On 15 October 2025, police personnel disrupted a student-led, anti-militarisation protest at the Abepura Roundabout in Jayapura City, Papua Province. At least five protesters were arbitrarily detained for over 24 hours before being released without charges, after authorities reportedly found no legal violations.
Mr Ebenius Tabuni, 24, an eighth-semester Cenderawasih University student, suffered gunshot wounds during the police crackdown and was admitted to the Abepura Hospital. The extracted projectile was allegedly not handed over to the family and is now unaccounted for, raising grave concerns of evidence tampering.
On the morning of 15 October 2025, at approximately 8:00 am, students and youth from several campuses in Jayapura gathered peacefully at multiple locations, including Cenderawasih University (Uncen) Waena and Uncen Abepura, to protest against militarisation and land grabbing in West Papua. The protest, coordinated by the Alliance of Students and Youth Concerned with Indigenous Papuan Land (AMPPTAP), aimed to deliver their demands to the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP).
As the demonstrators attempted to march towards the MRP office, at around 10:00 am, joint security forces blocked access routes at Abe Roundabout and ordered the protesters to disperse. Tensions quickly escalated when the students refused to retreat. Police officers began firing tear gas into the crowd, while some protesters responded by throwing stones. In the ensuing chaos, tyres were set alight, traffic was halted, and commercial activities in the surrounding area came to a standstill.
Amid the unrest, four students and one bystander were arbitrarily detained around midday in the Abepura area. They were initially taken to Abepura Police Station, before being transferred later in the afternoon to the Jayapura City Police Headquarters at approximately 5:00 pm. Upon arrival, the detainees were subjected to questioning in the Criminal Investigation Unit from 6:00 pm until after 10:00 pm, after which they remained in detention overnight pending a decision on whether charges would be filed.
During the crowd control operation, Mr Ebenius Tabuni was shot and sustained severe injuries. A bullet entered through his right chest, passed through his abdomen, and lodged in his right elbow. He was rushed to Abepura Hospital, where doctors performed emergency surgery to remove the projectile. However, following the procedure, the projectile was reportedly lost or withheld. The victim's family did not receive it as required under medical and legal standards for evidentiary preservation.
The next day, on 16 October 2025 at 5:15 pm, all five detainees were released without charge after more than 24 hours in custody. The Papua Legal Aid Institute (LBH Papua) confirmed that the police found no evidence of any criminal conduct by the detainees. Meanwhile, Mr Tabuni remained hospitalised in stable condition following surgery, though concerns persisted over the missing ballistic evidence and the implications of potential evidence destruction.
Human rights and legal analysis
Freedom of Peaceful Assembly & Expression: Peaceful assemblies are protected under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Articles 21 and 19, binding on Indonesia, and the Indonesian Constitution. Any restrictions must meet strict legality, necessity, and proportionality tests. Blanket blockades, dispersal with tear gas, and firearm use against largely peaceful demonstrators indicate disproportionate crowd control inconsistent with the UN Human Rights Committee's General Comment No. 37 on assemblies.
Use of Force & Firearms: The apparent deployment of live ammunition resulting in serious injury to a student contravenes the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms (necessity, proportionality, and precaution). Firearms must not be used except to address an imminent threat of death or serious injury; no such threat is evidenced in the supplied record.
Arbitrary Arrest/Detention: Holding five individuals for over 24 hours, then releasing without charge, suggests arbitrariness under ICCPR Article 9 and Indonesian criminal procedure safeguards.
Medical-Legal Chain of Custody & the Right to Truth: The missing projectile extracted from Mr Tabuni engages duties under the Minnesota Protocol (2016) on the investigation of potentially unlawful deaths/serious injuries and basic chain-of-custody standards. Any failure by hospital or security personnel to preserve and promptly hand over ballistic evidence may constitute obstruction of justice and violate victims' rights to truth, justice, and effective remedy.