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Indonesian Church leader seeks truce in Papua Escalated violence feared after the government branded separatists as terrorists
Police pallbearers carry the coffin of one of their officers in Mimika on April 28 after he was killed in a gun battle in Indonesia s restive Papua region between police and separatist rebels. (Photo: Saldi Hermanto/AFP)
A Church leader in Indonesia s troubled eastern Papua region has called for a truce after the government ordered a crackdown on separatists, branding them as terrorists.
Father Marthen Kuayo, apostolic administrator of Timika diocese, urged to a ceasefire after the government listed separatists as terrorists on April 29.
Ironically, with the annual World Press Freedom Day on April 26, many commentors also warn about the increased dangers for journalists covering the conflict.
Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy chairperson Hendardi has criticised the government’s move against “armed criminal groups” in Papua, or “KKB”, as the Free Papua Movement (OPM) armed wing is described by military authorities.
The move to designate them as terrorists is seen as a short-cut and an expression of the government’s “desperation” in dealing with the Papuan struggle for independence.
“The labeling of resistance groups in Papua will not break the long and recurring cycle of violence,” Hendardi said, according to a report in
The Straits Times
Papua a terrorist hotbed?: Jakarta Post
The paper says that dialogue will give the government a better chance to identify the root problems facing Papua and seek solutions to them.
Demonstrators wearing protective face masks hold signs during a protest demanding Papua s political prisoners to be released without conditions, in front of the Supreme Court building in Jakarta, Indonesia on June 15, 2020.PHOTO: REUTERS
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Indonesia is bolstering its military presence in disputed Papua province, following the assassination of a senior military officer on April 26.
On Sunday, Indonesian media outlets reportedthat the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) had deployed 400 members of the elite Infantry Battalion 315 to Papua after the completion of a month of special training at the end of April.
Nicknamed
pasukan setan, or “Satan’s forces” in Indonesian, the battalion has previously taken part in conflicts in East Timor and Aceh. A video, purported to feature the battalion executing a series of menacing drills on arrival in Papua, also surfaced on social media on May 1.