On 3 December 2025, at around 4:00 pm, 20-year-old indigenous Papuan, Mr Yanuarius Pekei, was shot dead while joining a protest on the connecting road from Paniai to Dogiyai in the Deiyai Regency, Central Papua Province.
Mr Pekei sustained a lethal gunshot wound to the neck and died at the scene. Relatives of a previous traffic accident victim who had been killed on 2 December 2025 had set up a roadblock, demanding justice. Preliminary information from local sources indicates that the shot was fired from a Hilux (Strada) vehicle that forced its way through the blockade. Community members allege that the shooter is associated with Indonesian security forces. The incident forms part of a wider pattern of lethal violence and excessive use of force against indigenous Papuan civilians in Deiyai Regency and other Papuan provinces in eastern Indonesia.
On 2 December 2025, a traffic accident occurred in Deiyai Regency, Central Papua Province. According to initial reports, a vehicle hit a resident, causing severe injuries. The victim eventually succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. The driver responsible for the accident reportedly surrendered himself to the Deiyai Regency Police. Local sources state that the family received no clear information regarding the legal status of the driver, whether he was detained, and what steps were being taken to ensure accountability and reparations under both state and customary law.
On 3 December 2025, the victim's family and relatives expressed their dissatisfaction and anger over the authorities' handling of the traffic accident case, in particular the failure to facilitate an appropriate customary law process ('hukum adat') and to provide transparent information on the status of the perpetrator.
In response, family members and supporters blocked the main road connecting Dogiyai-Deiyai-Paniai, a crucial transport artery in Central Papua Province. The blockade caused significant traffic congestion and a build-up of vehicles on both sides of the road. Residents gathered at the scene, and tensions rose as no effective mediation or conflict-resolution efforts were undertaken by the relevant state authorities.
During the congestion caused by the blockade on 3 December 2025, at around 3:30-4 pm, a Hilux (Strada) vehicle reportedly attempted to force its way through the roadblock established by the victim's family. Witnesses report that the driver partially lowered the window and fired live ammunition towards the residents standing on or near the road.
One civilian, Yanuarius Pekei, an indigenous Papuan from Ibodiyo Village, Tigi District, Deiyai Regency, was shot in the neck. He died on the spot from the gunshot wound at around 4 pm. At the time of writing, there is no information that he posed any threat or was armed.
Residents and church networks allege that the shooter is linked to the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) or other Indonesian security forces, as such vehicles are frequently used by security personnel in the area. However, the exact identity, institutional affiliation, and legal status of the shooter remain unclear. No official public statement clarifying these points has yet been reported to Human Rights Monitor.
Following the killing, the situation on the ground became highly tense, with community members gathering to express their anger and grief, and to condemn the shooting. There are concerns that further escalation could occur in the absence of prompt, transparent, and credible steps towards accountability.
Human rights analysis
The incident in Deiyai raises serious concerns under international human rights law and Indonesian law, particularly regarding the right to life, the use of force and firearms by state agents, and the state's duty to prevent and de-escalate violence. The shooting that killed Yanuarius Pekei appears, on the available information, to constitute an arbitrary deprivation of life. Even if the shooter were a state agent confronted with a road blockade, the use of lethal force against an unarmed civilian blocking a road is disproportionate and unnecessary. International standards permit the use of lethal force by law enforcement officials only when strictly unavoidable to protect life. Shooting into a crowd of protesting civilians, or at an individual blocking a road, does not meet this threshold.
The authorities' failure to adequately address the underlying traffic accident case, to clearly communicate the legal status of the driver, and to facilitate a customary dispute-resolution process contributed to the escalation that led to the blockade. Besides, reports from Deiyai and other Papuan provinces indicate a recurring pattern of excessive and lethal use of force by Indonesian security forces in response to protests, road blockades, and other forms of community mobilisation.
Indonesia is required to conduct a prompt, effective, independent, and impartial investigation into any suspicious death involving potential state responsibility. Such an investigation must identify the shooter, clarify his institutional affiliation, and examine the chain of command, rules of engagement, and orders under which he was acting.