Former Deputy Foreign Minister and Chairman of Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI), who made fierce condemnation on the killing of three civilians by Papuan rebels. (Indonesian Presidential Secretariat)
On July 20, three Papuan civilians were brutally murdered by the notorious separatist group, the West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Movement (TPNPB-OPM), on the pretext of a false allegation that the indigenous people were secret intelligence operatives for the Indonesian military force (TNI) tasked with locating rebel hiding spots.
The deceased included a married couple identified as Kumis Kogoya and Seli Wenda, and a third individual whose identity has yet to be established.
Reportedly, the country’s joint task force comprising the TNI and the police, Cartenz Peace Operation and Koops Habema, has been running operations to pursue the suspected TPNBP personnel near the crime scene, adjacent to the Trans-Papua Highway in the Seradala District of Yahukimo Regency, Papua Highlands.
On the other side, TPNPB Spokesperson Sebby Sambom claimed responsibility for the execution, stating on July 25 that “traitors must be executed and we have evidence that they betrayed the Papuan people”.
TPNPB even published the assassination video, showing how the unarmed victims were gang-beaten and assaulted before being shot. Their corpses were abandoned before being found by the joint security forces on July 23, following a 30-minute firefight with the rebels. The execution was later known to be carried out by one of TPNPB’s operations commanders, Kopitua Heluka.
The inhumane action sparked public condemnation, most prominently coming from the former Indonesian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, founder and chairman of the Foreign Policy Community Indonesia (FPCI), Dino Patti Djalal. Through an Instagram post, Dino denounced the murder, describing it as a “barbaric act of terror” that is “unjustifiable by any political means”.
It is a “serious violation of human rights,” he said, urging the assigned task force to immediately identify and hold accountable the culprits for the sake of the safety of local residents.
He called upon the Indonesian government to take appropriate measures. “Take a clear and firm stance to side with our relatives in Papua,” he affirmed.
Crucially, Dino addressed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to disseminate the execution video, explaining that it is vital, especially to foreign TPNPB sympathisers, for the international community to comprehend the vicious action.
This was the third time within two months that the rebel groups conducted such brutal killings. Eight civilians were slain on May 20 under the exact same baseless justification of accusing them of being secret spies disguised as gold miners. It follows the fatal murder of a foreigner Nicholas Goselin, who was a US Associated Mission Aviation (AMA) pilot, on July 2.
The establishment of the TPNPB in 1973 lies in the complex decolonisation of Indonesia. While the historic 1969 Act of Free Choice granted Indonesia authority over the Papua Territory, it was actually a sham vote conducted under military duress that has since triggered a permanent insurgency. The Indonesian government officially labelled the TPNPB as a terrorist organisation in 2021, reaching a tipping point after the rebels’ assassination of a high-ranking official, the chief of Papua’s State Intelligence Agency (BIN) Brigadier General I Gusti Putu Danny Karya Nugraha.
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