Indonesian security forces opened fire on a peaceful protest in Sorong, West Papua, on August 27, killing one person and injuring several others, according to eyewitness reports received by Green Left.
Indonesian security forces also made 20 arrests. They released 16 detainees two days later, but have arrested another four pro-democracy activists.
Among those detained is the husband of respected pro-democracy leader and former political prisoner, Sayang Mandabayan, who is being hunted down by the Indonesian occupation forces.
Democracy activists are demanding immediate international attention to ensure Mandabayan’s safety.
Australia West Papua Association spokesperson Joe Collins said the demonstrators were peacefully protesting the transfer of four Papuan political prisoners — Goram Goram Gaman, Maksi Sangkek, Piter Robaha and Nikson Mai — from the Sorong State Court to Makassar.”
The four are facing trumped up treason charges.
“[The protesters] were calling on the authorities to allow the prisoners to remain in West Papua where they would have the support of their families and friends,” Collins said. “The security forces responded with their usual heavy-handed approach to peaceful rallies in West Papua with intimidation and arbitrary arrests.”
Jubi reported that Papuan mothers and the families of prisoners carried out a spontaneous action by occupying the yard of the Sorong City Police Headquarters on August 29. That day, according to Jubi, 16 detainees were released. Eight others remain in detention, including the four who were arrested on August 29.
“Of the eight residents still under arrest, five are activists from the Pro-Democracy Papuan People's Solidarity Front (FSP) throughout Greater Sorong,” said Jubi.
Snap actions calling for an end to the repression were held at the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra and its Naarm/Melbourne and Garramilla/Darwin Consulates on September 2.
Indonesia’s repression of the West Papua pro-independence movement has escalated, with dozens of activists jailed on treason charges for seeking peaceful dialogue with the occupying Indonesian administration.
Mandabayan’s home was raided twice in the past week. “This is a deliberate campaign to criminalise political leadership, intimidate women defenders, and silence West Papua’s democratic voices,” Ronny Kareni, Australian West Papuan rights advocate said.
“In West Papua talking about peace is seen as treason. These raids, transfers, and arrests are not isolated. They are part of a long-standing pattern of state systemic violence designed to crush West Papua’s movement for justice. Leaders like Sayang Mandabayan are not criminals — they are voices of democracy that the Pacific must defend.”
These attacks come as Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, long accused of war crimes and notorious for his poor human rights record, tightens his grip on power.
Protesters across Indonesia are rejecting his authoritarianism: The Parliament building in Makassar was set alight as thousands demanded democracy and an end to state violence.
“While the Indonesian military persecutes urban activists, up in the mountains [of West Papua] they are torching villages and murdering with impunity,” Naarm activist Zelda Grimshaw said.
“The new generation of Indonesians understands that West Papua is Indonesia's colony, and that whatever crimes the army commits there may one day be committed against them. They will not stand for another dictatorial government. Neither should we.”
The 54th Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting will begin in the Solomon Islands on September 8. According to AWPA, at PIF’s 46th meeting, held in Papua New Guinea in 2015, forum leaders pushed for it to “convey the views of the Forum to the Indonesian Government and to consult on a fact-finding mission to discuss the situation in Papua with the parties involved”.
“Ten years later there still has been no positive response from Jakarta,” Collins said.
AWPA is urging PIF leaders to “vigorously follow up on their original request”. Jakarta must be pressured to “allow a PIF fact-finding mission to visit West Papua” and “invite the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit the territory”.