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News on West Papua's human rights and conflict situation
  • Human Rights Update West Papua: 2nd Quarter 2020
  • Press Release from the Papuan Council of Churches - Racism and Injustice in West Papua
  • Merdeka Secretariat's Solidarity Month for West Papua
  • NTB Regional Police allegedly forced a student to make false video statement about West Papua
  • #MakeWestPapuaSafe aims to stop foreign government support for Indonesian police
  • Sign ETAN's Petition: Free West Papua Political Prisoners
  • Update on trials and detentions after anti-racism riots in West Papua
  • Press Release - #PapuanLivesMatter: West Papua Network and United Evangelical Mission urge the Indonesian government to end racism against indigenous Papuans
  • #MakeWestPapuaSafe Campaign organizes webinar about Balikpapan 7 with Sarah Thompson
  • Pusaka Press Release: Urging the State and Corporations to Protect and Respect Environmental Human Rights Defenders in Papua
  • Update on trial against 23 defendants in Fakfak arrested during 1st December Commemorations and accused of treason and criminal conspiracy
  • TAPOL regrets Court sentencing of ‘Balikpapan Seven’ political prisoners


Human Rights Update West Papua: 2nd Quarter 2020
altThe most significant events in the second quarter of 2020 were the outcomes in multiple trials against Papuan activists. Notably, the trial against the 'Balikpapan 7' drew the attention of Papuan civil society and international human rights observers as the public prosecutor demanded sentences of 5 to 17 years for the defendants. The enforcement of measures to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in human rights violations against West Papuans. The number of cases of physical assault, obstruction and intimidation of human rights defenders (HRDs) has also significantly increased, with twelve reported cases.

Press Release from the Papuan Council of Churches - Racism and Injustice in West Papua
On 5 July 2020, the Papuan Council of Churches (WPCC) has released a statement titled "Indonesian Special Autonomy Development for the Welfare of the Papuan People is Dead". Observing Jakarta's recent activities, unilaterally designing Special Autonomy Papua Volume II in order to avoid public pressure related to the racism in the Surabaya Student Dormitory and the consequent reverberations in Papua which have begun to cause movements at the grassroots, we need to remember that the direction and framework of the development of the Indonesian State in Papua have been imbued with ethnic superiority from the beginning.
Merdeka Secretariat's Solidarity Month for West Papua
On July 1, the Merdeka Secretariat launched the solidarity month for West Papua which aims to intensify the online and offline information drive on the issues in West Papua. At the same time, according to the Merdeka Secretariat, the solidarity month will be used to explain the political as well as economic agenda behind the consistent criminalisation and repression of the Papuan people and their supporters. There are different educational activities lined up for the month, such as a webinar series and short video clips on current events in West Papua.

NTB Regional Police allegedly forced a student to make false video statement about West Papua
alt The video published on YouTube on 25 June 2020 shows the statement of a boy introducing himself as Bertus from Wamena, who studies in the city of Mataram, Lombok, Nusa Tenggara Barat province. In the video message, Bertus encourages all Papuans to love the Unitary State of Indonesia (Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia, NKRI). The video was shared by the Public Relations Department of the Nusa Tenggara Barat Regional Police (Polda NTB) on Instagram to promote the Indonesian unitary state doctrine and counter media information in support of political self-determination for West Papua.

#MakeWestPapuaSafe aims to stop foreign government support for Indonesian police 
altThe Make West Papua Safe (MWPS) Campaign was launched in December 2018 with the aim to stop, or at least review, foreign government support to the Indonesian police and military, which the activists supporting the campaign believe to be creating more effective human rights abusers. Successive reports by the International Coalition for Papua, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Tapol, and their Papuan partners, all establish that the Indonesian security forces have become an obstacle to peace with justice in West Papua. Instead of protecting West Papuans – who ostensibly are Indonesian citizens with the same constitutional rights to freedom of speech as people in Java – the Indonesian police and military kill, jail, torture and beat ordinary Papuans, often for no other reason than being black and identifying as Papuan.

Sign ETAN's Petition: Free West Papua Political Prisoners
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The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) is calling for the immediate release of political prisoners in Indonesia. Sign the petition HERE. Recently, Indonesian prosecutors demanded sentences of five to 17 years for seven high-profile West Papuan political prisoners detained in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan (Borneo). These activists were arrested during a wave of protest triggered by recorded incidents of racist police violence last year. Tens of thousands joined an uprising against racism and for self-determination for West Papua. SIGN HERE


Update on trials and detentions after anti-racism riots in West Papua
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This article provides an overview of the trials related to Papua-wide anti-racism protests between late August and late September 2019 as well as the subsequent wave of criminalisation against human rights defenders and political activists. The seven Papuan activists tried in Kalimantan were sentenced to ten and eleven months imprisonment. International human rights observers, as well as Papuan civil society members, raised serious concerns regarding the trial after the public prosecutor had sought sentences of up to 17 years imprisonment for the defendants. Meanwhile, the majority of trials concerning the anti-racism protests have been closed and the defendants were released. Several court cases against protesters who were during unrests in the towns of Oksibil, Wamena, Sorong and Waena continue.

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Press Release - #PapuanLivesMatter: West Papua Network and United Evangelical Mission urge the Indonesian government to end racism against indigenous Papuans
alt Human In the wake of the anti-racism demonstrations in the USA after the death of George Floyd caused by police violence and the current worldwide attention to this issue, the West Papua Network (WPN) and the United Evangelical Mission (UEM) express their concern about the continuing racism against indigenous Papuans and draw attention to the importance of the #PapuanLivesMatter campaign. The West Papua Network and the UEM call on the Indonesian government to take effective measures against racism in West Papua and to promote and protect the human rights of Papuans.
 

#MakeWestPapuaSafe Campaign organizes webinar about Balikpapan 7 with Sarah Thompson

altOn 15 June 2020, the case of the seven activists on trial for treason was discussed in a webinar organised by #makewestpapuasafe. Sarah Thompson talked about the #Black Lives Matter and the importance to understand the campaign as a global movement. She explained that the situations of racism against Afro-Americans in the United States and Papuans in Indonesia are only two pieces of a larger puzzle to succeed in the global struggle for freedom and equality for black people. “Here [in the US], we are struggling for our lives, saying no to police brutality, saying no to voters’ oppression saying no to unjust incarceration. Yet, we know that none of us are free in the US until all of us are free, and that means until West Papua is free, we will continue to march, we will continue to speak out, we will continue to bring our humanity to the system and say there is no longer ‘us’ vs ‘them’, it’s all of us or none. And we choose all of us.”

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Pusaka Press Release: Urging the State and Corporations to Protect and Respect Environmental Human Rights Defenders in Papua
alt The Pusaka Bentala Rakyat Foundation has documented the situation in Papua from April 2020 to the present, June 2020, and has uncovered cases of violence, arrests, destruction of property, internal displacement, intimidation and death threats experienced by indigenous peoples and Environmental Human Rights Defenders, namely: the Moskona indigenous people in the Regency of Teluk Bintuni (April 2020), Aifat indigenous people in Maybrat Regency (April May 2020), Environmental Human Rights Defenders in Kampung Ikana, Kais Darat, South Sorong Regency (June 2020), and in Kali Kao, Jair District, Boven Digoel Regency (June 2020), Papua Province. Some cases involve recurring violence against Environmental Human Rights Defenders.

Update on trial against 23 defendants in Fakfak arrested during 1st December Commemorations and accused of treason and criminal conspiracy
alt Multiple trials against 23 indigenous Papuans are ongoing at the Fakfak District Court since 18 June 2020. The defendants have been accused of committing crimes against state security. They are tried under various indictments, among them Article 106 of the Indonesian Criminal Code (KUHP) on treason, Article 110 KUHP on criminal conspiracy, Article 160 KUHP on incitement and Emergency Law No. 12/1951 on the possession or use of stabbing, striking and slashing weapons (see table below). The 23 defendants are represented in court by the Manokwari Institute for Research Study and Development of Legal Aid (LP3BH Manokwari), the Kaki Abu Legal Aid Institute in Sorong (LBH Kakia ABU), ELSHAM Papua as well as two additional local law offices.
TAPOL regrets Court sentencing of ‘Balikpapan Seven’ political prisoners
TAPOL regrets the sentencing of seven West Papuan political prisoners today in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan province. The Seven were arrested in early September 2019 and accused of being the masterminds behind the ‘West Papua Uprising’, mass anti-racism protests in August and September last year. Prosecutors demanded that harsh prison sentences should be handed to the Seven, which has caused a rise in tensions in recent weeks in West Papua. However, judges took a different view and displayed more leniency

About the ICP

Human Rights and Peace for Papua is an international coalition of faith-based and civil society organisations (the Coalition) addressing the serious human rights condition in West Papua and supporting a peaceful solution to the conflict there. West Papua (Papua) refers to the western half of the New Guinea island in the Pacific and comprises the eastern most provinces of Indonesia. Indigenous Papuans are suffering from a long and ongoing history of human rights violations and security forces subject them to violence including killings, torture and arbitrary arrests. Impunity prevails. A lack of adequate access to health care and education as well as demographical and economical marginalisation and discrimination mark the living condition for Papuans. A heavy presence of Indonesian security forces, lack of access for international observers such as journalists, corruption and transmigration from other parts of Indonesia aggravate the situation. Political prisoners and the persecution of political activists shows the extent of repression with which freedom of expression and indigenous peoples’ rights are being violated. Papua’s wealth in natural resources attracts businesses and security forces resulting in exploitation through mining, logging, harmful agricultural projects, and environmental degradation. This dynamic challenges traditional indigenous culture while Papuans demand their right to self-determination. 
visit our website at www.humanrightspapua.org