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....
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...
West Papua 2020 Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Assembly Full Report
West Papua 2020: online and offline attacks against freedom of expression and assembly in the regionPress Release London, 16th September 2021Peaceful demonstrators, student activists, West Papuan and Indonesian political activist groups, human rights lawyers and defenders and individual civilians experienced extreme repression for their involvement in peaceful demonstrations and meetings which occured in 2020 in West Papua and outside West Papua. These are the findings of a new report, the West Papua 2020: Freedom Of Expression And Freedom Of Assembly Report in which TAPOL has collated and...
Joint Letter to Minister of Communication and Information Technology - Indonesia
Dear H.E. Johnny G. Plate,
Minister of Communication and Information Technology
Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Indonesia (25 May, 2021) We, the undersigned, urge you to repeal Ministerial Regulation 5/2020 (MR5) that is deeply problematic, granting government authorities overly broad powers to regulate online content, access user data, and penalize companies that fail to comply.
MR5 governs all private “electronic systems operators” that are accessible in Indonesia, broadly defined to include social media and other content-sharing platforms,...
TAPOL and ETAN Letter to UK and US Ambassadors to UN on Anniversary of 30 September Movement
TAPOL and ETAN Letter to UK and US Ambassadors to UN on Anniversary of 30 September Movement HE Dame Barbara Woodward,Permanent RepresentativeUnited Kingdom Mission to the UNNew York, NY and HE Kelly CraftPermanent RepresentativeUnited States Mission to the UN
New York, NY 30 September 2020Dear Ambassadors,We write to you on the fifty-fifth anniversary of the so-called September 30th movement (G30S) in Indonesia. The movement, which led to the mass killing of hundreds of thousands of people accused of being communists by the military and its proxies, marked the beginning of the New...
TAPOL Statement on the Killing of the Papuan Church Minister
TAPOL condemns the killing of Pastor Yeremia Zanambani, a church leader from Hitadipa District, Intan Jaya Regency, Papua Province. It has been reported that Pastor Zanambani was killed by members of the Indonesian military (TNI) on Saturday, 19th of September. Pastor Zanambani was found dead near his pig pen, 300 meters from his home, with bullet and stab wounds. According to various reports, tensions in the area had increased since Saturday 18th September after an Indonesian soldier was killed by unknown individuals. The Indonesian military claims that the West Papuan National Liberation...
Press Release: West Papua 2019 Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Assembly Report
London, 12th August 2020 Surveillance, intimidation and harassment, protest dispersals, torture, arbitrary arrests and extra-judicial killings continued in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua, and in Indonesia more broadly, as the state tried to crack down on the contentious issue of West Papua’s self-determination in 2019. Alarmingly, the Indonesian Government also used new tactics such as internet shutdown and cyber-attacks during the anti-racism protests and riots which culminated in the ‘West Papuan Uprising’ in August and September 2019. Last year, the Indonesian security...
Papua Itu Kita: Mahasiswa yang Di-DO Unkhair, Disidik Polres Ternate dengan Pasal Makar
Siaran Pers: Mahasiswa yang Di-DO Unkhair, Disidik Polres Ternate dengan Pasal Makar (Jakarta 20 Juli, 2020) Setelah diputus studi (DO) secara sepihak oleh Universitas Khairun (Unkhair), Arbi M Nur kini dituduh melakukan makar oleh Polres Ternate. Hal ini diketahui setelah Polres Ternate mengirim surat pemberitahuan dimulainya penyidikan (SPDP) nomor SPDP/48/VII/2020 pada Kejaksaan Negeri Ternate, 13 Juli 2020. SPDP itu berawal dari laporan seorang yang diduga anggota polisi, Bripka Sabohe Moni. Dalam surat tersebut, Arbi diduga telah melakukan tindak pidana kejahatan terhadap keamanan...
63 Tahanan Politik di Indonesia Mengirim Desakan ke Gugus Kerja Penahanan Sewenang-wenang dan Pelapor Khusus PBB di Tengah Pandemi
(London, Sydney, 15 April 2020) Enam puluh tiga tahanan politik (tapol) makar di Indonesia mengirimkan desakan ke Gugus Kerja Penahanan Sewenang-wenang dan Pelapor Khusus Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa (PBB).Ke-63 tapol tersebut meminta pengacara hak asasi manusia (HAM) Jennifer Robinson dan Veronica Koman, dengan dukungan organisasi HAM TAPOL, untuk membawa kasus mereka ke PBB. Dokumen desakan ini menjelaskan bahwa seluruh 63 tapol tersebut telah ditahan secara sewenang-wenang dan tidak sah, karena telah terjadi pelanggaran terhadap kewajiban Indonesia dalam hukum HAM internasional.Para tapol...
Urgent Appeals Filed with UN by 63 Political Prisoners in Indonesia Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic
(London, Sydney, 15 April 2020) Sixty-three political prisoners detained on treason charges in Indonesia have made a joint urgent appeal to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and UN Special Rapporteurs.The 63 political prisoners instructed Jennifer Robinson and Indonesian human rights lawyer Veronica Koman, with the support of human rights organisation TAPOL, to bring their cases to the UN. The urgent appeal demonstrates that all 63 prisoners are being arbitrarily and unlawfully detained, in violation of Indonesia’s international human rights obligations.The...
NGO Joint Statement - 43rd Session of the Human Rights Council
43rd Session of the Human Rights CouncilItem 4: General DebateNGO Joint statement - 10 March 2020Delivered by Ms. Latifah Anum SiregarMadam President,My name is Anum Siregar, a human rights lawyer from West Papua. I am delivering a joint statement of Franciscans International and Geneva for Human Rights with the support of the International Coalition for Papua, TAPOL and Aliansi Demokrasi untuk Papua (ALDP) and West Papua Netzwerk. The Indonesian Provinces of Papua and West Papua remain to be the key region of human rights violations and conflicts.I would like to...
OHCHR Statement to the Indonesian Government on the Protection of Rights and Freedom of Expression in the Current West Papua Situation
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) have expressed their concern at the Indonesian government increasing the presence of police and military personnel in West Papua and continued crack down on human rights defenders using criminal law over reporting on West Papua.On Monday 16 September, the UN human rights special experts made an appeal to the Indonesian government for immediate measures to protect freedom of expression and stop the harassment, intimidation, restrictions and threats against those who report on the protests in West Papua. To the...
VERONICA KOMAN, HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER AND SURYA ANTA, ‘FREE WEST’ PAPUA ACTIVIST SHOULD BE PROTECTED AND HONOURED, NOT CRIMINALISED (Translated statement)
Human rights lawyer Veronica Koman has been consistent in defending West Papuan activists, and Free West Papua activist Surya Anta has been consistent in fighting for the right to self-determination for the indigenous West Papuan population. Veronica Koman protects activists who speak about West Papua across Indonesia, and Surya Anta has supported the right to self-determination with various groups and networks. This is extremely rare, as there are very few non-Papuan Indonesian lawyers and pro-democracy activists who are ready to take on this kind of work. Both Vero and Surya Anta have been...
Joint Statement on the 'Act of Free Choice' Judicial Review Submission
TAPOL and the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) are calling attention to an application for judicial review of the “Act of Free Choice” by the Indonesian Constitutional Court. Recently filed by human rights lawyers on behalf of West Papua customary leaders and churches, the submission states that the highly contested self-determination “referendum” held in 1969 must be deemed contrary to the rights granted under Indonesian constitution, including the rights to freedom of thought and conscience, right to life, right to feel safe, and the right to not be tortured.The “Act...
Joint Submission Indigenous IDPs of Nduga, West Papua, Indonesia
14 March 2019ToThe Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, and the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples.CC:The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the Special Rapporteur on minority issues and the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intoleranceIndonesia: Security force operations in the regency of Nduga cause the displacement of thousands of indigenous peoplesIssues: internally displacement, right to food, indigenous peoples rights, minority...
URGENT ACTION: Indonesian Security Forces use treason laws to restrict rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in West Papua
URGENT ACTION: Indonesian Security Forces use treason laws to restrict rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in West PapuaTAPOL, Franciscans International, International Coalition for Papua, Watch Indonesia!, West Papua Netzwerk and Geneva for Human Rights Global Training would like to draw your attention to the cases of the violation of the rights to freedom of opinion and expression as well as the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association of the members of West Papua National Committee (Komite Nasional Papua Barat - KNPB)1 in Mimika Regency, Papua Province,...
Justice for "Bloody Paniai", 8 December 2014 [TAPOL Statement]
Justice for “Bloody Paniai”, 8 December 2014TAPOL StatementToday, 8 December 2018, we commemorate the four year anniversary of the “Bloody Paniai” incident where the members of the Indonesian military from Special Battalion 753 Team shot live rounds into a crowd, killing four teenagers and wounding 17 others. On 8 December 2014, people from the village of Eneratoli, Paniai Regency, Papua Province, were gathered together on a football field to protest against an incident from the previous night, where members of Special Battalion 753 had beaten and tortured Yulianus Yeimo (14 years of age in...
'Papua is not empty land': Respect the rights of West Papuan peoples (CSO Joint Statement))
Joint Statement11 November 2018We are indigenous leaders and owners of the traditional lands and forests from the Mandobo tribe in Kali Kao, Boven Digoel regency; Malind tribe in Muting, Merauke regency; Mpur tribe in Kebar, Tambrauw regency; Moi tribe in Klasouw and Klayili, Sorong regency; Maybrat tribe in Ikana, South Sorong regency; along with civil society and religious organisations.Currently, we, the indigenous peoples, traditional villagers and forest people, and the places where we are living are under pressure and face sustained injustice and social tension due to large-scale “...
TAPOL and ETAN Joint Statement - UN General Assembly 73: Correcting the Record On Human Rights Violations in West Papua and the 1969 UN Resolution Regarding ‘Act of Free Choice’
London, New York, 2 October 2018TAPOL and the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) condemn yet another wave of mass arrests1 during the opening week of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The mass arrests clearly contradict the statement of the Republic of Indonesia in their first “right of reply” during the General Assembly that there are not “frequent and systematic human rights violations” in West Papua.2 We also disagree with Indonesia’s claim that UN Resolution 2504 of 19693 has settled the issue of West Papua’s political status.In...