Dozens killed in rallies

More than 40 people were killed in August and September 2019 after anti-government protests turned violent in Papua and West Papua provinces, which make up the Indonesian half of New Guinea island.

The unrest was sparked by perceived heavy-handed and racist treatment of Papuan students by security personnel on Java Island. It prompted the government to send police and military troops to the Papua region and block the internet for three weeks.

Papuan activists and their supporters, inspired by the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States, recently went on social media using the hashtag �PapuanLivesMatter� to denounce what they see as racist treatment across Indonesia of Papuans.

Protests broke out across the United States sparked by a video that showed a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of a black man, George Floyd, who said he could not breathe and later died, as other officers stood nearby.

On Wednesday, Amnesty International urged the Indonesian government to release the seven who were convicted in Balikpapan.

�We deeply regret the court�s decision. Although the sentences are much lighter than those demanded by the public prosecutors, we believe the prisoners of conscience should not have been arrested, jailed and prosecuted,� AI Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid said in a statement.

The Papua region was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 after a U.N.-administered ballot known as the Act of Free Choice. Many Papuans and rights groups said the vote was a sham because it involved only about 1,000 people.

The provinces of Papua and West Papua make up one-fifth of Indonesia�s land mass but only 5.9 million of Indonesia�s 270 million people live there.