AWPA -West Papua Update No 2/2026
5 April 2026There has being no improvement in the human rights situation in West Papua.
At least six civilians were reportedly killed and two others injured during a security force operation in Dogiyai Central Papua. The operation was in response to the death of a member of the Moenamani Police Station, Jufentus Edowawho, who was killed around 10 am near the Ebenezer Moanemani Church intersection on Tuesday morning by persons unknown. With their usual security minded approach, the TNI-Polri personnel conducted raids around the city searching for the culprit, causing fear amongst the local population. The situation escalated with incidents such as the torching of passing vehicles, the destruction of a number of buildings belonging to civilians, and a reported attack on the Dogiyai Police headquarters by persons unknown. A building belonging to residents not far from the police station was reportedly burned. Civil society organisations, including Amnesty International Indonesia, the ULMWP and the Dogiyai Student Association (IPMADO) in Jayapura have all raised concerns about the killings and the deteriorating situation in Dogiyai.
Human Rights Monitor
IDP Update March’26: More military operations trigger new displacements and dampen the prospects of return
Human Rights News, Reports / Indonesia, West Papua / 27 March 2026
Between January and March 2026, human rights defenders and local media covered new internal displacements in West Papua due to new security force raids and the increasing presence of military personnel in the central highlands. As of late March 2026, more than 107,039 civilians across multiple regencies remained internally displaced due to military operations and armed conflict (see table below). Armed violence and military raids occurred in remote areas of West Papua, which are mainly inhabited by indigenous Papuans. The vulnerability of indigenous Papuans to internal displacement and state violence is further exacerbated by the tendency of security forces to racially profile and stigmatize indigenous Papuans as supporters or members of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB).
Incidents triggering new internal displacements reportedly occurred in the regencies Mimika, Puncak, Intan Jaya, Tambrauw, Nabire, and Yahukimo. An unknown number of indigenous Papuans were internally displaced due to armed conflict incidents in the Boven Digoel Regency in February 2026, and tribal warfare in the Kapiraya District of Paniai Regency in early March 2026.
Across all displacement sites, conditions remain consistently severe. Displaced populations face critical shortages of food, medicine, clean water, and shelter. Those taking refuge in forests are particularly vulnerable, with little to no humanitarian assistance reaching them, while individuals housed in temporary camps contend with dangerous overcrowding, limited resources, and a near-total breakdown of normal daily life.
HRM observed a significant raise in arbitrary detentions in conflict zones like Yahukimo, Intan Jaya , or Tambrauw since January 2026. Moreover, ongoing military operations reportedly involving battle drones, mortars and air raids in civilian populated areas across the central highlands (read sections Intan Jaya and Puncak below) violate principles of distinction between combatants and non-combatants and have resulted the cessation of daily activities and paralysation of health and education services. Such patterns cause fear among local communities and encourage the civilian population to leave these areas.
Christian Solidarity International (CSI) expressed their concerns over the growing numbers of IDPs due to increased military activity at an UN human Rights Council Session on 25 March 2026. Moreover, CSI noted that military operations in West Papua are closely linked to large-scale resource extraction projects involving nickel, gold, and industrial plantations. CSI supported the call made by the World Council of Churches (WCC) at a UN Human Rights Council side event on March 4 2026. Both organisations urge the Indonesian government to extend invitations to the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council and to facilitate a visit by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights………………..”
Full update
Churches, rights groups oppose military’s battalion base in Papua
The military taking over the indigenous people's land violates several legal provisions protecting rights of Papuans
UCA News By Ryan Dagur Published: March 25, 2026
Thirteen human rights and aid organizations, including church groups, have urged the Indonesian military to halt the construction of a new battalion base in Papua Province, arguing it could seize indigenous land and trigger conflicts. The organizations jointly released a statement on March 25, saying the Territorial Development Infantry Battalion plans to build a base on 56 hectares of customary land in Oridek, Biak Numfor Regency, which belongs to nine indigenous clans. The statement said the construction “has the potential to trigger a broader agrarian conflict." The land release is legally flawed. The land is owned by nine clans of the Biak tribe who have never sat down to discuss it with the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), the coalition said.
he coalition of rights groups includes the Papua Legal Aid Institute, the Papua Franciscan Commission for Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation, and the Synod of Protestant Churches. The military’s move “blatantly violates several legal provisions protecting the rights of indigenous Papuans,” said Emanuel Gobay, a rights activist, and coalition partners told UCA News. A 2021 law — the Special Autonomy for Papua — explicitly states that providing customary land for any purpose must be done through consultation with indigenous communities and with their agreement, Gobay said. "In this case, this has been clearly ignored," he said. Besides, the Oridek area has been designated as a protected forest and contains water sources for residents of Biak town.
The military has also not obtained the required licenses from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry for construction in the area, Gobay said.
He said they reported the matter to the Papua representative of the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission. Apolos Sroyer, representing the Biak indigenous community, said they oppose the construction because the presence of soldiers "seriously disrupts the community's activities."
He said some community members “held limited and closed meetings with the military, then released the land" without informing most people about it.
The new battalion is part of President Prabowo Subianto’s plan to create 100 units across the country, with the Papua region receiving 25 of them, the largest portion. He also plans for 400 more before the end of his first term in October 2029. These battalions, he said, are not designated as combat forces but as civil-military development units.
Head of the Indonesian Army Information Service, Brigadier General Donny Pramono, told the media that he understands the differing opinions, but the battalion development is meant to support the region and “to strengthen food security and territorial development." He said the construction is planned on land “legally owned, and has been officially donated by its owner to the Indonesian Army."
Christian-majority Papua has experienced conflict and violence since the 1960s, when Indonesia took control of the territory after ending Dutch colonial rule.
A referendum to decide Papua's future was viewed as rigged in favor of Indonesia.
The National Commission on Human Rights documented 115 cases of violence in 2025, killing 130 people and injuring 88, most of them civilians. This marks an increase from 85 cases with 71 deaths in 2024.
Church, civil society urge Indonesia to halt military operations in Papua
They also want to stop all national strategic projects affecting indigenous people in the predominantly Christian region
By UCA News reporter Published: February 23, 2026 1
Church organizations, along with civil society groups, have urged the Indonesian government to halt its militaristic approach in the Papua region and its food and palm oil projects that are fueling conflict with indigenous people.
The call comes amid the ongoing violent conflict in the predominantly Christian region.
The Papuan Council of Churches and 44 organizations of the Coalition for Civil Society Transformation in Papua (Ko Masi), in a statement following a meeting in the provincial capital, Jayapura, on Feb. 20, called for "the immediate withdrawal of all members" of the army. Army personnel engaged in civilian duties, "such as teachers, media personnel, and others," should also be withdrawn, the statement said.
The ecumenical statement also demanded that the military and the pro-independence group, the West Papua National Liberation Army, uphold international humanitarian law in areas of armed conflict, and the government open access for journalists and foreign media to Papua, including for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to directly monitor human rights violations.
“Stop all national strategic projects that destroy and rob the living space of indigenous people in Papua,” they said, referring to the project to clear two million hectares in South Papua for crop cultivation, including palm oil plantation.
They also urged the government "to immediately open a dialogue" with the Papuan people………………………
Rising insurgency in Papua: Indonesia triples troops as high-value militants are captured Published on 24/02/2026 Indonesian Business Post
Reading time 4 minutes. Author: Erlangga Pratama Editor: Annelis Putri
The restive Yahukimo Regency in the Papua Highlands has seen a dramatic collapse in security over the first six weeks of 2026, forcing a massive military and police buildup.
Following a surge of 23 violent incidents since January, the Damai Cartenz 2026 Task Force announced on Monday, February 23, the successful capture and high-security transfer of three key insurgent leaders.
The Damai Cartenz 2026 Task Force is an elite, multi agency security operation comprised of members from the Indonesian National Police and the Armed Forces. Unlike traditional military units, it focuses on a "law enforcement" approach to the Papua insurgency, prioritizing the capture of specific individuals on the Most Wanted List (DPO) and the protection of vital civilian infrastructure. By combining high risk tactical operations with community based programs like local education and healthcare, the task force aims to neutralize armed groups while maintaining regional stability in high conflict zones like the Papua Highlands.
The anatomy of an escalation
The current crisis traces back to a major security failure on February 25, 2025, when high ranking commander Penihas "Kopi Tua" Heluka escaped from Wamena Prison. An educated former university student turned guerrilla leader, Heluka is the commander of the Yamue Battalion of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB).
Since his escape, Heluka has consolidated fragmented factions and shifted tactics toward "urban terror" in the regional capital, Dekai. Security data reveals the staggering impact of his return: early 2025 saw only 3 security disturbances recorded, but that number skyrocketed to 23 incidents in the same period of 2026. The violence has evolved from remote jungle skirmishes to targeted attacks on the "lifeblood" of the region, including the burning of schools, the shooting of commercial aircraft, and the assassination of civilian logistics drivers.
The manhunt and breakthrough
In response to the chaos, the Indonesian government tripled its security footprint in Yahukimo, surging from 80 personnel in early January to a 250 strong elite force by mid February. This buildup led to the arrest of 12 suspects between November and February. The breakthrough culminated this past weekend with the capture of three "Priority Targets" who have terrorized the regency for years. Among those captured is Homi Heluka, a veteran militant linked to the 2022 killing of a Brimob (special police) officer and the recent destruction of public schools. Joining him in custody is Enage Hiluka, suspected in the September 2025 murder of a teacher, and Kotor Payage, who is implicated in the attempted assassination of a civilian driver on February 12.
The strategic transfer to Jayapura
On Monday, February 23, 2026, under heavy guard by special forces, the three leaders were flown out of the Highlands to the provincial capital, Jayapura. Task Force spokesperson Kombes Pol. Yusuf Sutejo stated that the transfer was a necessary preventative measure. Given Kopi Tua Heluka’s history of prison breaks, authorities feared that keeping the leaders in Yahukimo would trigger a violent "rescue mission" by local factions. The suspects are now being held at the Papua Regional Police (Polda Papua) headquarters for intensive interrogation to map out the remaining insurgent networks.
Direct threat against Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka
The instability in Yahukimo has complicated Indonesia’s regional diplomacy. In January 2026, Kopi Tua Heluka issued a direct threat against Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, forcing the cancellation of a high profile state visit. Furthermore, the February 11 shooting of a Smart Air aircraft, a vital link for food and medicine in the isolated Highlands, has drawn concern from international aviation and humanitarian groups.
Human Rights Monitor's Annual Report for 2025: Human Rights and Conflict in West Papua was also released in March
Executive Summary
The human rights situation in West Papua[1] throughout 2025 reveals a critical pivot point in the decades-long conflict between the Indonesian state and the indigenous Papuan population. While certain systemic patterns, such as the architecture of legal impunity and the suppression of peaceful political dissent, remain stagnant, 2025 has introduced a series of aggressive new patterns that represent a significant departure from the dynamics of 2024 and previous years. Case documentation by local human rights groups and independent activists indicates that the situation has transitioned from a localised highland insurgency into an extensive and modern tactics warfare across the central highlands.
Military members are pushing into remote areas, establishing military outposts in indigenous villages to gain control over remote areas. Military operations in these areas have been characterised by the use of anti-personnel landmines or booby traps and aerial warfare technologies, including weaponised drones and fighter planes. The massive structural expansion of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) under the administration of President Prabowo Subianto opened new frontiers for systematic land grabbing in Merauke, Biak-Numfor, Intan Jaya, and other geographic areas of economic interest.
The data indicate that the primary drivers of conflict-related human rights violations are no longer immediate responses to armed resistance, but a coordinated effort to secure territory for resource extraction and economic development in West Papua. Indonesia’s new administration under President Prabowo Subianto has pursued a security-based approach, introducing plans for up to 500 new battalions to secure and implement infrastructure and agribusiness projects. This marks the most significant peacetime military expansion in Indonesia’s modern history. As the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) continues to climb and the military presence keeps expanding, indigenous Papuans face an existential threat to their security, land and culture.
As of December 2025, over 105,000 people in West Papua were internally displaced, with most IDPs having not returned to their villages due to ongoing conflict or heavy military presence. The number of IDPs has risen from roughly 85,000 IDPs reported in 2024. The central government continues to deny the existence of conflict-driven internal displacement in West Papua, showing no signs of facilitating humanitarian access or withdrawal of security force personnel from the region. Many displaced families have lived in limbo since the armed conflict situation significantly deteriorated in December 2018, afraid to return to their militarised home areas. IDPs are sheltering in makeshift camps or remote forests with little to no aid, facing acute shortages of food, clean water, medicine, and shelter. Ongoing security operations impede humanitarian access to IDPs, whose vast majority consists of indigenous Papuans. They are disproportionately affected by these operations, which commonly target indigenous communities. Examples from Intan Jaya, Pegunungan Bintang, and other regencies illustrate that the increased presence of security personnel in previously unaffected areas fuels violence and suffering for the local civilian population, rather than establishing security and stability.
Extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances persisted at alarming rates. Reported cases of torture and ill-treatment of Papuan civilians rose significantly in comparison to previous years. The year 2025 also saw a spike in the cases of extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detention, intimidation, and violations of the freedom of assembly. Civilians in conflict areas bear the risk of violence from both state and non-state actors, resulting in dozens of deaths, injuries, and at least 11 reported victims of enforced disappearance throughout the year. Like previous years, the militarisation of government administration under President Prabowo and the restriction of independent media impede the exposure of human rights violations to the Indonesian public and international community. Narratives about West Papua in the national media are often shaped by the military, which is often the only state institution present in conflict areas.
Freedom of expression and peaceful assembly continued to face heavy restrictions in 2025. Indonesian authorities cracked down on protests and political dissent in West Papua, often with arbitrary arrests and force. Journalists and human rights defenders also faced intimidation and violence, highlighted by the unresolved Molotov attack on the Papuan media outlet Jubi. A landmark Constitutional Court ruling in May 2025 offered a rare positive development. The constitutional court strengthened protections for free speech by barring government bodies and officials from using defamation laws to target critics.
Indigenous Papuans’ land rights and livelihoods came under increasing pressure in 2025. Government-driven natural resource projects accelerated without meaningful consent, leading to systematic indigenous rights violations. In the central highlands, military units occupied villages near the Wabu Block gold mining concession in Intan Jaya, prompting community mass protests. In the Papua Selatan Province, the Strategic National Project (PSN) in Merauke continued expansion. The massive agricultural project is implemented by military personnel without Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) of the indigenous Marind people. Likewise, in Papua Barat Daya Province, the Indigenous Moi Tribe struggled against new palm oil concessions that threaten West Papua’s last intact forests. Large-scale agricultural projects, timber logging, and mining operations have led to massive environmental destruction and the erosion of indigenous culture.
The accessibility, quality, and adequacy of healthcare and education services in West Papua are poor, ranking among the lowest in the country. There are no signs of improvement, especially in conflict-affected areas. Hundreds of villages in the highlands do not have access to functional schools or clinics because teachers and health workers fled ongoing violence. Even in urban areas, public services have reached alarming low levels. Major hospitals faced staff strikes and corruption scandals. These failures, alongside significant special autonomy funds ostensibly allocated to West Papua, underscore a persistent gap in basic services and government accountability.
The 2025 Annual Report is organised in two main parts, following the 2024 report structure. Section I covers Civil and Political Rights, examining patterns of impunity, violence, restrictions on fundamental freedoms, indigenous peoples’ rights, and social rights (health, education). Section II addresses Conflict and Displacement, detailing the armed conflict dynamics and the internal displacement crisis. Statistical tables are included below to summarise key trends.
The oligarchy, capitalism and green illusions destroying Papua: Walhi
Suara Papua – February 28, 2026
Reiner Brabar, Jayapura – The Papua Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) has issued a strong critique stating that Papua is being pushed to the brink of ecological destruction by a coalition of oligarchs, capitalism and the state, hiding behind the narrative of investment and green development.
Walhi Papua Executive Director Maikel Primus Peuki referred to the relationship between the oligarchy and capitalism as an "illicit love affair between power and capital", which is systematically sacrificing the forests and indigenous communities for the sake of accumulating profits. He made this statement during a public discussion held at a hotel in Jayapura city, Papua, on Thursday February 26.
The discussion, titled "Fighting the Oligarchy in the Land of Papua", featured four keynote speakers: Peuki, Umbu Wulang, Walhi Institutional Division head, Ester Haluk, a social activist and academic at the Walter Post Theological College (STT), and Naomi Marasian, director of the Limited Association for the Study and Empowerment of Indigenous Communities (Pt PPMA) Papua.
Peuki believes the state is not neutral, but rather an instrument of the oligarchy that acts through mining permits, palm oil plantations and large-scale investment projects.
"Papua's natural environment is being reduced to a commodity. Indigenous communities are marginalised on their own land, while profits flow to the owners of capital", Peuki asserted. According to Peuki, the narrative of increasing regional revenues and clean energy is merely a cover for massive concessions on customary forests. On the ground, village communities often encounter heavy equipment entering without their free, prior or informed consent (FPIC). Thousands of hectares of forest are being cleared, spiritual ties with the land are being severed and local economies are being destroyed. "This is a green illusion. The state talks about energy transition and prosperity, yet extractive permits continue to be issued. There's an addiction to permits to cover the budget [shortfall]", Peuki said.
Peuki emphasised that the impact is real, indigenous communities who subsist on sago, fish and gardens are being forced into a fragile money economy and the global market. Structural poverty exists in regions rich in resources. "Trees don't need people; people need trees", said Peuki.
Umbu Wulang added that the Papuan issue must be interpreted as internal colonialism, a process of control of living space by the state and corporations in the name of development. He highlighted the practice of "statistical poverty": rich regions are labelled poor so that large-scale mining and plantations are legitimised.
"The root of the problem is the power structure. In an oligarchic system, capital is sovereign. In indigenous communities, the people are sovereign over their land", said Wulang.
Wulang called for a reversal stating that every investment must comply with the ecological, customary, theological and economic safety requirements set by the communities themselves.
He also called for the restoration of culture and mother tongue as the foundation of human relationships, a land now being eroded by industrial expansion.
Walhi Papua emphasised that the current juncture is clear: continuing a development model based on extraction and accumulation of capital, or shifting to ecological justice that recognises the unity of humans and nature.
"Without changing the power structure, they warn, the ecological destruction and impoverishment of indigenous communities in Papua will continue to be repeated", he concluded.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "WALHI Papua: Oligarki dan Ilusi Hijau Hancurkan Tanah Papua".]
Source:
The West Papuan Documentary "Pig Feast “ had its first Australian screening in Sydney on Friday 13th. The documentary, about the world's largest deforestation project, taking place in West Papua. Belinda Lopez held a Q & A session with the filmmakers Victor Mambor and Dandhy Laksono after the screening which was held at the Amnesty International office in Sydney with the Diplomacy Training Program. A terrific, informative film which should be at every film festival.
Watch: 'The world should see this', say Papua deforestation doco filmmakers https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/pacific/589416/watch-the-world-should-see-this-say-papua-deforestation-doco-filmmakers
LIA YEWEN: 'OUR LIVES DON'T MATTER TO THE INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT’
25 March 2026. Maxine Betteridge-Moes
This article is from the March-April 2026 issue New Internationalist
https://newint.org/indigenous-peoples/2026/lia-yewen-our-lives-dont-matter-indonesian-government
West Papua’s humanitarian crisis stalls Prabowo’s ‘global peacemaker’ credibility bid
State fishing village plan in Indonesian Papua sparks Indigenous opposition
Talking Indonesia: Papua, development and politics from below
BY JEMMA PURDEY 26 MARCH 2026
Audio
(Photos etc. in article)
TIME FOR PAPUA — Wereldmuseum Leiden opens First Major exhibition from The Worls’s largest Papua collection in sixty years
Update Papua news-items (in Bahasa & English) January 2026
PAPUA 2026 YANUARI daftar sumber informasi oleh
https://awpasydneynews.blogspot.com/2026/03/update-papua-news-items-january-2026.html
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