Minor executed by security forces during armed clashes in Nduga Regency

The armed conflict in the Kenyam District, Nduga Regency, has again aggravated after members of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) killed two soldiers during an armed attack on 23 March 2022. Eight soldiers were injured during the incident. In response, security forces carried out raids in the Kenyam district. Seventeen-year-old Parunus Lokbere was reportedly executed by security force members in the Nogolaid Village in Kenyam on 5 April 2022. The victim originates from the Paris Village in the Mbua District, Nduga Regency.

According to information received, Paranus Lokbere and two of his siblings walked from their house to the bridge in Nogolaid, where local residents have the possibility to use a public charger for their mobile phones. On their way back to the house, the three children were spotted by a military drone which followed them back to their house.

The siblings immediately went inside the house while Paranus Lokbere was sitting in front of the house playing games with his mobile phone. Around 9.00 pm, he was executed in front of his house. A bullet pierced his head from left to right (see photos below). The shot appeared to be fired from a former hotel, approximately 50 meters from the site of the crime. The body was buried next to the airfield in Kenyam on 7 April 2022 (see photo below). Similar incidents have repeatedly occurred in conflict areas across West Papua because security force members mistook civilians for TPNPB combatants.   

The situation in Kenyam remains tense. All indigenous Papuans are under close surveillance by the police and military. Local informants declared that multiple houses of local residents in Kenyam were damaged by security force members with mortar grenades and bullets (see photos below). For almost two weeks now the people in Kenyam are facing difficulties to access food because they are afraid to walk to their gardens. The vast majority of residents in the remote Nduga Regency are indigenous Papuans, who rely on their gardens and livestock as their main sources of food.

Background

Extra-judicial killings (EJKs) have frequently occurred in all parts of West Papua over the past four years. The majority of cases in 2019 and 2021 were related to security force operations against the TPNPB, many of which were carried out in the remote central Papuan highlands. At least half of the cases of EJKs in the past three years were committed by joint security forces during raids against the TPNPB. The operations are carried out with the utmost brutality, which has also resulted in the killing of children. In 13.8% of reported EJK cases in 2019 and 2020, the victims were minors.

About 35 000 indigenous Papuans have been internally displaced from Nduga since TPNPB fighters killed 19 road workers in December 2018. Meanwhile, thirteen districts in the Nduga Regency have reportedly been abandoned. People from the districts fled their houses and moved to other regencies where they live with relatives or in self-made shelters, without aid, education and healthcare services. Most internally displaced persons from Nduga live in the towns of Wamena, Nabire, Timika and Jayapura.

Killing of Paranus Lokbere: Photos and videos

Paranus Lokbere, 17 years old
The burial ceremony of Paranus Lokbere on 7 April 2022
Community members and relatives carry Paranus Lokbere’s body to the hearse

Photos showing the destruction of houses in Kenyam

Detailed Case Data
name of the location: Nogolai Village, Kenyam administrative region: Indonesia, Papua Province, Nduga Regency, Kenyam District
total number of victims: 1
period of incident: 05.04.2022
perpetrator: security forces
perpetrator details: unknown
Issues: extra-judicial killings, indigenous peoples
Sources: students in the area and HRDs
Further HRM News:

NumberName, DetailsGenderAgeGroup AffiliationViolations
1Paranus Lokberemale17indigenousexecution

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