Papuan Student Protesters Call Minister Pigai a 'Prabowo Sycophant'

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A coalition of Papuan students under the Front Against Militarism and Investment has accused Minister of Human Rights Natalius Pigai of failing to address a series of human rights violations in Papua.

Dozens of protesters gathered outside the Ministry of Human Rights in Jakarta on Monday, May 11, 2026, urging Pigai to meet them and listen to their demands directly.

The group said it was disappointed by what they described as Pigai’s lack of support for Indigenous Papuan interests since taking office. They argued that Pigai had previously been more outspoken in defending human rights in Papua during his tenure as a commissioner at the National Commission on Human Rights from 2012 to 2017.

“Natalius Pigai, when he was a commissioner at the National Commission on Human Rights, was very vocal about human rights issues in Papua and across Indonesia. But over time, it seems he has lost his edge,” said Veronica, one of the protesters, speaking from atop a command vehicle.

Veronica said Papua’s long-standing problems are rooted in economic inequality and the lack of political self-determination. She stressed that a security-based approach involving military and police deployment has failed to resolve the situation and has instead escalated tensions with Indigenous communities, leading to armed conflict and displacement from ancestral lands.

The protesters also urged President Prabowo Subianto to withdraw military and police forces from Papua, arguing that their presence has not resolved the conflict and has instead created conditions for further human rights violations. The Papua representative office of the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) recorded four major violent incidents in early 2026, resulting in around 14 deaths.

Veronica said the state has repeatedly failed to protect communities from cycles of violence in Papua. She also criticized Pigai, an Indigenous Papuan, for what she described as aligning more closely with the Prabowo administration, which she called authoritarian.

She further pointed out that Pigai declined to meet the protesters, despite their attempts to engage him as part of their democratic rights. She also criticized his earlier statement claiming to have understood human rights since the age of five, without providing concrete evidence.

“The Prabowo-Gibran regime is now continuing an approach similar to the Suharto era, with military involvement spilling into civilian affairs, including PSN, Koperasi Merah Putih, and MBG spending public funds. He is a sycophant, a flatterer! Natalius is a flatterer!” said a representative of Papuan students studying in Malang, East Java.

The protesters rejected the idea of holding an audience inside the ministry, calling it ineffective. They continued their attempts to demand Pigai’s presence throughout the day.

The demonstration escalated from pushing against a police-guarded iron gate, entering the ministry’s yard, burning tires, and delivering speeches. The protest began at 10:00 AM and was still ongoing at around 03:00 PM Western Indonesia Time (WIB).

Read: Prabowo Distributes Phones, Starlink to Miangas Residents

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