A member of the Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) special unit shot Mr Charles Kogoya, 24, in front of the GIDI Jerusalem Church in Karubaga Town, Tolikara Regency, Papua Pegunungan Province, on 21 August 2024. Mr Kogoya sustained a bullet injury on the left side of the rib cage and was immediately admitted to the Igari General Hospital in Tolikara for emergency treatment. In response to the incident, community members and relatives set tires on fire and blocked all traffic passing through the area.
It is not clear why the police officer opened fire at Mr Charles Kogoya. According to the information received, Mr Kogoya was walking in front of the Cross monument when the bullet suddenly hit his ribcage. Eyewitnesses confirmed that a Brimob officer released the shots. After the shooting, the perpetrator allegedly left the site of the crime and drove his police truck to the nearby police post.
The police in Tolikara remained silent for a week regarding the incident due to the lack of public awareness of the case. After a week, awareness was raised and the relatives demand an independent and effective investigation by the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) into the shooting. The perpetrator should be held accountable in a public trial for the non-procedural use of his firearm against Mr Charles Kogoya.
The incident one day after police officers killed one and injured other Papuan civilians in the Yahukimo Regency on 20 August 2024. Last month joint security forces killed three Papuan civilians during a raid in the Puncak Jaya Regency on 16 July 2024. None of the cases have been followed-up by a criminal investigation, adding to the already existing climate of widespread impunity in West Papua.
Mr Kogoya shortly after being shot (left) and after admission to the general hospital in Tolikara (right)
Community members and relatives block the road near the site of crime
