Summary

As part of a recently published compilation of human rights reports on West Papua, Papuans Behind Bars reported an overall decrease in the number of West Papuan political prisoners. This trend, however, has not translated into a reduction in the incidence of abuse, harassment, and intimidation of West Papuan activists and their supporters across Indonesia.

This update, produced by Papuans Behind Bars (PBB), focuses on exposing police and military intimidation of West Papuan students and civil society groups outside of West Papua between September and December 2017.The reports were compiled by the Papuan Students Alliance (AMP) in Java, and the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) Consulate in Manado, and verified by Papuans Behind Bars researchers. Taken together, the cases presented in this brief report demonstrate a disturbing trend of civil and political rights violations, limiting freedom of expression and assembly. The frequency of arbitrary arrests further underscores the denial of the right to liberty for people working for social and political justice in West Papua.

The purpose of this update is to show that systematic violations of  West Papuans’ rights happen not only inside West Papua, but also throughout Indonesia. In recent years, West Papuan student dormitories have been targeted by the police, military, and local militias. The case of Obby Koyoga, arising out of a three-day police siege of a West Papuan dormitory in Yogyakarta (14 -16 July 2016), is an infamous example, and one condemned by hundreds of Indonesian civil society groups as racist and discriminatory. PBB believes that there are many other similar incidents that are not reported, as patterns of abuse and intimidation are often normalised by many West Papuans.

PBB will continue to report this type of intimidation in the future, with a view to better understanding, documenting, and exposing the many forms of discrimination against West Papuans and their supporters, and the suppression of their civil and political rights.

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