Responding to the brutality of security forces in responding to demonstrations in Sorong and Manokwari which resulted in one local resident being shot and one person being killed, Amnesty International Indonesia's Executive Director Usman Hamid said:
"We strongly condemn the brutality of security forces during the demonstrations in Sorong and Manokwari. No one should lose their life or be injured simply for participating in a demonstration or witnessing a demonstration expressing an opinion while in the vicinity of a demonstration.
The state should listen to the aspirations of the families and the community who held demonstrations against the transfer of four suspects in a treason case to Makassar, instead of repressing them with authoritarian methods that violate human rights.
The death of a resident in Manokwari and the alleged shooting of another resident in Sorong during a demonstration must be investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice.
The investigation must be independent and involve prominent figures and community members with integrity and expertise. The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) must also immediately conduct a pro-justice investigation to follow up on the civilian deaths. The state must cooperate with Komnas HAM to ensure that those responsible for these deaths are held accountable.
This brutality by security forces in Papua, who disregard human rights like this, has a detrimental impact on efforts to resolve the ongoing conflict in Papua. Therefore, we urge the police to employ a democratic, persuasive and dialogue-based policing approach with protesters in Papua.
The state must conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the police's security approach to peaceful protests in Papua. The absence of such an evaluation will only worsen the human rights situation in Papua and perpetuate the culture of impunity that has become entrenched within security institutions.
More importantly, the state must immediately release the four Papuan political activists from all legal charges. Their criminalisation demonstrates the state's continued repression of the rights of indigenous Papuans to freedom of expression, opinion and assembly.
They were arrested simply for peacefully expressing their political aspirations by visiting government offices in Southwest Papua without resorting to violence. No citizen, including indigenous Papuans, should not be criminalised simply for expressing their opinions or making legitimate political demands, including voicing their disappointment with the state regarding conflict in their region."
Background
The demonstrations that took place in Sorong City, Southwest Papua province, at the end of August were met with excessive use of force, arbitrary arrests and violence by security forces. Amnesty's credible sources and media reports indicate that at least 23 people were arrested and one civilian was seriously injured, allegedly by teargas fired by security forces during the August 27 demonstration. Media reports also emerged of fatalities in Manokwari City on August 28.
The mass action was protesting the transfer of four officials from the organisation the Federal State of the Republic of Southwest Papua (NRFPB) – with the initials AGG, NM, MS and PR – from Sorong City to Makassar, South Sulawesi. They were being transferred to face trial for makar (treason, subversion, rebellion) only because they delivered invitations to the Southwest Papua governor's office and the police along with government offices in Sorong City last April for peace talks to resolve the ongoing conflict in Papua.
Amnesty sources revealed that protesters and activists in Sorong had launched protests since June 28, initially at the Sorong Municipal Police (Polresta), demanding the release of the four detainees, especially given their poor health. They also protested in front of the Sorong District Court (August 13) and the Southwest Papua governor's office (August 20) to protest the planned transfer of the detainees for trial to Makassar. However, authorities still planned to transfer the detainees on August 27.
That is why the families and community continued their peaceful protests on August 27, visiting the Sorong Municipal Police, the mayor's office and the governor's office, demanding that the detainees not be transferred. However, this mass action was met with the deployment of joint Polri (Indonesian Police) and TNI (Indonesian Military) forces, and the detainees were still taken to Makassar under tight security.
The situation in Sorong became chaotic. Security forces responded to the angry crowd by firing teargas and live ammunition. At least one resident was seriously injured by gunfire, and 23 people were arrested by police. The victim was later identified as a motorcycle taxi driver (ojek) who was not part of the protesters. All of the 23 arrested were released as of September 1.
Meanwhile, the four detainees in the alleged makar case will undergo their first trial at the Makassar District Court on August 28.
Protest actions against the transfer of the four detainees also took place outside Sorong, including in Jayapura and Manokwari. According to media reports, the West Papua Regional Police (Polda) Public Relations Chief Ignatius Benny Ady Prabowo stated that Septinus Sesa, a Manokwari resident, died on Thursday August 28.
West Papua Police Chief Johnny Eddizon Isir denied that the victim died as a result of teargas, which he claimed was non-lethal. An investigation into the death however will be conducted involving the Komnas HAM, the Ombudsman and the local Legal Aid Institute (LBH).
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Usut tuntas penembakan di Sorong dan kematian warga sipil saat aksi demo di Manokwari".]
