9 May 2015

Papua attacks must end - Amnesty

3:18 pm on 9 May 2015

Amnesty International is calling on Indonesia's president Joko Widodo to take immediate steps to end the Indonesian security forces' increasing attacks on freedom of expression in the country's Papuan region.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo. Photo: AFP

It says on the eve of Mr Widodo's visit to Papua this weekend, at least 264 political activists there have been arbitrarily arrested and detained by the Indonesian police over the last week, as part of a systematic clampdown on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

The humans rights body says political activists from the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) and the People's Regional Parliament (PRD) had planned peaceful protests around the 52nd anniversary of the handover of Papua to the Indonesian government by the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA) on May the 1st, 1963.

It says in West Papua province, the Manokwari district police arrested 12 KNPB activists on April the 30th while they were distributing flyers about the planned demonstration in Manokwari city.

The following day, the police arrested more than 200 protesters who were on their way to a demonstration near the office of the Manokwari Papua Customary Council.

West Papuan

West Papuan Photo: AFP

Security forces, both police and military, also used excessive force to disperse a peaceful demonstration in Kaimana city on May the 1st and arrested two KNPB activists.

In the Papua province, police arrested at least 15 KNPB and one PRD activist in Merauke on May the 1st to prevent them from organizing a demonstration.

Meanwhile, in Jayapura, the local district police arrested 30 KNPB activists on the same day as they were walking to the Papua Parliament's office, the site of a planned demonstration.

According to the police, the arrests took place as these groups did not have permission to undertake the protest.

Amenesty International says while most activists have been released without charge, these arbitrary arrests highlight the on-going repressive environment faced by political activists in the Papuan region.

It says it recognizes that the Indonesian government has the duty and the right to maintain public order on its territory.

However, it added the Indonesian government must ensure that any restrictions on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are no more stringent than are permitted under international human rights law, including under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Indonesia is a party.