74. Article 10 (4) of Law No. 9/1998 on the Freedom to Express Opinions in
Public mentioned that in principle, written notification for mass protest does
not apply to scientific activities on campus and religious activities. Therefore,
Therefore, disbanding public forums due to unavailable permits can be
considered a form of limiting freedom of expression.
75. Restrictions on freedom of expression also occurred on 15 August 2019 in
Malang-East Java, when the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) demonstration
that rejected the 1962 New York Agreement was blocked by a group of people
and ended in clashes. 23 (twenty-three) Papuan students were injured and this
incident then sparked protests in other areas.
76. On 16 August 2019, a siege and attack by a group of TNI officers and mass
organizations occurred in the Papuan student dormitory in Surabaya. The
incident happened due to an incident where the Indonesian flag was found
damaged and had fallen into the gutter in front of the dormitory. 5 (five)
Papuan students were injured, where one of them was shot in the leg with tear
gas, three people were hit, and one person was injured in the eyebrow. A total
of 43 Papuan students were arrested for questioning at the Surabaya Police
Headquarters after the incident but were released due to insufficient evidence.
77. The incidents in Malang and Surabaya were spread widely on social media
and triggered a wave of massive demonstrations in various cities throughout
Papua, starting from Jayapura, Manokwari, Fak-Fak, Sorong, Merauke,
Timika, Biak, Wamena, Nabire, and other cities since 19 August 2019. The
mass protests demand an investigation of the racism cases in Malang and
Surabaya and demands for a referendum for independence. The
demonstrations turned into riots in Manokwari, Sorong, Fakfak, Timika,
Jayapura, and Deiyai.
78. The anti-racism demonstration lasted more than 2 (two) weeks.
Demonstrations also took place in several cities outside Papua and West
Papua, such as Jakarta, Bandung, Medan, Makassar, Semarang, Bali, Kupang,
Yogyakarta, and Manado.
79. Komnas HAM requested the Government of Indonesia to guarantee that the
police and security forces did not use violent methods in handling
demonstrations as it could violate human rights, and it could escalate conflict
in Papua.
Freedom of association
80. One important case concerning restriction to freedom of assembly and
association was the use of Law No.17/2017 concerning Mass Organization in