Michael Bachelard, Jakarta – Indonesian President Joko Widodo has agreed to "follow up" Monday's shooting deaths of up to five civilians by security forces in the restive West Papua region.

The men who were protesting in a village square in Paniai were shot dead when police fired into the crowd.

The shooting and its aftermath is the first test of Mr Joko's leadership on Papua, which has hosted a low-level insurgency for the past 50 years, and which he has said he wants to normalise.

Natalius Pigai, a member of the Indonesian Human Rights Commission Komnas Ham, said he had met with Mr Joko on Tuesday for International Human Rights Day and asked him to conduct an investigation into the deaths.

"We told the president what happened yesterday and he said, "I know the case'," Mr Pigai said. "He also said, 'I'll follow up'."

Mr Pigai understood this to mean that a team of police would be sent from Jakarta to investigate, adding "it must be from the president to the national police chief".

Komnas Ham would also investigate, Mr Pigai said, by sending its own team as soon as next week. He said the president's commitment to Papua "remains to be seen".

"Before talking about yesterday's case we talked more comprehensively about historical Papuan human rights cases... because we wanted to see his response. His answer was pretty standard."

Papua police chief Yotje Mende said the local police were "still investigating if the injured people were wounded by the military and police or by some other group".

Media reports quoting local villagers say five people are dead, but Mr Yotje insisted only four were killed and 10 more were being treated in hospital.

Papua police and a team from national police headquarters as well as a forensic team from Semarang would be dispatched, he said. "The updated information I got from the local police chief that the Paniai situation is now under control," Mr Yotje said.

The facts leading to the incident are in dispute, but local sources said the crowd had gathered in Karel Gobay Square to protest against a group of Indonesian soldiers, who they say had beaten a 12-year-old boy the previous night.

The dispute allegedly arose because the boys protested against a police vehicle travelling at night without headlights. The following day, a crowd gathered to protest, and attacked a military vehicle, at which point the police and military fired into the crowd.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/west-papua-deaths-jokowi-to-follow-up-shooting-20141210-123y3d.html