A New Zealand group supporting West Papuans has called on their government to end its police training project in Indonesia.
Pax Christi Aotearoa New Zealand's National Coordinator, Kevin McBride, says the $5 million US-dollar programme should be canned.
He says it's not clear which Indonesian police are being trained, and it's hard to tell on the ground who the police are.
He says he was in Jayapura in 2011 and witnessed gangs, who could have been plain-clothed police, fire over crowds and intimidate with weapons, with uniformed police standing nearby.
"The New Zealand pilot project began in 2009, so New Zealand police have been there since 2009 and this took place in 2011 and there's every indication that there's been little improvement in the policing management of the Indonesian police in West Papua since that time."
Kevin McBride says he is not against police training, but it must be in full collaboration with the customary leaders of the West Papuan people.
