JAYAPURA, SUARAPAPUA.com— Human Rights Monitor (HRM) has released its 2023 annual report on human rights and conflict in West Papua.
Data on internally displaced persons in a number of areas in West Papua is discussed in a separate section in the report, in addition to other data on human rights.
More than 76,000 Papuans remained internally displaced in 2023. They fled as a result of armed conflict or raids by security forces that destroyed their homes and livestock. Fear of returning home due to a large military presence keeps them from returning to the homes. Many IDPs lack access to basic services.
In addition to cases of internal displacement, the report outlines a number of data on various cases of civil and political rights violations including impunity, murder, and torture, freedom of expression, as well as the right to health, the right to education, and latest developments in the armed conflict throughout 2023.
HRM revealed that the human rights situation in West Papua strongly differs from that in other regions in Indonesia. The decades-old and unresolved armed conflict has intensified since December 2018, leading to a spike in extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and torture by security forces, especially in the highlands.
Not least, freedom of expression also remains restricted. Authorities continue to disperse peaceful protests.
HRM expressed concerns that anincreasing number of military personnel deployed to West Papua, are assigned to fill shortages in health and education services because many health and education personnel have fled their places of work due to the continuing armed conflict.
The report, published on 11 April 2024, can be read in full by downloading the data on HRM’s official website.
Human Rights Monitor is an independent international non-profit project based in the European Union that promotes human rights through documentation and advocacy. It has been active since 2022. The organisation pursues its vision by documenting violations, researching the institutional, social, and political contexts that affect the protection of rights and peace, and sharing the conclusions of its evidence-based monitoring work.
A description of each case of human rights violations covered in this report is available at https://humanrightsmonitor.org/reports/hrm-annual-report-human-rights-and-conflict-in-west-papua-2023/.
