Jayapura, Jubi – Violence will not solve the problems facing Papua, Indonesia’s National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Papua office has said following the shooting deaths of three civil servants in Jayawijaya.
The head of the Komnas HAM Papua office, Frits Ramandey, made the comments after three employees of the Jayawijaya Regency Agriculture Department were shot dead on Wednesday afternoon.
The victims were identified as Alvonsius Albinus Mehan, 35, Alprida Rapi, 49, and Willi Mbuik, 24.
The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), through its Ndugama-Derakma regional command led by Egianus Kogeya, has claimed responsibility for the shooting.
Mr Ramandey said violence would not provide a solution to Papua’s long-running problems.
He pointed to other prolonged conflicts around the world, arguing that violence alone had not achieved political solutions.
“It is rare for countries that use prolonged and continuous violence to achieve independence. It cannot be done that way. Achieving independence requires diplomacy, proposals and recognition,” Mr Ramandey told Jubi in Jayapura on Thursday.
Mr Ramandey expressed his deep condolences over the deaths of the three civil servants.
He said the victims were innocent people carrying out their duties serving the public. However, he said they had become victims of allegations that had not been verified or substantiated.
“In the name of humanity, we reject violence because this is a human rights violation. If you accuse someone, why can’t you ask them properly, check their identification or give them a warning?” he said.
“It has not been verified whether they were involved in espionage. Those were unilateral accusations whose truth could not be tested.”
The Komnas HAM Papua office called on armed groups across Papua to stop using violence against civilians in all forms.
Mr Ramandey said violence should be replaced with dialogue and negotiations, noting that some armed group leaders had also expressed support for dialogue.
He said continued violence only reinforced Papua’s reputation as a conflict-prone region and warned that the Indonesian Government needed to take action to find a lasting solution.
“The President’s task now is to establish a special team directly accountable to him to formulate a way to resolve the violent conflict in Papua. That is what is urgently needed today,” Mr Ramandey said.
Meanwhile, Papuan human rights lawyer and advocate Yan Christian Warinussy also expressed his condolences over the deaths of the three civil servants.
He said law enforcement authorities needed to establish who was responsible, determine the motive and chronology of the attack, and ensure those responsible were held accountable.
Mr Warinussy said a pattern of violence against civilians had emerged in which victims were sometimes accused of being informants or intelligence agents for Indonesia’s military or police.
“Such reasons can never justify taking a human life. I am deeply concerned if accusations of being an informant or intelligence agent are being used as a reason to kill civilians. No one may be sentenced to death outside the legal process,” he said.
He said an accusation was not a conviction, suspicion was not evidence, and alleged links to state security forces could never justify killing someone. (*)
