Jayapura, Jubi – Head of the United for Truth (BUK), an organization for victims of human rights violations, Tineke Rumkabu said victims of the Bloody Biak tragedy demanded President Joko Widodo fulfill his political commitment to resolve various cases of human rights violations in Papua.
“We demand President Joko Widodo, the National Police, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), and the regional government to resolve the Bloody Biak case,” said Rumkabu on Wednesday, July 6, 2022.
She said that after 24 years, none of the perpetrators of the Bloody Biak tragedy had been brought to justice. “Where is the responsibility of the state for victims who were tortured, disappeared, raped, and killed? We as victims consider Indonesia irresponsible for various cases of human rights violations in Papua. Indonesia does not provide a sense of justice for victims, nor does it arrest and prosecute perpetrators of human rights violations,” said Rumkabu.
If the case were resolved without a court process and only resolved through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), Rumkabu said, it would not provide a sense of justice for the victims. She urged the government to establish an Ad Hoc Human Rights Court to try the perpetrators.
The results of Elsham Papua’s investigation titled “Papua Without a Name, a Name Without a Tomb” published in July 1999 stated that the Bloody Biak tragedy caused the death of eight people. In addition, three people were missing, four people were seriously injured, 33 people were slightly wounded, and 150 people were arrested and tortured.
After the incident, 32 bodies were found in Biak waters. The report also mentioned that various army units allegedly attacked protesters in Biak on July 6, 1998.
Rumkabu said that if the government continued to delay the legal process in the Bloody Biak tragedy, the disclosure of the case would be increasingly difficult. “Some of the perpetrators are getting old, some have died, some have retired, all of it makes it more difficult to disclose the Biak human rights violation,” she said.
Finally, Rumkabu asked the Indonesian government to provide trauma recovery for victims and their families. She also hoped that the government would provide access for the Independent Team to resolve human rights violations in Papua. “We also ask the Indonesian government to open access for foreign journalists to visit the Land of Papua, and be serious in resolving various cases of human rights violations that have occurred in Papua,” she said. (*)
