Indonesia: Papuan students face violent dispersal, other demonstrators prevented from gathering
Event- Country
- Indonesia
- Initial Date
- Jul 14, 2022
- Event Description
A number of Cenderawasih University (Uncen) students were injured when Jayapura City Police personnel forced to disperse a demonstration against Special Autonomy (Otsus) and the expansion of Papua, Thursday, July 14, 2022.
Several students were injured when they were forcibly dispersed by the police. The wound is thought to have been obtained from being hit by a police rattan stick.
The coordinator of the action, Kamus Bayage said the police forcefully dispersed the students while giving a speech against the expansion of the new autonomous region (DOB) of Papua in front of the Gate of Uncen Campus.
Initially, the students planned to go to the Papua DPR office, to convey their aspirations. However, their actions were intercepted by the police.
According to Kamus, the police forcefully dispersed the students and chased the protesters into the campus.
"(The police) gave us the megaphone, we have the megaphone. As proof, we have it. Some of our friends were able to beat us. Then they drove us to the campus. The police were violent. says the Bayage Dictionary, Thursday, July 14, 2022.
The coordinator of the action, Kamus Bayage said that approximately four students were injured in the forced dispersal.
According to him, the students have tried to negotiate with the police to be allowed into the Papuan DPR office. However, the two parties did not reach an agreement.
Head of the Jayapura City Police Operations Control Sub-Section, Widodo claimed that the police had allowed students to give speeches at the campus gate.
However, the police did not allow students to leave the campus and go to the Papuan DPR office, because the demonstration did not have a permit. The police finally dispersed the action, because the protesters forced them to continue their action to the Papuan DPR office.
Previously, the DPR passed a draft law on the formation of three provinces in Papua, Thursday, June 30, 2022.
Namely, the Bill on the Establishment of the Province of Central Papua, the Bill on the Formation of the Province of South Papua, and the Bill on the Formation of the Province of Papua Mountains.
This approval has drawn various rejections, especially from the people in Papua. In fact, before the rule was passed.
The security forces dispersed most of the protesters from the Petisi Rakyat Papua (PRP) which had gathered at several points in the Abepura and Heram districts, Jayapura City, Papua.
Head of Public Relations for Jayapura City Police, Ipda Sarah Kafiar, confirmed that the TNI-Polri security forces had dispersed the protesters at several gathering points, so they did not have time to become a larger group.
However, there were also those who made it to Jayapura and demonstrated at the Papua Provincial DPR, but used vehicles and after delivering their speeches they dispersed. Overall the security and security situation is under control, and community activities are going on normally.
"Nothing stands out and community activities continue normally," Sarah said as quoted by Antara, Thursday, July 14.
A total of 2,000 TNI-Polri personnel were alerted to secure the PRP's demonstration. He admitted that many personnel were alerted because his party did not allow the demonstrators to conduct a long march to the Papua Provincial DPR. Apart from not allowing the demonstrators to conduct long marches, the PRP is also not an organization registered with Kesbangpol. "As for the demands of the protesters, among others, reject the formation of new autonomous regions (DOB) and a referendum," said Ipda Sarah Kafiar.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly
- Freedom of expression
- Offline
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- Right to Protest
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: -2.5412006153504323
Longitude: 140.70526290776561
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 14 July 2022, a number of students and Papuan minority rights defenders were violently dispersed by the police while staging a protest against the new spacial autonomy status of Papua Province, and other demonstrator were prevented from gathering in Jayapura, Papua, Indonesia.