UN reviews Indonesia’s implementation of ICCPR
On July 10 and 11 the UN Human Rights Committee reviewed Indonesia’s implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The Committee highlighted the ongoing violence in Papua and deplored the excessive use of force by the Indonesian security forces. Since there is no effective mechanism available to hold military members accountable, the Committee sees re-occurrences of such violations as likely until Indonesia takes measures to develop effective complaint procedures. The Committee referred to the high number of extrajudicial killings that have occurred in Papua over the last 2 years and deplored the use of violence in dispersing peaceful protests in Papua.
Reports of human rights abuses in the provinces of Papua and West Papua continue to pose challenges to the Australia-Indonesia relationship. The HRLC has previously raised concerns about support Australia has provided to Indonesia’s elite anti-terrorism unit, Detachment 88, which has been accused of various human rights abuses.
The International Coalition of Papua recently published a report called Human Rights in West Papua 2013 which covers events from October 2011 to March 2013.