Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Friday condemned the Indonesian police for the reported unlawful dispersal, physical assault, and detention of Papuan protesters in the town of Merauke, South Papua province, on January 25.
Meenakshi Ganguly, the deputy Asia director at HRW, reiterated Indigenous Papuan communities’ right to protest without fear of reppresion. Ganguly stated, “Police and military personnel who commit abuses against local communities should be held to account and appropriately punished.”
According to HRW, members of the Voice of Catholic People of Papua gathered at a cathedral and urged church officials to intervene and protect Indigenous populations harmed by the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE) project. According to witnesses, police officers arrived and forcibly dispersed the crowd without prior warning or attempts at dialogue. Officers allegedly choked and beat demonstrators, striking several on the head with batons.
The rights group also reported that the police detained 11 protesters, and released them without charge after midnight. Arnold Anda, their lawyer from the Merauke Legal Aid Institute, stated that authorities failed to provide any legal basis for the arrests. Police also seized a smartphone and deleted its photos and videos before returning it, leaving protesters feeling monitored and unsafe.
The MIFEE project plans to convert nearly three million hectares of forest and swampland into rice, sugarcane, and other crop plantations. The Indonesian government frames the project as a path toward national food and biofuel self-sufficiency.
HRW warned, however, that the “project risks the customary land rights of over 40,000 people from the Indigenous Malind, Maklew, Yei, and Khimaima communities.” Indonesian civil society organization Pusaka has documented fraudulent land grabs that strip these communities of their ancestral forests. They face difficulties in accessing sources of food and sources of livelihood, destruction of social and cultural systems, exploitation of workers, and inadequate wages.
In March 2025, nine UN special rapporteurs issued a joint letter expressing grave concerns over systematic human rights and environmental violations in the region. They warned that approximately 40 villages are at risk of losing their traditional rights due to large-scale deforestation, military intimidation, and the criminalization of dissent.
In November 2025, UN experts expressed concern about the Special Autonomy Law for Papua, describing the law as one that centralizes authority and worsens the poverty, persecution, and displacement of Papuan Indigenous peoples.
Article 18B (2) of the Indonesian Constitution recognizes and respects customary law communities and their traditional rights, provided they align with national interests and legal regulations. Article 28I (3) emphasizes the protection of cultural identities and the rights of Indigenous communities in line with societal progress.
