Torture and beatings of school students in West Papua

June 9, 2015

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Photo of the students

We have recently received a report about the torture of junior high students in Timika, West Papua, who were stripped and tortured by the Indonesian military and police who threatened to shoot them.

According to information, on 23rd May, West Papuan students were angry with staff that they were not given enough food. These arguments led the principle of the boarding school to call the police and military.

At 07:00 in the morning, Indonesian soldiers and police officers stormed the school and told all the Papuan students in the “Morning Star” dormitory to get out and take off their shirts. They were forced to lean on the ground and were beaten and tortured by the Indonesian authorities who tortured them for information about Free West Papua activities.

They continued to beat them and told them to not talk about West Papua’s independence in school. They said “If we find out, we will just shoot you.” They listed all the names of the students and asked them if they knew anyone who spoke about West Papuan independence. The students answered “We don’t know, we are school children.”