Papuan Personhood Protests

Papuan activists of Wamena gathered together on 28 August 2019 in a series of protests towards those who have previously insulted students and citizens of the city, by calling Papuans racial slurs like “monkey” and “keling”. The protests eventually led to the riots that lasted from 19 August until 23 September in the city, which caused damage to property as well as 30 deaths and injuries.

News spread like wildfire after a video of a teacher allegedly calling a student a “monkey” surfaced just a few days after the celebration of Indonesia’s Independence Day on the 17th of August. The video was then categorized as a hoax by local police forces, though the locals were not convinced. The first reported incident of the protests was when an Indonesian Flag was found torn up in front of a student’s university dormitory, which led to the blaming of the students the following days.

Another incident revealed that a Papuan man was present in Surabaya during one of these protests. The man was seen on the streets protesting for his people’s rights and chanting phrases repeatedly. He was then recorded and it caught the attention of the public. “If we are monkeys, then don’t force monkeys to fly The Red and White”, the Papuan man exclaimed. The protests continued for a while until the army and police forces decided to take things into their own hands. The military forces showed up fully equipped with weapons and formed a block, making it harder for the peaceful protestors to leave. 22 protestors were detained and charged with treason.

The riots and protests did not only happen in Surabaya. Protests started to take place in Papua itself. A group of peaceful protesters started walking around raising awareness but it took a turn for the worse as the lasting clashes between the armed personnel and the protesters resulted in destruction. Many buildings were swallowed up in flames and around 30 lives were lost. The police reports that the victims were either burned alive, as they were trapped in burning buildings, or killed by the machetes and knives. Most of the victims were the unarmed passerby who fled from their homes. The Papuan governor, Lukas Enembe, has spoken out about the raging riots. “My sincere apology and condolences to the victims of the riots in Wamena on Sept. 23,” he stated during an interview.

One of the reasons that the violence occurred was the long endured taunting of people that sparked the riots. Papua had not become a part of Indonesia until 1963. In the attempts for peaceful protests, the police and army steered the events to violence through means of status and weapons. A total of 59 people, 30 from riots and 29 from protests, lost their lives last year. People believe that if the underlying issue is not solved, the Papuans will have to continue this fight in pursuit of human rights and equality in the nation. There have been plans discussed by the Papuan government of limiting internet access in order to prevent the further spread of information, though details on the severity of the limits that would be placed are still being talked over.