Coalition Suspects Yasinta Moiwend Controversy Is Linked to Ongoing Court Proceedings

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Jayapura, Jubi – The Papua Coalition for Law Enforcement and Human Rights has suggested that Yasinta Moiwend’s recent objections to her inclusion in the documentary film Pig Feast: Colonialism in Our Time may be connected to an ongoing legal case before the Jayapura Administrative Court (PTUN).

Previously, five representatives of the Malind Indigenous community, including Yasinta Moiwend, filed a lawsuit challenging Merauke Regent Decree No. 100.3.3.2/1105/2025.
The decree concerns the environmental feasibility approval for the construction of a 135-kilometer access road as part of a food security project initiated by Indonesia’s Ministry of Defense.

The case was registered with the Jayapura Administrative Court under Case Number 9/G/LH/2026/PTUN Jayapura on March 5, 2026.

The Papua Coalition for Law Enforcement and Human Rights, which is part of the legal team assisting the plaintiffs, stated that lawyers serving on the Merauke Solidarity Advocacy Team, acting as legal counsel for Yasinta Moiwend, cannot be subjected to criminal or civil liability for carrying out their professional duties.

“Yasinta Moiwend is a client of the Merauke Solidarity Advocacy Team, which is currently representing her in proceedings before the Jayapura Administrative Court,” the coalition said in a written press release issued on Wednesday (June 3, 2026).

According to the coalition, the advocacy team has been assisting Moiwend and four other Indigenous representatives in their lawsuit against the Regent of Merauke.

During the proceedings, Indonesia’s Minister of Defense entered the case as an intervening defendant. This was marked by the submission of the intervening defendant’s response to the panel of judges overseeing Case Number 9/G/LH/2026/PTUN JPR, which was filed on May 18, 2026.

The Ministry of Defense’s involvement came after the Merauke Solidarity Advocacy Team and the legal team representing the Merauke Regent had reached the rejoinder stage of proceedings.

The coalition stated that while the advocacy team was preparing its response to the Ministry of Defense’s submission, the public was surprised by the circulation of a video in which Yasinta Moiwend questioned the use of footage featuring her in the documentary Pig Feast: Colonialism in Our Time.

In the same video, Moiwend also stated that she would not travel to Jayapura to attend court hearings in the case.

“Taken together, these developments indicate that those who recorded and disseminated the video were clearly targeting the legal proceedings currently underway at the Jayapura Administrative Court,” the coalition stated.

The coalition further argued that because one of the statements in the video directly referred to the PTUN proceedings, the individuals who recorded and publicized the video had violated professional ethics by failing to coordinate with the Merauke Solidarity Advocacy Team, which remains Yasinta Moiwend’s legal representative.

“What is even more unusual is that, without any revocation of the power of attorney, the Director of LBH Papua Merauke was later reported to the Metro Jaya Police. In fact, the Merauke Solidarity Advocacy Team continues to hold legal authority as Yasinta Moiwend’s counsel in Case Number 9/G/LH/2026/PTUN JPR,” the coalition wrote.

The coalition argued that the police report against one of the leaders of an advocacy institution that is part of the Merauke Solidarity Advocacy Team contradicts Article 16 of Law No. 18 of 2003 on Advocates, which provides that advocates cannot be prosecuted civilly or criminally while carrying out their professional duties in good faith on behalf of their clients in court proceedings.

Based on that provision, the coalition stated that allegations made by Yasinta Moiwend against a member of the advocacy team, as well as actions taken by lawyers assisting her in filing reports with police authorities, should be reviewed by Indonesia’s advocate organizations in accordance with professional ethics procedures outlined in Article 8 of the Advocates Law.

The coalition also invoked Article 100 of Law No. 39 of 1999 on Human Rights in calling on the Papua representative office of Indonesia’s Judicial Commission to monitor the professionalism of the panel of judges handling Case Number 9/G/LH/2026/PTUN JPR.

The coalition urged the panel of judges at the Jayapura Administrative Court to conduct the proceedings professionally and impartially. It also reminded the Regent of Merauke and Indonesia’s Minister of Defense, who are defendants in the case, not to use the Yasinta Moiwend controversy to influence or gain an advantage in the ongoing legal proceedings.

In addition, the coalition called on the National Police Chief to instruct the Metro Jaya Regional Police to observe legal protections afforded to advocates and legal aid providers under Article 16 of Law No. 18 of 2003 on Advocates and Article 11 of Law No. 16 of 2011 on Legal Aid in relation to the Yasinta Moiwend case.

The coalition further urged the Honorary Council of Indonesia’s advocate organizations to immediately investigate alleged violations of the legal profession’s code of ethics related to the case.

The Papua Coalition for Law Enforcement and Human Rights, which provides legal assistance to the Malind Indigenous community, includes LBH Papua, PAHAM Papua, ALDP, KPKC Synod of the Land of Papua, JPIC OFM Papua, Elsham Papua, Yadupa, the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, LBH Papua Merauke, LBH Papua Sorong Office, KontraS Papua, and Tong Pu Ruang Aman. (*)

Nuevaterra Mambor 

Military officers behind acid attack on Indonesian activist sentenced to jail

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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-10/four-military-officers-sentenced-over-acid-attack/106780486

Four military intelligence officers have been sentenced to up to three years in jail, after they threw sulphuric acid over a human rights activist in a brazen attack in Central Jakarta.

Warning: This story contains details of an assault.

CCTV captured the assault on Andrie Yunus, 27, with two of the officers throwing acid on him while he was riding his motorcycle home late at night in March.

The footage showed Andrie dropping his bike and screaming as he clawed at his clothes while onlookers ran to help.

Andrie, who has been a vocal critic of the military’s growing influence in Indonesia, is still recovering in hospital after receiving second- and third-degree burns across a quarter of his body.

Four officers — Second Sergeant Edi Sudarko, First Lieutenant Budhi Hariyanto Widhi Cahyono, Captain Nandala Dwi Prasetya and First Lieutenant Sami Lakka — were found guilty of premeditated assault resulting in serious injury.

It was the lesser of the three charges brought against them.

Each of the officers received separate sentences for their role in the incident: three years, 2.5 years, two years and 1.5 years respectively.

The two officers who threw the acid on Andrie have been dishonourably discharged from the military.

Impact of the case

Prosecutors told the court they believed the officers did not intend to cause permanent injury to Andrie.

Prosecutors and the judges also took a swipe at Andrie for not participating in the trial.

A witness protection agency gave a report to the court that Andrie was not medically fit to participate.

Andrie’s legal team, the Advocacy Team for Democracy (TAUD), said the activist had still been recovering from surgeries and severe burns when military prosecutors wanted to see him in hospital.

The team also effectively boycotted the military court process, describing it as a “sham”.

Judges said they took Andrie’s behaviour into account in sentencing.

“[Andrie] has not only neglected his legal obligations, but has acted to the prejudice of the trial process,” chief judge Colonel Fredy Ferdian Isnartanto said.

“By casting a negative stigma and demonstrating a complete lack of confidence in the military justice system, his conduct amounts to an abuse of the lawful processes established by the state.

“The panel finds that Mr Andrie Yunus’s attitude has undermined the authority of the court.”

The military court judges have ordered that key evidence be destroyed.

They also ordered the destruction of a USB drive with the CCTV footage, a used car battery and a bottle of rust remover used to source the acid, and the tumbler that held the acid.

“In order to prevent the evidence from being reused for undesirable purposes, said pieces of evidence are confiscated to be destroyed so that they cannot be used again,” the judgement read.

The court heard the men carried out the attack because of a grudge they held against Andrie for his role in crashing a closed-door meeting of politicians at a hotel in March 2025.

Prosecutors said the four men admitted to the crime after two of them skipped a mandatory roll call, concealing burns they suffered when some of the acid splashed back at them.The brazen acid attack that left a man disfigured

Andrie Yunus Profile

Four military officers are facing trial over an acid attack on an Indonesian human rights campaigner that left him seriously disfigured. But some lawyers say the legal process is a “sham”.

Andrie works as the deputy head of human rights GO, KontraS — the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence.

Its coordinator, Dimas Bagus Arya, said his colleague had become a “victim of violence from the very institution that he wanted to improve”.

Civil society organisations have been critical of the military handling the case, given it involved officers attacking a civilian who had been vocal about the military’s growing influence.

In a statement, Amnesty International Indonesia’s executive director Usman Hamid said the verdict and sentencing “downplays the severity and impact of the life-threatening attack on Andrie”.

“It fails to duly consider the involvement of other actors, or the chain of command, despite independent investigations recently [alleging] that at least 14 individuals had been involved,” he said.

“The verdict protects the institutional integrity of the military and shields the full chain of command and other actors potentially linked to this incident from scrutiny.”

Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai has previously told the ABC the government had demanded a transparent and objective trial in Andrie’s case.

“The president has emphasised that this attack is an act of terror against civilians, particularly human rights defenders, and has urged authorities to seriously uncover the masterminds and their motives,” he said.

A court recently ordered police to continue investigating the attack

‘Pig Feast’: a test case for alternative media, Papua, and Indonesian democracy 

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BY HELLENA SOUISA

11 JUNE 2026 

This may be the most controversial film in Indonesia right now.

After being screened offline at nearly 2,000 locations across Indonesia and abroad, the documentary Pig Feast: Colonialism in Our Time (Pesta Babi: Kolonialisme di Zaman Kita) was officially released online on May 22.

Within just 14 days of release, Pig Feast had already been viewed more than 13 million times on the YouTube channel JubiTV.

Jubi is a West Papua-based media outlet and one of the documentary’s production collaborators, alongside Greenpeace Indonesia, Watchdoc, Koperasi Indonesia Baru, Pusaka Bentala Rakyat, and LBH Papua Merauke.

The title Pig Feast (Pesta Babi) is taken from a tradition of the Muyu people in West Papua known as Awon Atatbon. This is a customary ritual involving pigs as social and cultural symbols used to mark the continuity and preservation of Papua’s forests and natural environment.

The 90-minute film, directed by Dandhy Dwi Laksono and Cypri Jehan Paju Dale, is set in South Papua. It follows Indigenous communities resisting the loss of their land and livelihoods due to a government-backed National Strategic Project (Proyek Strategis Nasional, or PSN).

The documentary argues that Indonesia’s food estate project is merely a cover for a large-scale bioethanol venture benefiting particular groups, while exposing the broader web of political and economic interests behind it, including alleged military involvement.

Filling the information drought on Papua

There are several reasons that may explain the widespread public enthusiasm for independently organised community screenings and discussions of Pig Feast at thousands of locations across Indonesia and abroad, as well as its millions of YouTube views.

First and foremost is the information and content the film offers about what is happening in Papua. It describes it as the world’s largest ongoing deforestation project carried out in the name of a PSN, the clearing of 2.5 million hectares of tropical rainforest, and the displacement of 107,000 people, all taking place amid continuing armed conflict in the region.

Second, it is no secret that the ownership structure of Indonesia’s mainstream media, particularly broadcast media, which is controlled by a small group of conglomerates, has affected the diversity of its content.

Because of this ownership structure and the entanglement of political and economic interests behind it, the content of Indonesia’s mainstream television media, as I have previously written, tends to be uniform, elite-centric, Jakarta-centric, Java-centric, and urban-centric.

As a result, there is little or no space for the voices of marginalised groups, communities outside Java, or critical issues that do not generate significant advertising revenue, such as environmental conservation, human rights abuses, and attacks on environmental defenders.

This means that information from and about Papua is rarely seen on mainstream national broadcast media screens. Meanwhile, in the digital sphere, we also know there have previously been attempts to shut down internet access in Papua.

Against this backdrop, Pig Feast, which offers in-depth and comprehensive information about the issues faced by Papuans, emerges to fill the void and address the drought of crucial information about Papua.

Even in an era when media consumption and distribution patterns are increasingly governed by algorithms, Pig Feast’s grassroots community screening model has managed to overcome the dominance of those algorithms.

It is therefore important to view Pig Feast as a success story for alternative media, which Downing, and Hackett and Carroll, define as media that are ‘progressive, explicitly opposed to particular axes of domination (corporate capitalism, heterosexism, racism, state authoritarianism) and openly assume a stance of advocacy rather than pseudo-objectivity, experiment with new aesthetic styles, and address issues marginalised in hegemonic media.’

Pig Feast, like most of Laksono’s documentaries, rarely includes interviews with authorities.

The aim is to balance narratives in the public sphere by giving a platform to communities whose voices are nearly absent from mainstream media.

By doing so, the filmmaker rejects the notion of giving equal voice to those who perpetuate injustice, and critiques the idea of journalistic ‘objectivity,’ which is often seen as serving entrenched commercial or political interests that maintain relations of domination.

This is both a reminder and a reaffirmation of the role and principles of alternative media.

Screenings disrupted, branded ‘foreign agents,’ and reported to police

Because of the issues raised in Pig Feast, including the names and institutions mentioned in the film, the documentary has been met with intense backlash.

Ekspedisi Indonesia Baru, one of the documentary’s production collaborators, reported that of more than 2,000 screenings held so far, at least 50 had been dispersed, cancelled, or subjected to intimidation.

The reasons varied, ranging from claims that the ‘title is provocative,’ and the need to ‘maintain public order’ and ‘anticipate security concerns,’ to allegations of ‘failure to coordinate permits.’

Some screenings were also accused of ‘not possessing a Film Censorship Pass Certificate (STLS) from the Indonesian Film Censorship Board,’ even though Pig Feast, as a film with a ‘non-commercial purpose’, falls into an exempt category.

Off-screen, director Dandhy Laksono has also become the target of black campaigns on social media, where he has been labelled a ‘foreign agent’ and ‘provocateur’.

Most recently, Laksono and LBH Papua Merauke director John Teddy Wakum were reported to the Jakarta Metropolitan Police by one of the figures featured in the documentary, Yasinta Moiwend.

Before filing the report, Moiwend, who in Pig Feast firmly rejected the PSN and criticised the government, later appeared to reverse her stance and express support for the project through social media posts.

Moiwend said she objected to her face being shown in the documentary and subsequently, while also demanding that screenings of the film be stopped.

However, members of Moiwend’s family viewed her sudden change of attitude and police report as suspicious, suspecting that she acted under pressure and intimidation from certain parties.

A new chapter for Pig Feast: a test for Papua, alternative media, and democracy

Efforts to drag the film’s director and one of its collaborators into legal proceedings, following waves of intimidation, repression, screening dispersals, disinformation, and accusations of being ‘foreign agents’, amount to a test on three fronts at once.

First, this is a test for future information and reporting about Papua. What Pig Feast is experiencing recalls the case of Indonesian human rights defenders Fatia Maulidyanti and Haris Azhar in 2023 and 2024.

Both were charged after being reported for defamation by then Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Panjaitan over a video in which Azhar and Maulidyanti discussed research by nine civil society organisations alleging Panjaitan’s involvement in mining businesses and military operations in Papua.

Although the court eventually acquitted Azhar and Maulidyanti, the recurring pattern of criminalising the messengers of Papua-related information, while leaving the substance of the information itself untouched, represents an attempt to obscure problems in Papua that deserve national attention.

Second, this is also a test for future collaborative work between alternative media and civil society. What Laksono and Wakum are experiencing, like Azhar and Maulidyanti, creates a chilling effect not only for those who amplify marginalised voices, but also for the marginalised voices themselves and for issues neglected by mainstream media, particularly civil society perspectives confronting elite dominance.

Third, this new chapter in the story of Pig Feast is ultimately also a test for democracy itself. Can Indonesia be a democracy where freedom of expression and opinion are guaranteed, and where diversity of information, sustained in part by alternative media, remains a crucial pillar of its society?

Pesta Babi film showing in Adelaide 20th June 2026

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The Australia West Papua Association SA

 cordially invite you to a free screening of the new Environmental film

PESTA BABI : Colonialism in our time

to be held on Saturday 20th June at 6p.m. at the Conservation Council SA  

The Exchange  55 exchange Place Adelaide.

It is a full length film of 90 minutes to be followed by  Q& A time after for a further 30 minutes  

Pesta Babi : Colonialism in our time   has become so popular in Indonesia and abroad that

On May 14 alone, organizers recorded around 130 simultaneous viewing locations.

There were over 30 attempts by then Indonesia security forces  to close it down.

Rather than relying on commercial cinemas or subscription platforms, the documentary is circulated free of charge. Any community able to gather at least 10 people can organize a screening and receive the film directly from its producers. Since its release in March, screenings have spread rapidly across the country.

It had become so popular that some enterprising ( thieving ) people in Indonesia cloned the internet address of the film and sold it for $10 for a viewing.

To maximize the films viewing audience  on 22nd May the film was made free to view on You tube and it went viral with over 2,459,508 downloads on that day.  

We expect that as the film is free and highly popular that we will need to have several showings of the film .

The Event Cinema at The Exchange has seating for 155 .

If that books out we will release details  of additional showings   

Pesta Babi – Colonialism in our time, by Dandhy Laksono:

Synopsis of the film:

Yasinta Moiwend, a Marind Anim woman in Merauke, was startled when, on a quiet morning, a massive ship docked at her village pier. The vessel carried hundreds of excavators under escort by military forces, sent to Papua for a National Strategic Project for food production, palm-based biodiesel, and sugarcane bioethanol.

Vincen Kwipalo, from the Yei community, was likewise shocked when his clan’s land was suddenly marked with a sign reading: ‘Property of the Indonesian Army’. Only later did he learn that the land had been seized for the construction of a military battalion headquarters, at the very moment when sugarcane, a plantation company, was also encroaching on his ancestral forest.

‘Pig Feast’ combines detailed field recordings with in-depth research to examine the power structures behind the operation. It exposes how government and corporate entities—collaborating with military and religious groups—advance international and national goals of ‘food security’ and ‘energy transition’ at the expense of Indigenous communities and landscapes.

The documentary illustrates the networks of Indonesian elites, oligarchs, and multinational corporations that benefit from the project, providing a vivid depiction of the political ecology of Indonesian governance in Papua. ‘Pig Feast’ serves as a record of colonialism that remains intact today.

About the director: 

Dandhy Dwi Laksono is an Indonesian activist, investigative journalist, and filmmaker. He is known for his critical documentaries which look at how political and business interests collude to undermine democracy, infringe on human rights and destroy vulnerable natural and social environments in Indonesia. Born in East Java, Dandhy Laksono majored in International Relations at Padjadjaran University in Bandung, West Java, before founding the research-based documentary and audio-visual production house Watchdoc.


To book ticket click on

https://events.humanitix.com/pesta-babi-colonialism-in-our-time?_

link to the official trailer   3mins  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-pPemC8m_

Central Papua: grenade dropped in front of Catholic church injures four worshippers  

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by Mathias Hariyadi. 05/18/2026, 18.52

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https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Central-Papua%3A-grenade-dropped-in-front-of-Catholic-church-injures-four-worshippers-65467.html

The blast occurred in the courtyard of St Paul’s Church, Intan Jaya Regency, shortly after Sunday Mass. The injured are all civilians from the local community. Indonesian authorities have not yet clarified the origin of the device, delivered by a drone, nor identified those responsible. Meanwhile, fighting between separatists and Indonesian forces intensifies.

Jayapura (AsiaNews) – An explosive device, likely dropped by a drone, exploded yesterday, 17 May, in the courtyard of St Paul’s Nabuni Mbamogo Catholic Church, in the remote Intan Jaya region of Central Papua, injuring four civilians who were leaving the place of worship after Sunday Mass.

The area is part of Bilogai Parish, Sugapa District. Many worshippers were still gathered outside the church when the attack occurred.

According to local media outlet Suara Papua, the four victims – Pit Pogau (30), Robert Nabelau (35), Pius Pogau and Piter Nabelau were hit by shrapnel, which embedded in the bodies of the first two. All four were in the church courtyard at the time of the attack.

Bilogai Parish’s pastoral team, led by Father Yanuarius Yance Yogi, head of the Moni Puncak Deanery, immediately evacuated the injured. Two were taken to the Bilogai Regional Hospital in Sugapa District, for medical treatment.

According to initial reports, a second grenade, presumably dropped by drone, was found on the same day in the courtyard of St Pete’s Mbamogo Church.

So far, neither the Indonesian police nor the Indonesian military have released official statements regarding the origin of the device or the perpetrators of the attack.

The use of drones to drop explosives is nothing new in Central Papua, where fighting between Indonesian security forces and Papuan separatist groups has intensified in recent years.

Similar incidents have already been reported in Intan Jaya and Puncak Jaya regencies, two of the most unstable areas in the region. Indonesian-held Papua remains one of the most militarised and difficult to reach areas in the country.

For decades, pro-independence movements have denounced discrimination, repression, and human rights violations by Indonesian authorities, while the Indonesian government considers Papuan armed groups to be terrorist organisations.

In the past few years, religious communities have increasingly found themselves caught up in the violent conflict. The Catholic Church, deeply rooted among Papua’s indigenous peoples, has repeatedly called for peaceful dialogue and an end to military operations that target civilians.

‘They’re wiping us out’: Church leader warns about young West Papuans killed in escalating conflict

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https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/pacific/595281/they-re-wiping-us-out-church-leader-warns-about-young-west-papuans-killed-in-escalating-conflict

Johnny Blades, RNZ Pacific senior journalist 

A West Papuan church leader has warned that ongoing killings of young Papuans allegedly by Indonesian security forces have the hallmark of genocide.

Since the start of the year there’s been no stop to violent incidents in Indonesian-ruled Papua region – known internationally as West Papua.

Indonesia’s government blames recent violence on armed, pro-independence West Papuan fighters.

However, human rights defenders say the violence is escalating violence, and the young, indigenous people of West Papua are in the firing line.

Escalation

Last week a 17-year old Papuan girl was killed as a result of a military operation reportedly targeting civilian mining camps in Tembagapura.

Also last week, several Papuan high school students were shot when tensions flared at a graduation parade through the town of Kobakma in Papua’s central highlands. Police had objected to them wearing the Papuan Morning Star Flag a symbol of the Independence Movement.

Last month, Indonesia’s National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) said it was investigating a shooting incident that left up to twelve Papuan civilians dead as the result of an Indonesian military operation in Kembru district. According to human rights researchers, a 5-year old girl and a 77-year old woman were among the dead.

Komnas HAM’s commissioner for monitoring and investigation Saurlin Siagian said it was difficult to ascertain the exact ages of each victim in the Kembru incident, but he told RNZ Pacific that two pregnant women were among those killed.

Earlier in April, five people, including a 12-year old boy, were shot dead in Dogiyai regency in an alleged retaliatory attack by police after a policeman was killed.

The list goes on, stretching back to January – dozens of people reported dead, dozens more people injured and many more people displaced from their villages.

Pattern

The head of the human rights and justice department of the GIDI Evangelical Church of Indonesia in Papua, Pastor Jimi Koirewa, said there was a disturbing pattern to these attacks.

“The children are being killed, the women are being killed. That is a part of genocide, because the women will give birth to babies, the kids, the children, the youth, they are the future of Papua, and killing them is part of a genocide. They’re wiping us out. There will be no more people there standing in Papua. The old people will die gradually,” Koirewa told RNZ Pacific.

Indonesia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry declined to comment on the pastor’s claim. It said it could not discuss recent incidents while investigations are underway. However, the Human Rights Minister in Jakarta, Natalius Pigai, has admitted the situation is a serious concern.

After a violent year in 2025, when Komnas HAM which recorded 97 violent incidents and armed conflicts in Papua, the situation has deteriorated further this year.

Pigai noted that the country’s independent human rights body has identified 26 cases of violence in Papua from January to April 2026.

“Based on records from both domestic and international sources, there is an escalation. In just under a month, no fewer than 20 people died in 5 incidents in Dogiyai, Yahukimo, Puncak Papua, Timika, and Tembagapura,” Pigai said in a statement on Sunday.

Pigai claimed the government was continuing to seek a peaceful solution that can address the root causes of the conflict.

For the past several years Indonesian security forces in Papua have been engaged in conflict with ‘armed criminal groups’, their label for Papuan pro-independence fighters within the wider OPM Free West Papua Movement.

Lack of justice: ‘Shooting the people’

Pastor Koirewa said the Indonesian military forces had been amassing in large numbers in recent months.

“There’s so much military deployment coming into Papua and the reason, they said, is they want to get rid of the rebels, OPM, that’s what they call rebels. They said that they want to get rid of the OPM so that development can happen, the government can come and build the land,” Koirewa said.

“But when they come in, they are not shooting the combatant, the OPM, but they are shooting the people. So I see that the it’s escalating.”

Koirewa said police rarely investigated the violent incidents thoroughly, leaving Papuan communities mistrustful of the justice system. The GIDI church has raised its concern with the upsurge in violence.

“Our church, we have no influence in Jakarta at all. We already made some communications through the formal way to Jakarta, yeah, through the our parliament, let them know what is happening, but Jakarta is not responding. They don’t care.

“They just come in with their programme, and they don’t care at all. That’s why the church now is looking for aid outside of our country,” Koirewa said, adding that the aid they sought is for internally displaced people and Papuan schools.

Displacement

Jakarta has been promoting major agri-business projects in Papua provinces – including oil palm, rice and sugarcane – as well as large scale mining and forestry projects in the interior.

The government argues that increasing development and economic activity raises the standard of living for everyone in Papua.

“Which part of Papua are they developing? Why are the Papuans still the poorest among the whole Indonesian population. They have been for with us about more than 60 years. And why are the Papuans still the Papuans still in poverty?” Koirewa said.

“We see that there has been no output at all. They will only bring more non-Papuans in to take over our land.”

Koirewa said changing demographics due to Indonesian transmigration added to the sense that Papuans were being out numbered in their homeland and facing a bleak future.

“There’s no hope,” he said.

The displacement of Papuan villagers is also a factor, with the latest Internally Displaced Persons update from Human Rights Monitor group saying over 107,000 West Papuans remain displaced by armed conflict.

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Papuan Women Call for Resistance Against Military Violence in Papua 

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IN PACNEWS MAY 13, 2026  0

 Author : Aida Ulim

 Editor : Nuevaterra Mambor

Jayapura, Jubi – Papuan women attending a free speech forum organized by the Dogiyai Student Association in Jayapura voiced opposition to what they described as ongoing violence against women and children in Papua.

The gathering took place in the Lingkaran Abepura area, Abepura District, Jayapura, on Monday (May 11, 2026).

During the forum, women’s activist Vero Hubi said Papuan women continue to bear the impact of prolonged conflict, including violence, displacement, and the loss of family members.

“I speak on behalf of Papuan women who have become victims of violence, forced displacement, and the loss of loved ones due to the prolonged conflict in Papua. Many Papuan women today live in fear and under constant pressure,” Hubi said.

She stressed that Papuan women would no longer remain silent in the face of continued suffering.

Hubi also drew attention to the condition of internally displaced communities in several conflict-affected regions, saying many women and children had been forced to flee after homes were allegedly occupied by security forces.

She further alleged that some women were injured in bomb explosions while attempting to protect their children.

According to Hubi, women across Papua would continue speaking out against all forms of violence targeting women and children.

She also urged institutions responsible for women’s and children’s protection to investigate alleged human rights abuses in Papua and publicly release the findings.

“We demand transparency in the investigation process and justice for the victims,” she said.

Another participant, Yustina Butu, spoke about the psychological burden experienced by Papuans, particularly students from Dogiyai living in Jayapura.

Butu called on Dogiyai Police to thoroughly investigate and take responsibility for a number of incidents, especially those involving teenage victims in Dogiyai Regency.

She also said alleged acts of violence committed by security personnel against civilians in Yahukimo and Mimika regencies, including against women and children, must be held accountable.

According to Butu, the duty of the military and police is to protect civilians, yet many civilians have instead become victims of violence.

“For that reason, we are calling on Dogiyai Police to conduct a comprehensive evaluation regarding the shootings of civilians,” she said.

She further urged the Dogiyai Regency administration in Central Papua to work together with police authorities in addressing the cases.

Butu emphasized the role of women as mothers who nurture and raise children, saying both the government and security forces must properly fulfill their responsibilities to safeguard the public.

“We want our children to grow up safely and peacefully—not in fear or exposed to violence and inhumane treatment. We hope the state and the government will hear and consider our demands,” she said. (*)

Aida Ulim

Tapol. 2025 West Papua Freedom of Expression and Assembly Full Report

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07 May 2026

Prabowo has been in power as President of Indonesia since October 2024, and the marks of his regime have been increasingly felt across civil society. The atmosphere has turned colder, with greater power going to the security services, a tightening of laws that criminalise dissent, a return of New Order-esque policies, and a sense that the civil rights fought for during the period known as Reformasi are being eroded away.

TAPOL’s latest 2025 West Papua Freedom of Expression and Assembly Report saw the following major trends developing last year compared with 2024:

  • More provinces were affected by incidents than in 2024.
  • 24.2 per cent increase in intimidation and harassment incidents, including torture and killings. 
  • 14.3 per cent increase in incidents of arbitrary arrests.

The report shows in numbers that:

  • In total, 14 provinces had incidents regarding Freedom of Expression and Assembly in West Papua in 2025, 4 more than in 2024. Papua remains the province with the largest number of incidents, followed by Central Papua and then South Sulawesi. Unlike in previous years, the number of incidents wasn’t as concentrated in Papua Province, but was more widely distributed across West Papua and Indonesia, with a noticeable hotspot being South Sulawesi, which is the first time that a province outside of the West Papua region has appeared in the top three. 
  • With regard to perpetrators, security force personnel, including police, carryed out or were involved in  the majority of incidents, which together cover around 65 per cent of reported incidents. This is consistent with levels seen in previous years. The high number of cases committed by unknown perpetrators, which made up 15.6% of all incidents, has been a cause of concern during 2025, and points to a large number of intimidation incidents where no actor involved could be identified. Moreover, companies have come into more and more conflict with local indigenous communities that are speaking up to protect their land, explaining companies” relatively strong involvement in silencing local protests against their plans and intimidating local leaders in order to compel communities into acquiescence. They made up 5.2% of all incidents.
  • The majority of those affected is consistent with previous years, but does also include attempts at intimidating Komnas HAM personnel, who ended up being shot at by the TPNPB. The total impact on all campaign groups on West Papua hit 42 per cent of all incidents, which is lower than previous years, as students were the single group that ended up being the most affected in 2025, covering 29.1% of incidents and bearing the brunt of intimidatory activities in particular, as well as dispersal events. Intimidatory actions against individuals and smaller groups shows a return to the proclivity towards these sorts of tactics in 2023, which contrasts to the election year of 2024, but also the climate of fear that Prabowo seeks to create against those who might oppose his policies. 

We can discern certain important trends from the data we have collected and analysed:

  • Firstly, there has been a general trend since 2023 of strong-arm and targeted arrest tactics to create a climate of fear, with 2025 showing a continuation of this pattern in West Papua. 2024 was somewhat anomalous due to the fact that it was a general election year. There has been a noticeable downturn in mass protest events in West Papua (and those arrested in them), which shows the dire atmosphere of free expression that these conditions are creating.
  • Secondly, mirroring Prabowo’s desire to intensify PSNs throughout West Papua during his term as President, there has been a noticeable uptick of intimidation, arrests or attack incidents against those speaking up for indigenous communities affected by these policies. This shows an intensification of tactics that began in 2024.
  • Thirdly, intimidation targeted at Papuans across Indonesia has meant the greater geographic spread of incidents recorded this year across the country. Whilst there were no international incidents recorded this year, the fact that a province outside of West Papua (that of South Sulawesi) managed to get into the top three of provinces affected by incidents this year shows a definite increased frequency and proportion of overall events now occurring outside of the region.

Check out the full report by clicking on the link below.

ENDS

Themes

Freedom of Expression & Association

Justice

Militarism

Police

Political Prisoners

West Papua

Type

Report

2025 TAPOL West Papua Freedom of Expression and Assembly Report_0.pdf

https://tapol.org/sites/default/files/2025%20TAPOL%20West%20Papua%20Freedom%20of%20Expression%20and%20Assembly%20Report_0.pdf

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Interim President: Genocide continues as Indonesia massacres ten West Papuans 

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May 11, 2026 in Statement

Summary of events from May 1st to May 10th 2026: 

  • Five West Papuans were killed by the Indonesian military in Mimika;
  • Four Papuans were killed by the Indonesian military in Puncak;
  • Indonesian police killed a Papuan civilian in Dogiyai;
  • Indonesian security forces shot and injured seven Papuan students in Mamberano Tengah for painting the Morning Star on their clothes.
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While the world looks away, genocide continues in West Papua.

Indonesian security forces have committed a series of new mass killings over the past ten days, executing at least ten Papuans and shooting many more.

According to on-the-ground reports from the TPNPB and humanitarian defenders, the Indonesian military conducted a sweeping operation in a gold panning area in Tembagapura, Timika Regency, spanning from the evening of May 7th to the morning of May 8th. Five civilian gold miners were shot dead during the operations, while a toddler was reportedly injured and is in critical condition. One of the victims, 17-year-old Nalince Wamang, was hoping to raise money to fund her university studies.

At the same time, military operations conducted in Omukia District, Puncak Regency between May 1st and May 6th resulted in the deaths of at least four Papuan civilians – all murdered by Indonesian troops. According to Human Rights Monitor, the victims were as follows:

  • Ms Tarling Wanimbo, 20, shot whilst searching for food in her family’s garden.
  • Mrs Naena Murib, 31, shot dead whilst gardening. 
  • Mr Bebison Murib, 19, shot dead during the operations
  • Mr Amukiamen Magay, 41, shot dead during the operations.

Earlier, on May 5th, the military shot seven West Papuan students, ranging in age from 17 to 24, during a graduation parade in Kobakma, Mamberamo Tengah Regency. One, 18-year-old Yali Elabi, remains in hospital in critical condition. The only “crime” these students had committed was painting the Morning Star on their clothes. Indonesia fears our flag so much they will shoot our children for flying it.

Indonesia’s ten days of bloodshed then continued yesterday (May 10th), as the police executed yet another Papuan civilian in Dogiyai, Mr Nopison Tebai.

Massacres have become normal in West Papua. The latest killings by the Indonesian colonial occupiers occurred in the wake of recent massacres in Dogiyai and Kembru, Puncak Regency. Thirty-seven West Papuans have now been killed by Indonesian security forces in 2026 – evidence of a serious escalation in Indonesian militarisation. We must also remember that this figure doesn’t include the many civilians who will die of hunger or disease in the bush after being forcibly displaced by military operations.

Tembagapura is in the dead zone surrounding the Freeport mine, the biggest and most toxic gold mine on earth. The forests there have been destroyed, the water is poisoned, the fish are all dead, and the basin of the Ajkwa river has been transformed into a huge grey wasteland. As a result, West Papuans who once hunted there have been forced to pan for gold just to survive.

Those who were killed in Tembagapura suffered three times – first they lost their lands, then their livelihoods, and finally their lives.

This new wave of brutality is a result of Indonesia’s increased military deployment in West Papua. At least 110 new battalions have been formed in West Papua since the election of Prabowo Subianto as Indonesian President in 2024, bringing tens of thousands of additional soldiers to the highlands and villages.

These troops are not in West Papua to protect civilians or preserve Indonesia’s ‘sovereignty’. They are there to protect Indonesia’s investments: to defend the Wabu Block, the Freeport Mine, and the South Papua National Strategic Project (PSN), the biggest deforestation project in human history. The government deliberately creates violence and chaos to feed their troops and the industrial projects they serve.

On behalf of the ULMWP and the Pacific people of West Papua, I demand the immediate expulsion of Indonesia from the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) and Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG). Indonesia currently sits as a dialogue partner in PIF and an Associate Member of the MSG. If their positions are not reviewed following these massacres, the Pacific will be complicit in the genocide of its West Papuan neighbours.

Pacific leaders must ask themselves: will you allow this to happen in your backyard? Will you close your eyes as West Papuans are slaughtered? Future generations will judge your actions at this critical moment.

Benny Wenda
Interim President
ULMWP

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West Papuan graduation parade turns violent after police object to Morning Star symbol

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9 May 2026 Johnny Blades, RNZ Pacific senior journalist

Video footage obtained by human rights researchers shows a crowd of angry Papuans throwing stones towards police infrastructure. The sound of gun shots follows. Photo: Screengrab / Human Rights Monitor

Indonesian authorities say investigations are underway into an incident in West Papua when a number of people were allegedly injured after police fired shots amid a student graduation event.

Reports from West Papua say seven people sustained injuries when tensions flared at a parade by senior high school graduates through the town of Kobakma in Mamberamo Tengah Regency of Papua’s central highlands on Monday (5 May).

The situation reportedly escalated after local people watching the parade, objected to attempts by police officers to stop graduates displaying the West Papuan nationalist Morning Star flag.

Brandishing the flag, or painting school uniforms and personal accessories with a Morning Star symbol, is relatively common across West Papua on graduation day – despite the flag being effectively outlawed by Indonesia.

Video footage obtained by human rights researchers shows a crowd of angry Papuans throwing stones towards police infrastructure. The sound of gun shots follows.

According to Human Rights Monitor, seven West Papuans – including some students – were injured from being shot. The seven were aged between 17 and 24 years old.

Local police said their officers tried to persuade the students not to display the Morning Star, but they were ignored and the situation developed into unrest. Police said that in response they dispersed the crowd using tear gas and fired warning shots into the air.

According to police, a number of people were injured, including police personnel. Security forces, including military, are patrolling the area after the melee briefly descended into rioting and looting at the at Kobakma’s central market.

A spokesperson at the Indonesian Embassy in New Zealand told RNZ Pacific that information it had gathered about the incident indicated the students’ parade had been “infiltrated by another group that provoked to create discord related to an unfortunate incident that happened in the area on the previous day”.

“Local authorities in close relations with civic groups, including church authorities and traditional leaders, are currently trying to conduct a thorough investigation regarding the incident that happens.”

The spokesperson said national and local authorities would focus their efforts to avoid any further “unfortunate similar incidents” happen in the future.