Silpester Kasipka, Jayapura – Students from the group Papuan Student Solidarity held a peaceful demonstration in the Lingkaran area of Abepura district in Jayapura city, Papua, on Wednesday November 19.
During the peaceful demonstration, the students expressed their rejection of Papuan Special Autonomy (Otsus) and called for the withdrawal of the military from the land of Papua.
The students rejected Otsus because they believed the central government's special policies on the provinces in the land of Papua had failed to address the fundamental problems of the Papuan people. In fact, military violence in various regions there had increased.
Aside from this, the 2021 revision of the Special Autonomy Law did not involve the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) as the cultural institution representing indigenous Papuans.
The revisions to the Papuan Special Autonomy Law that became Law Number 2/2021 are also considered to have removed the MRP's authority to approve regional decentralisation (the creation of new regions) in Papua.
"Following the amendment to the 2021 Otsus Law, regional decentralisation is entirely under the central government. This reduces the representation of indigenous peoples", said field coordinator Enes Y Dapla in reading out the demonstrators' statement.
Dapla stated that the creation of new provinces following the revision of the law has the potential to trigger social conflict, marginalise indigenous Papuans (OAP) and narrow democratic space.
They also highlighted national strategic projects (PSN), large-scale mining activities and the increased number of security personnel in various regions of Papua.
Expansion and investment are considered to have impacted on community security and the sustainability of indigenous lands. Expansion and investment projects open up space for military operations and the theft of indigenous land.
The students emphasised that they will continue to articulate various issues in Papua and, together with the Papuan people, urge the revocation of Special Autonomy, as it does not provide a future for the Papuan people.
Meanwhile, Kamus Bayage, a student activist from the Jayapura Cenderawasih University (Uncen), stated that the demonstration was an expression of concern over the state of the Papuan people, because Special Autonomy has not had a significant impact on the welfare of indigenous Papuans.
"Special autonomy has failed in its implementation. Education still incurs illegal payments, healthcare and economic development have not improved, meanwhile military violence continues to escalate", said Bayage.
Bayage also highlighted the number of internally displaced people in Yahukimo district and other areas, which are said to be the result of security operations in recent years, and the violence against civilians in Intan Jaya, Bintuni, the Bintang Highlands and various other areas in Papua.
He also criticised the expansion of investment through PSNs in Merauke and Wamena, which are considered to have triggered the theft of indigenous people's land.
"Land grabbing is occurring in various places in the land of Papua. Indigenous people are increasingly under pressure and displacement continues to this day", he said.
Bayage said that terror and intimidation have not just been experienced by civilians in Papua, but human rights activists and journalists in Papua have also experienced similar issues.
During the demonstration, the students made 19 demands, including the revocation of the Papua Special Autonomy Law, an end to the seizure of customary land and the immediate ratification of the Indigenous Peoples Law, and a halt to all PSNs in Merauke and the land of Papua.
Then an end to the deployment of military personnel in Papua, an end to the curbing of democratic space, bringing the perpetrators of the Jubi editorial office firebombing to justice and an end to the terror against journalists.
Urging the withdrawal of all organic and non-organic military personnel from Papua, an end to the criminalisation of human rights activists, an end to the construction of military posts throughout Papua and allowing access to foreign journalists to report in Papua.
Finally, the release of all Papuan political prisoners, granting the Papuan people the right to self-determination and ending all forms of state violence against the Papuan people.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Mahasiswa Papua Tolak Otsus Dan Desak Penarikan Militer Dari Tanah Papua".]
