Andrzej Owca delivered an Oral Statement on the human rights situation in West Papua, Indonesia, in particular regarding the cases of extra-judicial killings of the indigenous Papuans. This statement reflects the commitment of VIVAT members at the grassroots level.
Link to the video on UN website (No. 14, from 0:28:43)
Joint Oral Statement at the 36th regular session of the Human Right Council
Item 4: General Debate – human rights situations that require the Council’s attention.
September 19, 2017
Delivered by: Andrzej Owca
Mr. President
VIVAT International, Franciscans International, International Coalition for Papua and Westpapua Netzwerk would like to draw the Council’s attention to the human rights situation in West Papua, Indonesia, in particular regarding the cases of extra-judicial killings of the indigenous Papuans.
Information coming out of West Papua, since many years, has been of great concern to us. We have documented numerous cases throughout the past years, in which the behavior of the security force members has intensified the conflict escalations and resulted in the unnecessary use of fire arms.
The majority of cases of extra-judicial kilings in West Papua reveals that the victims are indigenous Papuans, including minors. This shows that the indigenous population is more likely at risk of becoming victims of state violence. Often they suffer from racial discriminative prejudices amongst Indonesian security forces in West Papua and being accused of supporting groups of separatists.
We would like to mention a few examples. Cases from Timika, Paniai and Sugapa reaffirm that the promises made at national and international level by state agencies and law enforcement bodies to address such cases and hold perpetrators accountable have not been fulfilled.
The last reported case took place on August 1st this year in Oneibo Village, Deiyai Regency of Papua Province where one indigenous Papuan was allegedly killed by the Indonesian Police Special Forces and ten others were seriously injured by bullets, among them five minors.
Therefore, we recommend that the Government of Indonesia:
- Engage on the request for a political dialogue between the conflict parties on the basis of mutual trust with the people of Papua for the long-term settlement of the conflict and violence in West Papua.
- Address the cases of extrajudicial killings of indigenous Papuans without delay and uphold transparency in the justice system to keep accountable the perpetrators of such crimes.
- Invite the UN Special Rapporteur on the Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary execution to make a country visit to Indonesia including West Papua.
Thank you, Mr. President
Cosponsored by:
- Franciscans International (FI)
- International Coalitien for Papua (ICP)
- Westpapua Netzwerk (WPN)
