Reiner Brabar, Sorong – The All Nusantara leadership board of the Nduga High School and University Student Association (IPMNI) and the families of victims are urging the central government to resolve the human rights violations that occurred on December 7, 2000 in Abepura, Jayapura city, Papua.

The incident, which resulted in 105 people falling victim, came to be known as the "Bloody Abepura tragedy". Coinciding with 24 years since the incident, students from Nduga held a candle lit vigil and joint prayers at the Ninmin dormitory in Abepura.

In a press statement, general coordinator Menti Tabuni said that Papuan students, especially in Nduga, have not forgotten the Bloody Abepura tragedy that claimed the lives of innocent civilians.

"We students and the people of Nduga have not forgotten the Bloody Abepura case as a tragedy that had occurred in the past. Just like the Bloody Abepura tragedy, as well as all cases that have occurred in this land, the state continues to hide their crime against Papuans. This has been proven by the absence of any effort by the state to solve a single case", said Tabuni in a press release received by Suara Papua on Sunday evening, December 8.

Tabuni said that up until now cases of past human rights violations that have occurred in the land of Papua have never been resolved, and on the contrary, cases of human rights violations continued to grow.

"None of the cases of human rights violations have ever been resolved, for example Bloody Abepura, which was deliberately left to drag on for decades and was deliberately forgotten. And at the same time a series of human rights violations continues to be committed by the state and its apparatus in the land of Papua", said Tabuni.

Deputy Coordinator Layta Kogoya added that through the candle lit vigil and joint prayers the students are asking the government to immediately solve and investigate all the cases of human rights violations that have occurred in the land of Papua.

"Cases of human rights violations that have happened in the past or more recently, the state must be responsible for resolving them", he said.

The following is a statement by students and the people of Nduga in the momentum of commemorating the bloody Abepura tragedy:

First, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (DUHAM) by the United Nations (UN) in 1948 aims to provide an awareness to all nations about humanity that in fact every human being has a nature as a noble creature created by God, and humans are entitled to a free life without oppression, intimidation and moreover murder, it is clear that the Indonesian state has violated international law, and even Indonesian law itself.

Second, that the government of the Republic of Indonesia immediately take action to review human rights violations throughout Papua, including the Bloody Abepura case 24 years ago.

Third, that the Indonesian government immediately withdraw all organic and non-organic military from the land of Papuan because it is the existence of the Indonesian Military is why case of human rights violations have increased throughout the land of Papua.

Fourth, we students and the families of Nduga tribal victims declare firmly that the Indonesian state has been unable to resolve a single case that occurred on the land of Papua, including the Bloody Abepura tragedy, Bloody Wamena, Bloody Biak, Bloody Paniai, Bloody Nduga and others.

As for the Bloody Abepura incident, data collected by students from various sources found that the number of victims during this tragedy was 105 people, two of which died in Jayapura District Police (Polresta) detention due to torture, one person who was shot dead and 22 others who were arrested and tortured.

The bloody Abepura case occurred early on the morning of December 7, 2000, at around 1:30 am, starting with an attack by an unknown persons (OTK) against the Abepura District Police Headquarters (Mapolsek).

During the incident, Chief Brigadier Petrus Eppa was killed along with three civilians. About 100 meters from Abepura District Police Headquarters a house shop (Ruko) was burned down, then the OTK killed a security guard (Satpam) at the Kotaraja Regional Autonomy Office.

On the same day, at around 2:30 am, three student dormitories in Abepura, namely the Ninmin, Yapen Waropen and Ilaga student dormitories were raided by security forces along with civilian settlements in Abe Pantai, Kotaraja and Skyline.

During the security sweeping at Skyline, Elkus Suhuniap was killed. John Karunggu and Orry Dronggi from the Ninmin student dormitory died at Jayapura District Police due to torture. At the time, the position of Jayapura District Police Chief was held by Assistant Superintendent Drs. Daud Sihombing SH and Papua Regional Police Chief was Brigadier General Moersoertidarmo Moerhadi D.

[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "24 Tahun Kasus Abepura Berdarah Dilupakan Pemerintah".]

Source: https://suarapapua.com/2024/12/08/24-tahun-kasus-abepura-berdarah-dilupakan-pemerintah/