Indonesia, West Papua – Between April and July 2025, Papuan students in the Indonesian cities Gorontalo, Surabaya, Makassar, and Yogyakarta faced an alarming escalation of coordinated intimidation campaigns.
These incidents reveal a disturbing pattern of systematic harassment designed to silence Papuan voices and restrict their fundamental rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly. The documented attacks include physical violence, psychological terror tactics, racist threats, and coordinated surveillance, targeting students engaged in legitimate democratic activities and human rights advocacy. The geographic spread and temporal coordination of these incidents suggest a centralised campaign of suppression rather than isolated acts of harassment.
Documented incidents: Isolated acts or coordinated intimidation campaigns?
The most severe escalation occurred in Gorontalo Province between 26-30 April 2025, where an intimidation campaign unfolded over several days. Unknown groups conducted systematic surveillance of Papuan students, followed by simultaneous attacks on two Papuan student dormitories at 3:20 am using stones wrapped in both Indonesian and Morning Star flags with threatening messages (see photo on top, source: independent HRD). The campaign escalated to direct violence when Hidayat Musa, former chairman of the Indonesian Student League for Democracy (LMID), was beaten by unknown individuals near a police station, followed by sustained psychological warfare through anonymous WhatsApp death threats. The incidents occurred after LMID had carried out joint solidarity activities with Papuan student groups.
In Surabaya, students faced a week-long campaign from 19-23 June 2025 involving bizarre psychological tactics, including the delivery of a live lizard in a rice sack, coordinated propaganda banners labelling student organisations as "separatist groups," suspected intelligence officer harassment, and simultaneous death threats via WhatsApp from multiple numbers. In Yogyakarta, members of the Papua Student Alliance (AMP) received suspicious packages on 26 July 2025, containing provocative posters and materials delivered to their dormitory.
Papuan students in Makassar, South Sulawesi Province, faced escalating intimidation campaigns in June and July 2025. On 15 June 2025, students received suspicious packages containing warning letters delivered by express courier to their housing, followed by a propaganda campaign on 14 July 2025 involving the posting of provocative banners and posters around campus areas and public spaces by suspected reactionary mass organisations (see photos below: source: independent HRD).
Legal violations: Domestic and international law breaches
The above-described incidents constitute violations of Indonesian Criminal Code Article 335 regarding criminal threats, constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression and association under Articles 28, 28C, and 28D, and Indonesia's international obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The systematic threatening through various means, racist messaging targeting Papuans specifically because of their ethnic identity, and physical assaults represent textbook violations of domestic criminal law while undermining constitutional protections for democratic participation. The coordinated nature of harassment across multiple provinces violates Indonesia's commitments to protect freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly under international human rights treaties.
Pattern analysis: Evidence of systematic coordination
The documented incidents reveal several critical patterns distinguishing the intimidation campaign from isolated harassment: Temporal coordination with attacks consistently occurring before planned student advocacy activities; geographic distribution across multiple provinces suggesting centralised coordination; methodological sophistication employing diverse tactics from traditional to psychological intimidation; state actor involvement with multiple reports of suspected intelligence officers; and escalating severity from surveillance to death threats. The simultaneous occurrence of similar incidents across different provinces, combined with similar methodologies and messaging, indicates coordination exceeding the capabilities of random local actors.
These intimidation campaigns have created severe impacts on democratic space and student communities, including a chilling effect, causing students to engage in self-censorship and withdraw from legitimate advocacy activities. Community fragmentation as propaganda campaigns strain relationships between Papuan students and local communities and cause lasting psychological trauma. Student organisations report difficulty maintaining normal operations, planning activities, and recruiting new members due to fear of retribution, while many students consider transferring institutions or returning to West Papua entirely.
The acts of systematic intimidation must be understood within the broader context of Indonesia's democratic trajectory and shrinking civic space, particularly affecting marginalized communities advocating for human rights. The targeting of students specifically because of their Papuan identity is a result of longstanding stigmatisation and ethnic profiling that undermines Indonesia's constitutional commitment to equality. The involvement of suspected intelligence officers reflects a security-focused approach prioritizing suppression over democratic engagement. The apparent lack of serious investigation or prosecution creates an environment of impunity that encourages further violations and undermines the rule of law.
The series of intimidations against Papuan students represents a dangerous escalation in suppressing democratic rights that demands immediate action from Indonesian authorities. Silencing students exercising their fundamental rights guaranteed by Indonesia's constitution and international law violates individual rights while undermining the democratic foundations of Indonesian society. The coordinated nature of attacks, indications of state actor involvement, and escalation from surveillance to death threats indicate systematic persecution requires urgent intervention.
Historical context: Echoes of the 2019 Surabaya attack
The current intimidation campaign against Papuan students is not a new phenomenon but a recurring pattern, remembering a series of incidents in August 2019, when racist attacks on Papuan students in Surabaya and other cities triggered massive protests across Indonesia and West Papua. On 17 August 2019, Indonesian security forces joined militant mobs in attacking 43 Papuan students at a university dormitory in Surabaya, with video footage showing army officers shouting racist insults, including "monkeys, get out," while using tear gas to force their way into the building.
The 2019 incidents sparked widespread protests in at least 33 cities across Indonesia, leading to riots, government building burnings, and multiple deaths, while Indonesian authorities responded with internet blackouts and the deployment of thousands of additional security forces to West Papua. The events inspired a "Papuan Lives Matter" social media campaign that highlighted systematic racism, injustice, and violence against Indigenous Papuans in Indonesia.
Recommendations: Immediate action required
Indonesian authorities must immediately launch comprehensive, independent investigations into all documented incidents with adequate resources and oversight and ensure swift prosecution of perpetrators under existing criminal statutes, with particular attention to state actor involvement. Educational institutions should strengthen anti-discrimination policies with clear reporting mechanisms. The international community should maintain sustained diplomatic pressure for accountability while supporting Indonesian civil society efforts to protect democratic space.