Joint Letter on Indonesia's Candidacy for Election to the UN Human Rights Council
Indonesia is seeking to become a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council for the next two years. This body has the responsibility to monitor and promote human rights around the world. Given such an important task, TAPOL and a number of our partners have serious concerns with Indonesia being elected to the Council, given the human rights situation in the country at the moment. A member of the Council should be a worldwide role model for human rights. Given the shrinking space for civic society and restrictions to freedom of expression, the lack of ratification of all...
Polisi kembali menangkap aktivis West Papua merdeka, tiga di antaranya disangkakan pasal makar
Pemerintah Indonesia kembali menginjak-injak hak untuk berekspresi secara damai dan bebas di West Papua. Hal itu tercermin dari penangkapan dan tuduhan makar terhadap tiga anggota organisasi damai prokemerdekaan, Komite Nasional Papua Barat (KNPB), di Kabupaten Tambrauw, Provinsi Papua Barat Daya.Penangkapan tersebut terjadi pada Jumat, 9 Juni 2023, di Kampung Sarwom. Awalnya, mereka yang ditangkap berjumlah 19 orang, terdiri dari seorang pengurus KNPB Maybrat dan sisanya adalah anggota KNPB Tambrauw. Kepala Kepolisian Daerah Papua Barat mengklaim, para aktivis yang ditahan itu telah...
West Papua 2022 Kebebasan Berekspresi dan Kebebasan Berkumpul Laporan Lengkap
West Papua di tahun 2022 menyaksikan meningkatnya pengekangan terhadap kebebasan berkumpul dan berekspresi, termasuk meningkatnya penangkapan, pembubaran demonstrasi, dan kekerasan, hingga memburuknya situasi terkait orang-orang yang berusaha menegakkan dan membela hak-hak, terutama para pembela hak asasi manusia dan media. Tahun itu juga merupakan tahun yang penuh dengan peristiwa besar yang mengekspos Indonesia: pemekaran Papua yang sudah diantisipasi menjadi beberapa provinsi, pengesahan Kitab Undang-undang Hukum Pidana (KUHP) yang baru, dan Peninjauan Berkala Universal (Universal Periodic...
West Papua 2022 Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Assembly Full Report
West Papua in 2022 has seen increasing clampdowns on freedom of assembly and expression, including increasing arrests, clamping down on demonstrations, and the harassment or worse of people seeking to uphold and defend rights, particularly human right defenders and the media. It has also been a year of big events which has given a high level of exposure to Indonesia: the much anticipated division of Papua into many more provinces, the signing off of the new criminal code and the Universal Periodic Review of Indonesia at the UN.
Joint Oral Statement - 52nd Session of the Human Rights Council Agenda Item 6: UPR Adoption – Indonesia
Thank you Mr President,Franciscans International, Amnesty International, World Council of Churches, CIVICUS, Human Rights Monitoring and TAPOL appreciate the Government of Indonesia’s support for five recommendations on the human rights situation in West Papua. [1] We regret that five other recommendations on West Papua including on the visit of the High Commissioner for Human Rights are only noted,[2] despite an invitation to the previous High Commissioner.[3]Despite commitments made internationally, Indonesia fails to ensure the full enjoyment of human rights for Indigenous West Papuans....
The Military's Role in Food Estate Plans
Executive SummaryIn April 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic was beginning across the world, the Indonesian Government announced plans to convert hundreds of thousands of hectares of land into rice-producing ‘Food Estates’ in Central Kalimantan. The plans were intended to prevent food supply shortages which could potentially have been caused by the pandemic. By July 2020, similar plans had been announced in North Sumatra, South Sumatra, East Nusa Tenggara and Papua provinces. West Papua has previously seen a million-hectare Food Estate, the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE),...
Peran Militer Dalam Rencana Food Estate
Ringkasan EksekutifPada April 2020, saat pandemi Covid-19 mulai melanda dunia, Pemerintah Indonesia mengumumkan rencana untuk mengubah ratusan ribu hektare lahan menjadi ‘Food Estates’ (kawasan sentra pangan) penghasil beras di Kalimantan Tengah. Rencana tersebut dimaksudkan untuk mencegah potensi kekurangan pasokan pangan yang disebabkan oleh pandemi. Pada Juli 2020, rencana serupa diumumkan di Provinsi Sumatera Utara, Sumatera Selatan, Nusa Tenggara Timur, dan Papua. Sebelumnya pernah ada food estate seluas satu juta hektare di West Papua, Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE),...
West Papua 2021 Kebebasan Berekspresi dan Kebebasan Berkumpul Laporan Lengkap
London, 20 Oktober 2022Ringkasan EksekutifKriminalisasi, kolusi, dan janji-janji palsu menjadi isu utama kebebasan berekspresi dan berkumpul di West Papua dan terkait West Papua pada tahun 2021. Setelah tahun yang luar biasa akibat dampak pandemi Covid-19 dan karantina wilayah di seluruh dunia, tekanan oleh Pemerintah Indonesia kembali terjadi dengan mengkriminalisasi, memenjarakan dan mengintimidasi aktivis-aktivis yang berbicara lantang soal isu-isu menyangkut West Papua, ditandai dengan meningkatnya jumlah penangkapan dan meningkatnya insiden polisi dan milisi yang bertindak bersama-sama....
West Papua 2021 Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Assembly Full Report
London, 20th October 2022Executive SummaryCriminalisation, collusion and broken promises have been the main issues in regard to the state of freedom of expression and assembly in and related to West Papua in 2021. After an unusual year affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns across the world, there has been renewed pressure from the Indonesian government which has criminalised, imprisoned and intimidated activists who have spoken out on West Papua-related issues, with increasing numbers of arrests and increasing incidents of police and militias acting together. The police have been...
Mekanisme Pengadilan HAM dan Kasus Paniai Papua 2014
I. Latar BelakangPada 16 April 2022, Jaksa Agung mengeluarkan pernyataan bahwa MA kini sedang mempersiapkan proses pengadilan atas tersangka yang bertanggung jawab atas pembunuhan di luar hukum pada kasus Paniai, Papua, tahun 2014 melalui mekanisme pengadilan HAM (di bawah Undang-Undang No. 26 tahun 2000) yang direncanakan akan digelar di Makassar, Sulawesi Selatan. Mekanisme ini merupakan proses pengadilan pidana khusus dalam penanganan kasus pelanggaran HAM berat. Bila kasus ini dapat segera ditindaklanjuti oleh pengadilan khusus, kasus Paniai akan menjadi kasus HAM pertama yang dibawa ke...
Human Rights Court Mechanism and The 2014 Paniai Papua Case
I. BackgroundOn 16 April 2022, Indonesia’s Attorney General announced that they were preparing prosecution of a suspect allegedly responsible for unlawful killings in Paniai, Papua in 2014, under the ‘Human Rights Court’ mechanism (under Law No. 26/2000). This mechanism is the country’s special criminal tribunal dealing with cases of gross violations of human rights. If the case is brought before a special court under Law No. 26/2000, which is planned to be held in Makassar, South Sulawesi, the Paniai Case would be the first case tried at a Human Rights Court for 18 years. Eleven other...
Perdagangan senjata ilegal, pengungsian internal, dan ‘pendekatan baru’ di West Papua
PendahuluanBriefing ini menyoroti laporan-laporan perdagangan senjata yang dilakukan aparat keamanan secara ilegal, pengungsian internal yang terus berlanjut, dan klaim militer soal pendekatan baru. Briefing ini secara khusus juga menyelisik alasan-alasan di balik situasi tersebut dan minimnya tindakan yang koheren dari pemerintah. Alasan yang mendasari perdagangan senjata adalah militerisme yang mengakar di West Papua, daerah tempat berlangsungnya operasi-operasi militer yang mengakibatkan kekerasan dan menyebabkan masyarakat mengungsi. Perdagangan senjata terjadi ketika aparat keamanan...
Illegal arms sales, internal displacement and a ‘new approach’ in West Papua
IntroductionThis briefing looks at reports of illegal sales of weaponry by the security forces, continuing internal displacement and the military's claimed new approach. It looks especially at the reasons behind these developments, and the lack of coherent action on the part of the Government. An underlying reason for arms dealing is pervasive militarism in West Papua, where security force operations are leading to violence and causing the displacement of civilians. Arms dealing has been taking place as the security forces try to control the narrative on its role in West Papua, first...
Pandemic Power-Grabs: Who benefits from Food Estates in West Papua?
Executive SummaryAs the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, the Indonesian Government proposed to establish ‘Food Estates’: massive expansions of agricultural land spanning millions of hectares of land across Indonesia, including West Papua, and producing a variety of crops. The Government’s reasons were that it wanted to anticipate a food security crisis caused by the pandemic. However, this report shows that there were other motivations. Based on existing documents in the public domain, and the record of previous failed Food Estates in West Papua and elsewhere in Indonesia, it highlights how...
Perampasan Tanah dengan Dalih Pandemi: Siapa yang Diuntungkan dari Food Estate di West Papua?
Ringkasan EksekutifSeiring pandemi COVID-19 dimulai pada tahun 2020, Pemerintah Indonesia mengajukan pembangunan ‘Food Estate’: ekspansi besar-besaran lahan pertanian mencakup jutaan hektare di seluruh Indonesia, termasuk West Papua, yang menghasilkan berbagai macam tanaman pangan. Alasan pemerintah yaitu untuk mengantisipasi krisis ketahanan pangan akibat pandemi. Namun, laporan ini menunjukkan bahwa ada motivasi lain. Berdasarkan dokumen yang ada di domain publik, dan catatan kegagalan Food Estate sebelumnya di West Papua dan di tempat lain di Indonesia, dokumen ini menyoroti bagaimana Food...
Human Rights and Militarism in West Papua 2017 - 2022
Joint Stakeholders' Submission for the Universal Periodic Review (Fourth Cycle) of the Republic of Indonesia the 41st Session UPR Working Group (November 2022)This submission is made to the OHCHR by TAPOL and Bersatu untuk Kebenaran (BUK; United for Truth). TAPOL is a UK-based NGO formed in 1973 that promotes human rights, peace and democracy in Indonesia. BUK is a West Papuan grassroots organisation founded in Biak in 2008 by West Papuan survivors of violence. It seeks to build the capacity of victims and victims’ groups so that they can campaign for their rights, and the rights of their...
Militarisation, Conflict and Injustice in Maybrat Regency, West Papua
Located right in the heart of the Bird’s Head Peninsula at the Northwest corner of West Papua (see Figure 1 below), Maybrat has often been hidden from the world’s view, due to its remoteness and lack of coverage. As one of the regencies that sprang up in the process of forming new administrative subdivisions (pemekaran) in 2009, Maybrat is part of the wider province of West Papua.Figure 1: Map of West Papua Province. Maybrat Regency is the landlocked green region near the centre. (Source: Monitor Keadilan)Below are some basic statistics:Area: 5,461.69 km² Population: 40,64998.65%...
TAPOL calls on the UK Government to apologise for its role on 1960s massacre in Indonesia
Media StatementLondon, 3 November 2021UK Government should apologise for encouraging 1960s massacres of alleged leftists in Indonesia and appoint independent counsel to investigate On 17 and 24 October, the Observer newspaper published new research undertaken by academics and journalists, disclosing the existence in 1965 of a covert unit in the UK Foreign Office. The unit spread disinformation purporting to be from Indonesian ‘patriots’ living outside Indonesia, encouraging massacres. Since the fall of the New Order dictatorship in Indonesia in 1998, many revelations have come to light about...
Urgent Action by ELSHAM Papua
URGENT ACTIONNo.15/DIR-ELSHAM/UA/XI/2021ToMarsekal TNI Hadi Tjahjanto
Panglima Tentara Nasional Indonesia
Mabes TNI Cilangkap Jakarta Timur 13870
IndonesiaDear Chief Marsekal TNI Hadi Tjahjanto,ELSHAM Papua is supported by 24 institutions and civil society organisations from across the land of Papua, throughout Indonesia, and internationally, expressing deep concern over the shooting of two children in Sugapa, Intan Jaya Regency, Melpianus Sondegau (2 years old) who died, and Yoakim Majau (6 years old) was a victim of gunshot wounds. The shooting of these two children was...
The Indonesian military and counter-terrorism: new business, same old ways
From the early 2000s, terrorism in Indonesia was regarded as a matter of ‘security and order’, and dealt with by the police and its militarized anti-terror unit, Densus 88. However, in 2018, legislation was amended which marked a shift in that the Indonesian military was again given a key role in countering terrorism. In 2021, this legal provision was brought into play as the main West Papuan armed resistance, the TPNPB was designated as a ‘terrorist’ organisation by the Government. The move further cements the military’s power and authority, which has been growing for twenty years, and has...