File picture of Papuan students grouped under the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) holding a protest in front of the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Aug 28, 2019. - Jakarta Post/ANN
JAKARTA: Indonesia must address "systemic racism" against indigenous groups in the restive Papua region and uphold human rights standards in the province, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday (Sept 19).
West Papua has long been the site of a low-level separatist insurgency with Indonesian authorities accused of mass arrests to silence activists.
HRW said discrimination against native Papuans increased during the term of outgoing President Joko Widodo, and in its latest report called on the incoming government to "meet its obligations to the people there".
"The Indonesian authorities should address the demands of Papuan activists and tackle the systemic racism against Indigenous Papuans," HRW researcher Andreas Harsono said in a statement.
"The Indonesian government needs to finally recognise that international human rights law applies in West Papua and meet its obligations to the people there".
According to Papuans Behind Bars, a website that compiles politically motivated arrests in West Papua, more than 1,400 people have been detained between 2019 and 2021, several of whom have been charged with treason.
Many of the arrests took place during student protests in Papua and across Indonesia.
Human Rights Watch called on president elect Prabowo Subianto to release the political prisoners.
The rights group also criticised the preferential treatment of non-Papuans in formal sectors, including health services and education.
Papua, a former Dutch colony, declared independence in 1961, but neighbouring Indonesia took control two years later, promising a referendum.
In 1969, a thousand Papuans voted to integrate into Indonesia in a United Nations-backed vote.
Papuan independence activists regularly criticise the vote and call for fresh polls, but Jakarta says its sovereignty over Papua is supported by the UN.
A presidential spokesman did not respond to AFP's request for comment. - AFP
