PONTIANAKGLOBE.COM - Indonesian authorities should immediately drop politically motivated treason charges and release Papuans detained for the peaceful exercise of their rights in the Papua and West Papua provinces, Human Rights Watch said today.
On August 17, 2019, a racist mob comprised of security forces and members of militant groups attacked students at a West Papuan university dormitory in the East Java city of Surabaya.
Three years later, Indonesian authorities continue to subject Indigenous Papuans to racial discrimination and intimidation, arbitrary arrests, torture, extrajudicial killings, and mass forced displacement.
“Indonesian security forces for decades have routinely subjected Indigenous Papuans to wrongful arrests and violence, and yet were never brought to justice for these rights violations,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The Indonesian government should stop harassing and arresting peaceful Papuan protesters, and immediately release activists prosecuted for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly.”
Video footage of the attack three years ago shows officers shouting racist insults at the West Papuan students while forcing their way into the dormitory and firing teargas.
Police arrested 43 Indigenous Papuan students for allegedly failing to raise the Indonesian flag outside the dorm to celebrate Indonesian Independence Day.
The authorities released the students later that day. But for nearly a month, the students had to sleep outside their dormitory due to the lingering toxic smell of teargas.
Widespread protests ensued in at least 30 cities across Indonesia after the video footage spread online and news of the event was reported.
Some protests turned violent, and both Indonesian settlers and Indigenous Papuans were killed in such places as Wamena and Jayapura.
Indonesian authorities responded to the protests in the following months by arresting at least 22 peaceful protesters on treason charges.
The human rights situation in Papua and West Papua has continued to deteriorate amid a climate of rising fighting between the Papuan pro-independence insurgents and the Indonesian security forces.
Almost two years after being arrested, Victor Yeimo, 39, a spokesperson for the West Papuan National Committee (Komite Nasional Papua Barat, KNPB), remains in police detention.
Police arrested him on May 9, 2021, in Jayapura and charged him with treason for calling for a referendum on independence during the anti-racism protests that followed the Surabaya attack.
After Yeimo’s arrest, the media reported that up to 130 protesters were arrested in the West Papuan capital of Manokwari.
While in prison, Yeimo was denied access to vital medical care, and as a result, by August 2021, his health had deteriorated to life-threatening levels.
