2019 Papua protests

2019 Papua protests
Part of the Papua conflict
Protesters marching in Sarmi Regency
Date	19 August 2019 – ongoing (5 years, 4 months, 1 week and 6 days)
Location	Various cities and towns across Papua and West Papua provinces, smaller rallies across other Indonesian cities
Caused by	Papuan independence movement Racist incident in Surabaya
Parties
Free Papua Movement Papuan students Indonesia Indonesian Police Indonesian Army
Casualties and losses
5–7 dead 1 dead

The 2019 Papua protests refers to a series of protests by Papuans in Indonesia that began on 19 August 2019, mainly across Indonesian Papua. The protests erupted in response to an incident in Surabaya where a group of Papuan students were arrested for alleged disrespect of the Indonesian flag. In several locations, notably Jayapura, Sorong, Fakfak, Timika and Manokwari, protests turned violent, with various private buildings and public facilities being damaged or burned. The protests and unrest were described by media outlets as the largest in years.

Background

See also: Papua conflict

Papua, formerly a colony of the Netherlands as Netherlands New Guinea, was annexed by Indonesia in 1969 following the controversial "Act of Free Choice". In the years that followed, a low-intensity insurgency has occurred across the region. More recently, tens of thousands of civilians around Nduga Regency were displaced following increased military presence and fighting with separatist fighters due to a massacre of workers constructing the Trans-Papua Highway. In an attempt to reduce tensions in the region, the Indonesian government granted increased autonomy to provinces comprising the region, with sitting president Joko Widodo (Jokowi) visiting the region six times since he was sworn into office in 2014.

15 August rallies

On 15 August 2019, the anniversary of the 1962 New York Agreement and coinciding with a discussion on Papua in the Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu, protests by Papuans were held across several cities in Indonesia, including Jayapura, Sentani, Ternate, Ambon, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Jakarta, and Malang. Various Papuan student groups joined the protests, which proceeded peacefully in Yogyakarta and Jakarta but saw dispersal by authorities and several protesters arrested in other cities, though they were released soon afterwards. In Bandung, civil militias forced the protesters to change the rally's location. In the city of Malang, Papuan protesters clashed with counter-protesters and later fans of the football club Arema Malang, with racist slurs from the counter-protesters. Five protesters were reported to be "heavily injured" and virtually all protesters were injured in some way.

Incident

On 16 August 2019, around the celebrations of the Independence of Indonesia, forty-three Papuan students in Surabaya, East Java were arrested by police following reports that an Indonesian flag was damaged outside the building they lived in. According to police accounts, the building where the students stayed was stormed by police as a crowd was gathering outside the building preparing to assault it. Civil militias from the Islamic Defenders Front and the Pancasila Youth were reported to be present at the location and had attacked the students verbally and physically. Allegedly, the mob had yelled "Monkeys, get out" at the students.

Protests

On 19 August, a crowd of what was estimated by an AFP reporter to be "several thousand" began protesting in Manokwari, the capital of West Papua province. The protest turned into a riot which resulted in the local parliament building being torched. According to Indonesian officials, three police officers were injured due to rock-throwing protesters. Aside from public facilities, some private property were also torched. Some of the protesters were carrying the Morning Star flag - the old flag of Netherlands New Guinea used by the West Papuan separatist movement - while crying out pro-independence slogans. In Indonesia, the action is punishable by up to 15 years of prison. West Papua's vice governor Mohamad Lakotani remarked that the city's economy was completely paralyzed by the protests. According to a spokesman from the National Committee for West Papua, a female protester was shot in the ankle during the protests at Manokwari. Indonesian Armed Forces told media that 300 soldiers were deployed to Manokwari on 21 August, with an overall count of 1,200 security personnel across the week.

Jayapura, the region's largest city and the provincial capital of Papua, saw hundreds of protesters who forcefully took down the Indonesian flag in front of governor Lukas Enembe's office. Protesters also blocked the road to the city's Sentani Airport.

In the city of Sorong, protests also occurred with reported gunshots. In response to the "monkey" slur in Surabaya, some of the protesters dressed as monkeys. A mob invaded the Domine Eduard Osok Airport and threw rocks at the airport's glass windows, damaging the terminal building. The attack also temporarily disrupted the airport's operations. Aside from the airport, the city's prison was also torched, resulting in the escape of 258 convicts and injuring some prison guards, though on 23 August a prison official noted that most of the escaped prisoners simply were attempting to escape the fire and check for their families, and that most of the escapees have returned to prison.

Around 4,000-5,000 protesters rallied in the mining town of Timika, which saw the damaging of a hotel near the local parliament of the Mimika Regency. Further clashes between protesters and police occurred in front of the parliament building, as police dispersed a crowd waiting for Mimika's regent Eltinus Omaleng. Dozens were eventually arrested, charged with damaging of the hotel or coercing a local car repair shop to provide tires for a tire fire. 3 policemen were reported to be injured.

Thousands of protesters also rallied in the town of Fakfak on 21 August, which saw a local market and office building torched and protesters blocking roads to the Fakfak Torea Airport. Police also fired tear gas on the protesters to disperse the crowds. According to an Indonesian police spokesman, the situation was "contained" and only around 50 people were involved in the torching of the market building. Several people were injured in the protests and clashes.

Rallies were also held in the towns of Merauke, Nabire, Yahukimo and Biak. Papuan students in Jakarta also held a rally in front of the Ministry of Home Affairs on 22 August. More peaceful protests continued, with a peaceful "long march" in Sarmi Regency on 23 August and a pro-independence rally in Semarang the following day. Other rallies protesting the racism were also held in Yogyakarta, Bandung and Denpasar, among others. Some activists noted that the protests were the largest to happen in the region for years. Protests continued on 26 August, with the West Papuan flag being flown by peaceful protesters in Deiyai Regency numbering 5,000 according to organizers, alongside simultaneous rallies in the Papuan towns of Wamena, Paniai, Yahukimo, and Dogiyai in addition to off-Papua cities such as Makassar. On 28 August, protesters in Deiyai demanded Deiyai's regent sign a petition demanding an independence referendum, but according to official accounts a large mob attacked officers guarding the location, and in the ensuing clashes one Indonesian Army sergeant was killed and some officers injured. There were also reports of civilian casualties - according to the Indonesian National Police, two civilians were killed while local media Suara Papua reported six fatalities. Local human rights activists reported seven civilian deaths. The police later stated that five protesters were killed following an attempt to seize police weapons.

On the morning of 30 August, continued violent protests resulted in the General Elections Commission branch in Jayapura to be torched, burning documents of local representatives elected in the 2019 election. Protesters had also torched buildings and cars the previous day in the city, breaking into a prison in Abepura district. That night, a further 1,250 security personnel were deployed to Jayapura.

Reactions

Responding to the protests, the Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Information Technology implemented an internet slowdown around Sorong, in a move that was stated to be one to combat disinformation, later expanded to cover the entire region. The ministry also reported to have shut down social media accounts which "shared provocative content". The internet shutdown resulted in another protest against the ministry in Jakarta by rights organisations.

In the night of 19 August, President Joko Widodo released a statement urging calm and noted to the Papuans that "it's OK to be emotional, but it's better to be forgiving. Patience is also better.". Joko Widodo also prepared a visit to the region. Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Wiranto also released a statement which promised a "complete and fair" investigation into the incident in Surabaya and added that the situation in Papua was under control. Wiranto further claimed that a "certain party" was benefitting from the chaotic situation. also stated that he had instructed security forces to avoid repressive measures and not use regular ammunition, and rejected the possibility of a referendum. National Police chief Tito Karnavian claimed that the riots had been caused by, aside from the incident in Surabaya and treatment of the involved students, a hoax about one of the students being killed during their detention.

Deputy Speaker of the People's Representative Council Fadli Zon called for an investigation into parties responsible for the racism incident in Surabaya. East Java's regional police formed a team to investigate the accusations. Bishop of Amboina Petrus Canisius Mandagi called for peaceful protests and remarked that Papuans "should not be savage like those who spout racism". Indonesian Senator from Papua Yorrys Raweyai called for the disbandment of Nahdlatul Ulama's Banser, claiming that the militia's disbandment was a demand from the protesters at Sorong. Papua governor Lukas Enembe visited the Papuan students' building in Surabaya on 27 August but he was turned away by the students, who had been rejecting all visitors.

Tri Susanti, a Gerindra member and a leader of the Surabaya protests against the Papuan students, publicly apologized following the protests across Papua and denied accusations of physical violence against the students.

West Papuan independence figure Benny Wenda commented that the incident in Surabaya had "lit the bonfire of nearly 60 years of racism, discrimination and torture of the people of West Papua by Indonesia". A spokesperson for the West Papua Liberation Army (a pro-independence armed group) stated that the group had not participated in the protests.