17 February 2022
Following a period of military expansion in the region, Maybrat has been the scene of violence between the military and West Papua’s pro-independence armed group, TPNPB (Tentara Pembebasan Nasional Papua Barat, the National Liberation Army of West Papua). This briefing shows drivers of recent conflict in Maybrat, especially militarisation and natural resource contestation.
24 January 2022
The criminalisation of lawyers and activists in West Papua is happening again. This time the target is Leonardo Idjie, lawyer and human rights defender from LBH Kaki Abu (Kaki Abu Legal Aid Institute), Sorong, West Papua.
29 December 2021
TAPOL and Kaki Abu Legal Aid released a video entitled "LK dan Pusaran Kerasan di Papua (LK and Systemic State Violence in Papua)". This campaign video calls for the release of LK, a child accused of having broken the law (ABH) in Maybrat, #WestPapua, who was subjected to torture and forced to undergo an unfair trial.
06 December 2021
On 25 November Indonesia’s Constitutional Court issued an order to the Government and parliament to change parts of the ‘Omnibus Law’ (UU Cipta Kerja). The Court also forbade the passing of any further implementing regulations and policies associated with the law in a two-year grace period. If the necessary changes are not made within two years, the Court ordered that the Omnibus Law would become “permanently unconstitutional”.
15 November 2021
On Nov. 11, the UK Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, visited Indonesia during a week-long trip to Southeast Asia. Truss’s outing happened in the context of the UK’s post-Brexit objectives of “tilting” towards the Indo-Pacific region.
09 November 2021
TAPOL is deeply concerned about a series of escalating threats and attacks made against the family of prominent Indonesian human rights lawyer and defender, Veronica Koman in Jakarta. These threats and attacks indicate a worsening situation for human rights lawyers and defenders in Indonesia, with other prominent human rights defenders being subjected to police investigations.
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.
03 November 2021
TAPOL is sad to report the death of Max Stahl, the legendary journalist and filmmaker who will be remembered, above all, for filming the Santa Cruz massacre in East Timor on November 12, 1991.
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.
05 October 2021
From the early 2000s, terrorism in Indonesia was regarded as a matter of ‘security and order’, and dealt with by the police and its militarized anti-terror unit, Densus 88. However, in 2018, legislation was amended which marked a shift in that the Indonesian military was again given a key role in countering terrorism. In 2021, this legal provision was brought into play as the main West Papuan armed resistance, the TPNPB was designated as a ‘terrorist’ organisation by the Government.
21 September 2021
The political trial of Victor Yeimo was adjourned by the District Court of Jayapura on 31 August 2021 until he is declared physically fit by the hospital. On the same day, the Court also dismissed his pretrial motion, challenging his arrest and detention for violating criminal procedural law, on the grounds that the main trial had begun.
16 September 2021
Peaceful demonstrators, student activists, West Papuan and Indonesian political activist groups, human rights lawyers and defenders and individual civilians experienced extreme repression for their involvement in peaceful demonstrations and meetings which occured in 2020 in West Papua and outside West Papua.
01 September 2021
Campaigner, TAPOL
September 2021
Position: Campaigner (UK-based)
24 August 2021
Today is the first day of the trial of West Papuan political leader Victor Yeimo, the international spokes-person of the West Papuan National Committee (Komite Nasional Papua Barat, KNPB) and the Papuan People's Petition (Petisi Rakyat Papua, PRP). Victor Yeimo was arrested on 9th May 2021 for his alleged role in the 2019 West Papua Uprising protests.
14 August 2021
TAPOL, ETAN and Watch Indonesia! strongly condemn President Joko Widodo’s decision to grant ‘Bintang Jasa Utama’, one the highest national awards, to Eurico Guterres on Thursday, 12 August 2021.
29 July 2021
TAPOL strongly condemns the conduct of two airforce personnel who severely beat a disabled man, Steven Yadohamang, in Merauke, West Papua province, on 27 July 2021.
16 July 2021
CIVICUS and TAPOL regret the revision and renewal of the Special Autonomy Law in West Papua (Papua and West Papua Provinces), which further strips critical aspects of decentralisation and autonomy for the region. We are also extremely concerned about the arbitrary arrest of people protesting the renewal and forcible disruptions of protests.
11 July 2021
Carmel Budiardjo, TAPOL’s founder and driving force for many decades, passed away peacefully on the morning of Saturday 10th July.
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.
25 May 2021
TAPOL has today launched a briefing aimed at informing the international community about why West Papuan people are rejecting the extension and revision of the special autonomy law. In support of a call by West Papuan grassroots organisations, we have become part of the movement of civil society organisations associated with the Papuan People’s Petition (Petisi Rakyat Papua, PRP) as its 111th member.