On the 11th of January, an important gathering took place at the Intipura Complex in Sorong Regency, West Papua. The event was themed “Face-to-Face Meeting of the West Papua Police Chief with the Maybrat Refugee Community in Sorong Regency,” aimed at addressing the concerns of the Maybrat refugee community
Updated information that reached the Human Rights Monitor in December 2023 indicates that the conflict and humanitarian situation in Maybrat has again deteriorated. First, the armed conflict situation in Maybrat throughout 2023 appeared to be under control. HRM documented two armed attacks between January and October 2023, resulting in the death of one security force officer in the Aifat Timur Tengah District.
A military member reportedly killed Mr Daud Bano, 35, in the Karya Bumi Besum Village, Namblong District, in the Jayapura Regency on 1 January 2024.
The Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia rejected the cassation filed by four TNI soldiers accused of the murder and mutilation of four Nduga residents in Mimika Regency. The cassation decision is contained in Decision Number 291 K / Mil / 2023 of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia.
The Indonesian government has been addressing past human rights violations, including the Wamena case from 4 April 2003, through non-judicial means, but without engaging with the victims’ families.
On 1 December 2023, as KNPB activists were preparing banners to commemorate the “Papuan Independence Day”, the police led by the Mamberamo Tengah District Police Chief (Kapolres) arrived with complete equipment, under the command of the Deputy Chief of Police of Papua.
According to the information received, members and activists were busy setting up the stage in front of the KNPB Mamberamo Tengah Secretariat. Around 3:40 PM, a joint police and military force comprising TNI and POLRI, led by the district police chief of Mamberamo Tengah, arrived at the KNPB secretariat.
Indigenous communities in Indonesia have lost a staggering 8.5 million hectares of land over the past five years, according to the Tenure Coalition. This land seizure has resulted in tenurial conflicts, with state actors often involved in acts of violence. The root of the problem lies in conditional recognition policies that make it difficult for indigenous communities to secure their land rights.
On 8 January 2024, judges at the Jakarta Timur District Court ruled that the Indonesian human rights defenders Fatia Maulidyanti and Haris Azhar were acquitted of defamation charges in the trial against the incumbent minister for investment and maritime affairs, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.
The death of Papuan Governor Enembe was followed by civil unrest and outbreaks of ethnic tensions in the city of Jayapura on 28 December 2023
Human rights defenders have reported a lack of medication at the hospital in December 2023 due to maladministration.
The Nduga Regional General Hospital (RSUD) and the Kenyam Health Centre (Puskesmas) have ceased operations due to the non-payment of health workers’ honorarium for five months, from July to November 2023
The Papuan Media Legal Aid Institute (LBH Pers Papua) say that journalists in West Papua face three prevalent types of violence, nemely, threats, intimidation, and physical violence.
In Timika, the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), Timika University Students, the Independent Forum of West Papua Students (FIMWP), and Papuan Voices, all members of the Solidarity Movement Against Investment …
In the town of Manokwari, a demonstration in commemoration of the Human Rights Day led to a confrontation between police and protestors in the Amban area. The police forcefully dispersed the protesters with teargas grenades and water cannons
Protests in the West Papuan towns of Timika and Manokwari on the Human Rights Day, 10 December 2023, were accompanied by arbitrary arrests and violence against the protesters.
On 22 November 2023, talks took place between the prosecutor’s office, and the family and the Coalition of Civil Pro-Democracy Movements in support of Urbanus Kamat, Secretary-General of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) for the Maybrat region. Urbanus Kamat, who had been arrested in the Bamusbama District in June, was suffering from a deteriorating health condition while incarcerated in the city of Sorong.
In the city of Ternate, members of the military and the police not only obstructed the planned peaceful but also carried out acts of intimidation and harassment of activists from the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) and the Indonesian People’s Front for West Papua (FRI WP).
About 350 police officers prevented dozens of Papuan students from conducting a peaceful rally from the Papuan student dormitory to the Mandala Monument of West Irian Liberation. The AMP and FRI WP had registered the protest following national law.
In the city of Kupang, members of the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP), the Indonesian People’s Front for West Papua (FRI WP), and supporters gathered at 9:00 am. They began holding orations on the colonial history of West Papua.
