Erwida Maulia – New York-based Human Rights Watch has condemned the Indonesian government for allowing the conviction of five Papuan independence activists on Friday, saying the prosecutions went against constitutional freedom of expression.
The Jayapura District Court convicted five men and sentenced them to three years in prison for pro-independence statements made at the Third Papuan People's Congress in the subdistrict of Abepura last year in October.
The men are Selpius Bobii, a social media activist; August Sananay Kraar, a civil servant; Dominikus Sorabut, a filmmaker; Edison Waromi, a former political prisoner; and Forkorus Yaboisembut, a Papuan tribal leader.
A crackdown by security officers at the peaceful October protest left three dead and 90 others injured.
"Human Rights Watch takes no position on claims to self-determination in Papua," the group said on Friday in a press statement. "Consistent with international law, however, Human Rights Watch supports the right of everyone, including independence supporters, to express their political views peacefully without fear of arrest or other forms of reprisal."
The group suggested amending the nation's Criminal Code "to ensure that no one is prosecuted for treason for exercising their rights to peaceful protest protected under the Indonesian constitution and international law."
It also criticized the lack of sanctions on 17 police officers allegedly involved in the crackdown, saying they had only been given written warnings with no further action taken against them for possible misuse of force.
"Human Rights Watch renewed its call for the Indonesian government to release all political prisoners and allow human rights organizations and foreign journalists unimpeded access to Papua," it added.
Responding to the rebuke, presidential spokesman Teuku Faizasyah told the Jakarta Globe that the central government would not intervene in the legal process in Papua, saying the convicts could appeal to a higher court if dissatisfied with the verdict.
He claimed freedom of speech did not apply to separatist activities, citing member states of the European Union that classify separatism as a form of terrorism. "Any expression of separatism in the EU is thus considered an act of terrorism," Teuku said.
He insisted that security officers proven guilty of the violent October crackdown had received proper sanctions, saying the termination of their employment was a sufficient social punishment because it denied them their right to income.
"That will be a good lesson for our other security officers to respect human rights, as it has now become part of our military curriculum," he said.
Papua has been the scene of a poorly armed and coordinated pro-independence movement since the 1960s. Secessionist sentiments have mounted in the face of human-rights abuses by Indonesian security forces, as well as anger among the local people that the central government is siphoning off the region's natural riches.