Time to End the Military Approach in Papua: A Growing National Conscience Toward a Wounded Land

Time to End the Military Approach in Papua: A Growing National Conscience Toward a Wounded Land

On May 27, 2025, members of Indonesia’s Regional Representative Council (DPD) and House of Representatives (DPR) made a significant appeal to President Prabowo Subianto: stop the militarized approach in Papua. This call is more than just a political statement—it marks a slow but growing awareness within Indonesia of the enduring human suffering and policy failures that have scarred Papua for decades.

Since taking office in October 2024, President Prabowo has expanded Indonesia’s military presence in West Papua by establishing five new Infantry Battalions in key regions such as Keerom, Sarmi, Boven Digoel, Merauke, and Sorong. While officially framed as a strategy for national security and development, these deployments only deepen fears of colonization by force and systemic violence. For many Papuans, this is yet another chapter in a long history of repression that began with their disputed integration into the Republic of Indonesia in the 1960s.

This militarization is not just about troop presence—it bleeds into every aspect of daily life. Projects such as the “food estate” mega-farm in Merauke, overseen by military authorities under the guise of food security, are experienced by Indigenous Papuans as land grabs, erasures of identity, and ecological devastation. What is called “development” in Jakarta often feels like destruction in Papua.

Human rights violations continue to surface with alarming frequency. The 2024 Gome torture scandal, in which Indonesian soldiers tortured two Papuan civilians resulting in the death of one, is just one visible case among many hidden or unreported abuses. Although military authorities apologized and detained the perpetrators, justice remains elusive, and impunity persists. International organizations like Amnesty International and the United Nations have consistently condemned the systemic use of torture, arbitrary arrests, and suppression of peaceful dissent in Papua.

Yet amid this ongoing violence, something vital is beginning to stir: conscience. The recent public statements by Indonesian legislators urging a shift away from military tactics reflect a modest but significant awakening—a recognition that Papua is not a “security problem” but a deeply wounded society in need of justice, dignity, and healing. This shift in discourse, however limited, suggests that some national leaders are beginning to understand that guns cannot silence grief and tanks cannot erase identity.

Acknowledging wrongdoing in Papua is not just a political necessity—it is a moral imperative. Indonesia must abandon the view of Papua as a distant, rebellious periphery to be subdued, and instead recognize it as a land of peoples with ancient cultures, spiritual depth, and a right to determine their future free from fear. The solution to Papua’s turmoil will not be found in battalions or barbed wire, but in listening, in justice, and in honest engagement with historical truth.

This editorial is not merely a critique—it is a call to conscience. End the military approach. Begin the long journey of repair. Rebuild trust where it has been shattered. And above all, let the leaders of this nation understand: the integrity of a republic is not safeguarded by violence but by the dignity it extends to its most vulnerable.

Papua does not need more soldiers. It needs peace. It needs recognition. It needs truth. And it needs a nation that no longer turns away from the wounds it has caused.