The Papuan Students Alliance in Java have urged the Indonesian government to close a number of national and foreign companies suspected of involvement in human rights abuses in Papua.
Freeport's Grasberg mine in Papua, Indonesia. Photo: AFP
The chairman of the Alliance, Otiz Tabuni, singled out the miner PT Freeport Indonesia, which operates the gold and copper mine in Papua, as being complicit in reported abuses by security forces.
Mr Tabuni says the Indonesian military has violated the rights of Papuan people in their attempts to safeguard important companies, including Freeport, whose parent company is based in the US.
Tabloid Jubi reports him saying that due to the presence of such companies in Papua, many Papuans have been persecuted and killed.
The chairman has also questioned the legality of Freeport operations in Papua given the company's licence to mine in the region was approved before the legal status of Papua as part of Indonesia was confirmed.
