Human Rights News

News on the human rights and conflict situation in the Indo-Pacific region.

Security force crackdown in Wamena responded with an outbreak of ethnic horizontal violence – At least 9 persons killed, 58 injured, 13 arrested

Joint security forces dispersed a civil unrest in the Sinakma Village, Wamena Town, Jayawijaya Regency, on 23 February 2023. Video material and the high number civilian fatalities strongly indicate that security force members used unnecessary disproportional force to disperse the crowd.

Trial Update: Four military members found guilty of premeditated murder – two defendants sentenced to life imprisonment

On 15 February 2023, judges at the Military Court III-19 in Jayapura have found the four military members, Private Rahmat Amin Sese, Private Risky Oktav Muliawan, Private Robertus Putra Clinsman, and Private Pargo Rumbouw guilty of killing four indigenous Papuans and subsequently mutilating their bodies in the town of Timika on 22 August 2022.

Human Rights Council calls for access to West Papua during UPR

On 9 November 2022, Indonesia was reviewed for a fourth time by the UN Human Rights Council’s (HRC) Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a review in which the members of the Human Rights Council discuss the overall human rights situation in Indonesia, including in West Papua. During the three hours session in Geneva, Indonesia presented its human rights record from the state’s perspective after it had submitted its national report for this review.