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Located right in the heart of the Bird’s Head Peninsula at the Northwest corner of West Papua, Maybrat has often been hidden from the world’s view, due to its remoteness, lack of coverage and seeming peacefulness.
The criminalisation of lawyers and activists in West Papua is happening again. This time the target is Leonardo Idjie, lawyer and human rights defender from LBH Kaki Abu (Kaki Abu Legal Aid Institute), Sorong, West Papua.
Criminalisation efforts against Leo began whilst he was accompanying the Kisor case and the case of LK, a child accused of breaking the law (anak berhadapan hukum, ABH), at Sorong State Court.
TAPOL and Kaki Abu Legal Aid released a video entitled "LK dan Pusaran Kerasan di Papua (LK and Systemic State Violence in Papua)". This campaign video calls for the release of LK, a child accused of having broken the law (ABH) in Maybrat, #WestPapua, who was subjected to torture and forced to undergo an unfair trial.
On 25 November Indonesia’s Constitutional Court issued an order to the Government and parliament to change parts of the ‘Omnibus Law’ (UU Cipta Kerja). The Court also forbade the passing of any further implementing regulations and policies associated with the law in a two-year grace period.
On Nov. 11, the UK Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, visited Indonesia during a week-long trip to Southeast Asia. Truss’s outing happened in the context of the UK’s post-Brexit objectives of “tilting” towards the Indo-Pacific region.
In her meetings with Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Truss aimed to deepen cooperation between the UK and Indonesia in economy, security and technology.
Yet there are several issues which should also have been aired by Truss during her visit. The question of the military’s continuing power and its impact on human rights and democracy requires honesty from the UK side. More could have been done on environmental issues too. The meeting was also an opportunity for the Indonesian Government to reflect on continuing challenges in these areas in order to fully realize ongoing democratic reforms.
TAPOL is deeply concerned about a series of escalating threats and attacks made against the family of prominent Indonesian human rights lawyer and defender, Veronica Koman in Jakarta. These threats and attacks indicate a worsening situation for human rights lawyers and defenders in Indonesia, with other prominent human rights defenders being subjected to police investigations.
The incidents against Koman’s family have in recent weeks involved an arson attack outside the house of her parents on 24th October. Two weeks later, on Sunday 7th November, assailants left an explosive device outside her parents’ house. A package containing a dead chicken was also sent to a different relative, with a note stating that “anyone who helps to hide Veronica Koman will end up like this”.