The police increase surveillance operations against members and supporters of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), a civil resistance organisation promoting the right to self-determination through peaceful means. According to KNPB spokesperson, Ones Suhuniap, police officers repeatedly visited the KNPB headquarters in Jayapura since 9 November 2021 to meet with KNPB chairman Agus Kossay (see photo, source: KNPB). The police officers questioned the activist about plans to hold a demonstration in Jayapura during a visit by President Joko Widodo to close the National Paralympic Games in Jayapura on 13 November 2021. KNPB members understood the visits as an act of intimidation.
Such visits are part of a series of criminalisation against KNPB leaders and members. On 22 November 2021, officers carried out a police raid at the Mimika student dormitory in Manokwari and arrested at least ten residents without showing a warrant. They were questioned about the KNPB in relation to the attack on a military post in the Kisor Village, Maybrat regency on 2 September 2021. Four soldiers were reportedly killed during the attack. The police believe that KNPB members were involved in the attack.
Even though the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPN PB) claimed responsibility for the attack, The Sorong Selatan District Police Chief, Choiruddin Wachid, declared that KNPB members were involved in the attack. The KNPB denied the claim in a public statement, stressing that their organisation only engages in peaceful action for the right to self-determination. Later the police published a wanted list with 17 suspects. Almost all names are affiliated with the KNPB.
The trial against the KNPB leader, Victor Yeimo, reached international attention. Mr Yeimo is the international KNPB spokesperson and was arrested on 9 May 2021. In June, In June, UN human rights experts raised concerns about the charges against Victor Yeimo and the level of medical care he was receiving. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders underlined in a press release that “Indonesia must provide West Papuan human rights defender Victor Yeimo with proper medical care to keep him from dying in prison”.
The KNPB has is among the most targeted civil society organisations in West Papua. The organisation was established in 2008 and has organised multiple large scale demonstrations and peaceful activities in all larger cities across West Papua. The organisation is enjoying increasing support among indigenous Papuans despite KNPB leaders and members being persecuted and criminalised.
