Christian leaders and rights activists have called on Indonesian government to end military operations and ongoing conflict with rebel forces in Papua region, which has triggered a "humanitarian emergency."
"Stop the military operations that kill God's people. Stop the military operations in civilian areas," the ecumenical group Papuan Council of Churches said in a statement.
The May 31 statement issued by the group's moderator, Reverend Benny Giay, came in response to a deadly military strike in the region that led to the killing of 18 people, including rebels, in the second week of May.
The military and rebels engaged in fighting with members of the West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Movement (TPN-OPM) in Intan Jaya regency. The military claimed all 18 dead were rebels.
However, the rebel group claimed only three of the dead were its members and the rest were civilians.
Giay said they are extremely troubled by a recent spike in conflict and deaths in the region.
"We are making this statement for the sake of our people who are being killed and wiped out in front of their homes, in their churchyards, in their gardens, and on their ancestral lands throughout the Land of Papua, especially in Intan Jaya and other conflict areas in Papua today," he said.
Giay said that, as per the information they received, at least four victims were civilians, including a 75-year-old pastor, Elisa Wandegau, while five others suffered gunshot wounds, including a five-year-old child who was shot in the ear.
"Around seven civilians are still missing and are suspected of being victims of the operation," he said.
Giay told UCA News that the incident in Intan Jaya reveals the military's disregard for human rights and claimed that the recent conflict forced residents from six villages to flee to Sugapa, the capital of Intan Jaya.
He alleged the military post has been set up near churches and schools, violating norms that such civilian facilities should remain "neutral" from the conflict.
"Churches and schools are used as military barracks. This violates their function and hurts the feelings of the people," he said.
Emanuel Gobay of the Papua Legal Aid Institute said the high number of casualties in a single incident shows the worsening of the conflict in Papua.
"We hope that the Minister of Human Rights will immediately find alternative policies to resolve political issues in Papua and end the armed conflict," he told UCA News, adding that the National Human Rights Commission should immediately form an investigation team to probe the case.
Intan Jaya in the central part of Papua is one of the worst conflict-hit areas of the region, rights groups say.
According to Amnesty International, the area recorded one of the highest numbers of extrajudicial killings, a total of 13, by the security forces, between 2020-21.
The killings include the murder of Protestant pastor Yeremia Zanambani, 68, in September 2020. His body had wounds from gunshots and stabbing.
The military denied the allegations and blamed it on the rebels. However, an independent investigation pointed fingers at military soldiers.
In 2022, a military court sentenced three soldiers to one year imprisonment, which rights groups decried as lenient punishment for a serious crime.
Christian-majority Papua has been marred by conflict and deaths since the 1960s when Indonesia annexed the territory after the end of Dutch colonial rule. A referendum to determine Papua's future was considered rigged in favor of Indonesia.
Armed conflict between the military and pro-independence rebels has killed and displaced thousands in the past decades.