Mutia Yuantisya, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) on Thursday strongly condemned what they believe to be police violence acted against demonstrators protesting against the Papua new autonomous region (DOB) on May 10.
"According to our observation and information we received, there were a number of actions [committed by police] such as forceful disbandment, physical abuse, shooting, and wrongful arbitrary arrests," said KontraS labor agency deputy coordinator Rivanlee Anandar in a written statement on May 12.
According to the human rights watchdog's internal findings, the human rights violations happened at least in two regions; Abepura and Heram. They insist that people protesting against the DOB of Papua are rightfully protected by the Indonesian Constitution under Article 28.
According to him, the expression of opinions in public should be responded to through dialogical processes, not repression against the masses exercising their rights.
KontraS believes this further asserts that the government continues to discriminate and put forth security approaches in responding to public expressions in the Papua society. They also believe a telegram distributed by the Papua Police constitutes the violence as a systematic action.