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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 Order military dictatorship in Indonesia. The governments of the United States and the United Kingdom both played crucial roles in these events.
In your capacity as representatives of permanent members of the Security Council, we call on you and your governments to investigate and raise with the Indonesian government these problems. The United States and the United Kingdom have a duty to address the impunity and influence that the military continues to enjoy.
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). Pastor Zanambani was found dead near his pig pen, 300 meters from his home, with bullet and stab wounds.
Today marks the first anniversary of the West Papua Uprising. The Uprising swept across 22 towns in West Papua, 17 cities in Indonesia, and 3 cities overseas during the period of 19 August to 30 September 2019.
At least an extra 6,500 police and military personnel were deployed to crush the Uprising. The civilian death toll during its duration period reached 61 people, of whom 35 were indigenous West Papuans. Of those 35 people who died, 30 had sustained bullet wounds, suggesting that they were killed by the Indonesian security forces. Five other deaths were from stab wounds inflicted by civil militias.
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.
Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Ganius Wenda, a West Papuan Political Prisoners advocate and human rights lawyer who passed away today in Jayapura, West Papua.
It is my fervent wish that future generations uphold the principles of political freedoms, peace and anti-militarism”