Rights lawyer questions Jakarta’s Papua approach

Political unrest that the Indonesian government faces in Papua stems from the fact that it is "taking a security approach" in the province, says lawyer Indria Fernida.

Ms Fernida is a human rights lawyer and vice-director of the Indonesian human rights organisation, Kontras.

She said Kontras been communicating with the government. "I think the government is quite open to discussion with us, including the situation in Papua."

They also had talks with the chief of the national police two days ago on how to deal with the Papua issue.

Talks with the government, such as those held with Amnesty International this week, came as work proceeded on getting the government to "implement a human rights norm based on their statement", she told Radio Australia’s Connect Asia.

But in the field, "violation is still acute in Papua", Ms Fernida said.

"The government is still taking a security approach in Papua even though they are already committed to conduct a dialogue."

The lawyer said the government should evaluate the role of the military, police and intelligence in Papua to seek a more professional approach. "In fact these actors become a problem in Papua," she said.