Indonesia shuts down internet in Papua to stem ongoing unrest

MANOKWARI, Aug 22, 2019, AP, DPA. Indonesia has imposed an internet blackout in the Papua and West Papua provinces, after sending 1500 officers, in an attempt to stem unrest triggered by the heavy-handed treatment of Papuan protesters on Java island from spreading, an official says, reported The Syndey Morning Herald.

Data communications have been shut down since Wednesday in the provinces “until the situation gets back to normal,” Communications and Information Technology Ministry spokesman Ferdinandus Setu said on Thursday.

Police sent 1200 reinforcements to three West Papua districts, where most of the violence has taken place this week, spokesman Muhammad Iqbal said on Wednesday. The military has also sent 300 additional troops.

In the latest unrest, protesters torched a traditional market and government buildings in the town of Fakfak on Wednesday, police said, but insisted the situation was under control.

There were no reports of fatalities during the three days of sometimes violent protests.

Protesters also torched a section of a prison in Sorong in Papa province, prompting a riot that led to the escape of more than 250 inmates.

Protests sparked by accusations that security forces had arrested and insulted Papuan students in East Java’s Surabaya city turned violent on Monday, when demonstrators torched a local legislative building and set fire to cars in Manokwari, the provincial capital.

The protests were triggered by videos circulated widely on the internet showing police, backed by soldiers, calling the Papuan students “monkeys” and “dogs”.

Papua is a former Dutch colony in the western part of New Guinea that is ethnically and culturally distinct from much of Indonesia. It was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 after a UN-sponsored ballot that was seen as a sham by many.

Since then, a low-level insurgency has plagued the mineral-rich region, which is divided into two provinces, Papua and West Papua. In recent years, some Papua students, including some who study in other provinces, have become vocal in calling for self-determination for their region.

Police stormed dormitories in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, on Sunday after Papuan students staying there refused to be questioned over allegations that they had intentionally damaged the Indonesian flag in the dormitory’s yard.

East Java police spokesman Frans Barung Mangera said 43 students were detained but released hours later after no evidence was found that they had damaged the flag. The videos showing the behaviour of security forces sparked national outcry.

West Papua Police Chief Herry Rudolf Nahak said authorities have the situation under control after more than a thousand additional police and soldiers were deployed from other cities, including from Jakarta, Bali and Makassar.

Nahak said protesters also destroyed parts of an airport and destroyed ATMs and shops in the Fafak market on Wednesday.

Videos posted by residents in Fakfak and circulated online show demonstrators chanting “Freedom Papua” and holding banners demanding a referendum for independence. The crowd, including a man holding the morning star flag that is a separatist group symbol, are seen throwing rocks at police, who respond with tear gas as smoke billows from the burning market.

Several thousands of protesters, many wearing headbands with a separatist flag, also staged peaceful rallies Monday in Jayapura, the capital city of Papua province.

Papuan activists said they were also subjected to racist abuse.