The Wire

In 2001 West Papua was granted special autonomy status, a move that was supposed to improve the standard of living for the indigenous population, and reduce human rights abuses by the Indonesian military. Six years on, a report by the head of the Baptist church in west papua maintains that special autonomy failing to improve the lot of the local population. The report’s author, Reverend Socratez Sofyan Yoman, president of the fellowship of Baptist church, also says that human rights abuses perpetrated by the Indonesian military are continuing. The report comes as The Wire has received independent accounts of extra judicial killings of west Papuans by the Indonesian military. Reverend Yoman, explained earlier why he believes his church is in a position to judge the success or failure of special autonomy.