West Papuan independence activist Filep Karma. Photo: Eben Kirksey
The daughter of Filep Karma who died this week aged 63 has confirmed that the West Papua activist died in a diving accident.
Andrefina Karma said she followed the external post-mortem process of Filep Karma's body.
The results showed that Filep Karma died from drowning while diving.
Andrefina Karma asked people not to protest the death of her father.
Human rights watch researcher Andreas Harsono told Pacific Waves Karma was a master diver and dived regularly at the same beach.
Harsono said Karma often encountered problems at sea.
He said that on the day of his death he was with two relatives and they were swimming together. The relatives went home as Karma wanted to fish alone, which Harsono said is dangerous for a diver.
Suspicions mount
However, some Papuan activists want a full investigation into the death.
West Papua National Committee (KNPB) activist Ogram Wanimbo, said the complete chronology of Filep Karma's death must be revealed transparently to the public.
Wanimbo said they are very dissatisfied with the post-mortem results.
"We need an explanation of who went to the beach with him and what exactly happened," he said.
Papuan People's Petition spokesperson Jefri Wenda also asked for a more detailed explanation.
The chairman of the Papua Customary Council, Dominikus Surabut, said his party also did not fully believe that Filep Karma's death was purely an accident.
"The family said it was a pure accident but until now, I don't believe it. Let there be an investigation into it," Surabut said.
"There were too many strange circumstances around his death and questioning police's influence on the family. We are not accepting this as an accident," declared Indonesian human rights Veronica Koman.
Veronica Koman Photo: ANU
