Papuan serving 20 years dies in prison

The following information has been received from a reliable source in Papua:This is to inform everyone who struggles consistently about the problem of human rights in the Land of Papua that one of the Papuan political prisoners, Kanius Murib, died on 10 December. He died at his family home in Hokilik Village, district of Wamena, Papua.

He had been suffering from 2010 up until December 2011. The prison authorities reached an agreement with his family that, in accordance with the family’s wishes, he would be able to stay with the family so as to ensure that he died surrounded by his family because of his physical condition as well as the fact that he had become mentally unstable.

1. Kanius Murib was serving a sentence of twenty years.

2. The government paid little attention to his state of health and just allowed his condition to linger on.

3. None of his children have been able to go to school.

The way he was treated is extremely unjust. This is the way all Papuans are being treated. The Indonesian government has ignored the recommendations made during the Universal Period Review, while the Co-ordinator Minister for Politics and Human Rights said while on a visit to Papua in 2012 that there are no political prisoners in Papua.