Indonesian authorities have arrested a Papuan independence leader for his alleged role in orchestrating a spate of civil unrest in 2019, the latest sign of the central government’s growing crackdown in the eastern region. According to a report by Reuters, Victor Yeimo, 38, was arrested in the provincial capital of Jayapura on Sunday, national police spokesperson Iqbal Alqudusy said.
Polic accuse Yeimo, the international spokesman of the West Papua National Committee, of being the “mastermind” behind the wave of protests that shook Papua for several weeks in August 2019.
Specifically, he is accused of committing treason, inciting violence and social unrest, insulting the Indonesian national flag and anthem, and carrying weapons without a permit – a roll call of charges that suggests he may face a long time in prison.
The arrest of Yeimo, who has been arrested multiple times in the past for his political work, comes amid an intensifying
government crackdown in Indonesia’s easternmost province, where Papuan separatists have been fighting for independence from Jakarta since the 1960s.
The crackdown is a blunt response to a recent uptick in attacks by the West Papua National Liberation Army (WPNLA), the military wing of the Free Papua Organization (Organisasi Papua Merdeka, OPM), one of the main pro-independence groups.
On April 26, insurgents claimed their biggest scalp in years when they ambushed and assassinated Brig. Gen. Gusti Putu Danny Nugraha, the head of Indonesia’s intelligence agency in Papua. The WPNLA/OPM later claimed responsibility for the killing.
A few days after the killing, Indonesia’s chief security minister also formally designated Papuan separatists as “terrorists,” a move that human rights groups and outside analysts say is likely to inflame further the region’s conflict.
Benny Wenda, an exiled Papuan independence leader, said that Yeimo’s arrest was a “sign to the
world” that the Indonesian government was using its terrorist designation as a pretext for a widespread crackdown. “Any West Papuans who speak out about injustice – church leaders, local politicians, journalists – are now at risk of being labelled a ‘criminal’ or ‘terrorist’ and arrested or killed,” he told Asia Pacific Report.
Tensions have been on the rise for several years in Papua, which occupies the western half of the island of New Guinea and is formally divided into two provinces, Papua and West Papua.
In December 2018, separatists killed at least 16 workers who were building the 4,300-kilometer Trans-Papua highway, which snakes its way through the region’s hilly interior.
The highway is the subject of “The Road,” a recent book by Australian journalist John Martinkus, which examines how it has become a flashpoint for a number of long-running concerns about Indonesia’s governance of the region, including exploitation by foreign mining companies, environmental destruction, military occupation by Indonesian troops, and the influx of internal “transmigrants” from other parts of Indonesia.
Following the killings on the Trans-Papua highway, Indonesia deployed more troops in the region – more than 21,000 have reportedly arrived in the region over the past three years – and exacted retribution on villages in the vicinity. In the 18 months following the killings, according to Martinkus, the military forced some 45,000 people to flee their homes into the limbo of internal displacement camps.
The August 2019 unrest erupted in Papua after a mob taunted Papuan students in Surabaya with racial epithets, calling them “monkeys” after they were accused of desecrating the Indonesian flag.
Yeimo’s arrest is unlikely to spell the end of local protests against Jakarta’s rule. Indeed, the opposite is more likely true. Veronica Koman, an exiled human rights advocate who focuses on Papua, wrote on Twitter yesterday that popular anger has been building since separatist groups were designated “terrorists” two weeks ago.
“Indonesia is giving a momentum for West Papuans to take to the streets again,” she wrote. “Several organizations have announced they would mobilize if Victor Yeimo was not released.”
authorities should drop politically motivated treason charges and unconditionally release an activist detained for peacefully advocating Papuan independence, Human Rights Watch said today. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo should publicly direct security forces involved in counterinsurgency operations in Papua to act in accordance with international law or be held to account.
On May 9, 2021, a special police unit, Satgas Nemangkawi, arrested Victor Yeimo, a spokesman for the West Papua National Committee (Komite Nasional Papua Barat, KNPB) in Jayapura, the capital of Papua province. Police charged him with treason for a 2019 statement, made during anti-racism protests and ensuing riots in Papua and West Papua, calling for a referendum on independence. Papua’s police chief, Mathius Fakhiri, said that the police are still “digging up” cases against Yeimo: “Let him get old in prison.”
“Indonesian police should investigate the deadly violence and arson attacks in Papua in 2019 but not use that as a pretext to crack down on peaceful activists,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “An independent investigation is still needed into the role of the security forces, and the authorities need to prosecute those responsible for wrongdoing.”
For decades, successive Indonesian governments have discriminated against the Indigenous people of Melanesian origin in the resource-rich and isolated provinces of Papua and West Papua, Human Rights Watch said.
Yeimo, 38, is a prominent activist who helped set up the KNPB after the fatal shooting of Opinus Tabuni, a Papuan celebrating International Indigenous People’s Day on August 9, 2008. No one was ever arrested for his killing.
Yeimo and others were arrested in 2008 and 2009 for advocating a United Nations-administered independence referendum in Papua and West Papua provinces. On his Facebook page, Yeimo has repeatedly written about racism against Papuans and called for negotiations between the West Papuan independence movement and Indonesia’s government. He has spoken at conferences in Indonesia and internationally about Papua’s environmental and human rights problems.
In August 2019, Papuans took part in protests across at least 30 cities in Indonesia in response to a racist attack by Indonesian militants and soldiers on a West Papuan student dorm in Surabaya. Videos showed some Indonesian soldiers repeatedly banging on the dormitory’s gate while shouting words such as “monkeys.” Police shot teargas into the dormitory and arrested dozens of Papuan students. Videos of the attack circulated widely and triggered widespread protests, including looting and arson attacks in Jayapura, Manokwari, Sorong, and Wamena.
At least 43 Papuan protest leaders and KNPB activists were charged with treason and sentenced despite the fact that they were not involved in violence. The activists included Surya Anta Ginting, the coordinator of the Front of the Indonesian People for West Papua, who was convicted along with five other Papuan activists, in April 2020. They were sentenced to between eight and nine months in prison.
In Balikpapan, seven KNPB activists and Papuan student leaders were sentenced to between 10 and 11 months for treason in June 2020. These included Buchtar Tabuni, another KNPB founder, and Agus Kossay, the KNPB chairman, who were jailed for their pro-independence speeches. The police then also put Yeimo, who had given interviews to international media, on their “wanted” list, though they took no further action at the time.
Human Rights Watch takes no position on Papuan claims to self-determination, but supports everyone’s right, including independence supporters, to express their political views peacefully without fear of arrest or other forms of reprisal.
Yeimo’s May 9 arrest came as Indonesian military operations in Papua intensified in response to the April 25 killing in an ambush of I Gusti Putu Danny Nugraha Karya, a Special Forces (Kopassus)brigadier general, in the Central Highlands. Nugraha is the first general to be killed in five decades of low intensity conflict in Papua. Yeimo called the death of General Nugraha a “sacrifice” caused by the reluctance of the Indonesian government and parliament to find a political solution in Papua.
President Jokowi responded to the killing by ordering the army and police to hunt down and arrest every member of the group responsible for the general’s death. The Jokowi administration later declared an unnamed “armed criminal group” a terrorist organization, apparently referring to the West Papua National Liberation Army.
The national police have dispatched an additional 12 companies (about 1,200 officers) from Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and the Moluccas, while the military has sent 400 troops from the 315/Garuda Battalion from Bogor, south of Jakarta. Human rights groups in Indonesia have expressed concerns that the government’s labeling the armed group “terrorist” could encourage serious abuses by the security forces in Papua.
“Papuan opposition to Indonesian rule and military and police oppression has often been met with further abuses,” Adams said. “The Indonesian authorities should ensure that all security force operations in Papua are carried out in accordance with the law and that peaceful activists and other civilians are not targeted.”
Tēnā koe Nanaia Mahuta,
The President’ s announcement has been followed by internet disruptions and the deployment of some 400 additional troops to West Papua. According to a Reuters report these soldiers are from the battle-hardened 315/Garuda Battalion, given the name ‘Satan troops’ for their former role in East Timor. The exact number of troops in West Papua is hard to determine but estimates suggest the numbers may be between 12 and 16 thousand –about twice the per-capita ratio in the rest of Indonesia. In addition the paramilitary police, Detachment 88, has wide powers of arrest which can include arrests on the basis of “spreading propaganda’ or ‘having connections’ to a terrorist organisation.
Just in the last 24 hours we have learnt of the arrest of Victor Yeimo, international spokesperson for the West Papua National Committee or KNPB, an organisation committed to peaceful dissent. Victor’s arrest is said to be connected to anti-racism demonstrations in Jayapura in 2019.
The broad definition of terrorism under the counter-terrorism law gives the security forces wide powers to detain suspects without charge and hold them for lengthy periods with no trial. Who will be branded as ‘terrorist’ in a region where pro-independence sentiment and passive support for the armed resistance runs deep?
It indisputable that this high level of militarisation has not dented resistance to rule from Indonesia and that the victims of violence are predominantly civilian. The escalation of conflict in the highland regions of Nduga, Intan Jaya and Puncak has led to the displacement of tens of thousands of civilians and the deaths of some 400 from disease, health neglect and starvation.
Since the terrorist designation was announced there has been considerable opposition to this plan. In West Papua it has been opposed by the Governor of Papua province Lucas Enembe - who said he feared that indigenous Papuans would face stigma –including those outside their homeland. Church leaders have also been outspoken against the designation. General Gatot Nurmantyo, former commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), told a TV audience that he did not agree with the terrorist group label. Indonesian human rights NGOs, including the Setara Institute have strongly opposed the move as have the local chapters of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid feared that human rights violations would increase and said that Amnesty’s modelling showed that there were conflicting accounts of responsibility for many deaths. Where the military attributed deaths to the actions of the armed resistance, local and church leaders often disagreed. Hamid also pointed out that according to Amnesty’s records there were at least 47 case of extrajudicial killings committed by Indonesian security forces between February 2018 and December 2020, as well as five alleged cases of extrajudicial killings by security forces in 2021- resulting in seven deaths. It is extremely rare for any military personnel to be held accountable for civilian deaths, even when witness testimony is readily available.
Foreign Minister, you have spoken of a role for Aotearoa in offering indigenous models of conflict resolution as a possible way out of intractable disputes. We also note New Zealand’s positive role in helping to resolve the crisis in Bougainville at the turn of the century. New Zealand has a potential role to play in brokering much needed dialogue between all sectors of the community in West Papua.
We strongly agree with your recent statement that human rights should be approached ‘ in a consistent country agnostic manner’. If lives are to be saved the urgent need is for an end to Indonesia’s militarist approach. We urge you to use your good offices with Indonesia to press for an immediate halt to all military operations in West Papua.
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