Febryan Kevin Candra Kurniawan, Danu Damarjati, Jakarta – Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai has explained the battle of narratives unfolding between the Indonesian government and the separatist West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Movement (TPNPB-OPM).
"I see that, forgive me, the TPNPB-OPM side consistently wins the battle of public opinion. We, on the other hand, are constantly losing ground", said Pigai at the Human Rights Ministry on Tuesday September 22.
Pigai believes that this situation arises when information or claims put forward by the TPNPB-OPM are accompanied by evidence and disseminated via social media.
According to Pigai, the government needs to maintain the credibility and quality of the information it conveys to the public regarding various events in Papua.
Pigai believes that when a party releases information that immediately spreads across social media, the government's position can be weakened if it fails to provide credible and measured information.
"Why? Because the moment they state A, then they present evidence, suddenly it's uploaded by someone on social media and others, yeah we're in a loosing position. The credibility of information must be maintained", he said.
"So don't let there be misleading information proliferating in public. Therefore the aspect of credibility and quality of information must be carefully measured", he added.
Civilians must be protected
Pigai also emphasised the importance of protecting civilians amidst the conflict in Papua.
He said that security forces must not involve civilians within operational zones. Conversely, Pigai asserted that the TPNPB-OPM must not kill civilians either.
"Protecting civilians across the board, both Papuans and non-Papuans, is equally important", said Pigai.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Natalius Pigai Soroti Perang Opini Indonesia vs OPM soal Papua".]
