Two deadly incidents in the West Papuan highlands have left at least nineteen people dead in what independence activists describe as a sharp escalation of Indonesia’s decades-long military occupation, according to the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP).
The first massacre occurred in Soanggama village, Intan Jaya, on October 15, when Indonesian troops reportedly raided a traditional men’s communal house, known as a ‘Nduni’, at around 5 a.m. According to local sources, soldiers destroyed the building and opened fire, killing at least eight civilians. Elsewhere in the village, three men accused of being West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) members were captured, tortured, and executed. Witnesses said a woman was also tortured, raped, and later drowned in the Hiabu River after attempting to flee. The attack brought the total number of deaths in Soanggama to fifteen.
Just three days later, on October 18, Indonesian military drone strikes killed four West Papuan TPNPB members in Kiwirok, including local commander Lamek Taplo and three young fighters. Taplo had recently given testimony regarding Indonesia’s bombing campaigns in the region, which have intensified since 2021.
The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has urged international media to monitor the escalating conflict closely and renewed its call for the United Nations to allow a fact-finding mission by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which Indonesia has blocked since 2018 despite widespread international support.
ULMWP President Benny Wenda condemned the killings, likening them to previous atrocities such as the Wamena, Paniai, and Biak massacres. “Soanggama Village is now added to a long list of bloody tragedies in our homeland,” he said.
International Parliamentarians for West Papua (IPWP) Chair Alex Sobel MP and International Lawyers for West Papua (ILWP) Chair Tim Hansen MP both called for immediate, transparent investigations, saying the killings highlight an ongoing pattern of human rights violations that demands urgent UN intervention.
