Lawyers for protesters attending a West Papua liberation rally in Jakarta on Thursday have accused police officers of beating their clients after a clash broke out between the two sides, leading to the arrest of 10 protesters.

One of the lawyers, Veronica Koman, claimed some of the 10 apprehended protesters were beaten by Jakarta Police officers on Jl. Imam Bonjol, Central Jakarta, when rally participants insisted on marching to the nearby Hotel Indonesia traffic circle.

The rally was organized by an alliance named the Indonesian People’s Front for West Papua (FRI-West Papua), which consists of numerous civil society organizations, aimed at supporting residents of the country’s easternmost region to exercise their right to self-determination through a referendum.

FRI-West Papua argues that the need for a referendum is a consequence of abuses carried out by the government that have resulted in a persistent lack of welfare in the restive region.

Those detained by the police included FRI-West Papua spokesperson Surya Anta, who was one of the protesters allegedly beaten by the police, and Alliance of Papuan Students (AMP) chairman Jefry Wenda.

The 10 apprehended protesters were released by the police on the same day.

Veronica said the legal team, consisting of representatives from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta), the Press Legal Aid Institute (LBH Pers) and the Keadilan Bogor Raya Legal Aid Institute (LBH KBR) based in Bogor, West Java, may report the incident to the Jakarta Police. Beatings, she said, were also carried out by police in plain clothes.

“We may report the police because we saw the police violated many procedures. They beat and arrested [some of the protesters] without wearing police uniform, making it difficult for us to identify whether it was officers who allegedly beat the protesters,” Veronica said.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Raden Prabowo Argo Yuwono said he had not received any reports about the alleged beatings by police officers, but added that he would allow the activists to report the incident to the National Police’s internal affairs division (Propam).

Apart from Jakarta, West Papua rallies were held on Thursday in nine other cities, such as Jayapura and Yogyakarta, coinciding with what West Papua liberation proponents see as their national day.

Hundreds of protesters participating in the rally in Jakarta initially planned to march from the LBH Jakarta office on Jl. Diponegoro, Central Jakarta, to the Presidential Palace. The plan, however, did not materialize as the mass was forced to stop and stage the rally at an intersection on Jl. Imam Bonjol, which was guarded by around 700 Jakarta Police personnel.

During the rally, a leader frequently told the mass, which consisted of members of the FRI-West Papua and the AMP from various cities, that the event had to be conducted in a peaceful fashion, warning them to remain calm amid possible “provocation”.

But some protesters, who were seen wearing headbands resembling the Morning Star flag, insisted on advancing to the Presidential Palace via the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, prompting Central Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Dwiyono, who led the police effort, to issue several warnings to them.

Clashes broke out as the protesters nevertheless tried to break through the police barricade, during which Surya claimed he and other protesters were apprehended and beaten by a number of uniformed and non-uniformed police officers.

— Nethy Dharma Somba and Bambang Muryanto contributed to this story from Jayapura and Yogyakarta.

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