According to a report by the office for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation of the Protestant Christian Church in the Land of Papua (GKI-TP), Indonesian security forces, consisting of members of the police and the military, conducted a raid with excessive use of force against civilians in the Papuan village of Sasawa, Yapen island, West Papua province, on Saturday, February 1st 2014. One man, Yosua Arumpayai, was shot dead during the incident.
Reportedly, the soldiers were looking for members of the military arm of the Papua Freedom Organisation (OPM), whom they presumed had a training base near the village. The security forces entered the village shooting and threatening the villagers, forcing them to show them the way to the alleged base of the OPM.
At least 50 villagers, including women and children of Sasawa village fled to the woods out of fear of the security forces, where they are still hiding with no access to clean water, food, shelter or medical treatment.
Our office has not been able to verify other reports according to which the security forces exchanged fire with OPM fighters after being shot at by the latter.
