Brutality in West Papua has escalates with civilian and military casualties in the past month, reports SBS News.
The killing of Indonesia's spy chief on the ground and proscribing of the independence movement and fighters as "terrorists" has boosted fears that a major confrontation is looming.
Kate Lamb and Agustinus Beo Da Costa, Jakarta – Indonesian authorities have arrested Papuan separatist leader Victor Yeimo over accusations that he orchestrated some of the most serious civil unrest in decades that broke out in 2019, the National Police said on Monday.
10 May 2021
Hon Nanaia Mahuta,
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Parliament Buildings
Wellington.
Tena koe Nanaia Mahuta,
Budiarti Utami Putri, Jakarta – Coordinating Minister of Politics, Law, and Security Mahfud MD in an interview on Friday urged the Indonesian public to no longer use the term 'Papuan armed criminal groups' as it could mislead people to unfairly generalize people with Papuan origins as armed criminal groups (KKB).
Jakarta – A fugitive from the law who has been sought by police over the 2019 riots in Papua, Victor Yeimo, was arrested in Jayapura, Papua, on Sunday May 9.
Antara, Jayapura, Papua – The Indonesian government has officially labelled members of armed Papuan groups as terrorists owing to their acts of terror and crimes against innocent civilians, a high police official said.
Jakarta – The police's Nemangkawi task force in Papua has just arrested a man in Mimika Regency for allegedly talking about "genocide" against Papuans in his Facebook account. The police accused him of spreading hate speech.
A former Indonesian military commander has condemned the formal labelling of the West Papuan resistance TPN/OPN as "terrorists", saying that the Papuan problem was complex and could not be solved by armed force alone.
Among other critics of the tagging are the Papua provincial Governor, Lukas Enembe and a Papuan legal researcher.
Vatican News staff reporter – The Church in the province of Papua in Indonesia is calling on military leaders and rebel groups to declare a truce to avoid the risk of escalation of violence in the region.
Human Rights Watch is urging the Indonesian government to rethink its classification of rebels in West Papua as terrorists.
Indonesia has formally designated Papuan independence fighters as "terrorists", in a move expected to expand the military's role in civillian policing in Papua.
Egi Adyatama, Jakarta – Former commissioner of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Yoseph Stanley Adi Prasetyo in a Friday virtual discussion gave his opinion about the government's recently labelling armed separatists in Papua as terrorists.
Vidhyandika Djati Perkasa and Alif Satria – On April 29, the Coordinating Minister for Politics, Legal, and Security Affairs formally labelled Papua's armed criminal organization (KKB), also known as the West Papua National Army-Free Papua Organization (TNPB-OPM), a terrorist organization.
Ronna Nirmala and Tria Dianti, Jakarta – Indonesia's military and national police chiefs visited the rebellious Papua region Friday, in a rare joint trip to discuss security there with field commanders after insurgents dealt government forces setbacks, including assassinating an army general last month.
Senator the Hon Marise Payne
Minister for Foreign Affairs
PO Box 6100
Senate
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
7 May November 2021
Dear Foreign Minister,
I am writing to you concerning the seriously deteriorating situation in West Papua.
Indonesia has deployed 400 more soldiers in the easternmost region of Papua, an army spokesman said on Thursday, as an exiled separatist leader warned that the military looked set to launch its biggest security operation in the area in decades.
Achmad Nasrudin Yahya, Jakarta – The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) has called in a commitment by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo who once pledged to resolve the human rights violations in Paniai, Papua.
Jakarta – The West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Movement (TPNPB-OPM) has requested military intervention from the United Nations (UN) Security Forces. It also seeks support from the European Union, African-Caribbean-Pacific States, and all UN members as advocated in UN Resolution 2625 (XXV) on the right to independence and self-determination for colonized nations.
Mark Bowling – Church human rights activists have demanded an end to violence and killing in Indonesia's easternmost Papua and West Papua provinces following an escalation of rebel attacks and a military crackdown.
By Izzy Brown, as told to Zelda Grimshaw
"They make great trucks. That's what my father says whenever I ask him: "What do they make? Who do they sell them to?" "Only to the good guys," is his standard answer, and the topic changes quickly. But what he calls "trucks", most people call "tanks". And I am always led to wonder, "What kind of 'good guy' drives a tank?"
Sebastian Strangio – Indonesia is bolstering its military presence in disputed Papua province, following the assassination of a senior military officer on April 26.
Following a spate of shooting incidents over the last few weeks, including one that killed the head the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) in Papua, Brig. Gen. I Gusti Putu Danny, the government has declared the armed rebel group in the territory a terrorist organization.
Bilveer Singh – On April 25, while taking part in a military patrol in the village of Dambet in Beoga district, part of Papua's Puncak Regency in eastern Indonesia, Papuan separatists succeeded in killing Brig. Gen. Gusti Putu Danny Karya Nugraha.
I issue this urgent warning the world: huge Indonesian military operations, some of the largest in years, are imminent in West Papua. The internet is being cut off, hundreds more troops are being deployed, and we are receiving reports that West Papuan civilians are fleeing from their villages in Intan Jaya, Puncak Jaya, and Nduga regencies.
Andita Rahma, Jakarta – The Indonesian National Police main headquarters (Mabes Polri) confirmed that it will act under the Law against Terrorism (UU Terorisme) in pursuing the armed criminal groups in Papua.
"We will surely use that specific Law as they are already categorized as terrorist groups," the Mabes Polri spokesperson Brig. Gen. Rusdi Hartono confirmed on May 4.
Yamin Kogoya – The Indonesian government has officially labelled the OPM (Organisasi Papua Merdeka) Free Papuan Movement and its military wing, the TPNPB (West Papua National Liberation Army) as a terrorist group.
Abeth You, Jayapura – The Indonesian government's decision to categorize the West Papua National Liberation Army as a terrorist group is deemed subjective and reckless, says Papua conflict expert and leading church figure Okto Marko Pekei.
Meki Wetipo & Jenny Munro – I wish us Papuans to have a good home, have time with our families to go to church together on Sundays, and all of us work properly. Unlike today, we sell in the hot sun, get dust, get rain, sell at night with flashlights without electricity.
Katharina R. Lestari, Jakarta – A senior Catholic official in Papua has called on Indonesia's military and rebel leaders to declare a ceasefire and prevent an escalation in violence and wider conflict following the government's decision to designate separatists as terrorists last week.
As military operations intensify in West Papua, internet services to the capital of Indonesia's Papua province have been cut.
The telecommunication company, PT Telkom Indonesia, has confirmed that internet service in Jayapura was disrupted on Friday night.
Budiarti Utami Putri, Jakarta – Chairman of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) Benny Wenda criticized the Indonesian government's decision that labeled the West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Movement (TPNPB-OPM), or the armed criminal group as called by the government, as terrorists.
Antara, Jakarta – The Papua Regional Police have mapped six armed criminal groups (KKB) that actively carried out security disturbances in the mountainous region of Papua. The groups were detected in Puncak, Intan Jaya, and Nduga Regency, said the Regional Chief Inspector General Mathius Fakhiri.
Achmad Nasrudin Yahya, Jakarta – The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) is calling in a pledge made by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo in 2015 related to press freedom in Papua, which to this day has not been fulfilled.
Jakarta – The Free Papua Organisation (OPM) has spoken out in response to the Indonesian government's move to pin the terrorist label on armed groups in Papua – which officials usually refers to as armed criminal groups (KKB).
Yogi Ernes, Jakarta – Police arrested scores of Papuan student at a May Day rally in Central Jakarta earlier today on the ground that they did not have a permit to demonstrate.
Dili – Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta has urged Indonesia's government to hold talks with the Papuan independence movement to help end a decades-long insurgency in the country's easternmost region.
Elisa Sekenyap, Jayapura – Australian Green Party Senator Janet Rice has expressed her concerns about the situation faced by the people in the land of Papua.
UCA News reporter, Jakarta – Human rights activists and churchmen have voiced concerns over the impact of the Indonesian government's move to label Papuan pro-independence groups as terrorists, saying it will make peace even more difficult to achieve in the restive region.
Egi Adyatama, Jakarta – The Deputy V for Politics, Law, and Security Affairs at the Executive Office of the President, Jaleswari Pramodhawardani, said the government's decision to label armed criminal groups (KKB) in Papua as terrorists was made after thorough considerations.
AWPA condemns the continuing statements from Indonesian officials concerning the Free Papua movement in West Papua.
The Indonesian government has declared the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) as "terrorists".
Jamie Tahana – Human rights groups in Papua fear civilians will bear the brunt of any retaliation for the killing of a top Indonesian intelligence official.
At least 10 people were killed in a gun battle between police and rebels in Indonesia's restive Papua region, authorities said, in an apparent retaliation for the execution of a top intelligence chief.
The hours-long shootout Tuesday in remote Puncak district ended with nine guerrillas and a police officer dead, while two more officers were wounded, police said.
David Robie – Branding armed Papuan resistance groups as "terrorists" has sparked strong condemnation from human rights groups across Indonesia and in West Papua, some describing the move as desperation and the "worst ever" action by President Joko Widodo's administration.
Egi Adyatama, Jakarta – Spokesperson for the West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Movement (TPNPB-OPM), Sebby Sambon, on Friday condemned Indonesia's decision to declare the groups as terrorist organizations. He viewed that the Indonesian government was mistaken and in a state of panic.
Angela Flassy, Alexander Loen, Jayapura – The government of Indonesia has declared The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) a terrorist group but Papua Governor Lukas Enembe was quick to respond, calling for Jakarta to reconsider.
Siktus HarsonSiktus Harson, Jakarta – The arrest of a pastor in Papua by security forces for allegedly supplying weapons to a separatist group could intensify scrutiny on churches in the restive Indonesian region, according to some, but others believe it was a betrayal of his church and Christians.
Hendartyo Hanggi, Jakarta – The Indonesian Government through the Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD on Thursday announced that armed criminal groups (KKB) in Papua and organizations or people affiliated in it are deemed as terrorists.
This means that the Free Papua Movement (OPM) will fall into the same category.
Jakarta – The government has declared that armed criminal groups (KKB) in Papua are terrorists, following a string of clashes with security forces that saw the region's intelligence chief, one police officer and at least nine guerrilla fighters killed.
Rahel Narda Chaterine, Jakarta – Amnesty International Indonesia says that labeling armed groups in Papua as terrorist has the potential to add to the long list of human rights violations in the region.
Amnesty International Executive Director Usman Hamid believes that labeling armed groups terrorist will not end the problems or human rights violations in Papua.
Armed violence has escalated in Puncak Regency in the "land of Papua" – known internationally as West Papua – following President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's order to crack down on the rebels seeking independence, reports the Papuan newspaper Jubi.
Yunita Amalia – Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy Chairperson Hendardi has criticised the government's move to label armed criminal groups (KKB) in Papua as terrorists. The move is seen as a short-cut and an expression of the government's desperation in dealing with the conflict in Papua.