Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara (AMAN) or The Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago strongly condemned the siege and attacks by a group of members of mass organizations and state apparatus (police and army) against Papuan students in Surabaya, East Java, on Friday night (August 16, 2019). The siege was accompanied by acts of violence and racist insults. In particular, we condemn the Indonesian military and police who are actually involved in the action and ignored their responsibilities as the state apparatus who should prevent and protecting its citizens. Violence against Papuan students in Surabaya does not reflect the actions of civilized humans.
This problem shows that Indonesia, which was built as a Unity in Diversity, has suffered a setback. The state apparatus and mass organizations in facts carried out acts of discrimination and violence against its community itself.
Papua has contributed greatly to Indonesia, but recent condition in Papua is increasingly squeezed. Special autonomy has not yet succeeded in protecting Papua. Ancestral domain are on sale to companies, while on the other hand the percentage of Orang Asli Papua or the Papuan indigenous peoples is currently only around 40 per cent compared to local migrant people who came from outside of Papua. In Papua their rights were denied without effective protection upon indigenous rights, while in Indonesia the Papuan indigenous peoples presence were suspected and denied systematically.
Therefore, AMAN urges the Indonesian Government immediately to take the following actions:
1. Both Central Government and regional Governments as well as the security forces must ensure the security for Papuans who are currently residing in their territory, bearing in mind that similar incidents have also occurred elsewhere.
2. President Jokowi must ordered the Head of the Indonesian National Police (KAPOLRI) to investigate those actors who were directly or indirectly involved in the incident.
3. KAPOLRI should take decisive actions on state officers and mass organizations members who are involved in violent actions against 43 Papuan students in Surabaya.
4. The State must exercise effective recognition and protection of the Indigenous Peoples rights - to ensure that the Papuan Indigenous Peoples remain the masters of their ancestral domains.
Violence against Papuan students in Surabaya must immediately be resolved so that it does not spread and to ensure that similar acts of violence does not recurred later on - not only against Papuans but against all Indigenous Peoples in the Archipelago.
Jakarta, August 19, 2019
Rukka Sombolinggi
Secretary General of AMAN