ctivists and the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) have condemned the alleged torture of a Papuan man in the country’s restive easternmost region by plainclothes men suspected of being members of the Indonesian Military (TNI).
A series of video clips depicting the man allegedly being tortured by a group of unidentified people has gone viral on Indonesian social media over the past few days.
The footage shows at least three people repeatedly beating the man in the head with sticks and their fists.
One of the assailants is wearing a green T-shirt with the figure “300” printed prominently on the front, leading social media users to speculate that he was a member of Braja Wijaya, the 300th Raider infantry battalion under West Java’s Siliwangi Military Command (Kodam).
Members of the battalion were deployed to Puncak regency in Central Papua last year and were to return earlier this year.
In other footage, the man has his back slashed several times by a blade that looks like a combat knife. He is visibly injured, with blood on his face and back, leading to waves of condemnation from human rights activists.
Usman Hamid of Amnesty International Indonesia said on Saturday that Amnesty’s sources had determined that the video was taken in Puncak regency, Central Papua province, on Feb. 3, and that the Papuan man later died of his wounds at a nearby hospital.
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