Jayapura – Anti-Terrorism Solidarity (Solat) action coordinator Mesak Dogomo says that the terror attack on the Jubi media offices in Jayapura that occurred on October 16 cannot be treated lightly.
According to Dogomo, terrorist acts and attacks such as this are not just physical threats, but also a direct attack on human rights, the press and democracy in the land of Papua. Therefore he is asking that all human rights, democratic activists and journalists in Papua unite and continue to maintain solidarity in fighting all forms of terrorism.
"In this process the military apparatus should be forced to act quickly and firmly. The perpetrators must be arrested immediately and their motives revealed transparently to the public. Terror like this should not be allowed to happen. If the freedom of human rights, the press and democracy in the land of Papua continues to be intimidated, threatened, with a pattern of terrorism like this, then what is at stake is not just the rights of democratic activists, but also the general right of the pubic to obtain true and balanced information in order to achieve justice and peace", Dogomo said following a protest action by Solat at the Abe traffic circle in Jayapura city, Papua, on Saturday October 19.
Solat therefore states:
- The authorities must immediately arrest and try the perpetrators and their motives must be revealed publicly and transparently.
- Solat urges the national police chief to dismiss the Papua and West Papua regional police chiefs for being unable to maintain the safety of human rights activists and Papuan journalists, and for their inability to find the perpetrators of the terror attack.
- The Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) need to intervene to provide protection for witness and victims of the attack. This is because a number of Jubi journalists have suffered trauma as a result of the bombing.
Series of terror attacks and intimidation
Over the last four years, there have been a series of bombings, attacks and intimidation against press and human rights workers in the land of Papua.
These attacks started with an incident on the evening of April 21, 2021, when a car belonging to senior journalist and Jubi founder Victor Mambor that was parked next to his house in Angkasapura Village, North Jayapura district was vandalised.
Then on August 7, 2021, the windshield of a car belonging to Jayapura Indonesian Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Chairperson Lucky Ireeuw was smashed when it was parked at the Hamadi Pier in South Jayapura district.
In the early hours of May 9, 2023, a motorbike parked on the grounds of the Papua Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) offices was set on fire.
On the morning of January 23, 2023, a device that was suspected to be Molotov Cocktail bomb exploded near Victor Mambor's house in Angkasapura Village.
Terror was also experienced by human rights lawyer Christian Yan Warinussy from the Manokwari Legal Aid Assessment, Research and Development Institute (LP3BH) when he was shot by an air-rifle that almost claimed his life in front of the Papua Bank offices in Manokwari on July 17, 2024.
Finally, on the morning of October 16, 2024, there was the Molotov bomb attack on the Jubi editorial offices on Jalan SPG Waena in Jayapura city, which resulted in two Toyota cars being damaged by fire.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Aksi Solidaritas Desak Polda Papua Tangkap dan Adili Pelaku Bom Molotov di Kantor Jubi".]
