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TAPOL Statement on the Involvement of the Security Forces in the IDPs Situation in Intan Jaya

08 February 2024

A firefight took place between the National Liberation Army of West Papua (Tentara Pembebasan Nasional Papua Barat - TPNPB) and members of the Indonesian military and police force (Tentara Nasional Indonesia dan Kepolisian RI - TNI-POLRI) in Intan Jaya Regency, Central Papua Province, between 19th to 23rd January 2024. According to reports we received, the Indonesian security forces shot two civilians.

Open letter to Jayapura PTUN panel of judges

01 November 2023

We are submitting this open letter for the sake of justice of the environmental defender, Hendrikus Woro, who is fighting for the Woro Clan and Awyu Tribe, the Plaintiff in the environmental and climate change case Number 6/G/LH/2023/PTUN.JPR of the Jayapura State Administrative Court (PTUN). The lawsuit concerns an environmental permit issued by the Papua Province Investment and One-Stop Integrated Service Office for palm oil company PT Indo Asiana Lestari (PT IAL).

Arrests continue in West Papua with police charging three peaceful independence activists with treason

16 June 2023

The Indonesian government continues to tread on the right to peaceful free expression in West Papua. This can be seen from arrests and treason charges against three members of the peaceful independence campaign group, the National Committee for West Papua (Komite Nasional Papua Barat, KNPB), in Tambrauw Regency, Southwest Papua province.

Joint Oral Statement - 52nd Session of the Human Rights Council Agenda Item 6: UPR Adoption – Indonesia

27 March 2023

Despite commitments made internationally, Indonesia fails to ensure the full enjoyment of human rights for Indigenous West Papuans. Security forces’ blatant disrespect for rights continue with impunity, including extrajudicial killings, intimidation of human rights defenders; and attacks on freedoms of expression, association, peaceful assembly.

TAPOL calls on the UK Government to apologise for its role on 1960s massacre in Indonesia

03 November 2021

On 17 and 24 October, the Observer newspaper published new research undertaken by academics and journalists, disclosing the existence in 1965 of a covert unit in the UK Foreign Office. The unit spread disinformation purporting to be from Indonesian ‘patriots’ living outside Indonesia, encouraging massacres.

Urgent Action by ELSHAM Papua

02 November 2021

ELSHAM Papua is supported by 24 institutions and civil society organisations from across the land of Papua, throughout Indonesia, and internationally, expressing deep concern over the shooting of two children in Sugapa, Intan Jaya Regency, Melpianus Sondegau (2 years old) who died, and Yoakim Majau (6 years old) was a victim of gunshot wounds.

Joint Letter to Minister of Communication and Information Technology - Indonesia

28 May 2021

We, the undersigned, urge you to repeal Ministerial Regulation 5/2020 (MR5) that is deeply problematic, granting government authorities overly broad powers to regulate online content, access user data, and penalise companies that fail to comply.

TAPOL and ETAN Letter to UK and US Ambassadors to UN on Anniversary of 30 September Movement

30 September 2020

TAPOL and ETAN Letter to UK and US Ambassadors to UN on Anniversary of 30 September Movement HE Dame Barbara Woodward,Permanent RepresentativeUnited Kingdom Mission to the UNNew York, NY and HE Kelly CraftPermanent RepresentativeUnited States Mission to the UN
New York, NY 30 September 2020Dear Ambassadors,We write to you on the fifty-fifth anniversary of the so-called September 30th movement (G30S) in Indonesia. The movement, which led to the mass killing of hundreds of thousands of people accused of being communists by the military and its proxies, marked the beginning of the New...

TAPOL Statement on the Killing of the Papuan Church Minister

23 September 2020

TAPOL condemns the killing of Pastor Yeremia Zanambani, a church leader from Hitadipa District, Intan Jaya Regency, Papua Province. It has been reported that Pastor Zanambani was killed by members of the Indonesian military (TNI) on Saturday, 19th of September. Pastor Zanambani was found dead near his pig pen, 300 meters from his home, with bullet and stab wounds. According to various reports, tensions in the area had increased since Saturday 18th September after an Indonesian soldier was killed by unknown individuals. The Indonesian military claims that the West Papuan National Liberation...

Press Release: West Papua 2019 Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Assembly Report

12 August 2020

 London, 12th August 2020 Surveillance, intimidation and harassment, protest dispersals, torture, arbitrary arrests and extra-judicial killings continued in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua, and in Indonesia more broadly, as the state tried to crack down on the contentious issue of West Papua’s self-determination in 2019.  Alarmingly, the Indonesian Government also used new tactics such as internet shutdown and cyber-attacks during the anti-racism protests and riots which culminated in the ‘West Papuan Uprising’ in August and September 2019. Last year, the Indonesian security...

Papua Itu Kita: Mahasiswa yang Di-DO Unkhair, Disidik Polres Ternate dengan Pasal Makar

20 July 2020

Siaran Pers: Mahasiswa yang Di-DO Unkhair, Disidik Polres Ternate dengan Pasal Makar  (Jakarta 20 Juli, 2020) Setelah diputus studi (DO) secara sepihak oleh Universitas Khairun (Unkhair), Arbi M Nur kini dituduh melakukan makar oleh Polres Ternate. Hal ini diketahui setelah Polres Ternate mengirim surat pemberitahuan dimulainya penyidikan (SPDP) nomor SPDP/48/VII/2020 pada Kejaksaan Negeri Ternate, 13 Juli 2020. SPDP itu berawal dari laporan seorang yang diduga anggota polisi, Bripka Sabohe Moni. Dalam surat tersebut, Arbi diduga telah melakukan tindak pidana kejahatan terhadap keamanan...

63 Tahanan Politik di Indonesia Mengirim Desakan ke Gugus Kerja Penahanan Sewenang-wenang dan Pelapor Khusus PBB di Tengah Pandemi

15 April 2020

(London, Sydney, 15 April 2020) Enam puluh tiga tahanan politik (tapol) makar di Indonesia mengirimkan desakan ke Gugus Kerja Penahanan Sewenang-wenang dan Pelapor Khusus Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa (PBB).Ke-63 tapol tersebut meminta pengacara hak asasi manusia (HAM) Jennifer Robinson dan Veronica Koman, dengan dukungan organisasi HAM TAPOL, untuk membawa kasus mereka ke PBB. Dokumen desakan ini menjelaskan bahwa seluruh 63 tapol tersebut telah ditahan secara sewenang-wenang dan tidak sah, karena telah terjadi pelanggaran terhadap kewajiban Indonesia dalam hukum HAM internasional.Para tapol...

Urgent Appeals Filed with UN by 63 Political Prisoners in Indonesia Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

15 April 2020

Sixty-three political prisoners detained on treason charges in Indonesia have made a joint urgent appeal to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and UN Special Rapporteurs.

NGO Joint Statement - 43rd Session of the Human Rights Council

11 March 2020

43rd Session of the Human Rights Council Item 4: General Debate NGO Joint statement - 10 March 2020 Delivered by Ms. Latifah Anum Siregar

OHCHR Statement to the Indonesian Government on the Protection of Rights and Freedom of Expression in the Current West Papua Situation

19 September 2019

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) have expressed their concern at the Indonesian government increasing the presence of police and military personnel in West Papua and continued crack down on human rights defenders using criminal law  over reporting on West Papua.On Monday 16 September, the UN human rights special experts made an appeal to the Indonesian government for immediate measures to protect freedom of expression and stop the harassment, intimidation, restrictions and threats against those who report on the protests in West Papua. To the...

VERONICA KOMAN, HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER AND SURYA ANTA, ‘FREE WEST’ PAPUA ACTIVIST SHOULD BE PROTECTED AND HONOURED, NOT CRIMINALISED (Translated statement)

15 September 2019

Human rights lawyer Veronica Koman has been consistent in defending West Papuan activists, and Free West Papua activist Surya Anta has been consistent in fighting for the right to self-determination for the indigenous West Papuan population. Veronica Koman protects activists who speak about West Papua across Indonesia, and Surya Anta has supported the right to self-determination with various groups and networks. This is extremely rare, as there are very few non-Papuan Indonesian lawyers and pro-democracy activists who are ready to take on this kind of work. Both Vero and Surya Anta have been...

Joint Statement on the 'Act of Free Choice' Judicial Review Submission

11 April 2019

TAPOL and the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) are calling attention to an application for judicial review of the “Act of Free Choice” by the Indonesian Constitutional Court. Recently filed by human rights lawyers on behalf of West Papua customary leaders and churches, the submission states that the highly contested self-determination “referendum” held in 1969 must be deemed contrary to the rights granted under Indonesian constitution, including the rights to freedom of thought and conscience, right to life, right to feel safe, and the right to not be tortured.The “Act...

Joint Submission Indigenous IDPs of Nduga, West Papua, Indonesia

14 March 2019

14 March 2019ToThe Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, and the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples.CC:The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the Special Rapporteur on minority issues and the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intoleranceIndonesia: Security force operations in the regency of Nduga cause the displacement of thousands of indigenous peoplesIssues: internally displacement, right to food, indigenous peoples rights, minority...

URGENT ACTION: Indonesian Security Forces use treason laws to restrict rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in West Papua

11 January 2019

 URGENT ACTION: Indonesian Security Forces use treason laws to restrict rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in West PapuaTAPOL, Franciscans International, International Coalition for Papua, Watch Indonesia!, West Papua Netzwerk and Geneva for Human Rights Global Training would like to draw your attention to the cases of the violation of the rights to freedom of opinion and expression as well as the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association of the members of West Papua National Committee (Komite Nasional Papua Barat - KNPB)1 in Mimika Regency, Papua Province,...

Justice for "Bloody Paniai", 8 December 2014 [TAPOL Statement]

08 December 2018

 Justice for “Bloody Paniai”, 8 December 2014TAPOL StatementToday, 8 December 2018, we commemorate the four year anniversary of the “Bloody Paniai” incident where the members of the Indonesian military from Special Battalion 753 Team shot live rounds into a crowd, killing four teenagers and wounding 17 others. On 8 December 2014, people from the village of Eneratoli, Paniai Regency, Papua Province, were gathered together on a football field to protest against an incident from the previous night, where members of Special Battalion 753 had beaten and tortured Yulianus Yeimo (14 years of age in...