Police crackdown on commemorations for New York Agreement in Wamena – 14 injured including a minor

On 15 August 2024, police dispersed peaceful protests in the towns of Nabire, Wamena, and Sentani, as well as in Jayapura City with force. According to information received from local human rights groups, 222 protesters were arrested, and 41 injured as police forces dispersed the crowd with batons, teargas, and rubber ammunition. Many wounded protesters sustained head injuries, indicating that the officers targeted vital body areas. The protest in Nabire triggered outbreaks of occasional ethnic violence in the Bumi Wonoreja area. Acts of horizontal violence between Papuans and non-Papuans have significantly increased over the past years, resulting in a growing potential risk for the occurrence of atrocities in West Papua.

Joint security forces prevented protesters at various gathering points across Wamena. They dispersed the crowd with tear gas and rubber batons in the locations Sinakma, Woma, Hom-hom, Jibama Market, and Woken Ilekma. Fourteen KNPB supporters, including a thirteen-year-old minor, were reportedly injured as a result of police violence. Police officers arbitrarily detained 21 KNPB supporters in Sinakma, Jibama Market, and Hom-hom and brought them to the Jayawijaya Police Resort headquarters. They were detained for seven hours and released at 2:00 pm after KNPB members came to the police station and demanded their release. The officers reportedly failed to return seized objects, including two motorbikes and a mobile phone.

Detailed Case Data
name of the location: Pasar Jibama (-4.069195079515545, 138.94086056687095)
administrative region: Indonesia, Papua Pegunungan Province, Jayawijaya Regency, Wamena District
total number of victims: dozens
period of incident: 15.08.2024
perpetrator: police, other security forces
perpetrator details: unknown
Issues: freedom of expression, torture, freedom of peaceful assembly, indigenous peoples, ill-treatment, arbitrary arrest
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