As demands for the release of Papuan pro-independence activist Victor Yeimo grow in Indonesia, protesters are facing repression and mass arrests. Yeimo, general secretary of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), was arrested earlier this month for his role in the anti-racism protests of 2019.

Victor Yeimo, a pro-independence leader, was arrested under charges of treason earlier this month for his role in the anti-racism Papuan protests of 2019. Civil society groups and West Papuan activists have been demanding his release ever since

On May 21, protests were held in different parts of Indonesia to demand the release of recently arrested activists

In the twenty years of living under this law, Papuans say that it did not address the contested history of Papua’s integration and its outstanding political and human rights issues.

On the 36th day of the police and military clampdown imposed by the Indonesian government in West Papua, several protesters have been killed by indiscriminate police fire in different parts of the region.

The turmoil in the Indonesian ruled-Papuan provinces refuses to die down even after nearly a month of protests and violent repression.

Protests are continuing in the provinces of Papua and West Papua, as well as in provinces in Indonesia, for the second week in a row despite state repression and a partial communications blackout

Outrage and unrest has spread across the region, due to police violence directed at demonstrations commemorating the anniversary of the New York Agreement.

Over 168 Papuan protesters in the Papuan capital Jayapura along with other cities have been detained by the police, and over three dozen activists and students were injured in police violence

The contest between incumbent Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo and Prabowo Subianto does not translate into a contest between two different visions of the country

Members of the Papuan Student Alliance, as well as Indonesian students, organised a demonstration to demand West Papua’s right to self-determination, boycotting of elections, and closing of PT Freeport

In the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua, a movement for self-determination has been going on since the 1960s.