Indonesia and Brutal Policies Against West Papua (Paradise Bombed)
Kanako Mita, Sawako Utsumi, and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
The documentary Paradise Bombed by Kristo Langker highlights the brutal policies of Indonesia in West Papua.
Sadly, for the indigenous Papuans of West Papua, this crisis is downplayed regionally and internationally. Instead, nations focus on trade with Indonesia. Also, leading powers supply military arms to this nation – despite the atrocious human rights record of Indonesia concerning West Papua.
Paradise Bombed was lauded by President Benny Wenda of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP).
Wenda remarked, “We are murdered, tortured, and raped, and then our land is stolen for resource extraction and corporate profit when we flee.”
Since this documentary, rare graphic footage emerged of torture in 2024.
The Guardian reports, “Graphic footage of a West Papuan man bound in a water-filled barrel and being beaten and cut with knives by Indonesian soldiers has drawn a rare apology from the commander of Indonesia’s military in the province.”
Two videos show the shocking reality of the armed forces of Indonesia and how they treat Papuans. The Papuan was tortured repeatedly after the armed forces of Indonesia launched a raid in Central Papua (Puncak regency – Omukia and Gome districts).
ABC News reported, “The video emerged online last week and depicted a defenseless Papuan man being punched, kicked in the face and lacerated with a machete as he sat in a barrel of water that increasingly turned red.”
Wenda said, “I ask everyone who watches the video to remember that West Papua is a closed society, cut off from the world by a sixty-year media ban imposed by Indonesia’s military occupation. How many victims go unnoticed by the world? How many incidents are not captured on film? Every week we hear word of another murder, massacre, or tortured civilian. Over 500,000 West Papuans have been killed under Indonesian colonial rule.”
Returning to Paradise Bombed – this documentary generates “an important window” into the perennial crimes being committed by Indonesia against the Papuans.
The indigenous Papuans of West Papua are overwhelmingly Christian and ethnically different from the Javanese – who dominate mainly Muslim Indonesia. However, for decades, the world continues to stand by and tolerate the massacres of Papuans, Javanese colonialism, the exploitation of Papuan resources, and other brutal facts on the ground to take place in West Papua.
The Guardian says, “Indonesia has controlled West Papua since invading in 1963 and formalizing its annexation through the controversial, UN approved, ‘Act of Free Choice’. Security forces are accused of severe human rights violations during the occupation with an estimated 500,000 Papuans killed.”
Papuan civilization, culture, ethnicity, history, and religion have nothing in common with the colonial occupiers of Indonesia. Hence, the human rights of Papuans must be addressed regionally and internationally – if not, another indigenous community will be crushed to the point of no return. Therefore, the Papuans of this land need an independent homeland – free from Javanese colonialism.
Paradise Bombed focuses on several villages being bombed by the armed forces of Indonesia – and how food insecurity and oppressive conditions are an endless tool by Indonesia to crush the spirit of the Papuans.
Paradise Bombed – Video documenting the hidden West Papua (Important video to watch about West Papua)
https://www.ipwp.org The International Parliamentarians for West Papua (IPWP)
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