Amnesty International says Indonesian security forces are responsible for unlawfully killing as many as 95 people in the Papua territory since 2010.
According to the report issued Monday by the human rights advocacy group, many of the victims were political activists who took part in raising the "Morning Star" flag, which symbolizes the territory's independence movement; others were killed while taking part in peaceful, non-political demonstrations. Many of the killings were the result of unnecessary or excessive use of force.
Amnesty says none of the unlawful killings has been subject to an independent criminal investigation. The report slammed President Joko Widodo for failing to live up to his promise to improve the human rights situation on Papua when he took office in 2014.
The report is the culmination of two years of interviews with victims' families, witnesses and political activists.
"The culture of impunity within the security forces must change, and those responsible for past deaths held to account," said Usman Hamid, Amnesty Indonesia executive director.
Jakarta has ruled Papua, located on the western half of New Guinea island, since annexing it in the late 1960s after decades under Dutch rule.
No comments:
Post a Comment