West Papuans tortured by Indonesian army

Warning: although the most violent sections of the video have been cut, viewers may still find these images distressing.



A video showing Indonesian soldiers torturing indigenous people from West Papua was posted on the internet a few days ago.

The video posted on the Asian Human Rights Committee website is in two parts. In the first part Indonesian soldiers can be seen arresting a group of indigenous Papuans. The villagers, who are accused of having links to separatist organizations in the region, are insulted and receive several blows to the head.

In the second part of the video, two bound men are subjected to physical abuse and humiliation while being questioned about their supposed involvement with armed separatist groups. One of them is threatened with a knife to the throat. The other man, who is visibly older, has a plastic bag over his head and his genitals are being burned with a burning stick.

Due to the outrage provoked by the publication of these images, the Indonesian government has ordered an inquiry. On October 22, Djoko Suyanton, the Indonesian security minister, admitted that the torturers seen in the video were indeed Indonesian military personnel. He added that the actions were excessive and that the perpetrators would be punished. However, the minister also said that the soldiers had good reason to suspect that the interrogated villagers were armed and dangerous. Human rights organisations say the men were just simple farmers.