Asia Pacific Report
Indonesian military forces have again bombed Kiwirok, the site of a massacre in 2021 that killed more than 300 West Papuan civilians, amid worsening violence, alleges a Papuan advocacy group.
“While President Prabowo talks about promoting peace in the Middle East, his military is trying to wipe out West Papua,” said United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) leader Benny Wenda.
“Evidence gathered by villagers in the Star Mountains shows the Indonesian military using Brazilian fighter jets to target houses, gardens, and cemeteries.”
- READ MORE: Documentary tells forgotten story of Indonesian military operations
- Other West Papua reports
He said in a statement the village had been destroyed and more civilians had become displaced in their own land, adding to more than 100,000 internal refugees.
The ULMWP website showed images from the attack.
Wenda said the bombing showed again “how the whole world is complicit in the genocide of my people”.
In 2021, Indonesia had used bombs and drones made in Serbia, China and France to kill civilians as revealed in the 2023 documentary Hostage Land: Why Papuan Guerrilla Fighters Keep Taking Hostages.
“Now, it is Brazilian jets that children in Kiwirok see before their homes are destroyed,” Wenda said.
West Papua was being facing several “colonial tactics to crush our spirit and destroy our resistance”.
“What is happening in Kiwirok is happening in different ways across West Papua,” Wenda said. He cited:
- Riots and demos happening in Jayapura after a peaceful demonstration calling for the release Papuan political prisoners was violently crushed;
- Indonesia occupying churches in Intan Jaya in violation of international law as they deployed soldiers for a new military base;
- Indonesian military killing civilian Sadrak Yahome after anti-racism protests in Yalimo, which happenedfollowing Indonesian settlers racially abusing a Papuan student;
- Militarisation happening across the Highlands, with more than 50 villages having being occupied by the TNI [Indonesian military] since August;
- West Papuans being called “monkeys” by Indonesian settlers in Timika; and
- A 52-year-old man being killed by police during a protest against the transfer of political prisoners in Manokwari.
The documentary Hostage Land. Video: Paradise Broadcasting
“It isn’t a coincidence that this escalation is happening while Indonesia is increasing environmental destruction in West Papua, trying to steal our resources and rip apart our forest for profit and food security,” Wenda said.
“In Raja Ampat, Merauke, Intan Jaya, and Kiwirok, new plantations and mines are killing our people and land.”
Wenda appealed to Pacific leaders to stand for West Papua as “the rest of the world stands for Palestine”.
“The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) and Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) must respond to this escalation — Indonesia is spilling Pacific and Melanesian blood in West Papua.
“They must not bow to Indonesian chequebook diplomacy.”
