Indonesian Soldiers attack Papua

Recently videos have appeared surfaced the web in reference to two men being violently tortured by Indonesian soldiers.  The abuse took place in Papua, Indonesia, which is east of the capital of Jakarta. Papua has been trying to separate from Indonesia for over forty years, because the city does not want the control of the Indonesian government. In 1965 Papua developed the “indigenous Free Papua Movement”. With this issue in place rebel groups and separatist groups have developed in reference to independence from Indonesia. The soldiers involved in these attacks claimed that the two victims had relations to rebel and separatist groups, and that they were carrying weapons on them.

The two victims were both local male farmers, and are said to have not been armed with any type of weapon. One of the victims was stripped of all of his clothing and forced on the side of the street naked, while suffering the pain of having his genitals burned. The other victim was also forced to the ground, and threatened with a knife against his face and neck. Both victims were questioned and verbally abused during the actions and “interrogation” by the Indonesian soldiers.  

With all of these actions recorded on video and exposed internationally, a lot of questioning and attention has been brought to Indonesia’s government and military. Human Right Watch, along with other human rights activist groups fear that no punishment will be taken against the soldiers involved in the tortured attacks against the two victims. Attacks such as this one have occurred in the past and no type of action of authority was taken against the soldiers involved. The Indonesian military said “Human rights violations are a thing in the past, and it provides regular training to soldiers, advising them on their conduct while in the field”.  If the military does not believe in human rights violations then how can the country feel protected by the military? The issue of Papua wanting its independence from Indonesia is causing a war between the people and the military. Although the actions of the soldiers are thought to have been unprofessional and excessive, this thought is not going to be enough to stop future attacks.