Papuans to stage protests against military human right abuses on Thursday

The Papuan Students Alliance says it would stage protests in six cities across the country against human rights abuses committed by the Indonesian Military (TNI) in Papua on Thursday.

Fanny Quinea Kogoya of the alliance said Wednesday the demonstrations would be held in Jakarta, Makassar, Wamena, Jayapura, Timika, and Biak.

In the protests, the students would raise various concerns, among other things, that 150,000 Papuan people fleeing into Papua New Guinea must be given refugees status so that their children could get identity cards, political prisoners must be released, and the alleged killings of Papuan people must be investigated, she said.

The students will also call on the U.S. government and the U.S. Congress to pay more attention to human rights violation in Papua, she added.

Fanny said two students in Wamena identified as Leonard Logo and Edo Loga were arrested by police on Wednesday for distributing fliers about the protests.

There will also be a hearing about human rights abuses in Papua held by a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representative at 3 p.m. on Wednesday Washington time or 4 a.m. on Thursday Jakarta time, featuring various parties from Papua and overseas which concern about human right issue in Papua, she said