According to the Centre for Climate Crime and Climate Justice (CCCCJ), 2026 has been another year of bloody destruction for West Papuans. On the second anniversary of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal’s session on State and environmental violence in West Papua, reports and news from the region still confirm a critical situation of violations of human rights, underscoring the enduring relevance of the Tribunal’s recommendations.
The Tribunal’s 53rd session, held in London from 27 to 29 June 2024 at the request of Queen Mary University’s Centre for Climate Crime and Climate Justice and a network of human rights and environmental organisations, examined several cases of human rights violations committed by the Indonesian government against the Indigenous Peoples of West Papua. The Judges concluded that Indigenous communities have suffered severe expropriation, loss of basic freedoms, violent repression, and environmental devastation as a result of State-backed mining, gas extraction, and palm oil projects.
The human rights crisis remains deeply intertwined with environmental destruction driven by large-scale mining, deforestation, and agribusiness expansion, which witnesses described as a form of “slow genocide.” Human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, continue to report violent restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly, excessive use of force against Indigenous Peoples opposing extractive projects, and growing State impunity reinforced by Law No. 5 of 2026, which expanded police powers while relying on ineffective internal accountability mechanisms. The crisis is further intensified by ongoing armed violence, with Human Rights Monitor documenting military operations that have resulted in extrajudicial killings and severe ill-treatment of civilians.
The recommendations issued by the PPT are more urgent than ever to break the cycle of violence and end the culture of impunity. The Indonesian government is called upon to uphold its international obligations by respecting the West Papuan people’s right to self-determination, recognizing and protecting Indigenous lands, ensuring environmental safeguards, and preserving their cultural and spiritual identity. The Tribunal also urged the Indonesian State to facilitate the safe, voluntary and dignified return or resettlement of displaced persons, to promote legislative and judicial reforms aimed at establishing an impartial judicial system, criminalizing enforced disappearances, providing reparations for victims, and conducting investigations into historical atrocities, in order to ensure compensation and restitution for affected families.
Finally, by highlighting the responsibility of multinational corporations involved in the exploitation of the region’s natural resources and of the States in which these companies are based, the Tribunal stressed the need to ensure compliance with international standards on human rights and environmental protection throughout their operational and financial chains. The international community was also called upon to promote effective mechanisms for prevention, monitoring and the establishment of accountability, in order to counter the economic and political mechanisms that allow impunity to persist.
