Cases

On 5 July 2022, security force members of the Damai Cartenz shot dead indigenous Papuan, Mr Uakhele Giban in the Suru Suru District, Yahukimo Regency. He has been living with his family in a temporary shelter in there since November 2021 and was using his motorboat for river transportation services to generate an income to support his family.

A crowd of several hundred protesters gathered in various locations in Kaimana on 14 July 2022. Police officers blocked the roads to the local parliament. According to information received, police officers beat two protesters with wooden batons. The police dragged them off the bike and forced them to enter one of the trucks. One of the victims, Mr Aser Bary, was beaten with a wooden baton and sustained bruises on his chest and back as a result of the excessive force applied against him.

The Papua Peoples Petition (PRP) submitted a registration letter for a protest on 11 July 2022. According to media sources, the Jayapura police chief mobilized 2,000 police officers to prevent the protest. Dozens of police officers dispersed a group of about 30 students at the entrance gate to the Cenderawasih University campus in Waena, Jayapura. A video of the crowd control operation shows police officers wearing helmets and heavy gear beating the protesters.

On 14 June 2022, police officers dispersed a peaceful assembly in the Perumnas III residential area in Waena, Jayapura City, with teargas, wooden batons and rubber bullets. Eleven protesters were injured and 5 others arrested. The protesters had come together to commemorate the death of former KNPB leader Mako Tabuni, who died during police detention on 14 June 2012.

About sixty PRP supporters gathered at the Oyehe Gizi Park in Nabire on 3 June 2022 and made peaceful orations. Minutes later, dozens of police officers arrived at the park and told the protesters to leave, claiming that other groups would need the park for an assembly. Fully equipped police personnel pushed the protesters towards the Oyehe bus terminal. The officers reportedly intercepted people recording the operation and forced them to delete the recordings. The police arrested 23 protesters, who were detained and interrogated at the Nabire District Police Station (POLSEK).

On 3 June 2022, around 250 people went to the streets in Sorong city to voice their opposition to Jakarta’s planned administrative partitions. At 2.30 pm, the protesters gathered at the local parliament, demanding to meet the local parliament chairman. He did not come to meet the crowd, and at 3.15 pm, the situation became tense. Some protesters reacted by burning tires in the surrounding area. In return, police officers shot teargas grenades and rubber bullets from close range into the crowd. At least ten protesters sustained injuries due to excessive force during the crowd control operation.

On 3 June dozens of PRP sympathisers, Papuan students and activists gathered at the Kudamati Road near the Mangga Market in Merauke. They orated and read their arguments against the formation of new provinces loudly. The demonstration lasted for around half an hour, after which the protesters dispersed. Approximately 15 minutes later, joint security forces arrived in the area and began taking the mobile phones of bystanders to revise and delete recordings, and identify protesters. They also searched houses in the area.

On 3 June 2022, people in Timika went to the streets to voice their opposition to Jakarta’s planned administrative partitions. Police officers reportedly blocked the crowd at SP3 and arrested two protesters named Mr Jakson Wenda and Mr Anas Oktovianus H Rumaropen. Both were reportedly ill-treated during the arrest. The exact circumstances of the arrest remain unclear. A small group of protesters was allowed to share their aspirations with parliament representatives.