Tag Archives: human rights

Military operations against indigenous village in Gearek District, Nduga Regency: One child killed, mother and sibling injured

Posted on by
Reply

Human Rights Monitor

14 January 2026 / On 12 December 2025, Indonesian military forces (TNI) conducted a large-scale air and ground military operation against indigenous settlements in Woneworasosa village, Gearek District, Nduga Regency, Papua Pegunungan Province. The operation involved at least six military helicopters, aerial gunfire, and the deployment of mortar-type explosive ordnance in and around civilian homes, gardens, and livestock areas. The attack resulted in the killing of a seven-year-old child, serious injury to an indigenous woman, widespread destruction of civilian property, and the forced displacement of at least 539 civilians.

An investigation by the Papuan Foundation for Justice, Human Integrity (YKKMP) found no evidence of armed confrontation or resistance at the time of the attack. The military operation took place in a populated civilian area and caused severe humanitarian consequences.

On 10 December 2025, residents of Gearek District reported the presence of three military helicopters conducting surveillance flights over indigenous settlements without prior notification, coordination, or explanation. This activity caused widespread fear among the villagers. On 11 December 2025, the military presence escalated. Three helicopters and several drones again flew over Woneworasosa Village. Witnesses reported that helicopters dropped explosive devices near homes to facilitate troop deployment, while additional aircraft fired live ammunition from the air. Mortars reportedly exploded next to civilian houses, prompting panic among residents.

The operation reached its peak on 12 December 2025 at around 05:30 am, when six helicopters attacked from multiple directions. Mortar-type explosives were dropped near homes and gardens, and helicopters fired sustained gunfire onto residential areas. Roofs were perforated by bullets, walls were riddled with impact marks, livestock were shot, and solar panels and household interiors were destroyed (see photos below, source: YKKMP). The attack was carried out without warning and without prior armed hostilities in the area.

As residents attempted to flee, Arestina Giban, a seven-year-old girl (see photo on top, source: YKKMP), was shot in the back of the head while being carried by her mother, Mrs Wina Kerebea, 35. The child died instantly. Mrs Kerebea was injured by shrapnel from a mortar explosion, which became lodged in her right thigh (see photos below, source: YKKMP). Despite sustained gunfire from the air, she attempted to recover her child’s body while shielding her other child, who was reportedly also grazed by a bullet. Mrs Kerebea and her other child survived the attack but had to leave Arestina’s body behind.

Following the attack, residents fled into forests and neighbouring districts, including Pasir Putih and areas of Asmat Regency. Many spent days without food, shelter, or medical care. Military operations reportedly continued until 13 December 2025 at around 10:00 am. Searches for the child’s body between 14 and 16 December 2025 were unsuccessful, raising serious concerns about the enforced disappearance or concealment of remains.

As late December 2025, most residents remained internally displaced due to trauma, fear of renewed attacks, and the destruction of their homes.

Human rights analysis

The documented events indicate serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. The use of aerial bombardment, mortar explosives, and live ammunition in densely populated civilian areas constitutes a breach of the principle of distinction and the principle of proportionality, which prohibit attacks directed at civilians and civilian objects.

The killing of Arestina Giban amounts to an arbitrary deprivation of life as regulated under Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The circumstances of her death, including firing from military helicopters during a non-combat situation, meet the legal definition of extrajudicial killing. The failure to recover, identify, and return the body of the deceased child raises grave concerns under international standards governing the duty to investigate potentially unlawful deaths, including obligations to preserve evidence and ensure the dignity of the dead. Likewise, the injury of Mrs Wina Kerebea constitutes serious bodily harm, potentially amounting to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.

The destruction of homes, food sources, livestock, and essential infrastructure, as well as the contamination of gardens by explosive remnants, violated civilians’ rights to adequate housing, food, health, and livelihood. The forced displacement of more than 500 civilians without safety guarantees or humanitarian assistance constitutes arbitrary displacement and exposes vulnerable populations, including women and children, to further harm.

Mrs Wina Kerebea (left) and her seven-year-old daughter Arestina Giban (right)

Photos showing the destruction of the military operation in the Woneworasosa village between 11 and 13 December 2025

Detailed Case Data
Location: Gearek, Nduga Regency, Highland Papua, Indonesia (-4.619625, 138.7794089) Woneworasosa village
Region: Indonesia, Highland Papua, Nduga, Gearek
Total number of victims: 3

#Number of VictimsName, DetailsGenderAgeGroup AffiliationViolations
1.1 Arestina Giban

female7 Indigenous Peoplesunlawful killing
2.1 Wina Kerebea

female35 Indigenous Peoplesill-treatment
3.1 

unknownIndigenous Peoplesill-treatment

Period of incident: 11/12/2025 – 13/12/2025
Perpetrator: , Indonesian Military (TNI)
Issues: indigenous peoples, security force violence, women and children

Indonesia’s election to the UN Human Rights Council was not due to human rights progress

Posted on by
Reply

January 10, 2026 in Press Release Reading Time: 3 mins read

0

Author: Jubi Admin – Editor: Arjuna Pademme

Jayapura, Jubi – Amnesty International Indonesia stated that Indonesia’s election as President of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) was not due to human rights progress at home or abroad.

Amnesty International Indonesia’s Executive Director, Usman Hamid, said the Minister of Human Rights’ boast that Indonesia “succeeded in winning” the position of President of the UNHRC because of the “Ministry of Human Rights” was a false boast that was not based on the facts.

He said the position rotates according to region around the world. This year it is the Asia Pacific region’s turn. Coincidentally, Indonesia is the sole candidate for this rotating position.

“So it’s not accurate to say that Indonesia achieved this position because it ‘seized’ it, let alone because of the Ministry of Human Rights. It’s also not accurate to say that this position was achieved because of progress on human rights at home or abroad,” said Usman Hamid in a written press release on Friday evening (January 9, 2026).

According to Usman, Indonesia’s domestic human rights reputation has actually worsened. In 2025, more than 5,000 people were arrested for demonstrations, and 283 human rights defenders were attacked.

Ironically, the Ministry of Human Rights tends to justify human rights violations. Most recently, the Minister of Human Rights even praised the drafters of the new Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP), which clearly threatens human rights.

Indonesia’s international human rights reputation is weak. Indonesia tends to reject recommendations from the Human Rights Council to improve the human rights situation. “In 2022, for example, Indonesia rejected 59 of the 269 recommendations in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR),” he said.

He said these two situations create an irony: as President of the Human Rights Council, Indonesia will lead the review of member states’ human rights in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), especially since Indonesia will also be the object of the UPR review.

Furthermore, Usman continued, Indonesia’s UPR reports often differ from reality. In 2022, Indonesia only reported on Papua from the perspective of infrastructure and welfare, without mentioning the ongoing violence against civilians there.

Indonesia has shown little commitment to human rights and often advocates for permissive approaches such as dialogue or consensus with countries suspected of human rights violations.

He cited an example in 2022, after a report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights concluded that human rights violations in Xinjiang, China, potentially constituted crimes against humanity.

At that time, Indonesia rejected a motion to discuss the report, arguing that it would “not yield meaningful progress” because the proposal “did not receive the consent and support of the countries concerned.”

“This rejection contributed to the failure of the motion by a narrow margin, 19 votes against to 17 in favor, and 11 abstentions. “Indonesia also has a poor track record in granting access to UN special rapporteurs to visit Indonesia to examine the human rights situation,” he said.

Furthermore, in 2023, Indonesia rejected a request from the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of the Judiciary to visit Indonesia. That year, Indonesia rejected a request from the UN Special Rapporteur on Slavery, and in 2024, Indonesia rejected a request from the UN Special Rapporteur on Truth, Justice, and Reparations.

Usman said, therefore, through the position of President of the Human Rights Council, we can test Indonesia’s seriousness by seeing whether Indonesia actively encourages members of the Human Rights Council, including Indonesia, to agree on firm action regarding alleged human rights violations, accepts the recommendations made, and facilitates requests for official visits from independent experts and UN special rapporteurs.

According to him, the position of President of the UN Human Rights Council will mean nothing to Indonesia and is merely a matter of pride without alignment of human rights concerns in its foreign and domestic policies.

Previously, Indonesia was elected President of the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday, January 8, 2026. The office of President of the Council is held by the Permanent Representative Indonesian Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Sidharto Reza Suryodipuro, replaces the previous official, Jurg Lauber of Switzerland.

This is Indonesia’s first presidency of the UN Human Rights Council since its establishment 20 years ago.

As president of the UN Human Rights Council for a one-year term, Sidharto will preside over the proceedings of the forum, which is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Indonesian ambassador will preside over three sessions of the UN Human Rights Council, scheduled for late February, June, and September 2026.

He will also oversee the review of the human rights records of Council member states, known as the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

Sidharto stated that Indonesia has been a strong supporter of the UN Human Rights Council since its inception 20 years ago, as well as of its predecessor, the UN Commission on Human Rights.

“Our decision to move forward is rooted in the 1945 Constitution and in line with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, which mandates Indonesia to contribute to world peace based on freedom, peace, and social justice,” he told the attendees. delegation. (*)

IDP Update January 2026:  Humanitarian crisis deteriorates as Indigenous communities bear brunt of expanding security operations

Posted on by
Reply

Human Rights News, Reports / Indonesia, West Papua / 7 January 2026 

Between November and December 2025, human rights defenders and local media covered new internal displacements in West Papua due to new security force raids and the ongoing expansion of military infrastructure in the central highlands. As of 1 January 2026, more than 105,878 civilians across multiple regencies remained internally displaced due to military operations and armed conflict (see table below). The vast majority of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) are indigenous peoples, as security force operations exclusively target areas that indigenous Papuans mainly inhabit. Incidents triggering new internal displacements reportedly occurred in the regencies Mimika, Nduga, Lanny Jaya, Intan Jaya, and Yahukimo.

On 21 November 2025, the Papuan Church Council, in collaboration with the STT Walter Post Jayapura Centre for Social and Pastoral Human Rights Studies, organised a Literacy and Resilience Festival titled “Caring for Memories Through Words” in Jayapura City. The event provided a platform for IDP representatives to share their experiences and brought together civil society stakeholders to document and raise awareness about the humanitarian crisis. The testimonies at the festival illustrated both the challenges faced by displaced populations and grassroots resilience efforts.

The humanitarian conditions across all displacement sites remain uniformly dire, characterised by acute shortages of food, medicine, clean water, and shelter. IDPs sheltering in forests face particularly harsh conditions with minimal humanitarian access, while those in evacuation camps struggle with severe overcrowding, inadequate resources, and the complete cessation of daily activities. The situation is further complicated by restricted humanitarian access due to security force controls and challenging geographical conditions. The militarisation of health access in conflict zones across West Papua has created fear and hesitation in seeking medical care, with fatal consequences for vulnerable populations.

This crisis reveals a systematic pattern of military operations that disproportionately affect civilian populations and violate principles of distinction between combatants and non-combatants. The long-term nature of these displacements, with some populations like those in Pegunungan Bintang displaced since 2021 and over 10,000 Nduga IDPs living in Jayawijaya since December 2019, indicates an entrenched humanitarian emergency requiring sustained attention. The IDPs refuse to return until military forces withdraw from their villages.

Mimika

On 31 October 2025, Indonesian military forces entered Jila District, Mimika Regency, and opened fire on villages without prior warning, despite no reported armed conflict with the TPNPB at the time. The operation reportedly resulted in the internal displacement of approximately 1,500 civilians. Some fled to Timika City while others remained sheltering in forests around Jila District without government assistance or humanitarian access. Restricted internet access in the area hampered the documentation of the situation.

The crisis escalated significantly on 10 December 2025, as military forces reportedly conducted aerial bombardments in Amuagom Village at approximately 5:00 a.m. The attack destroyed civilian homes, livestock, and property, with ammunition casings found in yards and bullet holes penetrating house walls. Hundreds of IDPs fled dozens of kilometres to the Jila District centre without adequate food or water. A dozen residents fled to Puncak and Puncak Jaya Regencies. Military operations reportedly continued on 11 December, expanding to ten villages with additional troops and helicopters deployed.

IDPs fleeing the Jila District after military operations began on 31 October 2025, without prior incident or notice

Full update

https://humanrightsmonitor.org/reports/idp-update-january-2026-humanitarian-crisis-deteriorates-as-indigenous-communities-bear-brunt-of-expanding-security-operations

Blood, silence and history: questioning Indonesia’s 1965 narrative

Posted on by
Reply

Duncan Graham

 December 11, 2025 

As Indonesia prepares to release a new official national history, an Australian historian’s account of the 1965–66 mass killings threatens to reopen a long-suppressed debate about power, violence, and memory.Indonesia’s reputation for tolerance is about to be tested by an Australian academic. Queensland historian Greg Poulgrain says he isn’t seeking fame or notoriety, just “telling the truth”, but fears his name will be trashed and research shredded. That’s if the Indonesian government responds furiously to a foreigner challenging the official account of frenzied killings as “one of the darkest turning points in Indonesia’s modern history.”

The Indonesian government-approved version of the past six decades has a surprise Moscow-engineered Communist plot to take over the Republic. This was thwarted by the military and courageous General Soeharto, who was then rewarded with the presidency, a position he held for 32 years.

The US Central Intelligence Agency claimed: “The (1965-66 anti-Communist) massacres in Indonesia rank as one of the worst mass murders of the 20th century.”

In 1966, Australian PM Harold Holt callously quipped: “With 500,000 to one million Communist sympathisers knocked off, I think it’s safe to say a reorientation has taken place.”

This month Jakarta plans to launch a new official history of the world’s fourth largest nation by population (285 million) with 88 per cent Sunni Muslims.

US and UK-educated former journalist Fadli Zon is Indonesia’s Minister for Culture. He’s ordered the writing of his nation’s history in ten volumes by more than a hundred academics pounding laptops. The section dealing with the 1965 crisis should be on the streets before 2025 departs.

Also to be released this month by Kompas, the nation’s premier publisher, is Poulgrain’s Blood and Silence – the Hidden Tragedy 1965.

His account has the plot known ahead of time by Soeharto, who launched the genocide backed by Washington. He’s just been awarded National Hero status by his former son-in-law, current President Prabowo Subianto.

Nations tack together myths about themselves that become so embedded they morph into truths and resist scrutiny.

Ours is that we’re tough Ozzies, big on mateship and giving all a go, sturdy upholders of the Anzac spirit, larrikins who value independence.

Indonesia’s pride is a nation of friendly folk, humble and helpful, accepting those who follow different gods, values and opinions.

That’s the opposite of the ghastly reality that still stains memories and stirs fears of a repeat in the land next door, once red with the blood of executions. This writer has been shown bunkers on riverbanks, allegedly mass graves from the 60s, undisturbed lest they release vengeful ghosts.

The excuse for the slaughter is that the wee folk were impetuously aroused to slitting neighbours’ and relatives’ throats because the godless Communists were about to overthrow the government and ban Islam. They didn’t need encouragement.

Poulgrain’s account doesn’t follow that script. He has US capitalists and right-wing politicians in cahoots with Muslim big business, determined to rip out the land rights movement rooted in Marxism, not through legislation and debate but violence.

During his 20-year reign, founding President Soekarno had grown close to the Partai Komunis Indonesia and away from the West and foreign corporations. His home-grown ideology was Nasakom, a contrived blend of nationalism, Islam and Communism. No reference to the military.

“Nasakom remained illusory,” writes Poulgrain. “Soekarno’s political opponents took every opportunity to label him as a Communist, though (President) John Kennedy knew this was untrue.

“This worried the PKI’s fierce rivals, the Indonesian Army, whose power waned as the PKI grew.”

The story of Asia’s largest genocide is one that few Australians know and many Indonesians don’t want told. On the last day of September 1965, Indonesians woke to news that six generals had been seized from their homes by soldiers, shot, and their bodies dumped in a well at an air force base after being castrated and their eyes gouged by naked dancing women.

This was an embellishment to pique outrage – autopsies found no traces of torture and mutilation. Nor were there any nudies.

The killers were alleged to be Communists, and the mastermind was supposed to be Moscow. Russia and China were rivals seeking the support of the Partai Komunis Indonesia, then the world’s largest Communist party outside the Sino-Soviet Bloc.

That afternoon, the public was reassured by radio that the government of the first President Soekarno was intact, though the military was in charge through a ‘Revolutionary Council’.

This was led by General Soeharto, who later became the second president and held his job for 32 years. During this time, he and his family allegedly amassed US $35 billion of public money through widespread corruption.

In 1965, he ordered the nation cleansed of the ungodly PKI, so the military broke out its armouries for the killing squads. Modern weapons weren’t always necessary, as scythes and other farm tools were used to murder villagers the Army had labelled Reds. They helpfully distributed lists of those doomed to die.

Poulgrain quotes a distressed Soekarno saying: “Those people instigating the anti-PKI massacres, namely, the Army and the CIA, ought to be brought to trial.” That didn’t happen. Soekarno’s power was waning, and Soeharto’s narrative of a spontaneous and unstoppable grass-roots uprising prevailed.

Poulgrain’s research has Soeharto well prepared ahead of the coup. “At no time during his two decades in the military (prior to 1965) did Soeharto acquire a reputation of being anti-PKI … (he was) more concerned with business than politics.”

Poulgrain claims the unarmed Communists allegedly threatening the State were in reality “landless rice-farmers (petani) whose very existence depended on getting some land to grow rice. They comprised the bulk of PKI membership … supporting legal land reform in the hope of securing a small patch to grow their own food.

“On the other side were Muslim landlords for whom land reform was seen as a threat to their livelihood, wealth and status, their very existence.

“Most petani had no land at all … 60 to 70 per cent were pursuing subsistence-based agriculture.”

Sixty years on, land reform and inequality remain weeping wounds. In the 2024 presidential election campaign, The Jakarta Post commented: “Economic inequality, notably in income and wealth ownership, should have been discussed vigorously because of its connection to economic instability and political unrest.

“(There’s a) correlation between economic inequality and slow economic income disparity; last year was the worst in the last five years … remaining among the highest in Asia.”

If this gulf isn’t bridged, sociologists fear another volcano of violence could erupt.

G30S remains a compulsory annual national holiday with all flags at half-mast, including those on residents’ gates.

There are sickening dioramas in a special Jakarta museum celebrating the horrors, influencing school kids on compulsory visits. There’s a huge statue of the six murdered generals looking formidable. Doubts voiced by outsiders get ridiculed with the easy slur that critics are Fellow Travellers.

Poulgrain’s 122-page book is based on years of research and interviews held with key participants in Indonesia and overseas for his PhD in the last century, when many witnesses were alive. He writes:

“Australia’s biggest contribution to the Army’s anti-communist campaign was broadcasting and supporting Indonesian Army propaganda.

“The Army seized control of virtually all of Indonesia’s media after the attempted coup. It began an aggressive and pervasive anti-PKI campaign, spreading dangerous disinformation to discredit and dehumanise the Communists.  The party and its principles are still banned.

“Radio Australia fed the Indonesian population an Indonesian Army-approved political narrative that Ambassador Mick Shann said ‘should [be thumped] into Indonesians’ as much as possible.”

Those words are the advice of Australia’s then leading diplomat in Jakarta.

The first edition of Blood and Silence will be in English. Whether Kompas will be forced to abandon its promise to publish in Indonesian will be a test of the nation’s tolerance for dissenting views, a pillar of democracy.The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.

Duncan Graham

Duncan Graham has been a journalist for more than 40 years in print, radio and TV. He is the author of People Next Door (UWA Press). He is now writing for the English language media in Indonesia from within Indonesia. Duncan Graham has an MPhil degree, a Walkley Award, two Human Rights Commission awards and other prizes for his radio, TV and print journalism in Australia. He lives in East Java.

——————————————————————————

How UN betrayal of West Papua led to genocide, step by step

Posted on by
Reply

by Julie Wark 24th October 2025

The United Nations has recently come under attack from the Trump Administration and, much as it goes against the grain, it’s difficult to argue with real-estate-developer-cum-ambassador-representative for UN Management and Reform [sic], Jeff Bartos:

“Over 80 years, the UN has grown bloated, unfocused, too often ineffective, and sometimes even part of the problem. The UN’s failure to deliver on its core mandates is alarming and undeniable.”

Yet the problem isn’t really the UN. One notable symptom of its malaise is the Security Council and its five veto-playing permanent members — the US, UK, France, China and Russia — representing the world system that assist and cover up for their allies who commit human rights violations, war crimes and genocide, and that also outsource such crimes. But lèse-humanité is the crime par excellence of the international system. It’s a basic principle of colonial “development”. So what follows isn’t about kicking the UN when it’s down, but about how the rulers of this system use any institution, democratic or otherwise, to achieve their own diabolical and white supremacist ends.

I’m sorry — in more ways than one — that this article is long.

It’s long because the list of UN (when I refer to the UN, I’m basically referring to the world system) offences against the people of West Papua is hideously long. Sadly, my list is by no means complete because there’s lots of “classified” material I don’t know about and many, many secrets, but I hope it gives a glimpse of how the international system works when it wants to get whole encumbering peoples out of its way.

I’m taking it as given that Indonesia is committing genocide in West Papua. It’s done stealthily but there’s plenty of evidence (for example, see here, here, and here) for it. However, the facts show that, in this six-decade-plus crime against humanity, Indonesia has been the tool of other interests, that the role of the United Nations (by which I mean some of its dominant powers and personalities) has been particularly egregious, and this is surely one of the reasons why the West Papua genocide has continued sub rosa, deliberately silenced, for more than 60 years. There are many aspects of the UN betrayal because they belong to big-power politics and they’re convoluted because of the secrecy that surrounds them.

This isn’t about an isolated instance of genocidal violence. It fits into a world system where white supremacist brutality, going back at least to the period of early modern European overseas expansion from the 15th century, the so-called Age of Discovery (a quintessentially Eurocentric concept), turned into a “scientifically-based” system with the Enlightenment and didn’t end with decolonisation. I’d suggest, after reading documents from the time when West Papua was gifted to Indonesia, that the latter was less the West’s darling than a mere instrument unscrupulously used to favour the economic and geopolitical interests of white supremacy and its destructive notions of “progress and development”. It’s not only the various Indonesian regimes that are responsible for mass murder in West Papua, but also and especially their enablers in the international political system represented by the UN and the big powers.

I can only partially list the crimes committed against West Papua (and, here, I’m indebted to painstaking research by Julian McKinlay King, John Saltford, Greg Poulgrain, and others). But even an incomplete list gives an idea of the magnitude of this lèse-humanité, this core crime of international law. I’m not interested in “speaking truth to power” because I agree with Pankaj Mishra that this is a naïve exercise. Those in power know and control the truth. I studied politics and am not an expert in international law so I hope I don’t misinterpret some aspects of it. In any case, the hard facts are enraging for any decent human being. Experts in international law are often too invested in, or too occupied with, other aspects of the corrupt system to inquire into the evidence of Indonesia’s daily genocidal actions in West Papua, and too demoralised to try to stop them through the shoddy institutions at their disposal. Yet any non-expert person who cares to look at the documents can see quite plainly that, in the last almost 65 years of West Papua’s history, the UN has played a shameful role, not only allowing this to happen but deliberately colluding with it. The very forum that has the power to stop the genocide is complicit in it.

It was only recently that the UN finally acknowledged that Israel is committing genocide in Palestine, and I can’t help wondering whether all this fudging about the word is somehow related with fear of disclosure of the UN’s active role in abetting and silencing the West Papua genocide. I list 43 aspects of this below.

For the full article please see below.

The article in CounterPunch does list 43 separate paragraphs which are a real work of research and worthwhile reading editors note

Republished from CounterPunch, 24 October 2025

The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.

AWPA Statement – Indonesian military kill 15 West Papuans, the majority civilians during military operation

Posted on by
Reply

During the military operation the security forces  conducted house to house searches and opened fire in an  indiscriminate fashion resulting in 15 deaths. According to community sources  soldiers buried most of the bodies  with some still to be found. 

      Human Rights Monitor

Joe Collins of AWPA said, “as with previous military operations  local people fled in fear of their lives. In this case up to 145 residents fled from Soanggama, Janamba, and Kulapa. There are now over 100,000 displaced people in West Papua. Many are malnourished and children are missing out on their education”.

The security forces claimed that  the dead were  members of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) and they were killed  in a firefight.

However, TPNPB Spokesperson Sebby Sambom  reported only  three of the dead were  TPNPB members. 

Local church leaders and civil society groups also disputed the official narrative. The Intan Jaya Conflict Mediation Team stated that not all 15 victims were affiliated with the TPNPB, identifying at least nine civilians, including a deaf man and a housewife who died while fleeing. 

The Head of the Intan Jaya Conflict Mediation Team, Yoakim Mujizau, said  that his team had visited Soanggama Village and identified the victims and gathered information from residents who witnessed the incident. The team also received information from members of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) stationed there.

The latest information is that all the victims have been buried by the Task Force in different locations. Two victims were buried in Soanggama Hamlet in front of the Protestant Church. Six people were buried in Dusandigi Hamlet, Soanggama Village, and one woman was buried in Jembatan Hamlet, on the Wuisiga River.

Meanwhile, the bodies of the other six victims have not yet been found.

“The security forces are still unwilling to provide information. Where are the shooting victims? And where are they buried? So we are still investigating the whereabouts of the bodies, and we have not yet identified them,” he said.

Collins said, “we have statements from the Indonesia  military  saying it reclaimed/ liberated  a village from the TPNPB when  the only liberation that needs to be done is the liberation of West Papuans from the oppression of the Indonesian security forces”.

Joe Collins said,” we have a massacre of Papuan civilians on our doorstep and there is no comment from Canberra on the incident. No concern about the ongoing human rights abuses, the military operations or the death of civilians in the territory”. 

All Canberra does “is to train and exercise with the Indonesian military. Sign a  defence treaty  with PNG and build up bases for US forces in the north. All to prepare for some imaginary invasion from China. Australia has always been concerned about stability in the region to our north, but the West Papua issue is the one issue that could cause the very instability the Canberra fears.

The West Papuan issue is not going away. Time for Canberra to become involved and put pressure on Jakarta to control its military in West Papua, as a first small step.

Ends

Sources

Jubi, Human Rights Monitor and Civil society reports 

Arbitrary arrests and restriction of peaceful assembly in Jayapura

Posted on by
Reply

15 October 2025 / 2 minutes of reading

On 23 September 2025, police officers from the Jayapura Police arbitrarily detained thirteen members of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) in the Sentani area while they were distributing leaflets to announce an upcoming peaceful demonstration marking International Farmers’ Day (24 September 2025). According to local reports, at 10:08 am, police officers stopped the activists at the old Sentani Market (Pasar Lama) and detained them after 20 minutes of tense negotiations. The police seized the leaflets and transported the KNPB activists to the local police station for questioning. They were allowed to leave later that day.

In the afternoon, around 3:30 pm, KNPB members in Abepura and Kamkey, Jayapura City, continued distributing the same leaflets at strategic public points. The police again intervened, seizing the leaflets and detaining several individuals in police vehicles. In response, other KNPB members and residents marched to the Abepura Police Station to protest the arbitrary detention and demand an explanation.

Human rights analysis

This incident demonstrates a continuing pattern of repression of peaceful political expression in West Papua. The arrests of non-violent activists for merely distributing informational materials represent a violation of the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association, as guaranteed under Articles 19 and 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Indonesia is a State Party. The use of police force to silence non-violent activists highlights the shrinking democratic space in West Papua and perpetuates an atmosphere of fear among civil society organisations. The events underscore the urgent need for systemic reform of policing practices in West Papua to prevent and reduce human rights violations.

Detailed Case Data
Location: CGJ4+W2W, Jln.mahkal;),;Pasar Lama, Hinekombe, Kec. Sentani, Kabupaten Jayapura, Papua 99352, Indonesia (-2.567648, 140.5050644) pasar Lama Sentani (Old Sentani Market)
Region: Indonesia, Papua, Jayapura Regency, Sentani
Total number of victims: 13

#Number of VictimsName, DetailsGenderAgeGroup AffiliationViolations
1.13 

maleunknown Activist, Indigenous Peoples

Period of incident: 23/09/2025 – 23/09/2025
Perpetrator: , POLRES

Perpetrator details: Polres and Polresta Jayapura

Issues: indigenous peoples

West Papuan journalists call for Pacific solidarity  

Posted on by
Reply

August 20, 2025 _  Ema Ganivatu

IN exile but unbroken, three West Papuan journalists are in Fiji calling on the Pacific to stand with them against Indonesia’s ongoing media blackout and human rights abuses.

Their visit is part of a broader effort to forge solidarity with Pacific neighbours, through media partnerships, university collaborations, and joint advocacy for human rights and self-determination.

Speaking after the screening of their latest documentary film “Pepera 1969: A Democratic Integration” at the University of the South Pacific, the team including Victor Mambor, co-founder of Jubi Media Papua, Yuliana Lantipo, senior journalist and editor, and Dandhy Laksono, Jakarta-based investigative filmmaker shared their personal experiences of reporting from inside one of the most heavily militarised and censored regions in the Pacific.

“We are here to build bridges with our brothers and sisters in the Pacific,” said Mambor.

“There is no hope from the Asian side,” added Laksono. “That’s why we are here, to reach out to the Pacific. We need new audiences, new support, and new understanding.”

The team urged Pacific people to push for greater awareness of the West Papuan situation and to challenge the dominant narratives propagated by the Indonesian government.

“Don’t just listen to what Jakarta says,” said Mambor. “Speak to Papuans. Listen to our stories. Raise our voices.”

“We want to bring West Papua back to the Pacific — not just geographically, but politically, culturally, and emotionally.”

Mambor described the continued targeting of Jubi Media staff, including attacks on their office and vehicles, as part of an escalating crackdown under Indonesia’s new President.

“Two of our operational cars were destroyed. Our journalists are constantly intimidated. Yet we continue to report the truth.”

The situation for press freedom in West Papua is dire. Foreign journalists are barred entry, internet access is often restricted during periods of unrest, and local reporters — especially Indigenous one’s risk arrest or violence for covering politically sensitive stories.

“If you report on deforestation or culture, maybe it’s allowed. But if you report on human rights or the military, there is no tolerance,” said Laksono.

Laksono, who is not Papuan himself but has long worked to expose injustices in the region, added:
“Much of Indonesia has been indoctrinated through school textbooks and media into believing a false history. Our film tries to change that by offering the truth, especially about the so-called Act of Free Choicein 1969, which was neither free nor a genuine act of self-determination.”

Journalist Yuliana Lantipo spoke of the daily trauma faced by communities caught between the Indonesian military and the West Papua National Liberation Army.

“Every day we receive reports: killings, displacement, families fleeing villages, children out of school, no access to health care. Women and children are the most affected,” she said.

As one of the few Indigenous female journalists reporting from conflict zones, Lantipo also highlighted how her identity both enables and complicates her work.

“Sometimes, as a woman, I can access conflict areas more easily, especially when traveling with elders or family members. But Indigenous male journalists, especially those with dreadlocks or visible Papuan identity, are often turned away or arrested.”

Despite the personal risks, Lantipo and her colleagues remain committed to their role.

“People need us to speak the truth. That is our responsibility. That is our profession.”

Jubi Media Papua

Founded in 2001 by West Papuan civil society, Jubi Media has become one of the most trusted and independent sources of information from the territory. With more than 30 reporters and 50 staff, the media house has built a reputation for fearless journalism.

“Jubi means ‘to speak the truth’,” said Mambor. “We created a special section just to tell Pacific stories — to remind our people that we are not alone, and to reconnect West Papua with our Pacific identity.”

Amnesty International Indonesia documented 104 attacks against human rights defenders in the first half of 2025

Posted on by
Reply

Human Rights News / Indonesia / 1 August 2025 

Amnesty International Indonesia released a troubling report on 14 July 2025, documenting attacks against at least 104 human rights defenders across 54 separate cases during the first six months of the year. The peak of violence occurred in May 2025, when 35 human rights defenders became victims of attacks, highlighting what Amnesty International Indonesia Executive Director, Mr Usman Hamid, described as “the government’s failure to respect efforts to protect human rights in Indonesia.“

The report reveals that more than half of the attacks targeted indigenous community members fighting for land rights and journalists covering sensitive issues, with 36 indigenous community members and 31 journalists among the victims. Other affected groups included community leaders, fishers, human rights activists, student activists, environmental advocates, academics, farmers, and anti-corruption campaigners. Law enforcement officers emerged as the primary perpetrators, with police suspected in 20 of the 53 documented cases. This figure was significantly higher than attacks committed by private companies, government employees, military personnel, or public order agencies.

Amnesty International identified five distinct forms of persecution: police reporting, arrests, criminalization, intimidation, physical violence, and attacks on human rights institutions. The civil society organisation attributes this surge in violence to the rise in authoritarian practices and policies, as well as the militarisation of civilian space, calling for immediate government action. Neither Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai nor National Police spokesperson Inspector General Sandi Nugroho responded to requests for comment regarding the report’s findings.

Amnesty International Indonesia documented 104 attacks against human rights defenders in the first half of 2025

Human Rights News / Indonesia / 1 August 2025 

Amnesty International Indonesia released a troubling report on 14 July 2025, documenting attacks against at least 104 human rights defenders across 54 separate cases during the first six months of the year. The peak of violence occurred in May 2025, when 35 human rights defenders became victims of attacks, highlighting what Amnesty International Indonesia Executive Director, Mr Usman Hamid, described as “the government’s failure to respect efforts to protect human rights in Indonesia.“

The report reveals that more than half of the attacks targeted indigenous community members fighting for land rights and journalists covering sensitive issues, with 36 indigenous community members and 31 journalists among the victims. Other affected groups included community leaders, fishers, human rights activists, student activists, environmental advocates, academics, farmers, and anti-corruption campaigners. Law enforcement officers emerged as the primary perpetrators, with police suspected in 20 of the 53 documented cases. This figure was significantly higher than attacks committed by private companies, government employees, military personnel, or public order agencies.

Amnesty International identified five distinct forms of persecution: police reporting, arrests, criminalization, intimidation, physical violence, and attacks on human rights institutions. The civil society organisation attributes this surge in violence to the rise in authoritarian practices and policies, as well as the militarisation of civilian space, calling for immediate government action. Neither Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai nor National Police spokesperson Inspector General Sandi Nugroho responded to requests for comment regarding the report’s findings.

Military members accused of fatally torturing Papuan youth in Intan Jaya for wearing a t-shirt with Morning Star

Posted on by
Reply

Cases, Human Rights News / Indonesia, West Papua / 25 July 2025 

On the evening of 17 July 2025, members of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) reportedly tortured and executed Mr Obert Mirip, an 18-year-old student, inside the Titigi Military Post, Sugapa District, Intan Jaya Regency, Papua Tengah Province (see photo on top, source: Jubi). The incident occurred after Obert was accused of being a member of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) for wearing a shirt displaying the Morning Star Flag and the Papua New Guinea flag. Multiple reports affirm that Mr Mirip was not affiliated with any armed group but was summarily executed in military custody. His body was later returned to his village by order of the local TNI commander, without formal investigation or due process.

According to reports from multiple independent sources, TNI personnel deployed drone surveillance over Ndugusiga Village on 17 July 2025, at approximately 7:00 pm. After identifying Mr Obert Mirip based on his clothing, TNI soldiers reportedly descended from their post, forcibly arrested him at his home, and escorted him to the Titigi military post. That same night, he was allegedly tortured and eventually succumbed to the injuries he sustained as a result of torture. The next day, TNI soldiers informed nearby villagers that a TPNPB member had been shot and demanded that the body be collected for burial. Upon verification, community members confirmed that the deceased was Mr Obert Mirip.

The TPNPB Central Headquarters released a statement according to which Obert Mirip was not associated with the TPNPB and condemned the killing as a deliberate act of intimidation aimed at suppressing civilians. Local civil society actors denounced the TNI’s narrative as disinformation and accused state authorities of violating the civil and political rights of the indigenous population. The dissemination of false claims labeling Mr Obert Mirip as a TPNPB member was widely criticised as a defamatory tactic aimed at justifying unlawful violence against civilians.

Relatives and civil society representatives have called upon Indonesian authorities to conduct an independent, impartial, and transparent investigation into the killing of Mr Obert Mirip and to ensure that all perpetrators, including those with command responsibility, are held accountable. The Indonesian National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) should monitor the situation in Intan Jaya and other conflict areas and timely investigate allegations of grave human rights violations in West Papua.

Background

The killing of Obert Mirip underscores the urgent need for the Indonesian state to demilitarise West Papua and to guarantee the right to freedom of expression, cultural identity, and political opinion without fear of retaliation or violence. The Titigi area already became an area of conflict in April 2023, as Indonesian security forces conducted raids on four villages in the Intan Jaya Regency of West Papua, covering an area of 2.7 square kilometres. The raids destroyed at least 28 houses. Security forces reportedly killed four civilians and injured three others, including two minors. More than 3,000 indigenous Papuans were internally displaced   as a result of these operations, facing dire living conditions without access to adequate food, healthcare, or education

Legal analysis

This incident constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian and human rights law, notably the right to life, the prohibition of torture, and the protection of civilians under the Fourth Geneva Convention. The summary execution of an unarmed civilian without judicial process is a potential crime against humanity under Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), especially in the context of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population.

Photo of Mr Obert Mirip’s body taken on 18 July 2025, after being tortured by TNI members in Titigi, Intan Jaya