Christians in conflict-torn Papua in Indonesia marked International Human Rights Day on Tuesday with Way of the Cross, calling for an end to the state violence on their people. Source: UCA News.
Indigenous Papuans, including Catholic priests and the inter-Church Papuan Church Council, gathered and prayed at Zacchaeus Square in the Papuan capital Jayapura.
Fr John Bunay of Jayapura Diocese, the coordinator of the event, said during the program participants recalled human rights violations like the shooting of civilians, the seizure of indigenous lands, forest exploitation, displacement of residents, and the arbitrary arrests of civilians in mineral-rich Papua.
“We hope that through this Way of the Cross, everyone will realise that human beings are valuable, more valuable than anything else,” the priest stressed.
He said the organisers chose to hold the Way of the Cross to follow the pain Jesus experienced as they passed through a similar experience.
“The joys and sorrows and sufferings of the Papuan people are what we bring,” he added.
The event followed an exhibition on human rights abuse cases, meetings, and seminars by the Papuan Church Council and Catholic priests since December 4, Fr Bunay said.
Pastor John Baransano said people must unite and fight to resolve humanitarian issues in Papua and added that non-violence was important because “it is the example of Jesus Christ”.
He said they prayed the Way of the Cross to show more than 200 tribal communities in Papua “struggling for our rights.”
Pastor Dorman Wandikbo, a member of the Papuan Church Council, said Papuans “have been suffering for 63 years.”
The organisers have rejected the Indonesian government’s plan to create a one-million-hectare rice field using indigenous lands in Merauke Regency, South Papua province, as part of the national strategic project.
“Papua is not an empty land. People are living on this land,” they observed in a declaration.
“The state must stop seizing the lands of indigenous communities,” the declaration further said.
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Papuans pray Way of the Cross to protest state violence (UCA News)
