In this year of 2011, violations of civil and political rights [will] still continue to occur in Papua, with such incidents as demonstrations, shootings, torture, hostage-taking, killings and so on, which result in conflict between the law enforcement agencies and civil society, according to a human rights observer, Yusack Reba.

He said that freedom of expression is regarded by law enforcement agencies as treasonous actions or separatism.

He said that there were two irreconcilable positions. According to the state, every person is guaranteed the constitutional right to freedom of expression, and there is nothing about people not being able to talk about freedom. But according to the Criminal Code, expressions of opinion are seen as being acts of separatism, which is treated by the authorities as being a threat to the territorial integrity of the state.

As a result, the law enforcement agencies dont regard this as expressing an opinion but as an act of treason.

He said that when people express their opinions in the provincial legislative assembly (DPRP), this is not seen as an attempt to change the philosophy of the state.

There is nothing in law that prohibits people from giving expression to their aspirations but when such expressions go in the direction of wanting independence, that enters into a diffrent legal framework. "But if this is done peacefully and in a well-behaved manner, this is quite legal and acceptable. If these are handled according to a different procedure, human rights violations will be perpetrated in the form of shootings, torture, and other actions".

He said that for the Papuan people, there are numerous instances of human rights violations but they are not seen as being within the legal framework and are not handled according to the rule of law, such as for instance the Abepura case and other major cases which were not handled by a proper court process.

"This is why Papuan people have no confidence in the law as regards actions to deal with human rights violations".