Rioting Continues In Jayapura After Death Of West Papuan Activist - June 18, 2012

Critics claim police using ‘law enforcement’ to condone violence

Funeral procession Mako Tabuni

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (Pacific Scoop, June 16, 2012) – Angry residents in the Indonesian-ruled region of West Papua have burned cars and shops in the capital Jayapura after an independence activist was shot and killed, police and human rights activists said.

Melanesian Papuans have campaigned for independence in the region bordering Papua New Guinea for decades.

Mako Tabuni, deputy of the pro-independence West Papua National Committee (KNPB), was shot dead while resisting arrest, human rights activist Markus Haluk told Reuters.

Mako Tabuni

Independence activist Benny Wenda released a press statement calling the shooting an "assassination" and urging the United Nations to intervene.

"There is now indiscriminate shooting taking place on the streets of Jayapura, with residents fleeing in fear. On behalf of my people, I am urging the international community to wake up and help us," he said.

‘UN peacekeeping needed’

"We urgently need a UN peacekeeping force to be put in place and sent to the region. My people are danger in the hand of the Indonesian military and police."

News of the killing brought people out onto the streets of Jayapura and some of them torched shops and vehicles. Television footage showed police inspecting burned out buildings and smoldering cars.

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