We also urge various elements in society to facilitate the opening of command posts to receive reports from the victims' familiesJayapura, Papua (ANTARA) - The Papua Civil Society Coalition (KMSP) opened its command post in Jayapura on Monday afternoon to assist victims of acts of violence and human rights abuses that occurred during the recent protests in the Papua and West Papua Provinces.
Located at the AHIMSA Law Firm secretariat on the Sentani-Padang Bulan Road of Abepura, Jayapura city, community members whose families might have been victims of violence and human rights abuses can contact 081247940004.
"We also urge various elements in society to facilitate the opening of command posts to receive reports from the victims' families. This is important to strengthen efforts in pursuit of truth and justice for the victims," Director of Alliance Democracy for Papua (ALDP) Anum Siregar, said.
The absence of an independent, impartial, and effective investigation into the acts of violence, which occurred during the recent violent protests might become a source of immunity and lead to a lack of public trust in the law enforcement agencies in Papua Province.
The opening of KMSP's command post is aimed at helping the human rights defenders and community members reveal the truth about what actually occurred in the city of Jayapura over these past weeks, Siregar said.
Meanwhile, a freelance photographer of the "wartaplus.com" news portal, Anto Keit, said he lost his camera and several lenses after a violent protest against the Surabaya incident broke out in Jayapura on August 29, 2019.
He had left his Canon camera and several lenses at his office, and they might have gone missing after several buildings, including his office, were gutted, vandalized, and looted on August 29, Anto said.
Kaleb, an employee of wartaplus.com's financial department, also suffered a similar fate after his motorbike was set on fire along with several other vehicles in the Argapura neighborhood area on August 29.
Related news: Photographer loses camera, lenses during Jayapura riots
"My Yamaha Mio scooter was burned by the angry demonstrators who passed by the Argapura neighborhood area," Kaleb said.
A spate of violence erupted in several parts of Papua and West Papua in the upshot of the Surabaya incident that had triggered public ire among native Papuans.
Over the past weeks, native Papuans in several parts of the provinces of Papua and West Papua held demonstrations protesting alleged racist slurs against the Papuan students in Surabaya, East Java, on August 16.
On August 29, the indigenous Papuan residents of Jayapura again staged protests, venting their anger over the alleged racist behavior against their Papuan compatriots in Surabaya, but their rally then turned violent.
The brutal demonstrators went on a rampage, vandalizing and setting ablaze several government buildings. The office of Antara, Indonesia's national news agency, in the city was also intentionally damaged by the demonstrators.
On August 28, a circle of violence also broke out in Deiyai District, some 500 kilometers away from Jayapura, resulting in the deaths of an army soldier and two civilians.
In response to this rioting, a legislator of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) faction appealed to law enforcement agencies in the provinces of Papua and West Papua to impose stern sanctions on the rioters.
"The suspects are subject to legal sanctions," Komarudin Watubun, a member of parliament and special envoy of PDIP leader Megawati Soekarnoputri, stated recently.
Related news: Police name another suspect in Papua riots
Related news: Military, police chiefs meet figures of different faiths in Papua
Translator: Alfian R, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Sri Haryati
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
