Saturday, April 19, 2025

1) Allegations on torture and killing of indigenous Papuans in Mebarok District: HRDs call for immediate independent investigation

 



2) Letter to the editor: Russian ambassador responds 

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1) Allegations on torture and killing of indigenous Papuans in Mebarok District: HRDs call for immediate independent investigation

Cases / Indonesia, West Papua / 15 April 2025 
The independent media outlet Suara Papua has received information about another case of torture and extrajudicial execution in the Yuguru village, Mebarok District, Nduga Regency, Papua Pegunungan Province. This grave incident occurred amid an intensified military operation launched on 18 January 2025. Military members are alleged of torturing and subsequently executing Mr Abaral Wandikbo, an indigenous resident of Yuguru. The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) has delcared Yuguru a safe zone for internally displaced persons (IDPs), calling upon the Indonesian military to stay away from the area.
According to Suara Papua, Mr. Wandikbo was arbitrarily arrested at his home in the Mane Hamlet on 22 March 2025 while caring for his ill father. Witnesses reported that he was handcuffed, interrogated at gunpoint, and forced to provide information on supposed West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) hide-outs in the area. Mr Wandikbo was brought to Yimiri Village. Military members reportedly tortured after he refused to provide information tot he military members. His body was found three days later on 25 March 2025, dumped near a gardening area about 200 meters from a military post.
On 23 March, military members reportedly tortured an indigenous pastor named Mr Eniel Gwijangge and several villagers in the Engendumu Kuid Hamlet. The counterinsurgency operations have generated widespread fear among villagers in Yuguru. They have called for an immediate withdrawal of military personnel from the Yuguru area. The Yuguru area is extremely remote without access to internet network, hence human rights defenders were not able to verify the informationor receive photos of the victim.

Table of victims

No.NameAgeDate of IncidentAdditional information
1Abaral WandikboN/A22–25 March 2025Body was found on 25 March near the Merabut Plantation
2Eniel GwijanggeN/A23 March 2025Was tortured after military personnel



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2) Letter to the editor: Russian ambassador responds 

The Russian ambassador has responded to the views of an Australian researcher bout Russia's request to base its aircraft in Papua, published in an op-ed piece on April 17, in the context of bilateral cooperation. 

 News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, April 19, 2025 


H aving noticed the article by Australian researcher Matthew Sussex, "A Russian base in Indonesia? Should Australia be concerned?", published in the Opinion section of The Jakarta Post newspaper on April 17, 2025, I would like to share my thoughts on issues touched upon in this piece of writing.

It is hard to imagine that any ordinary Australians should be concerned about what is happening 1,300 kilometers from their territory, about matters that concern relations between other sovereign states and have nothing to do with Australia. Perhaps it would be better for them to pay attention to the United States’ Typhon medium-range missile system in the Philippines, which will definitely reach the territory of the continent? 

When it comes to any challenges to regional stability, they are more likely to arise from the rotational deployment of large military contingents from non-regional states on Australian territory, including the provision of airfields for the landing of strategic bombers and port infrastructure for visits of nuclear-powered submarines. Particularly alarming are the plans to deploy the US' intermediate-range missiles in Australia, as well as the acquisition by the Royal Australian Navy of nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS trilateral partnership. 

The latter raises serious concerns about the effectiveness of established nuclear-weapon-free zones in the Asia-Pacific, such as the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone (Treaty of Rarotonga) and the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (Bangkok Treaty). Once again, I would like to emphasize the thesis that I have repeatedly conveyed here in Jakarta to local and foreign journalists. Military cooperation is an integral part of intergovernmental relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Indonesia.

This strictly bilateral topic is based on a relevant legal framework and the national legislation of each country. Interaction between the armed forces of Russia and Indonesia encompasses various areas. Such cooperation is aimed at strengthening the defensive capabilities of both sides, is not aimed against any third countries and poses no threat to security in the Asia-Pacific region.

As for the national interests mentioned in the article, which are allegedly under threat, I would like to draw a parallel with human rights which, as we know, end where the rights of another person begin. Likewise, Canberra's national interests cannot extend to the territory of neighboring sovereign states that pursue active and independent policies. The most important aspect of this story about “Russian base in Indonesia” the author himself reveals in the first lines of his opus, when he mentions the upcoming elections of the Australian parliament on May 3, 2025.

 It is clear that the leaders of the two main political parties, replacing each other in power and calling it democracy, are now trying to outdo each other, heating up the situation. They stop at nothing, and the time has come to play the so-called “Russian card”. This means to show to overseas mentors who is more anti-Russian and Russophobe. In this regard, I would like to remind them of the words of US President Donald Trump, which he pronounced in the White House on Feb. 28, 2025, to the Ukrainian citizen “Z”: “You have no cards.”

Sergei Tolchenov Russian Ambassador to Indonesia 

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Friday, April 18, 2025

Did we back the wrong war in the ’60s? Now Putin’s Russia is knocking on the door

 



Did we back the wrong war in the ’60s? Now Putin’s Russia is knocking on the door

 Ben Bohane Journalist 
April 18, 2025 — 7.30pm

This week Cambodia marks the 50th anniversary of the fall of Phnom Penh to the murderous Khmer Rouge, and Vietnam celebrates the fall of Saigon to North Vietnamese forces in April 1975.

They are being commemorated very differently; after all, there’s nothing to celebrate in Cambodia. Its capital Phnom Penh was emptied, and its people had to then endure the “killing fields” and the darkest years of its modern existence under Khmer Rouge rule. Over the border in Vietnam, however, there will be modest celebrations for their victory against US (and Australian) forces at the end of this month.


Yet, this week’s news of Indonesia considering a Russian request to base aircraft at the Biak airbase in West Papua throws in stark relief a troubling question I have long asked – did Australia back the wrong war 63 years ago? These different areas – and histories – of South-East Asia may seem disconnected, but allow me to draw some links.

Through the 1950s until the early 1960s, it was official Australian policy under the Menzies government to support Holland as it prepared West Papua for independence, knowing its people were ethnically and religiously different from the rest of Indonesia. They are a Christian Melanesian people who look east to Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Pacific, not west to Muslim Asia. Australia at the time was administering and beginning to prepare PNG for self-rule.

World War II had shown the importance of West Papua (then part of Dutch New Guinea) to Australian security, as it had been a base for Japanese air raids over northern Australia. Early in the war, Japanese forces made a beeline to Sorong on the Bird’s Head Peninsula of West Papua for its abundance of high-quality oil. Former Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam served in a RAAF unit briefly stationed in Merauke in West Papua.

By 1962, the US wanted Indonesia to annex West Papua as a way of splitting Chinese and Russian influence in the region, as well as getting at the biggest gold deposit on earth at the Grasberg mine, something which US company Freeport continues to mine, controversially, today.


Following the so-called Bunker Agreement signed in New York in 1962, Holland reluctantly agreed to relinquish West Papua to Indonesia under US pressure. Australia, too, folded in line with US interests. That would also be the year when Australia sent its first group of 30 military advisers to Vietnam. Instead of backing West Papuan nationhood, Australia joined the US in suppressing Vietnam’s.

As a result of US arm-twisting, Australia ceded its own strategic interests in allowing Indonesia to expand eastwards into Pacific territories by swallowing West Papua. Instead, Australians trooped off to fight the unwinnable wars of Indochina. To me, it remains one of the great what-ifs of Australian strategic history – if Australia had held the line with Holland against US moves, then West Papua today would be free, the East Timor invasion of 1975 is unlikely to have ever happened and Australia might not have been dragged into the Vietnam War.


Instead, as Cambodia and Vietnam mark their anniversaries this month, Australia continues to be reminded of the potential threat Indonesian-controlled West Papua has posed to Australia and the Pacific since it gave way to US interests in 1962. Nor is this the first time Russia has deployed assets to West Papua. Last year, Russian media reported plans under way for the Russian space agency Roscosmos to help Indonesia build a space base on Biak island.

In 2017, RAAF Tindal was scrambled just before Christmas to monitor Russian Tu95 nuclear “Bear” bombers doing their first-ever sorties in the South Pacific, flying between Australia and Papua New Guinea. I wrote not long afterwards how Australia was becoming “caught in a pincer” between Indonesian and Russian interests on Indonesia’s side and Chinese moves coming through the Pacific on the other.

All because we have abandoned the West Papuans to endure their own “slow-motion genocide” under Indonesian rule. Church groups and NGOs estimate up to 500,000 Papuans have perished under 60 years of Indonesian military rule, while Jakarta refuses to allow international media and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit. Alex Sobel, an MP in UK’s parliament, last week called on Indonesia to allow the UN High Commissioner to visit but it’s exceedingly rare to hear any Australian MPs ask questions about our neighbour West Papua in the Australian parliament.

Canberra continues to enhance security relations with Indonesia in a naive belief that the nation is our ally against an assertive China. This ignores Jakarta’s deepening relations with both Russia and China, and avoids any mention of ongoing atrocities in West Papua or the fact that jihadi groups are operating close to Australia’s border. Indonesia’s militarisation of West Papua, jihadi infiltration and now the potential for Russia to use airbases or space bases on Biak should all be “red lines” for Australia, yet successive governments remain desperate not to criticise Indonesia.

Australia’s national security establishment remains focused on grand global strategy and acquiring over-priced gear, while ignoring the only actual “hot war” in our region. Our geography has not changed; the most important line of defence for Australia remains the islands of Melanesia to our north and the co-operation and friendship of its peoples.

Strong independence movements in West Papua, Bougainville and New Caledonia all materially affect Australian security but Canberra can always be relied on to defer to Indonesian, American and French interests in these places, rather than what is ultimately in Australian – and Pacific Islander – interests.

Australia needs to develop a defence policy centred on a “Melanesia First” strategy from Timor to Fiji, radiating outwards. Yet Australia keeps deferring to external interests, to our cost, as history continues to remind us.

Ben Bohane is a Vanuatu-based photojournalist and policy analyst who has reported across Asia and the Pacific for the past 36 years. His website is benbohane.com
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1) Military members torture five indigenous Papuans in Puncak Jaya

 



2) Communities in Yapen Islands file complaint against mining company PT SPK over environmental damage

3) Closed hospitals and inadequate services indicate structural failures in healthcare system across West Papua




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Human Rights Monitor


1) Military members torture five indigenous Papuans in Puncak Jaya

Cases / Indonesia, West Papua / 15 April 2025 
On the night of 13 March 2025, military personnel reportedly tortured three indigenous Papuans in the Puncak Jaya Regency, Papua Pegunungan Province. During the time oft he incident the five inhabitants were recovering from a tribal dispute between supporters of political candidates during the local elections, with two of the men suffering severe arrow wounds.
The soldiers ambushed the five men inside a traditional house near the new market in the town of Mulia around 8:30 pm. They threatened the five inhabitants at gunpoint, forced them to leave the house while insulting them as pigs and dogs. Three of the five victims were forcefully taken to the nearby military base in Puncak Jaya around 9:00 pm. They were arbitrarily detained, interrogated, and tortured at the Kodim 1714 military base in Puncak Jaya for more than two hours.
The military personnel delivered collective beatings during transport and detention at the base. Duirng the subsequent interrogation the soldiers repeatedly accused them of involvement in the murder of a comrade during the electoral conflict. Despite the violence they experienced, the three victims denied the murder allegations. They were eventually released after the commanding officer apolligised and offered a compensation of IDR 300,000 (approx. € 18) to them. All three were returned to the house at 03:15 am, without receiving medical aid.

Military members reportedly tortured P.W, L.A, and E.W in Mulia on the night of 13 March 2025

Victims of torture in Mulia, Puncak Jaya, on 13 March 2025

No.InitialsAgeAdditional information
1P. W28Threatened at gunpoint and arbitrarily detained and subsequently tortured
2L. A21Threatened at gunpoint and arbitrarily detained and subsequently tortured
3E. W20Threatened at gunpoint and arbitrarily detained and subsequently tortured
4Y. W67Threatened at gunpoint inside their house
5E. W18Threatened at gunpoint inside their house




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Human Rights Monitor

2) Communities in Yapen Islands file complaint against mining company PT SPK over environmental damage

Cases, Human Rights News / Indonesia, West Papua / 15 April 2025 
Residents from three villages in the Yapen Islands, Papua Province, have lodged a formal complaint with the Papua Representative Office of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) against PT Sinar Purna Karya (PT SPK). The villagers allege the company’s quarrying activities have caused severe environmental damage threatening their homes and livelihoods.
On 18 March 2025, Markus Wayeni, representing the communities of Yapan, Mentembu, and Anotaurei villages in Anotaurei District, Yapen Islands Regency, reported that the company’s mining operations have continued for approximately two to three decades and remain ongoing. Due to these activities, we have lost residential land, he explained. The impact of the company’s quarrying operations has caused landslides and river erosion, affecting residential areas, including my house and certain regions that have been washed away. That’s why I’ve come here to report to Komnas HAM, hoping they can at least help us address this issue, Wayeni told Jubi after filing his complaint at the Papua Human Rights Commission Office in Jayapura (see photo: Reinhart Kmur and complainant Markus Wayeni after submitting a complaint at the National Human Rights Commission office in Jayapura, source Jubi)
Wayeni described the most visible impact as damage to a public cemetery used by two villages, Yapan and Mantembu, where nearly half has been washed away by water erosion, with human remains from graves carried away by the current. The distance between the water and residential areas is no more than 10 metres, with the closest being just 5 metres. Some house foundations are situated right at the edge of soil fractures, which can be 2-3 metres deep. If these areas continue to be washed away, as much of it already has been, what will happen to our lives? he continued.
Following the meeting with the Human Rights Commission on 18 March 2025, Wayeni said several notes were provided that need to be completed. He also appealed to the newly elected Yapen Islands Regency Government to pay attention to the survival of residents whose livelihoods are increasingly threatened by the company’s activities. I hope the government gives full attention to these threats to our right to life and housing, as we only have the Mantembu land—beyond that are just mountains. If our land is consumed by landslides or erosion, should we retreat to the mountains? My hope is that with this complaint, the government will also take notice, he added.
Wayeni fears his village will become merely a story—a place where people once lived but has been entirely washed away. He noted that locations that previously could accommodate three to four houses no longer exist, which is why he is also requesting that the company cease its quarrying operations. Our concern is that 10-20 years from now, our children will no longer be able to live in the village and will have to move elsewhere. If they relocate, they won’t be able to settle for free but will have to pay and purchase land, ultimately becoming like foreigners. That’s why we’re filing this complaint—enough is enough, said Markus.
Reinhart Kmur, a legal adviser from the Papua Legal Aid Institute (LBH Papua), stated on 18 March 2025 that he has been authorised by the Mantebu Village community. PT SPK’s activities have impacted the environment, land, and residents’ settlements. He is accompanying his clients who have filed complaints with the Human Rights Commission. The basis for the complaint is the right to a healthy environment as enshrined in Article 28H paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution. Every person has the right to live in physical and spiritual prosperity, to have a place to live, to enjoy a good and healthy environment, and to receive medical care. Article 9 of Law Number 39 of 1999 concerning Human Rights also addresses the right to environment. On this basis, we have filed a complaint alleging violations of environmental rights by a corporation or company engaged in quarrying, a company owned by Toni Tesar, former regent of the Yapen Islands, he explained.
Reinhart hopes that with this complaint, the Human Rights Commission will process and conduct further investigations. If there are findings of alleged violations of environmental rights, he expects recommendations for legal proceedings due to environmental crimes. He also hopes the Yapen Islands Regency government will listen to residents’ grievances, noting that these issues have persisted for a long time, with many residents having complained to previous legislators without any response. The government should also be proactive and share responsibility for the environmental damage that has occurred. It’s not just the company that bears responsibility but the government as well, as they granted the permits. The government has a responsibility and obligation to uphold the human rights of citizens—that’s the mandate of the law, he stated.
Melky Weruin, Chairman of the Human Rights Enforcement and Advancement Team, confirmed that the Commission received the complaint from Yapen on 18 March 2025, with the complainant accompanied by Legal Counsel from LBH Papua. The core issue concerned alleged violations and threats to the environment related to PT SPK’s quarrying activities in the Serui area, particularly in the Anatorei, Mentimbu regions and surrounding areas. The complainant essentially conveyed that the company’s presence and quarrying activities threaten the environmental comfort of communities living in the Anatorei, Mentimbu regions and surrounding areas, said Weruin.
To follow up on the complaint according to standard operating procedures, Weruin explained they will record the complaint in the human rights complaint system. Then we will follow up by conducting a summary and analysis, gathering initial information and materials, he said. This includes gathering information about how the company entered the region, which indigenous communities are affected, what permits were issued, and whether there are agreements between the company and local communities. This information needs to be collected, Weruin continued.
These aspects are important to assess the situation. After gathering these materials, we conduct a summary and analysis, which becomes part of the complaint report before determining next steps. For example, through monitoring to see the actual conditions in the field or by requesting information, as we’ve only received information from the complainant so far, he added.
The Chairman of the Human Rights Enforcement and Advancement Team said they also want to gather information from the company, government, or other relevant parties to maintain balanced information. They cannot rely on information from a single source without seeking clarification from the reported party. Certainly, after completing this entire process of requesting statements and information, an assessment will be made to determine whether there is a real threat to the environment. If there is a real threat, to what extent do human rights violations exist? The end product of the Human Rights Commission is a recommendation—if the assessment indicates that human rights violations have occurred, the Commission will submit recommendations to relevant parties, said Melky Weruin.


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Human Rights Monitor

3) Closed hospitals and inadequate services indicate structural failures in healthcare system across West Papua

Cases, Human Rights News / Indonesia, West Papua / 15 April 2025 
The availability and quality of health crisis in West Papua has reached an alarming stage as public hospitals across the region experienced closures, strikes, as well as severe shortages of medical staff and supplies. This crisis is caused by miss-management and chronic failure of government oversight in ensuring the fulfilment of basic basic healthcare services. While the disparities between urban and rural areas with regard of availability, accessibility, quality and adequacy of healthcare is a long-standing issue in the region, it is alarming that recent cases also indicate a growing deterioration of services in the urban areas.
In the city of Nabire, Papua Tengah Province, over 200 health workers at the Nabire General Hospital (RSUD), including doctors, nurses, and midwives, have gone on strike, demanding months of unpaid incentives dating back to late 2024. On 25 March 2025, they submitted a formal notice of demand to the hospital director, threatening to conduct further strikes if their rights remain ignored. The Nabire District Attorney acknowledged receiving reports from the health workers but stated that legal action is pending an internal audit by the inspectorate.
The situation in Nabire worsened on 20 March, as health workers reportedly abandoned the hospital in the afternoon (see photo on top, source: independent HRD), leaving patients without care. A similar situation is unfolding in the Sorong Selatan Regency, where the only general hospital, RSUD Scholoo Keyen Teminabuan, was shut down by staff due to unpaid wages for November and December 2024. Even emergency and maternity services have ceased operations, leaving the entire population without access to critical medical care.

Structural failures and human rights violations

Government responses to these emergencies have been inadequate. In Sorong Selatan, hospital administrators stated that they informed local authorities, but no clear resolution plan has been communicated to them. Calls from the customary council and civil society groups for transparency and intervention have been ignored by the government. The closure of the only referral hospital in the region amounts to a violation of the right to health, protected under Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), to which Indonesia is a party.
In more remote areas like the Syukwo Village in the Tambrauw Regency, the health situation is even more dire. The local auxiliary health post (Pustu Warmandi) has no permanent staff or medicine stock. As a result, villagers have resorted to traditional forms of treatment and must travel long distances by boat to access basic healthcare at the health centre (Puskesmas) in the town of Sausapor. Despite having a functioning health building, all services have been seized due to staffing and supply shortages.
The health crisis is especially acute among internally displaced persons (IDPs) fleeing conflict zones in West Papua. Many displaced children and infants have reportedly died from preventable conditions due to lack of access to basic health services. In January 2025, HRD documented the case of a newborn who died after being denied care at the RSUD Sriwini and Yokagaido in Nabire. These tragedies are becoming more common and expose the deep structural neglect that indigenous Papuans continue to face.
West Papua is in a humanitarian emergency. The failure to pay healthcare workers, ensure steady supply of medication and provide consistent medical services has amounted to a form of structural violence against the Papuan population. Human rights organisations urge the central, including the Ministry of Health, and regional governments in West Papua to:
  • Immediately pay all outstanding salaries and incentives to health workers;
  • Restore full services at general hospitals in Nabire and Sorong Selatan;
  • Ensure the deployment of qualified medical staff to remote and underserved areas;
  • Provide emergency medical assistance to IDPs;
  • Establish an independent oversight mechanism to monitor the delivery of healthcare services in West Papua.

General hospital in Nabire was closed and abandoned on 31 January and 1 February 2025

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Thursday, April 17, 2025

1) Indonesia is running the world’s largest deforestation program in occupied West Papua


2) TPNPB Ultimatum to Residents: Do Not Approach TNI/Polri

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1) Indonesia is running the world’s largest deforestation program in occupied West Papua
April 17, 2025Issue 1428 World

On January 17, 2010, Indonesia’s then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono launched a 2-million-hectare program called the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE). From the start the program was opposed by farmer and environmental organisations in Indonesia.

In March 2010, Elisha Kartini of the Indonesian Farmer Union (SPI) said that, “Food is not just a commercial commodity but is also a basic human right, and leaving food provision to the private sector can hinder people's access to food because corporations are driven by profit.” WALHI [the Indonesian Forum for the Environment, part of Friends of the Earth International] called MIFEE a land grab.

'Disease and undernourishment are rampant'

In September 2011, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UNCERD) wrote to the Indonesian government expressing its concerns about MIFEE, in particular that the “encroachment activities are supported by the State party and enjoy the protection of the Indonesian army”.

The Indonesian government failed to take any action to address the situation.

In May 2013, Sophie Chao of Forest Peoples Program, visited the village of Zanegi in Merauke Regency and reported that “Disease and undernourishment are rampant” as a result of MIFEE.

In July 2013, Indonesian and international organisations submitted a report to UNCERD requesting the committee consider the impacts of MIFEE.

In May 2015, Indonesia’s recently elected President Joko Widodo visited Papua and relaunched MIFEE. Jokiwi announced a plan for 1.2 million hectares of new rice fields as part of a 4.6 million hectare land grab.

Indonesia’s current president, Prabowo Subianto, is also in favour of expanding industrial agriculture projects across Indonesia. He cloaks this as “food self-sufficiency”. Prabowo has appointed Zulkifli Hasan, who was Minister of Environment and Forestry from 2009–14, to a new ministry, the Coordinating Ministry for Food Affairs.

World’s largest deforestation program

Victoria Milko, a journalist with Associated Press, recently reported from Papua on MIFEE — the world’s largest deforestation program. According to Mighty Earth, a Washington DC-based NGO, MIFEE will cover more than 3 million hectares.

Glen Horowitz, CEO of Mighty Earth, told AP that MIFEE is “creating a zone of death in one of the most vibrant spots on Earth”. Mighty Earth commissioned Yusuf Wahil, an Indonesian photojournalist, to spend 10 days in Papua to document MIFEE’s impacts. He travelled with a team from Indonesian NGOs Satya Bumi and Pusaka. Yusuf’s photographs were used to illustrate Milko’s article.

In a December 2024, an Indonesian organisation called the Center of Economic and Law Studies, calculated that the deforestation of 2 million hectares as a result of MIFEE would result in an additional 782.45 million tons of CO₂ emissions.

Indonesia’s Presidential Special Envoy for Energy and Environment, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, announcedin December 2024 that the government plans a 6.5-million-hectare reforestation programme. Hashim, who is President Prabowo’s younger brother, said that, “Thus, the food estate program continues while we mitigate the possible negative impacts with new programs, one of which is reforestation."

Vincen Kwipalo, who lives in the area of the MIFEE program, told AP that forest has been destroyed to make way for sugar cane nurseries. Villagers previously used the forest for hunting. The Indigenous peoples living in West Papua are completely reliant on the forests and their ancestral territories for their culture and livelihoods.

Indonesian military deployment

Earlier this year, The Gecko Project reported on the thousands of troops that the Indonesian government has deployed to Papua. They are forcing through the destruction of vast areas of rainforest to be replaced by the monoculture plantations of the government’s “food estate” program.

Soldiers have arrived in villagers and told Indigenous Papuans that they have to accept the government’s program. The soldiers planted stakes in customary land. And then the excavators arrived. Community forests and farms were bulldozed.

The Gecko Project reports on what Indigenous Papuans say about the destruction of the lands, forests, and livelihoods. And they have been tracking what Indonesian soldiers have posted on TikTok about their deployment:

In August 2024, The Gecko Project reported, “the military deployed an elite combat unit to the program, whose members have been implicated in extrajudicial killings in recent years. TikTok videos show armed members of this unit patrolling the forest, rivers and villages and accompanying excavators.”

The soldiers are also involved in developing the industrial agriculture program, driving excavators, and spraying pesticides. They are often armed, even when patrolling through villages.

The deployment of these military units has generated a climate of fear. This comes on top of decades of occupation, oppression, human rights abuses, and state violence in West Papua.

Indonesian occupation of West Papua

In 1949, the Netherland’s colonial rule of Indonesia ended. But the Netherlands retained control over West New Guinea.

In 1962, the Indonesian government invaded and named it West Irian. In August 1962, the United States government arranged a meeting between Indonesia and the Netherlands, resulting in the New York Agreement which gave control of West Papua to the UN Temporary Authority in West Irian. On 1 May 1963, the UN transferred West Irian to the Indonesian government on condition that an internationally supervised election on self-determination took place no later than 1969.

From July to August 1969, during the Suharto dictatorship, UN officials conducted the so-called “Act of Free Choice”. But it was a sham. Rather than allowing all adult Papuans to vote, the Indonesian authorities selected 1022 West Papuans “to vote publicly and unanimously in favor of integration with Indonesia”, as the US National Security Archive put it in 2004.

In November 1969, the UN lent its support to Indonesia’s illegal occupation of West Papua when it “took note” of the “Act of Free Choice” and its results. The Free West Papua Campaign calls this “one of the most shameful chapters in the history of the UN”.

The Indonesian occupation of West Papua has been described as a “slow-motion genocide”.

This is the context in which Indonesia has deployed thousands of troops to push through the destruction of 3 million hectares of rainforest to make way for industrial agriculture plantations.

One man told The Gecko Project that soldiers are currently stationed at every corner of his village, as if it were in a war zone. “It’s like a horror for the community,” he said.

“People are not able to speak up for their rights. There are so many people who want to talk, but there is no support because they are afraid of the apparatus. There are too many soldiers.”

[Reprinted from REDD Monitor.]




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A google translate.
Original Bahasa link
2) TPNPB Ultimatum to Residents: Do Not Approach TNI/Polri
Arga Reysamputra
Penulis: Hengky YeimoEditor: Alberth Yomo
Last updated: April 17, 2025 10:21 am
Nabire, Jubi – Commander of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) Military Region III Command D Dulla (Kodam III D Dulla), Brigadier General Aibon Kogoya, said that on April 15, 2025 at 14:16 West Papua Time (WPB), his party shot three civilians who were evacuating heavy equipment with TNI members. The equipment was used to lift a TNI bulletproof car that was damaged in Kali Dogabu and Wabu, Intan Jaya. In the incident, one person suffered a gunshot wound to the leg, while the other two survived.

“I have said in the Kodam III Dulla conference that anyone who stands, walks, eats, and drinks with the TNI is a traitor to the nation. I will not show mercy. This time I am only giving a warning so that the people are aware,” he said in a press release numbered 006/STPS/TPN-K3D/IV/2025 received by the Jubi editorial team on April 16, 2025.
Kogoya appealed to all civilians in Intan Jaya Regency not to provide any form of assistance to the TNI/Polri on duty in the area.
"Remember, the TNI Law has been passed. They came not only to chase the TPN-OPM, but to kill civilians and seize natural resources. That's why we are fighting, to save the people," he said.

He also advised the Papuan people not to cooperate or compromise with the Indonesian security forces because it would only prolong the suffering of the indigenous Papuans.

"This time I give a warning to all Papuans who we have not executed: do not become accomplices of the TNI/Polri. I, Brigadier General Aibon Kogoya, am responsible for this shooting," he said.

Aibon Kogoya Admits Responsibility for the Shooting Incident in Intan Jaya

On Monday, April 14, 2025, Brigadier General Aibon Kogoya claimed that his party shot three TNI members and damaged a bulletproof vehicle belonging to the TNI on duty in Intan Jaya.

"At 08.30 WPB I took a position in Watapa, Kampung Titigi, and at 12.24 I shot and damaged a TNI armored vehicle. This is our fifth action since the Kodam III D Dulla Conference in Intan Jaya," he said.

Kogoya stated that after the conference, he ordered all battalions under Kodam III Dulla to attack military posts and company assets operating in their area.

According to him, the increase in the dispatch of TNI troops to Intan Jaya aims to secure the agendas of the central government and the Indonesian House of Representatives in collaboration with the regional government in opening the Wabu Block.

"I continue to fight with the TNI/Polri because they are a fence for the global capitalist economy and the Indonesian state. In every action, I always call for the closure of PT Blok Wabu, Freeport, oil companies in Sorong, and other illegal companies in Papua," he said.
Kogoya also accused the presence of multinational companies of being the cause of the extinction of Papuans and the rampant human rights violations.

"I want to honestly say that these companies have caused the Papuan people to slowly become extinct, and human rights violations have flourished in our ancestral land, West Papua," he said.

He asked the Indonesian government and national elites to immediately recognize the independence of West Papua, which he said was a victim of a global capitalist conspiracy.

"If our demands are not heard, then we will continue to carry out armed actions until the last drop of blood," he said.

Commander of Operations of Kodam III D Dulla Condemns Free Meal Program
Meanwhile, Commander of Operations of Kodam III D Dulla, Kelabur Seperti, firmly asked the President and Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia to stop the free meal program for school children, because according to him the program is handled by the military and is a form of covert militarization.
"We firmly ask that the military no longer be sent to Papua. If they are not listened to, we will shoot every member of the TNI/Polri sent to Papua until they are finished. We will continue to fight until Papua is independent," he said.
Seperti also delivered a warning to the Governor of Central Papua Province, Meki Nawipa, who in his statement said "Papua is part of Indonesia until the Lord Jesus comes".
"What is the basis for that sentence you said? Do you know the suffering of the Papuan people? We ask the Governor of Central Papua to immediately apologize. If not, we will issue a Wanted List (DPO) for him," said Seperti.

TNI Confirms Gunfire in Intan Jaya
Commander of the XVII/Cenderawasih Military Command, Major General Rudi Puruwito, confirmed that there was a shooting incident carried out by an armed group in Intan Jaya. One TNI member from the Yonif 500/Sikatan Mobile Border Security Task Force, named Sergeant Haris Syafii, was reported to have suffered a gunshot wound to the stomach.
“The victim has been evacuated to Timika, Central Papua, and is receiving medical treatment at the hospital,” he said. (*)
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