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ear has gripped villagers in Nduga regency, Papua, following the massacre of dozens of construction workers by armed Papuan rebels, with local leaders accusing the Indonesian Military (TNI) of killing at least five civilians in a security operation to arrest those responsible for the massacre.

The military has strongly denied the allegation, calling it propaganda spread by separatists.

Rev. Benny Giay, chairman of the Kemah Injili Church Sinode of Papua, claimed that two people in Mbua and three in Yigi had been shot dead when security personnel tried to retrieve the bodies of slain construction workers, all employees of state-owned company PT Istaka Karya.

“The recent killing was in Yigi on Dec. 7. One dead,” he told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

He said the situation turned dire in most villages in Nduga after the massacre, and he could not confirm the identity of the civilians allegedly killed during the TNI operation. What is clear, he claimed, was that two of the five victims were church personnel in Mbua.

Hundreds of villagers across Nduga have fled to the forest and tried to survive there since Dec. 3 to escape the military crackdown, Benny said, adding that their fate remained unclear until now.

“It’s very cold up there; they are reportedly scattered here and there. They could die,” Benny said.

Odizeus Beanal, director of the Amungme tribal council (Lemasa), also claimed to have received information about civilian deaths in Nduga. He believed that the TNI was responsible because it had chosen to attack the villages rather than catch the rebels in the jungle.

“The TNI always attacks outside of war zones. They prefer to stay in the village and torture the community or kill innocent people,” he said, adding that he was still waiting for further confirmation about the death toll from other local leaders.

Cendrawasih Military District Command spokesperson Col. Muhammad Aidi denied the allegations, saying the rebels were twisting the facts.

If there were casualties during a security operation, the rebels would be the one responsible for them because the TNI would never attack unless it was attacked first, Aidi said.

“They declared war first, but they’re rambling on this, as if they were persecuted by us,” he said, adding that there was no agreement on war zones between the army and the rebels.

On Dec. 1, at least 16 Trans-Papua workers and one TNI personnel was shot by a National Liberation Army of West Papua (TPNPB), a rebel group led by Egianus Kogoya, who later claimed responsibility for the massacre.

Papua has been plagued by separatism since its integration into Indonesia in 1962.

At the start of his administration in late 2014, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo launched an ambitious infrastructure push in the province, which includes enhancing connectivity with the Trans-Papua highway.

The President, however, has drawn criticism for using a military approach in dealing with security issues in Papua.

“The military approach would not end the circle of violence in the region. We asked the government to immediately end the military approach. It puts civilians in danger both at the hands of security forces and armed groups,” Benny said.

Security personnel were also responsible for the killing of Papuans in the past three decades, Beanal said.

“It continues to this day. Human rights problems in Papua have never been investigated by anyone, including the President because he is not brave enough.”

A two-year investigation by Amnesty International released in July revealed that at least 95 people, 85 of whom were Papuan, had been killed by security personnel from 2010 to 2018. Most of the perpetrators have never been tried or held accountable for their actions, the report said.

The police were allegedly behind 34 of the cases, while the TNI was allegedly involved in 23. In the 11 other cases, both the police and military were believed to be responsible. (ggq)