Tapol & Veronica Koman publish report on West Papua Uprising
October 4, 2020
TAPOL, in collaboration with human rights lawyer Veronica Koman, has today published an extensive report on the 2019 West Papua Uprising (‘the Uprising’) on the anniversary of its last day in 2019. The written report is supplemented with a short video.
The report, summarised in an executive summary, is a compilation of analyses and stories focusing on the human rights violations committed during the Uprising, including the racism which triggered it and the impunity which its perpetrators have enjoyed. The report shows that following the trigger events, a series of spontaneous protests broke out in West Papua. The authorities also used different strategies in an attempt to contain, then crack down on the same protests.
Among other issues, this report provides further detail on issues of racism, impunity, extrajudicial killings, press freedom, internet shutdown, treason charges, excessive use of force against protestors, and the use of civilian militias. All such issues are the subject of inquiries about West Papua by the UN Human Rights Committee, with a “list of issues prior to submission of the second periodic report of Indonesia” issued to the Indonesian government on 2 September 2020. The Committee is an expert body appointed by the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
TAPOL released a summary of events on 19 August 2020 to coincide with the first anniversary of the beginning of the Uprising. Since this date, we have made minor changes to the report because some political prisoners have been released in the interim and for other technical reasons. This report provides further verifiable information on incidents.
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