By Kate Lamb and Agustinus Beo Da Costa
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia has formally designated Papuan separatists as “terrorists”, its chief security minister said on Thursday, a move activists said could expand the powers of security forces, including lengthy detentions without charge.
The legal designation follows a call by President Joko Widodo for a crackdown on Papuan rebels after an intelligence officer was shot dead on Sunday in the country’s easternmost region, where a low-level rebellion has been fought for decades.
“The government thinks that organisations and the people in Papua who commit massive violence can be classified as terrorists,” chief security minister Mahfud MD told a news conference.
“Terrorism is any action that uses violence or threats of violence that create an air of terror or fear,” he said, citing a 2018 counter-terrorism law.
Separatists in remote, resource-rich region say their struggle is legitimate as former colonial power the Netherlands promised Papua independence before it was annexed in 1963.
Indonesia says Papua is its territory, as confirmed by the outcome a 1969 referendum. Separatists say that vote did not reflect their aspirations.
Indonesia’s counter-terrorism law allows authorities to detain individuals without charge for up to 21 days and intercept communications if suspected of being used for planning or committing “terrorist” acts.
“The scope of work in Papua will be much bigger, thus it will also open more possibilities of abuses,” said Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher at Human Rights Watch, referring to the new designation.
Earlier this month Reuters reported a case in which three brothers were allegedly killed by Indonesian soldiers in Papua’s central highlands.
Usman Hamid, director of Amnesty International Indonesia, said the “terrorists” tag could also see free speech and association curtailed and “will only show that the government failed again to see the root causes of Papua’s rebellions.”
Sebby Sembom, a spokesman for the West Papua National Liberation Army, a separatist group, rejected the government’s designation.
“The world knows we fight for freedom,” he said.
(Reporting by Kate Lamb in Sydney and Agustinus Beo Da Costa and Stanley Widianto in Jakarta; Writing by Kate Lamb; Editing by Martin Petty)
