Hans Makabori, Jayapura – The Jayapura City Municipal Police (Polresta) in Papua broke up a student demonstration at the gates of the Cenderawasih University (Uncen) Jayapura campus near the Waena 3 State Housing Company (Perumnas) in Heram district, Jayapura, on Tuesday September 30.
The demonstration, which was held by the group Uncen Solidarity Care, was held to voice the political history and struggle of the Papuan people with regard to Papua's joining the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) through a political process involving Indonesia, the Netherlands and the United Nations (UN).
This included the New York Agreement, the Rome Agreement and the establishment of Uncen as part of efforts to advance education in Papua, so that the younger generation in Papua would be more independent and sovereign in determining their own destiny.
The police stated that they were forced to break up the demonstration because the situation began to heat up when four demonstrators were detained for being considered provocative.
Chaos erupted when the person in charge of the demonstration, Danilson Darki Uropmabin and three of his colleagues approached Heram Sectoral Police (Polsek) Chief Adjunct Commissioner Bernadus Ick to negotiate an extension for the demonstration. Police however said that the time limit for the demonstration was until 10 am.
Ick also stated that the four students were detained for allegedly being provocative in conveying information about the negotiations for additional time with police. Furthermore, the demonstration did not have a permit from the Heram Sectoral Police.
"Their (the students') action did not have a permit from us, the Heram Polsek and disturbed public order. We broke it up because they insisted on going to the assembly point at the Abe traffic circle", said Ick when interviewed by reporters after the demonstration was disbanded.
Meanwhile, Jayapura City Police Chief (Kapolresta) Senior Commissioner Fredrikus Machlarimboen said that the situation become heated when the police arrested four students who were considered provocative and did not want to heed a warning from the sectoral police chief on the 10 am time limit for the demonstration.
The other students responded to the arrest of their four colleagues by throwing rocks at officers on guard at a paramilitary police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) barricade. The officers then forcibly dispersed the protest with teargas.
"We were forced to disperse them using teargas when they started to riot", said Machlarimboen.
Machlarimboen said that his party had deployed 670 police personnel to be on standby at two demonstration points, namely in the districts of Heram and Abepura.
Notes
The Rome Agreement was signed by Indonesia, the Netherlands and the United States in Rome on September 30, 1962. The agreement provided for several points including a postponement of a referendum on West Papua's status which had been scheduled to be held in 1969 under the New York Agreement signed on August 15, 1962, that the referendum would use a consultative process, that the UN's report on the implementation of the referendum would be accepted without open debate and on US commitments to invest in resource exploration and provide funds for development programs in West Papua.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Polisi Bubarkan Demonstrasi Solidaritas Peduli Uncen".]
Source: https://jubi.id/polhukam/2025/polisi-bubarkan-demonstrasi-solidaritas-peduli-uncen/
