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Is the church a threat to sovereignty and national security in Papua?
Jakarta and Papua can look to founding father Sukarno, who pioneered a path to lasting peace in Papua before the region was even part of the country, for guidance on moving away from today’s heavy-handed security approach and toward a shared, mutually respectful approach to resolution.
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Food and shelter: Nduga Police personnel distribute food and water on July 1, 2023 to people of Kroptak district who fled their homes to avoid conflict and seek refuge in the Kenyam district of Nduga regency in Papua Highland province. (Antara/Nduga Police)
T
he excessive use of state power on Sept. 17 against church leaders and church institutions in Papua’s Nduga regency to enforce the law should give us a cause for concern.
Security forces, in the form of nonorganic troops, took forceful legal action against the leaders of Kemah Injil Church (Kingmi) in Papua in the evening on that date. They forced their way into the church and its offices and then arrested, interrogated and mistreated pastor Zakeus Tabuni, the head of the Kingmi Papua classis in the regency capital Kenyam district.
They also mistreated pastors Lazarus Elopere and Natanael Tabuni as well as several other church leaders, who were detained by the Nduga Police over suspicions that they were supporting the armed separatist group led by Egianus Kogoya.
The police believe that the church leaders serve as informants of the rebel group and also provide logistical support.
For many, especially those outside of Papua, these law enforcement measures have created a perception that the Kingmi Church in Kenyam is a major supporter of the separatist movement.
The raid and the church leaders’ arrests have exacerbated and complicated the efforts to resolve the armed conflict and violence in the regency, known as a stronghold of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) and its armed wing. Nduga has also come under the international spotlight, as Egianus has held Susi Air’s New Zealander pilot Philip Mark Mehrtens hostage in the regency’s jungles since February.
Negotiation for Mehrtens’ release is ongoing, and Kingmi Church has been playing a mediatory role by communicating directly with Egianus, but the arrest of its leaders has made it difficult for the negotiation to bear fruit.
