The Indonesian Military (TNI) is committed to supporting the completion of the Trans-Papua Highway during President Prabowo Subianto’s term in office.

While the military is not involved in construction, it plays a critical role in securing the project from threats posed by pro-independence Papuan resistance groups in “high-risk” regions.

Spanning a total length of 4330 km, the Trans-Papua road project has been under development since 2014.

However, only 3446 km of the national road network has been connected after more than a decade of construction.

“Don’t compare Papua with Jakarta, where there are no armed groups. Papua is five times the size of Java, and not all areas are secure,” TNI spokesman Major-General Kristomei Sianturi told a media conference at the Ministry of Public Works on Monday.

One of the currently active segments is the Jayapura–Wamena route — specifically the Mamberamo–Elim section, which stretches 50 km.

The project is being carried out through a public-private partnership and was awarded to PT Hutama Karya, with an investment of Rp3.3 trillion (about US$202 million) and a 15-year concession. The segment is expected to be completed within two years, targeting finalisation next year.

Security an obstacle
General Kristomei said that one of the main obstacles was security in the vicinity of construction sites.

Out of 50 regencies/cities in Papua, at least seven are considered high-risk zones. Since its inception, the Trans-Papua road project has claimed 17 lives, due to clashes in the region.

In addition to security challenges, the delivery of construction materials remains difficult due to limited infrastructure.

“Transporting goods from one point to another in Papua is extremely difficult because there are no connecting roads. We’re essentially building from scratch,” General Kristomei said.

In May 2024, President Joko Widodo convened a limited cabinet meeting at the Merdeka Palace to discuss accelerating development in Papua. The government agreed on the urgent need to improve education, healthcare, and security in the region.

The Minister of National Development Planning, Suharso Monoarfa, announced that the government would ramp up social welfare programmes in Papua in coordination with then Vice-President Ma’ruf Amin, who chairs the Agency for the Acceleration of Special Autonomy in Papua (BP3OKP).

‘Welfare based approaches’
“We are gradually implementing welfare-based approaches, including improvements in education and health, with budgets already allocated to the relevant ministries and agencies,” Suharso said in May last year.

As of March 2023, the Indonesian government has disbursed Rp 1,036 trillion for Papua’s development.

This funding has supported major infrastructure initiatives such as the 3462 km Trans-Papua Highway, 1098 km of border roads, the construction of the 1.3 km Youtefa Bridge in Jayapura, and the renovation of Domine Eduard Osok Airport in Sorong.

Republished from the Indonesia Business Post.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A Papuan woman politician has warned Indonesian security forces against restricting women from selling noken — traditional string bags — and other accessories displaying the banned Morning Star flag design at the Papuan National Games (PON XX) venue in Jayapura.

Orpa Nari, a Papuan People’s Assembly (MRP) member of the Women Workgroup, said the police should not be afraid of “a pattern”.

“It’s just a pattern,” she said. “None of these mamas [Papuan women] weave the pattern as a way to go against the state.

“If anything, it’s our identity as Papuans,” Nari told the Papuan newspaper Tabloid Jubi.

Previously, the security forces reportedly forbade Papuan women from selling any Morning Star-patterned accessories during the Games as they were considered a resistance symbol against the Indonesian state.

Nari said that Papuan women had been making noken with various patterns — including the Morning Star — for a long time, even before the National Games.

“It has nothing to do with the Games event. It’s common to find accessories with the Morning Star design made by Papuan women.

“It’s simply a part of their identity that cannot be forgotten and let go,” she said.

Supported their families
Nari added that these women had supported their families through knitting and making accessories.

“It’s their livelihood. We Papuans know it by heart,” she said.

MRP chair Timotius Murib said he had received information that residents and supporters wearing clothes and accessories with the Morning Star pattern were not allowed to enter the National Games venue

“Some people who wore bracelets or clothes with the Morning Star pattern were forbidden from watching the Games.

“These accessories are common and not just worn by native Papuans,” said Murib.

Murib hoped that the security forces would not overreact to the phenomenon.

“Don’t overdo it, it’s just an accessory. Let’s create a good atmosphere during the PON XX and make it a successful event,” he said.

The two-week-long Games end on Friday.

Yance Wenda is a Tabloid Jubi reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Papua human rights activist and lawyer Veronica Koman has called for an independent inquiry into the attack on health workers in the Kiwirok district, Star Highlands, Papua, saying there are two versions of how the tragedy happened.

A healthcare worker, 22-year-old Gabriella Maelani, was killed during the attack by the West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Organisation (TPNPB-OPM) resistance movement.

“There is one version which is clearly being shared a lot in the media. And there is a second version circulating among the Papuan people,” Koman told CNN Indonesia.

Koman said that the chronology of events which was being broadcast by most news media depicted the alleged brutality of the TPNPB-OPM during the attack.

In the second version alleged the attack was triggered when a person wearing a doctor’s uniform shot at the TPNPB, causing a shootout inside the healthcare building, Koman said.

She said that in Papua many TNI (Indonesian military) personnel held dual posts as teachers and doctors. She believed this caused a great deal of suspicion in Papua.

Nevertheless, she was saddened by the news that a healthcare worker died, although she said that the truth about the chronology of events must still be investigated.

Death of healthcare worker
Based on information she had received, the death of the healthcare worker was not because they were tortured by the TPNPB as alleged.

“The Papuan people’s version is that it’s not true that there was torture. Gabriella jumped [into a ravine] while escaping, she wasn’t thrown into the ravine by the OPM,” she said.

Koman called for an independent investigation. According to Koman, finding out which chronology was correct would influence several factors, particularly racism against the Papuan people.

“If for example the alleged barbaric actions are not true, it will influence the stigma and racism against the Papuan people. And that is very barbaric,” she said.

“Looking for examples of human rights issues, we can separate it. The ones adversely affected should be the OPM, not the ordinary Papuan people.

“In general with minority groups, including the Chinese, when one person does wrong, everyone is adversely affected. LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] for example, if a gay person does something, the whole community is adversely affected. So it’s important to straighten it out.”

Koman also said care was needed to be taken with the witness testimonies.

Information under duress
She questioned whether or not the witnesses provided information under duress.

“There would have been many soldiers around them … So they could have been pressured,” she said.

Earlier, the TPNPB-OPM admitted responsibility for attacking public facilities such as a community healthcare centre and school building in the Kiwirok district on September 13 and 14.

They claimed that the attack was a form of resistance demanding Papuan independence from Indonesia.

The Presidential Staff Office said that “armed criminal groups” (KKB) — as officials generally describe Papuan armed independence fighters — violated human rights law after the healthcare worker died during the attack on September 13.

Presidential Staff Deputy V Jaleswari Pramodhawardani said that the armed group had violated several laws such as the healthcare law, the nurses law, the hospital law and the healthcare quarantine law.

Translated by James Balowski for IndoLeft News. The original title of the article was “Veronica Koman Klaim Ada 2 Versi Penembakan Nakes di Papua”.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The West Papua National Committee (KNPB) claims that an attack on a military post in Maybrat regency earlier this month is being used as a pretext to “force the KNPB into a corner” and to criminalise them, reports Suara Papua.

The September 2 attack on Kisor sub-district military post in Maybrat regency, West Papua province, killed four soldiers.

“There are vested interests and a plot by certain parties behind the killing for four TNI [Indonesian military] members at Kisor, Maybrat,” claimed KNPB spokesperson Ones Suhuniap in a statement sent to Suara Papua newspaper.

“First multinational palm oil companies, which are currently challenging [the cancellation of] permits in the western Birds Head region,” he said.

“Second, the construction of [new] Koramil [sub-district military commands] in several districts in South Sorong and Maybrat regencies.

“Third, the additional deployment of troops on the grounds of securing the PON XX Papua [20th Papua National Games].”

Suhuniap said the incident was a plot and a trap which had been arranged to distract public attention from a challenge by four palm oil companies with the Jayapura State Administrative Court (PTUN) against Sorong Regent Jhony Kamuru’s decision to revoke their permits.

Legalising Trans-Papua Highway posts
The “plot” was also to legalise and accelerate the construction of sub-district military posts and TNI and Indonesian police posts on the Trans-Papua highway connecting Manokwari and Sorong.

Suhuniap said that for the KNPB such a plot was nothing new and these methods were often used in Papua, especially against the KNPB.

As has been reported, the police claimed that a member of the civil society KNPB was involved in the attack, namely the movement’s chairperson in the Kisor sector.

However, what their alleged motive was and why they were involved, along with who the mastermind was behind the 19 people declared responsible for the attack had not been cited by the police.

Suhuniap said that if there were KNPB Maybrat members involved then there was a third party which provoked or trapped them into it and so it was necessary to discover the mastermind and what their interests were.

The KNPB did not kill or act in a hostile way towards other people, including the TNI and police, Suhuniap said.

“There is no agenda of murder directed against the authorities or special organisational instruction to attack members of the TNI and Indonesian police,” he said.

Investigation needed
“So the police must delve into and investigate this case further. Who was the mastermind behind the attack? Don’t criminalise the KNPB.” he said.

If the investigation found that KNPB members were proven to have been involved in the attack then their actions were taken as individuals, not the organisation.

“We as an organisation [the KNPB] have never carried out sabotage or urban guerrilla actions,” he said.

Suhuniap also said the attack was part of an Indonesian effort to counter public demands from within Papua and internationally for the release of KNPB international spokesperson Victor Yeimo.

“The state is shaping public opinion to distract the Papuan people’s attention from Victor Yeimo’s release and creating a sense of fear,” he said.

“Indonesian colonialism through its intelligence [services] are shaping public opinion and distracting the Papuan people’s attention by accusing the KNPB of being involved in the attack on the soldiers in Kisor.

“We believe that this effort to distract public attention is a cheap sort of intelligence propaganda to destroy and criminalise the KNPB.”

Suhuniap called on colleagues from West Papua’s 112 resistance movement organisations and all Papuan people to remain solid and not be influenced by the manipulation of public opinion.

“The Papuan people must be consistent in rejecting the extension of special autonomy, the unconditional release of Victor Yeimo and demanding the right to self-determination,” he said.

Translated by James Balowski for IndoLeft News. The original title of the article was “KNPB Sebut Empat Skenario Pembunuhan Empat Anggota TNI di Kisor”.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Indonesia is unleashing a massive military crackdown in West Papua with the use of “demon troops” and spurning human rights, warns a Papuan leader.

Benny Wenda, interim president of the United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP), said in a statement today that cutting off the internet was a repeat of the “Papuan spring” uprising of August-September 2019 when the Indonesian military concealed bloodshed and massacres.

He claimed the situation was shaping up as the “biggest military operation since the late 1970s”.

“I issue this urgent warning [to] the world – huge Indonesian military operations, some of the largest in years, are imminent in West Papua,” Wenda said.

“The internet is being cut off, hundreds more troops are being deployed, and we are receiving reports that West Papuan civilians are fleeing from their villages in Intan Jaya, Puncak Jaya, and Nduga regencies.”

Indonesian President Joko Widodo ordered a “crackdown” in West Papua following the killing of an Indonesian intelligence officer, Brigadier General I Gusti Putu Danny Karya Nugraha, in clashes last week.

The People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker, Bambang Soesatyo, has said that they will “discuss human rights matters later” after eliminating the Papuan resistance movement.

“Just last week 400 new specialist soldiers, known as ‘demon troops’, were deployed to Nduga regency, where more than 50,000 people have already been displaced since December 2018.

Recent reports said more than 21,000 Indonesian troops had been deployed to the West Papua region in the past three years.

Internet shutdown cover
The internet shutdown provided cover for the military operations.

“The Jala Mangkara Detachment (Denjaka), elite troops of the Indonesian Navy, are being deployed. I myself witnessed the consequences of these military operations when I was a child, seeing my village bombed and my family killed,” Wenda said.

“I had to flee and live in the bush for six years. It makes my heart cry that this is about to happen to so many more of my people.”

These military operations follow the Indonesian government deciding to label West Papuan resistance groups as ‘terrorists’, a move condemned by Amnesty and Indonesia’s own human rights commission.

“Those in West Papua who take up arms are not terrorists. They are not connected to a religious ideology or international funding networks,” said Wenda.

“They are just defending their land against an illegal occupier. They have little knowledge of the outside world, they are fighting barefoot to defend their people against a modern military.

“Maybe a few hundred of them face an army of over 20,000 troops, including D88, trained in how to kill my people for years by the West.

Only ‘state terrorism’
“There is only one actor – the Indonesian state that has been killing pastors and high school children for political purposes, who has driven over 400 women and children to their death in the bush.

“Indonesian police and military this year have beaten three brothers to death in a hospital, executed teenagers, and killed peaceful activists in prison.

“The new military operations are already striking fear into West Papuans across the country. This is state terrorism.”

Wenda said the killing of the Indonesian intelligence general was the justification that Indonesia needed to carry out these operations.

“How can the killing of a leading official in an occupying army justify killing civilians and attacking villages? The Indonesian military often carries out attacks and blames it on West Papuans in order to justify its operations.

“They never provide any evidence of who carried out the killing.”

Wenda asked why Indonesia had refused to allow international journalists into West Papua to investigate these issues.

‘Desperate to hide killings’
““Why does it ban human rights monitors, including even the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights?” asked Wenda.

“Indonesia is so desperate to hide its killing and torture that it is willing to defy the will of 84 international states calling for the UN to be allowed access. Indonesia has got away with impunity for the 1977-79 genocidal military operations, the 1998 Biak Massacre, the 2014 Paniai Massacre, and so many more [human rights violations].”

More than 500,000 Papuans had already been killed, claimed Wenda, who warned that the number was going to rise even further – “a genocide is in motion”.

“This is my cry to the world, to the UN, to the Pacific Islands Forum, to Melanesian leaders, to the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP), and to the UK, Australian, New Zealand, Dutch and US governments,” said Wenda.

“We are about to witness another massacre in West Papua. You have the power to intervene and help us find a peaceful solution to the crisis.”

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz