Jayapura, Jubi – Deputy chair II of the Papuan People’s Assembly (MRP) Debora Mote said that the state through its security forces should have protected indigenous Papuan women and children, not killed them.
Mote emphasized that members of the Indonesian Military (TNI) and police’s task was protecting the people including Indigenous Papuan women and children both in and outside conflict areas. The TNI and police, said Mote, must respect the guarantees for the protection of Papuan women and children as stipulated in Special Regional Regulation No. 1/2011 on the Restoration of the Rights of Papuan Women Victims of Violence and Human Rights Violations.
“There is the Special Regional Regulation No. 1/2011 on the Restoration of the Rights of Papuan Women Victims of Violence and Human Rights Violations. We hope that TNI and police are not allergic [to such a regulation]. The regulation gives a warning that instruments of the state are used to protect the people, not the other way around,” said Mote.
Mote said that various cases of violence done by the security forces against Papuan women and children should push the MRP and the Papuan Legislative Council to further encourage the implementation of the special regional regulation. Such an effort, she said, was important to ensure that violence against civilians in Papua did not recur.
She further stated that the protection of Indigenous Papuan women and children would determine future generations. “It is women, not men, who bear and give birth to the next generation. If there are children, then the children will carry on the ancestry, and inherit them,” said Mote.
Meanwhile, youth representative of the Evangelical Church in Indonesia (GIDI) Eneko Pahabol regretted the conflicts and violence that continued to occur in Papua and take a toll on Indigenous Papuan women and children. Pahabol wondered why it seemed like the conflict was allowed to happen.
“It’s as if one takes advantage of the armed conflict. I, as the next generation, who inherited the suffering of my parents, ask [the warring parties] to end the violent conflict completely and peacefully,” said Pahabol.
Reporter: Yance Wenda
Editor: Aryo Wisanggeni G
