DISCUSSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN INDONESIA: FOCUS ON THE CRISIS IN WEST PAPUA

On October 1, the World Council of Churches (WCC), in collaboration with partner organizations, will hold a side event for the 57th UN Human Rights Council entitled “Human Rights in Indonesia.” This event aims to address the alarming human rights situation in West Papua, where violations such as extrajudicial killings, internal displacement due to armed conflict, restrictions on civil liberties, and increasing cases of land grabbing continue to occur.

The event will feature representatives from grassroots communities and experts who will discuss practical steps that the UN Human Rights Council and national and international stakeholders can take to address the deepening human rights and humanitarian crisis in West Papua.

During this event, the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal will also present findings from its public hearings in July 2024, which reviewed evidence related to the environmental impacts of development projects and human rights violations in the region.

In the first six months of 2024, there have been numerous extrajudicial killings related to the ongoing armed conflict between Indonesian security forces and the West Papua National Liberation Army (OPM-TPNPB). A surge in armed conflict was reported during the period from April to June 2024, further exacerbating internal displacement among Indigenous Papuan communities. As of September 2024, there are 79,867 internally displaced persons with limited access to basic necessities such as food, healthcare services, and education, along with few employment opportunities. If they attempt to return to their villages and homes, they face heavy surveillance from security forces and constant intimidation.

This crisis is also worsened by an increasing number of reports of land grabbing in the regencies of Merauke, Mimika, Deiyai, and Sorong from April to June 2024. This reflects a growing trend of private investors seizing land and natural resources without obtaining free, prior, and informed consent from Indigenous Papuans.

It is crucial for the Indonesian government to promptly address the ongoing conflict and associated human rights violations, abuses, and impunity through sustainable solutions based on human rights principles.

Peter Prove, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA), will moderate the discussion.

“The Indonesian government provides very limited transparency regarding the situation in West Papua, and access to the region is even less,” he stated. “Accordingly, the WCC is grateful that through cooperation with its civil society partners, we can bring information regarding the longstanding humanitarian and human rights crisis endured by Indigenous Papuan people to the attention of the Human Rights Council and the wider international community. We continue to hope that by sharing this information, the long-overdue concern of the international community may yet be galvanized.”