Between April and November 2021, we have received allegations indicating several instances of extrajudicial killings, including of young children, enforced disappearance, torture and inhuman treatment and the forced displacement of at least 5,000 indigenous Papuans by security forces – the experts said.
OHCHR
On March 2002, UNHR experts sounded the alarm about the “deteriorating human rights situation in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua.” This is based on reports these experts gathered since 2021. The report cited “shocking abuses against indigenous Papuans, including child killings, disappearances, torture and mass displacement of people.” These UNHCR experts “called for urgent humanitarian access to the region, and urged the Indonesian Government to conduct full and independent investigations into abuses against the indigenous peoples.” But the call may be falling on deaf ears. Since March, we are not aware of any investigation by the Indonesian government into the allegations, or the call by the UNHRC. Instead, the Indonesian government escalated its ‘Human Rights’ abuses in West Papua, including the deployment of extra thousands of soldiers to West Papua – including elite forces, whose members were arrested for killing and dismembering four innocent West Papuans.
Some of the villages in the highlands of West Papua, which were bombed relentlessly by the Indonesian Air force – with little regard to children and innocent mothers – remained uninhabited. The villagers are still hiding in the jungle and caves for fear of being killed. The number is believed to be over a thousand, including women and children.
In response to the call by the UN Human Rights experts to investigate these allegations in March of this year, 2022, the Indonesian government rejected the request, arguing that the government has “tackled the accusations” (Reuters), which is a blatant lie. There’s no government investigations to these allegations, and the abuse of West Papuans continues unabated. In fact, the Indonesian government has been playing this game for decades; telling the international community absolute lies about its own ‘Human Rights’ abuses in West Papua.
Our view (West Papuan Human Rights Center)
Here’s our what the UNHRC should do – if Indonesia continue to deny the council of its obligations to investigation allegations of human rights violation, the council should deny Indonesia of participating in any Human Rights meeting, late alone becoming a member of the council. It is a mockery of the council’s duty to allow one of the greatest abusers of ‘Human Rights’ to take a seat among its members.