The commander of Kopassus, the elite strike force of the Indonesian army, Major-General Wisnu Bawa Tenaya declared during a joint training investigation with  China’s People’s Liberation Army in Shandong, China, that his men will continue to pursue the persuasive approach in its handling of the security disturbances in West Papua.He was quoted as saying: ‘We cannot the kind of actions that we would like to take but must act cautiously because in addition to security problems, other issues in West Papua need to be attended to, such as the welfare of the people.’

He also said that Kopassus forces plan to conduct expeditions in various parts of in West Papua to investigate the what is going on there and what it is that the people there actually want.’

Earlier on,  a representative of Kontras,  Indria Fernida, the chairperson of the Synod of the Kingmi Church, Revd Benny Giay and the secretary of the Working Group of NGOs in Papua, Septer Manufandu made it clear the military approach is still being prioritized in West Papua.

Moreover, the welfare approach that has for so long been proclaimed by the authorities was far from being pursued to any meaningful extent or in any way to the satisfaction of the aspirations of the Papuan people.

[Abridged in translation by TAPOL]