T

he National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) is taking no part in a government-sanctioned team on human rights violations in Papua, commissioner Natalius Pigai said on Monday.

“Komnas HAM has decided not to delegate any commissioner to take part in the team,” Natalius said at his office in Jl. Latuharhari, Menteng, Central Jakarta.

Natalius said there was no possibility that Komnas HAM, as an independent institution, would participate in any government initiative, including the Papua team, which is spearheaded by the Office of the Coordinating Legal, Political and Security Minister.

“The government is not authorized to coordinate or coax the commission into taking part in the team. We do not sit in the President’s Cabinet,” Natalius said.

Coordinating Legal, Political and Security Minister Luhut Pandjaitan previously claimed that Komnas HAM was part of the team, which, between now and October, is tasked with identifying human rights violations in the country’s easternmost region, and is led by former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) acting deputy chairman Indrianto Seno Adji.

The team’s efforts have met fierce opposition from Papuan activists, including rights activist Yan Christian Warinussy, who wrote in an article on local online news outlet suarapapua.com on Sunday that according to the 1999 Human Rights Law, the only institution with the authority to investigate the causes of human rights violations and initiate preliminary investigations was Komnas HAM.