Indonesia rights body probing civilian killings in Papua
Jakarta, INDONESIA—Indonesia’s National Commission on Human Rights said on Sunday it was investigating the killings of 12 civilians, including women and children, in a military operation in the restive easternmost Papua region.
The commission, abbreviated as Komnas HAM, said at least 12 civilians died of gunshot wounds in “an enforcement operation” by the armed forces against the TPNPB-OPM rebel group in the central Papuan village of Kembru on Tuesday.
Several other people were wounded.
‘Armed contact’
The commission was “conducting monitoring,” chairperson Anis Hidayah said.
She added there was a “strong suspicion” that Indonesian soldiers were responsible.
Local media reported the military’s Habema task force in Papua as saying its forces had killed four members of the independence guerrilla movement in an “armed contact” in Kembru, and that they are investigating a report of a fatal shooting that killed a child in another village.
Komnas-HAM, which is part of the Indonesian state system but functions independently, said any operation that resulted in civilian casualties “cannot be justified on any grounds.”
“Any form of attack against civilians, whether occurring in situations of war or otherwise, and whether perpetrated by state or non-state actors, constitutes a violation of human rights and international humanitarian law,” the commission said.
