Cases of human rights violations
Military personnel of the Kopasus Maleo special forces reportedly tortured three Papuan children and their parents inside a military post at the Yuwanain Village, Arso District, on 27 October 2022. The military police have launched an investigation into the incident. According to a spokesperson of the Pomdam XVII/Cenderawasih military command, 32 military members will be examined in relation to the case.
On 23 July 2022, two police officers, Bripka SR and Bripka WL shot a man named Raymond Londok (RL) dead in Pandu Village, Bunaken District, Manado City. The police answered the call of a community resident concerned by a drunk man holding a dagger/ white object and screaming. The resident expected the police to calm down the drunken man, but allegedly the officers used excessive force and killed the victim. The police stated it was self-defence and tried to dissuade the family from reporting the victim’s death. On 18 August 2022, the North Sulawesi Regional Police held a press conference led by the Head of Public Relations of the North Sulawesi Police, Kombes Pol. Jules Abraham Abast.
In January 2022, the Minister of Environment and Forestry, Siti Nurbaya, through SK 01/MENLHK/SETJEN/KUM.1/1/2022 concerning Revocation of Forest Area Concession Permits, revoked 192 forestry permits/concessions. One was PT Bintuni Agro Prima Perkasa’s (BAPP) concession area of 19,368.77 ha in West Papua. The Mpur tribe of indigenous people, whose customary land is affected by the concession, had urged to revoke PT BAPP’s permit in West Papua since 2017. The Mpur have tried to discuss this with the regent of Tambrauw and the relevant agencies. Still, the regent and representatives of the appropriate offices object to meeting directly with the customary land rights holders.
A 42-year-old woman named Sumiarti Masry was arrested by the Sikka Polres on 1 September 2022 in Wuring, Wolomarang Village, Alok District, Sikka Regency, East Nusa Tenggara Province. She was arrested for saying through her Facebook account that “traffic police (Polantas) is like ‘Ferdy Sambo”. The Sambo case is a high-profile story that has caught the public’s attention across Indonesia since July 2022. Sumiarti’s case began with her comments on Ryna Nhozee’s Facebook account status: “Ngerii ew polisi tilang sampai masuk di Wuring” (It was terrible, the traffic police inspect in Wuring). At that time, the Traffic Police Unit of the Sikka Police was conducting a vehicle inspection in the Wuring T-junction area.
On 20 September 2022, four members of the North Halmahera Polres in North Maluku Province in Indonesia tortured an activist and student at the University of Halmahera, Yulius Atu (also called Ongen) for criticising how the police handled the demonstration against the rise in fuel prices that took place earlier a day before. Police dragged, kicked, beat, and forced the victim to apologise to police sniffer dogs. During the protest, Yulius took photos of police officers using sniffer dogs to keep the protest under control. After the rally, the victim uploaded a photo with a WhatsApp status that said, ‘unable to use hands, use sniffer dogs’ (tidak mampu pake tangan, pake anjing pelacak).
It has been more than two years since the extrajudicial killing of a 22-year-old man named Exel Djunaidi (ED) by the police in North Sulawesi. The legal process against the perpetrator has not been carried out. ED died after being arrested by members of the Directorate of Drug Detection (Ditresnarkoba) of the North Sulawesi Regional Police on 13 September 2020 at his house in Lolah Satu Village, East Tombariri District, Minahasa. The family found ED dead with several gunshot wounds on his body, including one in the back of the head. The case was reported to the police on 14 September 2020. However, the police stopped the preliminary investigation of this case four months after the incident in January 2021.
Members of the Jayawijaya District Police arbitrarily arrested two Papuans from the Nduga regency, Papua Province. Mr Titus Koranue and Mr Yance Kerebea have been detained at the Jayawijaya District police station since late June 2022. The police have not explained the reason for the arrest but stated both men were “secured to prevent unwanted things from happening“.
On 8 June 2022, Papuan and non-Papuan students in Makassar, Sulawesi Selatan Province, were prevented and attacked by members of a militant group as they wanted to protest against the formation of new provinces in West Papua. As the students wanted to leave the dormitory, BMI members attacked them injuring five students.
Five Police officers have been alleged of beating up a 17-year-old boy with the initials GIS in the town of Manokwari, Papua Barat Regency, on 15 May 2022. The boy sustained bruises on the face and the body. The incident was recorded on video which quickly spread on social media.
Members of the Quari Atas Yonif R 431/SSP military post in the Kenyam Distrct, Nduga regency allegedly tortured a 40-year-old high school teacher, Mr Musa Nawipa on 27 April 2022. According to information received from local sources, the military personnel tortured Mr Nawipa inside the military post for one day until he succumbed to the injuries sustained as a result of the torture.
On 13 April 2022, Brigadier AK, a police member of the Mimika District Police, attacked a street vendor, Mr Taman, as he was selling food in front of the SMAN 1 Timika high school. Mr Taman sustained bruises around the right eye and a cut on the lips as a result of the torture. The incident was recorded on camera and later went viral on social media.
On 1 October 2022, the chaos that ended in tragedy took over the stadium after a football competition between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya at Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang, East Java. As a result of the incident, as of 5 October 2022, 131 people were reported dead and hundreds injured. Thirty-four people died inside the stadium; the remaining victims died in the hospital. This has been, so far, the darkest football tragedy in the history of Indonesian football. The police response to the crowd unrest has raised questions about this tragedy’s human rights violations.
Masril Ardi, a man from Pekanbaru, Riau Province, was arrested by the Cyber Team of the Metro Jaya Regional Police (Polda Metro Jaya) on 31 July 2022, at his home on Hang Tuah Street, Tenayan Raya District, Pekanbaru City. He was arrested for posting on his TikTok social media account. Masril posted about “Orang-orang pilihan Sambo” (Sambo’s chosen people). Masril gave the hashtag #BerantasJudiOnline (#fight online gambling) in the post. The Sambo case is a high-profile one. It has caught the public’s attention since July 2022. Inspector General Ferdy Sambo is the Head of the Professional and Security Division (Kadiv Propam Polri) and is the main suspect in the murder of his aide Brigadier J.
Military members gunned down an indigenous Papuan, Mr Frengki Nauw, in front of the Mare district military command, Maybrat Regency. Prior to the shooting, Mr Nauw was attacked and beaten by an intoxicated villager and ran to the nearby military post to get to safety.
On 23 August 2022 the Head of Ternate District Prosecutor’s Office (Kajari), Abdullah Fatah, demanded that Maharani Carolina, a female lawyer in Ternate, apologise publicly for her posts on her Facebook account, Namaku Ranigila (my name is crazy Rany). The posts criticised the handling of the drug case involving Stephanus Peter Imanuel (Steven) by the Ternate District Prosecutor’s office and the North Maluku High Prosecutor.
On 8 April 2022, around 11:00 pm, police officers of the Jayapura city police carried out a house search in the Buper area of the Heram District in Jayapura City. The residents, most of them Papuan students, had just finished a traditional cooking ceremony as a group of police officers equipped with automatic machine guns and bullet-proof vests approached the house.
On 7 September 2022, the indigenous peoples in the Grime Nawa valley in Jayapura Regency again held a demonstration demanding the government stop activities and revoke the license of the palm oil plantation company, PT Permata Nusa Mandiri (PT PNM). The compnay has a location permit from 2011 and an environmental permit since 2014. PT PNM obtained a Hak Guna Usaha (HGU) permit in 2018, although the three-year Palm Oil Moratorium has been in effect.
On 7 September 2022, a group calling itself the Committee for the Rescue of Local Wisdom in Cilegon City held a demonstration against the construction of the Maranatha Batak Protestant Huria Christian Church (HKBP) in the Cikuasa neighbourhood, Geram Village, Grogol District, Cilegon City, Banten Province. They used the Decree of the Head of Serang II No. 189/Huk/SK/1975, dated 20 March 1975, as a juridical document to reject the establishment of a church. This decree reportedly regulates the establishment of houses of worship other than mosques in Serang Regency, now Cilegon City.
A journalist, an editor of online media outlet cermat.co.id, and an official partner of kumparan.com, Mr Nurcholis Lamau, was intimidated and beaten by the family of the Deputy Mayor of Tidore Island, Mr Muhammad Sinen because of an editorial article he wrote criticising some of the Deputy Mayor public remarks. This incident occurred at Nurcholis’ house in Rum Balibunga Village, Tidore City, on 31 August 2022, not long after Nurcholis Lamau published the editorial titled “Breathing Coal Dust Get Rewards” on the online media cermat.co.id. The Dep
Police officers tortured indigenous Papuan youth, Brayen Renaldy Gombo, inside a police patrol car in the highland town of Wamena, Jayawijaya Regency, on 14 September 2022. The police officers arbitrarily arrested Brayen Renaldy Gombo because he was making fun of officers who were conducting a raid and seizing alcoholic drinks.
