Papuans Behind Bars (PBB) has published a report on the systematic harassment and intimidation against Papuan students in Indonesia between September and December 2017. The report was compiled to expose police and military intimidation of Papuan students and civil society groups outside of West Papua. Student movements like the ‘Papuan Student Alliance’ (AMP) and other Papuan civil society groups reported multiple cases in which Papuan students became victims of ill-treatment, arbitrary arrest and intimidated. The PBB report views the cases as part of a trend of civil and political rights violations, limiting freedom of expression and assembly of indigenous Papuans. Throughout the past four years, police, military and nationalist para-military groups have prevented Papuan students outside of West Papua from exercising their right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.
Acts of intimidation and harassment against Papuan students were reported from Manado and Tomohon (North Sulawesi), as well as Bandung (West Java), Malang (East Java), Jember (East Java) and Jakarta. The incidents appear to be part of a systematic Indonesia-wide police strategy to gather information about Papuan students residing in dormitories and private rental houses. Most cases reveal a similar pattern, where police officers enter student dorms and private houses without warrants to take pictures and collect information of inhabitants. The most severe case was reported from Jember. On 17 November 2017, more than a dozen security forces members burst into a rental house, beat three Papuan students and ransacked their rooms.
The Papuans Behind Bars report can be downloaded here
