The following is based on a communication written by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and other UN experts to the Government of Indonesia on 7 October 2024. The communication remained confidential for 60 days before being made public, giving the Government time to reply. Regrettably, the Government did not reply within this time frame. If a reply is received it will be posted on the UN Special Procedures communications database.
Since the sending of the communication, the Special Rapporteur received concerning information indicating that WHRD Lamberti Faan had experienced additional incidents of surveillance and intimidation in September and November. Similarly, WHRD Tineke Rumkabu reported regular monitoring by members of the police and the military, as well as continued surveillance. To date, there has been no progress in the investigation into the shooting of HRD Yan Christian Warinussy, nor have any arrests been made. Mr. Warinussy also reported being surveilled by unidentified vehicles in the vicinity of his house.
This is a shorter version of the original communication.
BACKGROUND
Topic: the harassment and intimidation of indigenous West Papuan human rights defenders Ms. Lamberti Faan and Ms. Tineke Rumkabu, and the shooting of Mr. Yan Christian Warinussy.
Ms. Lamberti Faan is an indigenous Papuan human rights defender and was forcibly displaced together with her family from her home in Maybrat Regency, Papua Barat Daya Province (South -West Papua Province), leading her to advocate for the rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in West Papua. Her house has since been occupied by the Indonesian military, reportedly for use as a military post. She works closely with the Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) office of the Catholic Church in Maybrat. Ms. Faan has been a strong voice in West Papua on the IDP issue calling for the safe return of IDPs back to Maybrat, the provision of basic services in Sorong for displaced persons and the withdrawal of Indonesian security forces from civilian facilities/buildings in Maybrat.
Mr. Yan Christian Warinussy is an indigenous Papuan human rights defender, lawyer and the director of the Manokwari Institute for Research, Assessment and Development of Legal Aid (LP3BH Manokwari), an organization providing legal assistance to victims of human rights violations. He is also the spokesperson for the Papuan Peace Network (JDP). He has received numerous national and international awards for his human rights work, including the John Humphrey Freedom Award in 2005, recognizing his efforts exposing human rights violations in West Papua despite facing repeated intimidation and threats.
Ms. Tineke Rumkabu is an indigenous Papuan human rights defender from Biak. She is a survivor of the 1998 Biak Massacre, when on 6 July of that year the Indonesian security forces opened fire on peaceful pro-independence demonstrators on the island of Biak, in response to the raising of the West Papuan Morning Star flag. An estimated 150-200 people were killed, and many of those detained allegedly subjected to torture, rape and sexual mutilation. No criminal prosecutions or accountability measures have ever been taken by the Indonesian government in response to the Massacre.
Concerns regarding the criminalization and intimidation of human rights defenders in the Papua and West Papua provinces were raised in several previous communications sent to the Indonesian Government by UN experts, including IDN 2/2023, IDN 1/2023, IDN 10/2021, IDN 8/2021, IDN 6/2021 and IDN 2/2020.
ALLEGATIONS
Concerning Ms. Lamberti Faan
On 21 June 2024, Ms. Faan participated in the 56th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, giving a statement about the conditions faced by IDPs in the Maybrat Regency of West Papua. A video of the statement was shared on social media, which is reportedly how the authorities in Maybrat became aware of her participation at the Council, and began approaching IDPs in the area and asking for Ms. Faan and her relatives.
On 22 June 2024, Ms. Faan returned to Jakarta from Geneva.
On 25 June 2024, the Maybrat Police Chief contacted Ms. Faan’s brother and asked about her whereabouts.
On 26 June 2024, Ms. Faan’s sister received a call from the Maybrat military chief, who also inquired about her whereabouts.
On 27 June 2024, Ms. Faan’s sister was contacted by an individual suspected to be an intelligence officer who sought information about her, including her full name, nickname, religion, occupation and residence.
On 1 July 2024, Ms. Faan noticed a familiar police officer on the same flight as her from Jakarta to Sorong, Papua Barat Daya Province.
On 3 July 2024, Ms. Faan was advised by a friend to move away from Maybrat to a safe place for a month or so, due to the attention the video of her statement had received from the authorities.
On 5 July 2024, the individual suspected to be an intelligence officer contacted Ms. Faan’s sister again, asking detailed questions about her and her family.
On 7 July 2024, an unknown man called at the house of Ms. Faan in Sorong, purporting to be looking for vegetables.
On 13 July 2024, Ms. Faan’s sister received another call from the suspected intelligence officer, asking to meet and inquire about her children.
On 15 July 2024, a close relative of Ms. Faan was approached by two men while eating at a restaurant in the town Kumurkek, who showed him a video of her statement at the Council and asked questions about her.
On 16 July 2024, drones were spotted flying over Ms. Faan’s house in Sorong.
On 17 July 2024, a vendor parked his vehicle outside Ms. Faan’s Sorong house for an extended period, adding to Ms. Faan and her family’s distress and anxiety of being under surveillance.
In response to these incidents, Ms. Faan and her children relocated to a different town in the interest of their safety.
Concerning Mr. Yan Christian Warinussy
From 27-29 June 2024, Mr. Warinussy participated in the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal on West Papua in London.
On 17 July 2024 at approximately 4.25 p.m., Mr. Warinussy was shot by an unknown individual with an air rifle in a red minivan, as he was leaving the Mandiri Bank Sanggeng in the town of Manokwari, Papua Barat Province. He sustained a bullet wound on the right side of his chest and was immediately admitted to the Manokwari General Hospital (RSD Manokwari).
Earlier that day, Mr. Warinussy had attended the trial of some local auditors at the Manokwari Anti-Corruption Court in which he was representing the Head of the Representative Office of the Supreme Audit Agency of the Republic of Indonesia. Prior to the attack, Mr. Warinussy and his family had been subjected to acts of intimidation and harassment.
Mr. Warinussy reported the incident to the police, who subsequently opened an investigation. The police have reportedly identified suspects, but at the time of writing are yet to charge or arrest any suspects.
The Papua National Human Rights Commission conducted an investigation into the shooting of Mr. Warinussy, in which it claimed that he had been targeted in connection with a murder case he had previously worked on. This claim is disputed by Mr. Warinussy, who believes the attack is in connection with his role in the corruption trial and his public statements denouncing various cases of corruption over a number of years.
Concerning Ms. Tineke Rumkabu
From 27-29 June 2024, Ms. Rumkabu participated in the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) on West Papua in London via Zoom, during which she testified about State violence in West Papua during the New Order period under former president Suharto.
On 3 July 2024, plain clothes officers called to Ms. Rumkabu’s home and asked after her, however she was not there at the time and so the officers left without providing explanation as to the reason for their visit.
On 4 July 2024, police officers phoned Ms. Rumkabu twice that day, with her son answering both times and informing them that she was not home. Shortly after this, two plainclothes officers parked their motorcycles outside Ms. Rumkabu’s home and called her to come out. Ms. Rumkabu came outside to speak to them, and they alleged they wanted to speak with her about the upcoming elections in Biak. She informed them she was not interested in speaking with them and returned inside her home. A short time later, two more officers arrived to Ms. Rumkabu’s house by car, with one of the officers introducing himself as the head of the Intelligence Unit at the Papua Regional Police in Jayapura.
On 6 July 2024, on the anniversary of the 1998 Biak Massacre, Ms. Rumkabu participated in a commemorative event at the water tower near the harbour in Biak, where the 1998 massacre took place. Police officers claimed that they had not been notified about the assembly and reportedly intimidated Ms. Rumkabu and other activists partaking in the commemoration. The officers also reportedly challenged the validity of the allegations of killings during the Massacre, to which Ms. Rumkabu demanded the disclosure of the whereabouts of the victims’ bodies. In response to the confrontation, Ms. Rumkabu and the other participants dispersed the gathering and left the area.
From 7 July 2024, plainclothes police and military personnel began appearing outside the home of Ms. Rumkabu in Dafuar village, sitting in a Toyota Avanza Minivan without a police plate number or logo, and appeared to be making phone calls. On one occasion, the officers reportedly coerced Ms. Rumkabu and four other women into accompanying them to the office of the Indonesian Christian Youth Movement (GMKI), under the false pretence that food provisions were being distributed. Upon arriving at the GMKI office and realising that there was no such distribution taking place, Ms. Rumkabu and the other women left and returned home.
On 4 August 2024, two police intelligence officers visited the home of Ms. Rumkabu, under the pretence of offering her a position in the special autonomy parliament. They also reportedly asked about her about her status as a victim of human rights violations. Ms. Rumkabu refused to answer the questions.
On 11 August 2024, Ms. Rumkabu began receiving phone calls and text messages from an unknown number, and unmarked cars have continued to be parked outside her home.
CONCERNS
In the communication, we express our concern regarding the alleged intimidation and harassment by the security forces of indigenous Papuan human rights defenders Ms. Lamiberti Faan and Ms. Tineke Rumkabu, seemingly in reprisal for their engagement with the Human Rights Council and the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal on West Papua, respectively. We are equally concerned by the shooting of Mr. Warinussy, seemingly in connection with his peaceful and legitimate human rights activities and professional legal work, representing an individual in a case of alleged corruption. That Ms. Lamiberti Faan appears to have been subjected to acts of intimidation to an extent that she was forced to relocate for her safety, and that this intimidation is in reprisal for her engagement with UN human rights mechanisms, is cause for grave concern. Similarly, that Ms. Rumkabu appears to have been targeted in connection with her engagement with an international forum to raise awareness of historic human rights violations and impunity in West Papua, would be in violation of her rights to freedom of association and freedom of expression. We are further concerned regarding the above allegations that the police have identified individuals suspected of the attack on Mr. Warinussy’s life, yet have so far failed to make any arrests in connection with these identified suspects, giving rise to concerns that impunity for this attack will prevail, amounting to a violation of the State’s obligation to protect Mr. Warinussy’s right to life and pursue accountability for those responsible.
Regarding allegations indicating that the violations could be an act of intimidation and reprisals against those who cooperate with the UN in the field of human rights, we would like to refer to Human Rights Council resolutions 12/2, 24/24, 36/21, 42/28 and 48/17 which reaffirmed the right of everyone, individually or in association with others, to unhindered access to and communication with international bodies, in particular the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights. In these resolutions, the Human Rights Council urged States to refrain from all acts of intimidation or reprisals, to take all appropriate measures to prevent the occurrence of such acts.
Regarding the alleged confrontation by the police of Ms. Rumkabu and other individuals holding a peaceful commemorative demonstration to mark the anniversary of the 1998 Biak Massacre, we are concerned by the reported remarks by the police that they had not received prior notification about the event. In accordance with you’re the Indonesian Government’s obligations under international human rights law, specifically article 21 of the ICCPR, lack of prior notification of an assembly never alone constitutes grounds to disperse an assembly.[1]
With regards to allegations that nobody has been held responsible for the 1998 Biak massacre, we remind the Government of Indonesia of the obligation to investigate all potentially unlawful deprivations of life including use of lethal force by law enforcement officials (CCPR/C/GC/36). These investigations should comply with international standards including the Minnesota Protocol on the investigation of potentially unlawful death (the Minnesota Protocol). We further remind that the failure of the State promptly to investigate does not relieve it of its duty to investigate at a later time: the duty does not cease even with the passing of significant time (Minnesota Protocol, para 23).
[1] General comment No. 37 (2020), paras. 70−73 and A/HRC/50/42 Protection of human rights in the context of peaceful protests during crisis situations, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, para 27.
