By Max Bartels
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania
Manokwari, West Papua — West Papua has been occupied by Indonesia since the 1960s, the province is rich in natural resources including one of the world’s largest goldmines. The Indonesian annexation and occupation of the province has been heavily criticized by the international community. There are many resistance groups within the province that advocate for West Papuan independence, the advocating for independence has been strictly outlawed by the occupying Indonesian forces and in the process of stamping out resistance there have been many tragic incidents.
In December 2014 Human Rights Watch reported that Indonesian security forces fired live rounds into a crowd of protesters, killing four teenagers aged 17-18 years old. There is conflicting reports from the Indonesia military and police who claim that the teens were killed when several hundred protesters attack police posts and it is still unclear who fired the shots. Human Rights Watch claims that the Indonesian government keeps a very tight grip on the flow of information in West Papua and foreign reporting is heavily regulated.
More recently two Indonesian police officers were killed during fighting with West Papuan activists. In response Indonesian forces have conducted mass raids and arrests of West Papuan civilians. Indonesian forces conducted a raid of a small village and found separatist banners in one home. According to a spokesman for the Papuan United Liberation Front, 100 people were arrested including women and children and dozens of homes were burned down. The Indonesian government claims that only 13 people were arrested and also claims that the 13 were part of a group led by a man who is responsible for killing the two police officers. Indonesia has been criticized for the heavy response to the deaths of the two officers after there was no response to the deaths of four Papuan teenagers a month earlier, who were killed when police and military fired live ammunition into a crowd of protesters.
There has recently been a change of leadership in Indonesian government; President Joko Widodo has claimed that he is going to give the people of West Papua the opportunity to be heard by the Indonesian government. The President has made strong claims that he is going to change the approach that Indonesian police and military have taken in the province and replace it with a more caring and responsive approach. To prove his resolve to make a change he has vowed to launch a full investigation into the deaths of the teenagers killed in the protest in combination with human rights agencies.
For more information, please see:
Pacific Scoop — West Papua Year in Review — 13 January 2015
The Guardian — Indonesia Targeting West Papuans with Mass Arrests and Home Burning — 13 January 2015
Aljazeera — Fresh Unrest Rocks Indonesia’s Papua Province — 9 December 2014
