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
On 26 August 2022, the Indonesian President, Mr Joko Widodo (‘Jokowi’), issued Presidential Decree No 17/2022 on the formation of a team for non-judicial settlement of past serious human rights violations.
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.
Officers of the Jayawijaya District Police (Polres Jayawijaya) arrested eleven university students in the highland town of Wamena on 7 September 2022.
Two international organisations, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the World Council of Churches (WCC), have voiced concerns regarding the aggravating human rights situation in Indonesia’s easternmost provinces Papua and Papua Barat.
The human rights court trial in relation to the Paniai Massacre of 2014 will be launched at the Makassar District Court on 21 September 2022
On 30 August 2022, military personnel tortured Mr Bruno Anonim Kimko and Mr Yohanes Kanggum inside a military post in the Bade Village, Mappi Regency. Komnas HAM revealed that the military personnel had tortured four more victims two days before. They were identified as Mr Amsal Pius Yimsimen, Mr Korbanius Yamin, Mr Lodefius Tikamtahae and Mr Saferius Yame. As of October 2022, the military police have identified 18 suspects.
Since its inception in November 2020, the Regulation issued by the Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (Kominfo), Regulation Number 5 of 2020 on Private Electronic System Operators (PSEs), has been predicted to become a repressive policy instrument that violates human rights. This Regulation Number 5/2020 (Perkominfo) adds to the long list of threats to freedom of expression, the right to information, and privacy from the Indonesian government. Based on the Perkominfo 5/2020, the government announced in June 2022 that it would block tech companies that do not officially register as PSEs in the country until 20 July 2022, sparking public concern and criticism across the country.
On 1 September 2022, police officers arrested eight Papuan student activsist inside the Cenderawasih University Campus in Jayapura. The arrested students are members of the Papuan student organisation GempaR. The activists organised and took part in a book stall in front of the UNCEN Museum. The books were made available to students and the public.
On 31 August 2022, the Constitutional Court rejected the application for judicial review of the new Papuan Special Autonomy Law No 2/2021.
Police officers arrested five Papuan activists of the movement organisation Kunume Numbay in Jayapura, Papua Province, on 15 August 2022. According to information received, police officers were already waiting at the meeting point as 14 Kunume Numbay arrived around 10:00 am.
Military and civilian perpetrators have killed and mutilated four indigenous Papuans in Timika on 22 August 2022. The military police and the Timika regional police have launched separate investigations into the killing. As of 30 August 2022, the police had discovered body parts of the four victims, which the perpetrators packed in bags and dumped into the river. On 29 August the relatives carried out a peaceful protest demanding justice for the killing and enforced disappearance of Mr Irian Nirigi, Mr Arnold Lokbere, Mr Atis Tini, and Mr Limaniol Nirigi.
