, and even drawn accusations of genocide.

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Despite its longevity, the situation in the Indonesian provinces of Papua rarely garners sustained international attention, in large part because the Indonesian government has made it hugely difficult for outside journalists and human rights monitors to gain access to the region.

Much of the recent discord has been linked to the Special Autonomy Law, which was passed in 2001 in order to give Papua and West Papua provinces more political autonomy and a larger share of revenue from the region’s rich natural resources.

The Special Autonomy Law is set to expire next year, and many independence-inclined Papuans have opposed its renewal, claiming that it has been used to short circuit aspirations for independence while doing little to improve the lot of ordinary people. In late September, police fired live ammunition in order to disperse crowds protesting against the Special Autonomy Law in Jayapura, the capital of Papua province. Demonstrators were also demanding a referendum on secession from Indonesia, something promised to the country at the end of Dutch colonial rule in 1962. Many were holding the Papuan national flag – the Bintang Kejora, or “Morning Star.

 

The U.N. statement also pointed to the arrests of at least 84 people on November 17. These included Wensislaus Fatuban, a well-known human rights defender and human rights advisor to the Papuan People’s Council (Majelis Rakyat Papua, or MRP) and seven MRP staff members. The arrests came ahead of a public consultation organized by the MRP on the implementation of the Special Autonomy Law. Fatuban and the other council members were released the following day.

 

 

The recent violence is just the latest sign of the wide gulf separating the national aspirations of the Papuans, press-ganged into the Indonesian republic in 1969, and the central Indonesian government, which has battled a rash of regional rebellions since independence, and views each as a potentially existential challenge to the integrity of the republic.

As the U.N. rightly points out, there is an “urgent need for a platform for meaningful and inclusive dialogue with the people of Papua and West Papua, to address longstanding economic, social and political grievances.” Absent this understanding, Papua will likely remain one of Southeast Asia’s most sadly intractable conflicts.

AUTHORS

STAFF AUTHOR

Sebastian Strangio

 

Sebastian Strangio is Southeast Asia Editor at The Diplomat. 

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