At the far east of Indonesia, West Papua remains physically and ideologically separate from the rest of the country. Indigenous Papuans make up about half of the population. Locals claim racism is rife among the police and the military, and there have been allegations of human rights abuses and exploitation against the local population. In August 2019, protests erupted in the region over alleged police abuse against ethnic Papuan students. It was the biggest protest since 1998.
Rico Tude, speaking for the Indonesian People’s Front for West Papua (FRI-WP), says the Black Lives Matter movement “gives a new understanding to the Indonesian public to be more concerned to address racism against West Papuans”.
Elvira Rumbaku, a lecturer at Cenderawasih University, agreed, “It prompted Indonesians outside West Papua to understand how racist the Indonesian government is. West Papuans are always stigmatised as separatist and committed to violence; therefore, they always used security approaches and sent more troops,” she says.
Students at the University of Indonesia are using the attention to demand justice for Cenderawasih student executive board member Ferry Gombo, who was arrested by the Indonesian government after organising a rally against racist abuse towards Papuan students in Surabaya in August last year. Gombo, one of four students being detained in Balikpapan prison, is facing a 10-year sentence if found guilty.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jun/11/global-protests-throw-spotlight-on-alleged-police-abuses-in-west-papua