Plea to Indonesia's President to stop human rights abuses in West Papua

President Prabowo Subianto greets people as he rides in a car after his inauguration in Jakarta, Indonesia, 20 October 2024. Photo: Asprilla Dwi Adha/Antara Foto

The international advocacy group, Human Rights watch, has put out a plea to Indonesia's President to stop human rights abuses in West Papua.

President Prabowo Subianto has just completed 100 days in the job.

"We basically want President Prabowo to end the decades of racism, discrimination, intimidation, violence against indigenous Papuans," Human Rights Watch researcher Andreas Harsono said.

"We want the Indonesian government to respect their rights, to respect their environment, because many of their lands, forests, waters are being polluted, are being destroyed."

Harsono said "let's hope for the best" if he thought the President would address human rights abuses in West Papua.

He said Subianto should decriminalise the use of the morning star, which is considered a symbol of West Papua's struggle for independence.

"It will immediately reduce so much tension in West Papua."

The morning star was declared as a national flag in 1961, and every 1 December, the flag is raised by people across the world in support of West Papuans, but raising it is strictly barred by the Indonesian authorities.

Harsono pointed to former President Abdurrahman Wahid who decriminalised the flying the morning star flag.

Wahid is reported to have approved the use of the flag as a form of tribal identity, provided that the Morning Star flag was placed lower than the Indonesian flag.

"Many Papuans told me that it was the most peaceful period in their history, just by decriminalising the morning star.

"The Morning Star can be flown along with the Indonesian flag."

Harsono said "narrow mindedness" could hold the President back from decriminalising the morning flag symbol.

"Many Indonesians see danger behind the morning star flag. Many Indonesians are paranoid about seeing the so called, 'separatist flag'."

The organisation is also asking for the government to lift restrictions on international rights monitors and foreign journalists from visiting the region.

As well as granting amnesty to Papuans involved in pro-independence movements.

A Papuan man (right) in traditional clothing and face painted with the banned Morning Star flag stands next to a policeman during a demonstration demanding a referendum on independence in Yogyakarta on Dec. 1, 2023. Photo: AFP / Devi Rahman

Indonesia assessing policies

A spokesperson for Indonesia's embassy in Wellington said the Subianto government is "conducting some assessment regarding policies and its implementation for the region of Papua".

They said this includes the morning star flag, visitation to Papua for foreign nationals and the amnesty proposal.

The spokesperson said Indonesia is assessing the use of the Morning Star flag, "in regard to cultural symbol of Papuans and its use not as a symbol of sovereignty apart from Indonesia".

"As for the visitation of foreign nationals, the main concern is the safety of the visit, and how to implement all the necessary security measures to avoid certain experiences that could renegades the actual points of such visits," they said.

"Indonesia currently working with the Regional Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to review their implementation procedures, and taking into account Indonesian military's vast experiences on peace-keeping missions and its contributions across the globe."

They said the government was also in the process of assessing the amnesty process.