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Calling Papuan armed groups terrorists won't solve unrest: Watchdogs
Rights groups have pushed back against a government plan to designate armed criminal groups in Papua as terrorists, arguing that doing so would do little to break the cycle of violence in the region.
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Police and military personnel attend a joint antiterror exercise held by the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police at the East Java Police’s Mobile Brigade headquarters in Malang, East Java, on May 18, 2020. (Antara/Ari Bowo Sucipto)
L
ast week, Indonesia’s handling of insurgencies in Papua took a new turn, eliciting a strong response from rights watchdogs and experts.
The National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), a state institution that had previously taken mostly precautionary and rehabilitative approaches to countering violent extremism, pitched the idea of designating armed criminal groups (KKB) linked with Papuan separatists as terrorists.
BNPT chief Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar told lawmakers at a hearing that these groups had been using violence to spark conflict and instill fear among civilians, suggesting that such activities could be regarded as acts of terror.
BNPT was “proposing discussions” with relevant ministries and state agencies to ascertain whether it was possible to designate these groups as terrorist organizations, he said.
For the most part, lawmakers agree with the agency and support a hard approach to unrest and conflict in Papua.
Romo Muhammad Syafi’i, a Gerindra Party legislator who sits on House of Representatives Commission III overseeing legal affairs, said acts of terrorism in Indonesia were not only disruptions of public order but also threatened “sovereignty, unity and national defense”.
House Deputy Speaker Azis Syamsuddin of Golkar said the KKB redesignation plan was a political approach that could ease the tension brought about by Papuan separatism, tribunnews.com reported.
