Indonesia briefly detains 1,200 Papuans to halt protest

JAYAPURA, Indonesia – Indonesian police briefly detained around 1,200 pro-independence demonstrators in the insurgency-hit easternmost region of Papua to stop a planned protest from going ahead, an official said Tuesday, May 3.

The demonstrators were rounded up in and around the city of Jayapura on Monday as they sought to hold rallies to mark the anniversary of Indonesia taking control of the region from former colonial power the Netherlands in 1963. (READ: The ‘slow motion genocide’ happening in Indonesia the world knows little about)

Papua police spokesman Patrige Renwarin said that those picked up did not have permission to hold a protest.

“They requested a permit to stage a protest but they could not fulfil all the requirements so the permit was not given,” Renwarin told AFP.

They were taken in police vehicles to a football field to be addressed by the local police chief and local politicians before being released about an hour later, he said.

Human rights group the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute said that more than 1,600 people were detained at several locations across Papua. Authorities would not confirm that figure.

A low-level insurgency has simmered for decades in Indonesia’s easternmost region of Papua – which comprises two provinces, Papua and West Papua – with insurgents fighting on behalf of the mostly ethnic Melanesian population.

Indonesian troops are regularly accused of abusing villagers in the name of anti-rebel operations, although the government denies systematic abuses.

Jakarta has long kept a tight grip on resource-rich Papua. But President Joko Widodo has taken a keen interest in the underdeveloped region, pledging to improve livelihoods and open it up.

He has taken steps including freeing political prisoners and vowing to allow foreign media free access, ending decades-long curbs on reporting from the region.

However rights groups have said that reporters from overseas outlets still face difficulties getting permission to cover Papua. – Rappler.com