Jayapura – National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) Chairperson Ahmad Taufan Damanik says that the withdrawal of Indonesian military (TNI) and police from Papua does not make sense because the threat by armed groups still exists.

As reported by aa.com.tr (https://www.aa.com.tr/id/nasional/komnas-ham-tak-setuju-pasukan-tni-polri-ditarik-dari-papua/2145527), Damanik asserted that Komnas HAM does not agree with calls to withdraw TNI and police troops from Papua.

According to Damanik, this does not make sense because the threat from armed separatist groups in the land of Papua still exists.

Damanik said that the TNI and the police need to carry out their duties in Papua in accordance with the norms of human rights even though they are facing an armed group whose actions violate the law and disrupt local communities.

"If they're repatriated and so forth it would be something that makes no sense, because this is a sovereign country", said Damanik when presenting material during a TNI-national police leadership meeting on Monday.

Damanik said that Komnas HAM has been reminding the TNI and police to be disciplined in carrying out their operations in Papua.

Human rights activists have said that the presence of TNI and Indonesian police troops in Papua has given rise to human rights violations by security personnel. They have been calling on the government to withdraw all TNI and police troops from Papua.

[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Komnas HAM Tidak Setuju Militer Ditarik dari Papua".]

Source: https://suarapapua.com/2021/02/20/komnas-ham-tidak-setuju-militer-ditarik-dari-papua/