Indonesia: Police Brutality Against Papuan Protesters Over Food Estate Project
Merauke, Indonesia – Indonesian police forcibly dispersed a peaceful protest by Papuan activists in Merauke City, South Papua, on , beating and detaining eleven individuals, according to reports from Human Rights Watch and local legal aid organizations.
The protesters, members of the Voice of Catholic People of Papua (Suara Kaum Awam Katolik Regio Papua), had gathered at the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Cathedral to urge church officials to protect Indigenous communities impacted by the Indonesian government’s ambitious “food estate” project in Merauke. They also voiced opposition to the local Catholic bishop’s support for the initiative. Police intervened, dispersing those assembled in the church courtyard and arresting the eleven protesters.
“Indigenous Papuan communities have the right to protest the government’s Merauke food project without having to worry about being beaten, arrested, and jailed,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Police and military personnel who commit abuses against local communities should be held to account and appropriately punished.”
Protesters allege excessive force was used during the dispersal. Stenlhy Dambujai, 30, stated that officers “choked and beat” him, and struck two other protesters, Maria Amote, 24, and Angel Gebze, 22, on the head with batons. Following their arrest, the detainees were initially held at the Merauke Traffic Police Station, where they reportedly endured further beatings before being transferred to the Merauke police precinct for questioning.
All eleven protesters were released without charge after midnight, but their legal counsel, Arnold Anda of the Merauke Legal Aid Institute, reported that police refused to provide any legal justification for their detention. Dambujai also claimed that a smartphone belonging to one of the protesters was seized and its photos and videos deleted before being returned.
The Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate project, intended to transform nearly three million hectares of forest and swampland into agricultural land for rice, sugarcane, and other crops, is at the heart of the escalating tensions. Initially conceived in 2010, the project stalled before being revived and expanded in 2023 under then-President Joko Widodo, receiving “National Strategic Project” status which accelerated deforestation in the region. President Prabowo Subianto, who succeeded Widodo in October 2024, has further accelerated the project’s expansion, publicly stating his ambition to transform Indonesia into the “granary of the world.”
The project poses a significant threat to the customary land rights of over 40,000 people from the Indigenous Malind, Maklew, Yei, and Khimaima communities, who rely on the forest and swampland for their livelihoods and traditional practices. Communities allege the project is leading to displacement, forced land seizures, logging of traditional forests, threats to biodiversity, and the suppression of dissent through military presence.
The Indonesian government maintains that no applications have been made for the designation of customary forests within the Merauke project area and asserts that the project complies with national laws and regulations, including those pertaining to Indigenous rights, environmental protection, and human rights. However, the civic group Solidarity for Merauke contends that the project has exacerbated human rights violations and forced displacement.
Norton Kamuyen, a Marind resident of Nakias village, Nguti district, told Human Rights Watch that he and his family were forced to flee their village in January due to a land dispute. “We once lived safely and without fear, free to forage in our forests,” Kamuyen said. “But since we disagree with the National Strategic Project, we are considered to be opposing the government. The military makes us afraid, so we have to leave our villages to find safety and protect our lives.”
Merauke holds symbolic importance for Indonesian nationalism, representing the unity of the archipelago through the national anthem “From Sabang to Merauke,” referencing the country’s westernmost and easternmost points. Protests by Indigenous Papuans are relatively rare in Merauke due to the heavy military deployment in the region. A Malind tribal leader in Merauke reportedly stated that “Bulldozers here are always guarded by soldiers with semi-automatic weapons.”
On , the Communion of Churches in Indonesia, representing 105 Protestant denominations, issued a joint statement in Merauke calling on the Indonesian government to “end land grabbing of Indigenous Papuans, even in the name of National Food Security,” and to engage in “honest, equal, and dignified dialogue” with Papuan Indigenous communities regarding the food estate project.
In March 2025, nine United Nations special rapporteurs expressed concerns in a letter that the project would result in the loss of livelihoods and traditional rights for Indigenous peoples in 40 villages. They reported systematic human rights and environmental violations, including the denial of customary land rights, deforestation, environmental degradation, limited participation by Indigenous peoples in decision-making, and alleged intimidation by the military.
“The Indonesian government has a responsibility to improve food production in the country,” Ganguly said. “But it should be clear that the Merauke food project cannot be pursued by trampling on the rights to liberty, land, and livelihoods of the Indigenous Papuan population.”