BANGKOK (AlertNet) – Indonesia’s National Police has defended its punishment of seven police officers involved in a violent crackdown against participants of the third Papua Congress in October, the Jakarta Post reported.
The violence in Abepura in Papua, where rights groups accuse the police officers of violently dispersing Congress participants, left three people dead, at least 90 injured and around 300 arrested.
“Seven officers have been sanctioned, including the local police chief,” National Police spokesman Saud Usman Nasution said on Monday, according to the report.
Six officers were given written reprimands while the local police chief was relieved of his post, although he is still in the force as the deputy director of traffic police in Papua.
Last week, Amnesty International denounced the punishments towards the officer as “a failure of human rights accountability.”
“These written warnings are a slap on the wrist. They do not provide accountability for the deaths of three people, nor for the use of excessive and unnecessary force against a peaceful gathering,” Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific director said.
Papua, two provinces on the west half of New Guinea island, has long suffered strained ties with Indonesia which took over the area from Dutch colonial rule in 1963. Tensions have been heightened following the October incident.
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