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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.
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.
Peaceful protesters across Indonesia and West Papua took to the streets yesterday to commemorate the 1962 New York Agreement and to support the West Papua delegation at the Pacific Islands Forum Summit. The groups protesting were from the Action Committee of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (Komite Aksi ULMWP), the Papuan Students Alliance (Aliansi Mahasiswa Papua / AMP), Indonesian People’s Front for West Papua (Front Rakyat Indonesia untuk West Papua / FRI-WP), and Papuan Students Community (Komunitas Mahasiswa Papua / KMP).The day was marked with forced dispersal, mass arrests, and violence from both state and non-state actors against the peaceful protesters.
In June 2019, TAPOL and Jubi made a written submission to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee. The Commons Select Committee has opened up an inquiry into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Global Media Freedom. TAPOL and Jubi's submission highlighted the current state of media freedom in West Papua in particular.
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, submitted today by human rights lawyers on behalf of West Papua customary leaders and churches.
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).