On 23 December 2025, forty-year-old Papuan civilian, Mr Agus Magayang, suffered fatal blast injuries after allegedly stepping on a victim-activated explosive device placed on a civilian path used for daily movement between gardens and homes in the Jalan Gunung area of Dekai District, Yahukimo Regency, Papua Pegunungan province.
Mr Magayang is an indigenous civilian displaced by armed conflict and security operations in the area. The incident raises serious concerns relating to the use of prohibited or indiscriminate weapons, the failure to protect civilians, including the endangerment and destruction of civilian property.
According to the victim's wife and witnesses, the security situation in the Jalan Gunung area deteriorated following an exchange of fire on 13 December 2025 between the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) and Indonesian security forces (TNI-POLRI). Following the clash, Indonesian forces reportedly intensified operations in and around civilian residential areas. A dozen civilian houses were reportedly damaged as security forces returned and indiscriminately opened fire in the residential area. Security force members killed livestock and devastated houses (see photos and videos below: source: independent HRD).
On 23 December 2025, Mr Magayang and his wife, together with other family members, went to their garden in the Jalan Gunung area to harvest crops for the upcoming Christmas celebration. Upon arriving at the garden, Mr Magayang's wife and other relatives began digging up sweet potatoes while Mr Magayang wanted to work in a nearby garden. On the way back, he allegedly stepped on a device planted on the path, triggering an explosion. Witnesses reported hearing a loud blast and the victim's screams. Family members reportedly ran to the location and found him lying on the ground with severe injuries. It is alleged that military members planted multiple devices around homes, gardens, and civilian activity routes in the area.
He was then evacuated to Dekai Regional General Hospital for medical assistance. Mr Agus Magayang sustained wounds to the head, right thigh, left hand, and abdomen as a result of the explosion. After admission to the hospital, he received only basic medical treatment because medical personnel were not fully available due to the Christmas holidays. The treatment was reportedly limited to wound cleaning and physical examination. These circumstances raise concerns about the availability and quality of urgent emergency care for critically injured persons.
Human rights analysis
From a human rights perspective, the alleged placement of victim-activated explosive devices on routes used by civilians would be incompatible with the fundamental obligation to protect civilians and to distinguish at all times between civilians and combatants. Devices that detonate by the presence, proximity, or contact of a person are inherently indiscriminate when emplaced on civilian paths, particularly in or near residential areas and subsistence gardens.
These devices are incapable of reliably targeting a specific lawful military objective and may seriously harm civilians. Such conduct would raise acute concerns under Indonesia's obligations to respect and ensure the right to life, to prevent foreseeable harm to civilians such as enshrined in Article 6 of the International Covenant on civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on the right to life and the state duty to protect life, as well as Article 7 of the ICCPR regarding torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The security operations in Dekai on 13 December put civilian residents at serious risk of being injured, with bullets piercing through the walls of residential houses. Moreover, the planting of victim-activated explosive devices near gardens is in line with a wider pattern of security operations in West Papua being conducted with insufficient regard for civilian protection and human rights.
Indonesia joined the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention on 16 February 2007, when it ratified the Mine Ban Treaty. The Convention entered into force for the country on 1 August 2007, binding Indonesia to absolute obligations: never to use, develop, produce, acquire, stockpile, retain, or transfer anti-personnel mines, and to destroy existing stockpiles. If substantiated, the allegations would constitute violations of the Convention's core prohibitions and transparency obligations, raising serious questions about treaty implementation, national enforcement measures, and the protection of civilians in conflict-affected areas.
Human Rights Monitor calls for an immediate, impartial, and effective investigation into the incident, including clarification of the weapon type, the location and circumstances of emplacement, the chain of command and potential command responsibility, and the identification of those responsible for any unlawful conduct. Authorities must take urgent steps to protect civilians by securing, surveying, marking, and clearing suspected hazardous areas in and around the Jalan Gunung area of Dekai City, with transparent risk communication to local communities.
Detailed case data (see original document)