• Despite growing violence and allegations of human rights violations, Australia says it will continue to give military training, hold joint exercises, and export weapons to Indonesia.
• The Australian Department of Defence affirmed in a statement to Al Jazeera that the government of Anthony Albanese would continue to arm and train Indonesian soldiers.

Despite growing violence and allegations of human rights violations in West Papua, in the extreme east of the archipelago, where conflict has been simmering for decades, Australia says it will continue to give military training, hold joint exercises, and export weapons to Indonesia.

The Australian Department of Defence affirmed in a statement to Al Jazeera that the government of Anthony Albanese, who was elected in May, would continue to arm and train Indonesian soldiers.

“One of Australia’s most crucial allies in Indonesia. According to the statement, Australia “will continue to undertake joint exercises, offer military and police training, and – consistent with applicable law – export military equipment to Indonesia.

Despite some bumps in the road, Australia and Indonesia have maintained a long-standing military partnership that includes joint exercises and the sharing of weapons. In 2014, Thales Australia sold three Bushmaster troop carriers to Kopassus, Indonesia’s elite troops.

While Detachment 88, also known as Densus 88, a counterterrorism force established in the wake of the 2002 Bali Bombings, receives funding and training from both Australia and the United States, military units such as Kopassus conduct joint training exercises with the Australian SAS, the nation’s special forces.

These programs are credited with lessening the threat posed by extremist organizations, but Indonesian forces are still under investigation for alleged grave violations of human rights in West Papua, where Indigenous people have been battling for independence for 50 years.

Early in the 1960s, Indonesia entered an area rich in natural resources, formalizing its rule in 1969 with a contentious referendum recognized by the UN.

More military and special forces troops were dispatched to the region in response to armed opposition from West Papuan independence militants including the Free Papua Movement, also known as Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM), who purportedly targeted Indonesian civilians.

Despite the region being largely calm during the administration of Abdurrahman Wahid, Indonesian military involvement persisted under other presidents, including the current administration of President Joko Widodo, who is serving his second term.

In June, nonviolent protests over a recent proposal to establish three new administrative divisions in the region resulted in 44 arrests. According to Amnesty International, the police used “excessive force” in their response.

More military and special forces troops were dispatched to the region in response to armed opposition from West Papuan independence militants including the Free Papua Movement, also known as Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM), who purportedly targeted Indonesian civilians.

Despite the region being largely calm during the administration of Abdurrahman Wahid, Indonesian military involvement persisted under other presidents, including the current administration of President Joko Widodo, who is serving his second term.

In June, nonviolent protests over a recent proposal to establish three new administrative divisions in the region resulted in 44 arrests. According to Amnesty International, the police used “excessive force” in their response.

In spite of the pandemic, Papua kept struggling.

At least 50,000 people had been forced from their homes in the province as a result of violence, according to a 2020 independent report written by UN experts.

It referenced claims that the military or police had killed Indigenous West Papuans and used excessive force against them.

The difficulty of access to the region for media, journalists, human rights advocates, and other groups was another issue raised in the report.

Amnesty International reports that throughout the first half of 2021, more than 6,000 individuals were compelled to flee their homes as a result of continuous hostilities between armed members of West Papuan separatist organizations and the Indonesian military.

According to Amnesty, 188 university students in Papua New Guinea were detained during the same time frame for organizing nonviolent protests. At least 13

Papuan activists were still detained as of July 2022 for “exercising their freedom to express political ideas,” including Victor Yeimo, a well-known independence activist who is facing treason charges.

Human Rights Watch researcher Andreas Harsono, who is based in Indonesia, told Al Jazeera that while “the use of force in Papua is justifiable to some extent,” civilians’ and peaceful protestors’ rights were also being violated.

According to Harsono, there have been instances of “extrajudicial murders, disappearances, kidnapping of Indigenous Papuan children, theft, sexual assault against Papuan women, and land grabbing.”

“Even donning the Morning Star flag [the emblem of West Papuan independence] may see them punished and detained,” he added, adding that as outsiders are not permitted to enter the area, such crimes typically go undetected.

Australian officials, according to Harsono, should be held accountable for including such human rights concerns in cooperative training with Indonesian forces.

He also accused them of “shut their eyes” to the wrongdoing.

He expressed his desire that Australia may modify its military cooperation with Indonesia to be more human rights-focused.

Amnesty reports that “military and police personnel often justify the killing of Papuan residents by claiming that they were members of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) or ‘armed criminal groups’ without any clear evidence.” Human Rights Watch and Amnesty claim that Indonesian operations against West Papuans are increasingly referred to as “anti-terrorism” activities to justify brutal crackdowns.

The United Liberation Movement for West Papua Provisional Government’s interim president and exiled West Papuan, Benny Wenda, claims that Indonesian soldiers are the “terrorists” behind the attacks.

Wenda stated to Al Jazeera from his base in the UK that “Indonesia is committing terrorism against my people through their unlawful occupation. We do not attack Indonesian people in Jakarta or Java, but Indonesia comes to my land and terrorizes my people. Through the use of their military troops in West Papua, they are waging an illegal war.

Australia, according to Wenda, has a “moral duty to support West Papua.”

Al Jazeera contacted Indonesia’s Ministry of Defence spokeswoman Dahnil Azhar Simanjuntak for this piece, but he didn’t respond to inquiries.

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