An evangelist and a teenager were shot dead, and two young men were injured in separate military operations in Indonesia's Papua, prompting the local regent to strip off his official uniform in a public protest and drawing a rare rebuke from the country's human rights minister.

Elianus Agimbau, a 20-year-old worker of the Evangelical Tabernacle Church's Damsik Kupia congregation in Agisiga district in restive Intan Jaya regency, was killed on June 29.

He was traveling toward Sugapa, the regency's capital, amid deteriorating security conditions, Intan Jaya Regent Aner Maiseni said in a statement.

His body was found the following day in bushes near a military post.

That same day, Daud Hagisimijau and Kiko Hagisimijau from Titigi village were shot and wounded while using an excavator at the construction site of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Maiseni said.

On July 1, the body of Okto Tigau, 19, was found near the Rajawali Habema military post in Mamba village, with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen, a severed left ear, and injuries consistent with torture.

Responding to the news of the violence, Indonesia's Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai called on the commanders of the Indonesian military to control their personnel in Papua.

"Almost every day there are deaths of innocent civilians," he said on July 1 while stressing the need for "a human rights-oriented approach" to minimizing civilian casualties.

His ministry would closely monitor the situation, Pigai, a Catholic, said.

Meanwhile, Regent Maiseni staged a public protest on July 1 near teenager Tigau's body by removing his official uniform in the presence of mourning family members and local villagers.

"I remove his uniform as a sign that our hearts are laid bare and bleeding, seeing our children murdered without cause," he is heard saying, his voice trembling, in a video on the protest obtained by UCA News.

"They [Papuans] are not enemies of the state; they are people who only want to live in peace, build their places of worship, and keep away from danger," he adds.

Marthen Weya, a relative of the evangelist, said: "We as his family affirm that the late Elianus Agimbau was a shepherd entrusted with caring for his flock."

Weya told UCA News that their only hope was "that the case is truly tried and processed legally so that the family gets justice."

Indonesian military's Operation Command, or Koops Habema, an elite security task force established to secure the conflict-prone highlands of Central Papua, including Intan Jaya regency, confirmed only the death of Tigau.

Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel M. Wirya Arthadiguna said on July 2 that four individuals were detected moving covertly toward a military post at night and issued warnings that went unheeded.

He claimed that the approaching group opened fire.

Tigau was a deputy operations commander of the separatist West Papua National Liberation Army (TPN- PB), and a machete was found near his body, he added.

"All actions by military personnel were carried out in accordance with applicable rules of engagement," Arthadiguna asserted.

Meanwhile, Sebby Sambon, spokesman for the TPN-PB, in a statement on July 1, accused the Indonesian military of carrying out attacks targeting civilians.

Intan Jaya has been a conflict flashpoint between Indonesian security forces and the West Papua National Liberation Army for several years.

Accountability for civilian casualties has remained rare, and independent access to affected areas is heavily restricted.

Source: https://www.ucanews.com/news/evangelist-teenager-killed-in-indonesian-army-operations-in-papua/11409