Human Rights in West Papua 2013
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- Published on Friday, 21 June 2013 12:42
50 years ago, on May 1, 1963, Indonesia took over control of Papua from the UN. Since then Papuans’ lives have been marked by violence, the lack of access to effective remedies concerning right violations, as well as marginalisation and discrimination. As a result, Papuans are deeply disappointed by the Indonesian Government’s administration of Papua and regularly voice their disapproval. The government often resorts to the excessive use of force to silence such protests, however. The call for a dialogue to take place between stakeholders in Papua and Jakarta, as a peaceful means to discuss the problems in Papua and find solutions to these, have not led to the required action by the government.
West Papua Human Rights Update January 2020
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- Published on Tuesday, 14 January 2020 00:59
The last quarter of 2019 was dominated by the aftermath of the Papua-wide anti-racism riots that took place throughout August and September 2019 and the exacerbation of the armed conflict in the central highlands. The trials in relation to the anti-racism riots and the subsequent political prosecutions during the previous quarter have been launched. Some lawyers attempted to raise criminal procedure violations in pre-trial hearings – none of the pre-trial hearings were successful. The statistics clearly reflect the continuing prosecution of political activists, as Government authorities keep on restricting civil society space for peaceful protest, freedom of assembly, media freedom and freedom of expression in West Papua. While the number of arrests have significantly decreased compared to the third quarter, the figure is still considerably high and the main reason is that the 1st December, which many indigenous Papuans regard as the ‘Papuan Independence Day’, was marked by a high number of political arrests and treason charges against indigenous Papuans participating in the commemoration.
Human Rights Update West Papua - 3rd Quarter 2019
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- Published on Tuesday, 08 October 2019 11:18
The 3rd quarter of 2019 was characterized by a significant and rapid escalation of the conflict in West Papua since mid-August with riots, horizontal violence and human rights violations taking place in several Papuan cities. The outbreaks of violence were triggered by acts of racial discrimination and assault against Papuan students in multiple Javanese cities. They constitute the worst escalations of violence in West Papua since the downfall of the military dictatorship under President Suharto. Long-growing tensions between indigenous Papuans and Indonesian migrants have for the first time manifested in outbreaks of horizontal violence against particular ethnic groups causing deaths among the non-indigenous and the indigenous population. The Indonesian police reportedly neglected attacks against indigenous residents while non-Papuans militant groups enjoy impunity.
Human Rights Update West Papua - 2nd Quarter 2019
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- Published on Monday, 08 July 2019 01:58
Since December 2018, more than 100 civilians – the majority of them indigenous Papuans – have allegedly died as a consequence of the ongoing armed conflict in the Nduga regency. The conflict has reportedly led to the displacement of thousands of indigenous Papuans. The military operation in Nduga is ongoing, and human rights defenders, journalists and international observers are still restricted from entering the regency. The ICP is concerned about the significant increase of extra-judicial killings in the past nine months. While the high number of killings during the 4th quarter of 2018 and the 1st quarter of 2019 is mainly related to the armed conflict in Nduga, the additional six cases of killings and one alleged suicide while in detention during the 2nd quarter are the outcome of unprofessional behaviour of security force members. Five of those cases of killings were the consequence of the use of firearms during crowd control operations in the regencies Asmath and Deiyai. The high number of 29 cases of torture and ill-treatment is related to police violence against protesters during political demonstrations or police negligence to protect peaceful Pro-Papuan protesters from violent acts by members of nationalist mass organisations (ORMAS) in the Javanese city of Malang.
Human Rights Update West Papua - 3rd Quarter 2018
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- Published on Monday, 08 October 2018 22:06
The third quarter of 2018 was characterized by a considerable increase in political arrests resulting from police action during the dispersal of various peaceful demonstrations. The majority of political demonstrations were organised in relation to the 73rd General Assembly Session of the United Nations, during which Vanuatu and other Pacific countries had raised the West Papua issue. Political activities within the Papuan civil society appear to have significantly risen in September 2018 in correspondence with international political events outside Indonesia.
Human Rights Update West Papua - 4th Quarter 2017
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- Published on Wednesday, 10 January 2018 14:21
In the fourth quarter of 2017, the monitoring of human rights violations does not show a significant improvement in terms of violence in West Papua. While the number of political arrestees has decreased, the number and pattern of cases of political arrests remained consistent. The police appears to target arrests more instead of mere mass arrests. The West Papua National Committee KNPB continues to be the main target group of political arrests in West Papua. The number of extra-judicial executions or arbitrary killings as well as the number of torture victims has not decreased. The same applies to the number of assaults against journalists and human rights defenders. The right to health continues to be of serious concern, particularly in the central highlands of West Papua, which continue to be vulnerable to outbreaks of transmittable diseases.
Human Rights Update West Papua - 3rd Quarter 2017
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- Published on Wednesday, 11 October 2017 09:20
In the third quarter of 2017, the number of torture and ill-treatment cases reported throughout the third quarter of 2017 have significantly increased from 17 to 135 victims. This is related to mass arrests in Nabire and a violent shooting in Deiyai Regency. Extra-judicial killings continue to occur in West Papua on frequent basis. One can also observe a significant increase of cases in which human rights defenders were obstructed, intimidated or attacked. Severe government negligence with regard to health services are a growing concern, particularly in the central highlands of West Papua. Local media and human rights defenders already reported two cases of epidemic outbreaks, which have cost the lives of 130 people since the beginning of 2017 – most of them children. While no political arrests occurred during the first quarter of 2017, the series of political arrests related to suppression of Papua-related political demonstrations - both in and outside of West Papua - continue. While most numbers indicate an aggravation of the general human rights situation in West Papua in comparison to previous quarters, one could observe a slight decrease with regard to assaults and obstruction of journalists. There are indications for a general trend since 2015 of the number of treason charges to have continuously decreased.
Human Rights Update West Papua – 2nd Quarter 2017
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- Published on Saturday, 08 July 2017 03:12
In the second quarter of 2017, the number of torture and ill-treatment cases has significantly increased while the cases of extra-judicial killings have dropped in comparison to the previous quarter of 2017. While the months January to April 2017 were comparatively quiet in terms of political arrests, activists and human rights defenders reported at least 321 political arrests during the second quarter of 2017, which mainly occurred in May. One can observe a greater variety of violations during the reporting period covering also violations against human rights defenders, political arrests and violations of the right to health. The strategy to criminalize peaceful political activists with treason charges continues to be commonly applied by law enforcement agencies in West Papua. The violations during this reporting period were equally committed by members of police and military units. At least four cases with the involvement of police officers were brought to the attention of police-internal investigation body PROPAM between April and June.
More Articles...
- Human Rights Update West Papua – 1st Quarter 2017
- PAPUA: The Neglected ‘Paradise’, Human Rights Report SJP throughout Papua 2015-2017 and Memoria Pasionis 2018, Notes and Reflections of Human Rights Events in the Land of Papua, July - December 2018
- International Debate on West Papua
- CESCR Concluding Observations 2014