5 Oct 2016

Advocacy group slams Indonesia's Papua stand

2:32 pm on 5 October 2016

The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute has issued a statement condemning the Indonesian government's denial of reports of human rights violations in Papua.

The denials were issued during the United Nations General Assembly last month.

Nara Masista Rakhmatia, an official at Indonesia's permanent mission to the United Nations in New York, responds to criticism of her country's treatment of West Papuans by Pacific Island countries at the UN General Assembly, 2016.

Nara Masista Rakhmatia responded to criticism of Indonesia, accusing Pacific countries of interference in domestic affairs Photo: webtv.un.org

According to the Jakarta Post, the legal rights defender, which has previously advocated on behalf of several Papuan groups, says the violations have occurred.

It says between April and September this year, the government arrested 2,282 Papuans staging non-violent rallies.

The Institute says Indonesia, through its representative, Nara Masista, said problems in Papua were related to separatists seeking to disrupt public order.

She went on to say Indonesia's commitment to human rights was solid.

But the Institute says that is not the case.

It says its network has recorded human rights violations from arrests, murders and the dispersal of rallies.