Jakarta responds to calls for independence from the indigenous ethnic Melanesian people with arrests, torture and extrajudicial killings, report adds.
By Tria Dianti and Victor Mambor
September 20, 2024
Credits @FFHR.CZ
An international human rights watchdog has detailed what it calls entrenched racism and systemic discrimination against the indigenous ethnic Melanesian people in Indonesia’s Papua region in a new report released on Thursday.
Papua has seen a long-running conflict between Indonesian security forces and separatist rebels since it was formally integrated into the Southeast Asian nation in 1969 after a controversial referendum.
The report by Human Rights Watch (HRW), titled “If It’s Not Racism, What Is It?,” said the Indonesian government had responded to Papuans’ calls for independence with arbitrary arrests, torture, forced displacement and extrajudicial killings.
International human rights organizations have repeatedly called on Indonesia to allow independent investigations into the human rights situation in Papua, but the government has restricted access to the region.
Andreas Harsono, a senior researcher at HRW, said Indonesian authorities needed to tackle the systemic racism against the indigenous Papuans.
“The Indonesian government needs to finally recognize that international human rights law applies in West Papua and meet its obligations to the people there,” he said in a statement accompanying the report.
West Papua is another name for the Indonesian half of New Guinea island.
The HRW report highlights the Papuan Lives Matter movement, a social media campaign inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States.
The campaign gained momentum after a racist attack on a Papuan student dormitory in Surabaya in 2019, which sparked protests across Indonesia.
The Indonesian authorities responded by arresting more than 1,000 demonstrators, with more than 240 convicted on charges such as treason, according to a group called Papuans Behind Bars, which monitors political prisoners in the region.
“The Indonesian government’s suppression of widespread protests after a 2019 attack on Papuan university students highlighted longstanding racial discrimination against Indigenous Papuans,” HRW’s report said.
Ali Mochtar Ngabalin, a spokesperson at the Presidential Staff Office, rejected claims of racism and discrimination and questioned the standards used to make such allegations.
“In governance, there is something called soft diplomacy,” he told BenarNews.
“It is precisely because we deeply consider human rights that the president [Joko “Jokowi” Widodo] insists on using soft diplomacy, with a strong focus on human rights.”
The outgoing leader had visited Papua 19 times, Ali Mochtar noted.
“People should not overlook the significance of these visits.” He added.
‘They are called dirty’
The roots of Papuan discontent stretch back to the 1969 referendum, in which just over 1,000 Papuans were selected to vote on whether the region should remain part of Indonesia.
Many critics argued the process was rigged. Since then, Papuans have sought self-determination, often met with force by Indonesian authorities.
The increased militarization in Papua since the 2019 protests showed the Indonesian government’s efforts to stifle dissent in the region, according to Benny Giay, a senior figure in the group Papuan Church Council.
“People who are arrested, people who are killed – they are always labeled as separatists or terrorists,” Giay told BenarNews.
“The government has used security forces to silence critical voices. They view every Papuan as a threat, and that’s how they justify the arrests and killings.”
Veronica Koman, a human rights activist, said Papuan students studying outside the region often struggled to find housing because of negative stereotypes.
“They are called dirty, disruptive, or stupid,” Veronica told BenarNews. “It’s an example of the everyday racism Papuans face.”
At a policy level, Koman added, Papuans were sidelined during key political processes, including the controversial autonomy laws for Papua introduced in recent years.
“Special autonomy and regional division were driven by Jakarta, not by Papuans,” she said. “Papuan voices were never considered equal—that’s racism at the policy level.”
In the social sphere, the report found that Papuan children, particularly in remote areas, face severe barriers to health care and education.
Agus Sumule, a lecturer at the University of Papua, said that the Central Highlands, where most of the population is indigenous, did not have a single teacher training college.
“If it’s not racism, what should I call it?” he said in the report.
Source: benarnews.org
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