It has been a month since Susi Air pilot Philip Mark Mehrtens was taken hostage by the National Liberation Army of West Papua (TPNPB) in Nduga, in the highlands of Papua Pegunungan Province. Despite putting the West Papua issue back in the international spotlight, the hostage-taking of civilians is regrettable and unjustified based on international human rights and humanitarian norms.
URGENT ACTION
No.15/DIR-ELSHAM/UA/XI/2021
To
Marsekal TNI Hadi Tjahjanto
Panglima Tentara Nasional Indonesia
Mabes TNI Cilangkap Jakarta Timur 13870
Indonesia
Dear Chief Marsekal TNI Hadi Tjahjanto,
TAPOL is extremely concerned by reports that the Indonesian military’s operations in Nduga Regency, West Papua, cost the lives of 243 people, 45 percent of whom were children, between 4th December 2018 and 8thFebruary 2019.
Both the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Nduga and worsening clampdown on freedom of expression and assembly in West Papua were significant issues raised during the recent convening of the 40th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (25 Feb. - 22 Mar. 2019).
14 March 2019
To
The 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 intolerance
Your Excellency
We are writing on behalf of organizations long concerned with the justice process in Timor-Leste.
As you meet this week to discuss renewing the UN mission in Timor-Leste, we urge you to look at the unfulfilled UN pledges concerning human rights and accountability for serious human rights crimes committed in Timor-Leste between 1975 and 1999.
While international aid flows into East Timor, about a quarter of the country's population remains inside Indonesian West Timor. Many refugees want to return home, but they remain in West Timor only as a result of a campaign of human rights violations, intimidation and disinformation by armed groups within the refugee camps. Intimidation is also directed at international agencies resulting in the isolation of refugees from both humanitarian aid and repatriation efforts.