Prepared by Matthew Jamieson

PNG Integral Human Development Trust (PNG Trust)

Email: pngtrustinc@outlook.com

Ph: +675 79206262

4 August 2023

Figure 1: Ranges on the International border between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia (West Papua) showing Ok Sibil, the Indonesia Regional administrative centre, Kiwirok Airstrip and Gunung Antaros. Thie Kiwirok area is in the catchment of the Sepik River which drains north and then east. Tumolbil just across the border in PNG and Ok Tedi Mine is lower right.

Summary

The Ngalum Kupel people, a distinct linguistic ethnic group, are the customary owners of the highland mountain valleys, on tributaries of the Sepik River, adjacent to Kiwirok in the Pengunang Bintang (Star Mountains) region of Papua, Indonesia (West Papua). The Ngalum Kupel people have a subsistence economy based on rotational slash and burn food gardens, animal production of pigs and chickens, combined with hunting and gathering of wild foods and medicines in montane, forest slopes and riverine estates. The Ngalum Kupel people share close customary and linguistic affiliation to Min peoples living around Tumolbil in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The villages of the Ngalum Kupel are located North and across the valley from the Indonesian administrative centre and military base of Kiwirok in the Pengunang Bintang region of Papua (West Papua). These villages are in proximity to the PNG/ Indonesian border.
Figure 2: Rocket fuselage and diaphragm, mortar tails and spent HE grenade shell casing collected from attack site in villages near Kiwirok, October 2021

Figure 3: Photograph of military attack, 12 October 2021
1. From 10 October 2021, there have been ongoing attacks on the Ngalum Kupel community by the Indonesian National Armed Forces. The continued aggravated attacks by Indonesian military forces and apparent complicity of Indonesian authorities have profoundly impacted the community up to July 2023.
2. The Ngalum Kupel people have evidence that the Indonesian National Armed Forces are targeting the whole of the Ngalum Kupel community with modified Krusik mortars and Thales FZ 68 rockets.
3. Four community members of the Ngalum Kupel ethnic group, who are Nek (Ngalum) speaking people, were eyewitnesses to airborne rocket and bombing attacks on their villages around Kiwirok (Witnesses). The Witnesses described a drone dropping bombs together with four or five helicopters firing rockets at houses, food gardens, pigs and chickens. The Witnesses named six people who were killed in the attacks.
  1. The military aerial attacks are reported to target a series of villages which are adjacent north and northwest of Kiwirok, the regional and administrative centre. This includes the Kiwi Mission station. Figure 3 shows a military aerial attack occurring on 12 October 2021. Figure 2 shows casings collected from the attack sites with mortar and rocket fragment and HE grenade cartridge case. The cartridge case indicates that Indonesian military troops were present on the ground in the villages of the Ngalum Kupel people during the period of the military aerial attacks.
  2. Accounts from the Witnesses indicate a series of aerial military attacks which targeted the community and destroyed dwellings, church buildings and other community infrastructure and gardens. The Witnesses testify that Indonesian military action has targeted community members since 10 October 2021.
  3. The Witnesses collected shrapnel and bombs from the initial series of attacks, bringing this evidence to Tumolbil in PNG. The shrapnel and bombs collected indicate that Thales FZ 68 rockets and modified Krusik mortars were used as the munitions in the military aerial attacks. The Witness accounts detail the Indonesian
  military forces using a drone/UAV armed with modified Krusik mortars, Thales rocket FZ 68 weapon systems and military attack helicopters, against an Indigenous community.
  1. This report concludes that the Indonesia National Armed Forces, who the author understands to be equipped with Airbus Fennec attack helicopters and Thales rockets systems, are likely responsible for the helicopter components of the attacks.
  2. Based on witness drawings of a helicopter shaped drone/UAV, together with social media reports, relating to the Indonesian Paramilitary Police (Brimob) targeting OPM guerrillas in Papua, this report infers that the drone (UAV) bombing attacks involved Brimob operating Chinese made Ziyan Blowfish UAV.
  3. Other reporting from Conflict Arms Research indicates that the Indonesian State Intelligence Agency was the importer and declared end user of the Krusik mortars which were delivered to the Indonesian Government arms manufacturer PT Pindad. These weapons appear to have been then modified by PT Pindad and used by the Indonesian military forces in Kiwirok.
  4. The Witnesses state that the initial attack caused the Ngalum Kapel people to flee their homes and gardens. Due to the severity of the initial attack and continued military activity, including sniper fire targeting individuals, shootings and torture of community members, the Ngalum Kapel people have been unable to return to their homes, subsistence gardens and land. The Ngalum Kapel people have been forced to live in the mountains with limited access to food.
  5. The Witnesses recorded the names of 284 community members reported to have died of starvation since fleeing their village in October 2021. The Witnesses also reported 15 community members who were directly killed by Indonesian military forces during this time.
  6. The deaths of Ngalum Kupel people and human rights abuses by the Indonesian military forces have not been investigated by the National Human Commission on Human Rights, (Komnas Ham), the relevant Indonesian government agency or an international agency.
  7. The data collected supports the conclusion that serious, sustained and state sponsored human rights violations have occurred and continue to occur. These actions demand urgent investigation by the United Nations and should have implications for supply, training and maintenance of Krusik and Thales weapons and associated weapon delivery systems by the manufacturers and countries of origin.
  Methodology
  1. Between 27 April 2023 and 1 May 2023, interviews were undertaken in Tumolbil with four men (19 to 21 years old). Each witness was interviewed separately on different days, except for three interviews conducted on the final day. There was a final interview of one individual for clarification and another interview with two witnesses relating to the compiled list of names.
  2. Interviews were undertaken by the investigative team, Matthew Jamieson for PNG Integral Human Development Trust and Kristo Langker, through an English translator. All interviews were recorded on video.
  3. The translator spoke a ‘Tok Ples’ language called Nek (Ngalum). In addition to Nek, Malay and Tok Pisin languages were spoken with witnesses throughout the interviews.
  4. Questions included:
    1. name, age, home address and relationship to other people in the household;
    2. location of the witness at the time of the attack;
    3. what damages his family sustained as a result of the attack;
    4. the consequences of the attack;
    5. whether the witness had returned to his home and/or village in the aftermath of the attack;
    6. Witnesses were asked if the witness wanted legal representation to advocate for their rights and property loss.
  5. During the witness interviews the events being investigated which this report describes as ‘attack’ were translated as ‘fight’. This could be in part to do with translation, but it is the researcher’s belief that a shared attitude amongst the witnesses is that their community, as a whole, is engaged in an ongoing conflict with the Indonesian State.
  6. After the initial interview, one witness prepared a list of people who died after the initial attacks. All four witnesses collaborated to compile this list.
  7. All four men were from different households and villages. Two men said they were ‘brothers’ but lived in different villages. One witness shared a close relative to the two ‘brothers’, through a man first name Yaya. This man is described by the Witnesses with different surnames but is identified from one unique and externally documented event. 22. Different surnames were used by the witnesses to describe the same individuals. Ascribing surnames appears to be complex and relational depending on status, location, situation, household and hereditary factors.
  8. Time did not allow for an investigation of the narrative to account for the large number of people listed who died from starvation. At the time of investigation, it was thought more pertinent to describe that the impact of military activity was a factor for why the community could not access food gardens.
  9. Translation and understanding of the nature of the attack by witnesses did pose limitations to information collected from witness statements.
  10. The translator and other Tumolbil community members stated that the people of Tumolbil and Kiwirok, which are two days walk in proximity, share close affiliation through custom, language and marriage. Nek language speakers extend from the PNG border area to Kiwirok. The translator, who was a member of the local community, wished not to be identified in this report.
  11. Upon arriving on 27 April 2023, Jamieson and Langker were presented with a 10kg rice bag which contained shrapnel and a green Krusik mortar. The mortar bomb was pulled out and handed around. There was a piece of white cloth hanging out of the detonator, suggesting the mortar had been defused. After inspecting the mortar, the author recommended that the mortar should be stored at a location away from where interviews would occur, from households and from where people sleep.
  12. At a meeting held at the arrival of the investigative team in Tumolbil, community members expressed concern of the risk of attack by the Indonesian National Armed Forces and sought assurances that this would not be an outcome of the research.
  13. After returning from the site, contact was made with a number of human rights investigators to substantiate the witness statements. Investigations of information available via social media platforms and online sources were made in an attempt to identify weapons and weapons systems as well as uncover further details.
  Nature of attack
  Figure 4: Map showing Kiwirok airstrip and villages attacked by Indonesian military
  1. The Witnesses identified the villages attacked^[1] in four council wards in Kiwirok by Indonesian National Armed Forces. The villages identified were:
    1. Depsus;
    2. Kotobip;
    3. Fomdin;
    4. Pemas;
    5. Lolim;
    6. Delepkrin (Delepki);
    7. Kiwi;
    8. Kiwi station; and
  2. The Witnesses reported rocket fire and bombing of houses, food gardens and livestock by four to five helicopters and one drone. Not all dwellings were destroyed in the attack. As a result of the attack, an estimated 2,000 people, representing the whole of the community^[2], fled into the forest.
  3. From the date of the initial attacks, the community moved up the mountain. The
  Witnesses confirmed that all dwellings and community structures were abandoned, as people fled fearing for their lives.
  1. Property belonging to the households including: cooking utensils, clothing, blankets and bedding were left behind. People were forced to leave behind their subsistence gardens, which grow staple foods of sweet potato, banana, cassava and taro, and livestock, being chickens and pigs. Witnesses describe households typically holding 1 hectare of subsistence gardens with around 20 chickens and 15 to 19 pigs.
  2. All Witnesses had consistent stories of observing the airborne attacks and seeing either four or five helicopters and one drone. All said they ran to hide in the forest during the attack and then moved to the top of the mountain. The Witnesses reported the building of shelters over a two-day period and having a period of a month with little or no food.
  3. From the interviews, it is understood that after the initial attack, the community members sought shelter and observed the further attacks from the cover of the forest/vegetation.
  4. One witness said that family members who were killed in the bombing and rocket attack were:
    1. his four-year-old elder sister’s daughter, Bilha Saud,
    2. his 50-year-old grandmother, Betta Wopkoolim; and
    3. his 40-year-old grandmother’s brother, Tiberius Yohanus.
  5. This witness said the bodies of these people were removed from the attack site by community members and were buried in Balamding.
  6. Another witness reported that three elderly people were unable to escape from their house and were killed in the rocket and bombing attack in Delepki (Delepkin). These people were:
    1. his 49-year-old sister, Julitta Taplo
    2. his 52-year-old related mother, Yuinna Wakdanna; and
    3. his 57-year-old brother, Johnny Mimin.
  7. This witness said that people from one whole council ward escaped to the bush.
  Motivation for the attack on villages
  1. These severe punitive raids by the Indonesian military forces targeting the whole community appear to be a response to attacks on Indonesian Government facilities at Kiwirok in September 2021.
  2. An investigation by the Papuan People’s Assembly (MRP) reports³ that three different local groups with different motivations participated in the 12 September 2021 attack and arson of Kiwirok township.
  3. One witness suggested that the motive for the attacks on the villages was to drive the traditional owners from their land.⁴ The region is considered prospective for gold and copper mining, with the Ok Tedi mine adjacent across the border in PNG. Indonesian rights advocates describe linkages between the operation of Indonesian military forces, retired Police and ex-Military leadership, who are now Government Ministers, seeking to expand mining interests, which is the driver of conflict with traditional landowners in highland areas of Papua.⁵
  ³Based on local interviews the MRP report identifies that the attack on Kiwirok township in September 2021 involved:
  - disgruntled health workers are reported to have started the hospital fire before gunfire started on the day of the attack:
  - a group associated with the ex-Regent Costan Otemka attacking and burning the town. A list of 14 suspected arsonists from Okmin and Okhiim is included in this report; and
  - the Lamek Taplo, who led a TPNPB-OPM group (TPNPB-OPM Regional Defense Command 15 Ngalum Kupel),reported to have planned an attack on the Indonesian army facilities in retaliation for the arrest and jailing of two TPNPNOPM members earlier that year.
  Kiwirok, It’s Safe Kah? Report Of The Papua People Assembly Working Group On Violence And Violation Of Human Rights In Kiwirok District, Pegunungan Bintang District, Papua Province), Majelis Rakyat Papua, Jayapura, November 2021.
  ⁴Human rights investigators indicate that the ex-Regent of Pegunungan Bintang District, Costan Otemka, during his tenure 2016 to 2021, supported exploration activity by the Indonesian Government companies PT Aneka Tambang and MIND ID in the regency. One prospective mineral exploration site is Gunung Antaros located between Kiwirok and the PNG border in the Sepik River catchment. The Ok Tedi mine is also proximal across the border in PNG.
  ⁵ https://en.jubi.co.id/economic-interest-behind-illegal-military-operations-in-intan-jaya /
  https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2021/november/1635685200/zacharias-szumer/who-runs-mines-papua#mtr https://www.jatam.org/en/political-economy-of-military-deployment-in-papua/
  [1] Reporting from October 2021 suggest that the initial date of these attacks was 10 October 2021. Date stamped photos attributed to the military attack of the villages relate an image of a bomb crater dated 10 October 2021 and a rising smoke plume dated 12 October 2021.
  [2] This is number of people is supported by typed lists generated local in October 2021.
  
  Figure 5: Shrapnel samples from Tumolbil including rocket winglet mountings, Jamieson 29 April 2023.
  Collection of ordinance and shrapnel
  Figure 6: Modified Krusik mortar from Tumolbil, Langker 28 April 2023
  1. After the attack, two witnesses stated that they returned to the sites of their homes and collected shrapnel and unexploded mortars. These components were carried to Tumolbil by the refugees with the expectation that the United Nations would investigate the attack. On arrival in Tumolbil, the investigation team were presented with a rice bag of shrapnel. One unexploded modified Krusik mortar^[1] was removed from the bag and passed around.
  2. This evidence had been kept in Tumolbil since the time of the refugees’ arrival in October 2021. A further four mortars reported to have been on-site in Tumolbil had been returned to Kiwirok area early in 2023.
  [1] James Bevan, Conflict Armament Research in personal communication in October 2021 identified the munitions from photographs as Krusik mortars. The report Preliminary analysis of munitions used in attacks in Kiwirok on 10 October 2021 Conflict Armament Research 2 February 2022 which stated, “These comprise: 1) an improvised tail boom consisting of a fin assembly and connecting tube and 2) an improvised impact fuse. The improvised fuse’s hammer/striker has afar larger surface area than the strikers typically supplied with M72 mortar rounds, which suggests that it was constructed to initiate on impact with softer than normal targets.” This was further reported in the Preliminary report on munitions used in attacks in Kiwirok on 10 October 2021 Compiled by Conflict Armament Research (CAR) 17 March 2022 which “concludes that the modifications to the munition’s tail boom were made to allow its use in a mechanical delivery system affixed to the aircraft.”
  [1] James Bevan, Conflict Armament Research in personal communication in October 2021 identified the munitions from photographs as Krusik mortars. The report Preliminary analysis of munitions used in attacks in Kiwirok on 10 October 2021 Conflict Armament Research 2 February 2022 which stated, “These comprise: 1) an improvised tail boom consisting of a fin assembly and connecting tube and 2) an improvised impact fuse. The improvised fuse’s hammer/striker has afar larger surface area than the strikers typically supplied with M72 mortar rounds, which suggests that it was constructed to initiate on impact with softer than normal targets.” This was further reported in the Preliminary report on munitions used in attacks in Kiwirok on 10 October 2021 Compiled by Conflict Armament Research (CAR) 17 March 2022 which “concludes that the modifications to the munition’s tail boom were made to allow its use in a mechanical delivery system affixed to the aircraft.”
4. 1. Date stamped photographs recording the attack events attributes attacks to 10 and 12 October 2021. Photographs of shell casings collected with mortar and rocket fragment indicate Indonesian military troops on the ground during the period of the attacks.
  2. All Witnesses recounted seeing 4 or 5 helicopters and one drone. Witnesses were invited to draw pictures of the drone. One witness declined, one drew likeness of a helicopter and the other two drew a picture of a helicopter drone with two bombs hanging underneath. It is not understood how many drones were involved in the attacks with each witness accounted for seeing one. Helicopters are more noticeable, noisy and threatening and easily accounted for by a witnesses hiding in the forest. Since drones/UAVs carrying a limited number of munitions were observed at different locations and there are photographs of many unexploded mortars and mortar tails, the drone or drones must have made repeated sorties during the attacks. The distance from the villages attacked to where the Indonesian military forces would have based their operations at Kiwirok airstrip is only 1.2km to 4.0km.
  Refugees (IDPs) from Kiwirok
  1. The witnesses report that over a two-day period after the initial attack, people were able to make shelters from bush materials on the mountain. While shelters were
  Figure 9: Ngalum people in a temporary camp after fleeing from attacks October 2021
  being built, it was reportedly raining. At the altitudes where the people sought refuge, there was little nutrition and edible food. The forests in which refuge was sought are extremely wet.
  1. Local community members in Tumolbil recounted that a group of 103 community members from Kiwirok relocated as refugees to Tumolbil station in PNG. Three women of the IDP group are reported to have died while staying in Tumolbil.
  2. IDP lists exist from after the attack which account by name and origin, with some reporting on state of health. A total of 1,937 IDPs are recorded^[1] in temporary camps in the forest after the attack.
  3. The Indonesian Government^[2]^[3] has demonstrated their knowledge of events, including IDP crisis around Kiwirok, in its summary response prepared to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review.
  Identification of bomb, rockets, helicopters and drones
  Various shrapnel fragments, including winglets, rocket fuselage with identifying markings and a marked munition diaphragm, identify a Thales FZD68 4FFAR rocket.
  [1] Joint Letter Indonesia: Government neglect thousands of internally displaced indigenous peoples after counter-terrorism operations in West Papua: Human Rights Monitor, forum Pemuda Kristen, Papua Partners, Oikoumene, Fransiscan
  International World Council of Churches, Geneva for Human Rights and Tapol 11 March 2022
  [2] Indonesian Government documents note “Military operations and IDPs in Gunung Bintang District – October-November
  [3] More than 2000 people became IDPs, with the majority being women and children. There are around 180 families who reportedly also crossed the border illegally into Papua New Guinea. In November 2021 Komnas HAM initiated an investigation into the murder of a health worker and the alleged bombing of a village in Kiriwok District, but Komnas HAM delegations were not allowed to access the area by security reasons.” from Invitation to Coordination Meeting for Preparation of Responses Pemri on UN SPMH Joint Communication regarding various cases in Papua and West Papua, 14 February 2022
  [1] Joint Letter Indonesia: Government neglect thousands of internally displaced indigenous peoples after counter-terrorism operations in West Papua: Human Rights Monitor, forum Pemuda Kristen, Papua Partners, Oikoumene, Fransiscan
  International World Council of Churches, Geneva for Human Rights and Tapol 11 March 2022
  [1] Indonesian Government documents note “Military operations and IDPs in Gunung Bintang District – October-November
  [1] More than 2000 people became IDPs, with the majority being women and children. There are around 180 families who reportedly also crossed the border illegally into Papua New Guinea. In November 2021 Komnas HAM initiated an investigation into the murder of a health worker and the alleged bombing of a village in Kiriwok District, but Komnas HAM delegations were not allowed to access the area by security reasons.” from Invitation to Coordination Meeting for Preparation of Responses Pemri on UN SPMH Joint Communication regarding various cases in Papua and West Papua, 14 February 2022.

One witness described seeing rockets being fired from the helicopters^[1] and identified shrapnel from a FZ 68 rocket at an explosion site in his garden which the witness said was fired from a helicopter.
Previous research, investigating a rocket attack in Ugimbe village in Intan Jaya,

Papua on 3 January 2020, had identified a FZD68 4FFAR, manufactured by the Belgian company Forges de Zeebrugge, a subsidiary of the French arms company Thales.^[2] In this investigations, witnesses reported that rockets were fired at the village, from a TNI helicopter. In the January 2020 attack, a rocket is reported to have hit the Kingmi Church and exploded damaging the structure.

[1] Thales rocket systems are designed to use with European helicopters (https://fz.be/rotary-wings). The Airbus, Eurocopter AS550 Fennec and Eurocopter AS565 Panther are helicopters used by the Indonesian military which can be fitted with the Thales systems (https://fz.be/rocket-launcher; https://fz.be/images/texts/68_rocketlauncher_fz219.jpg; https://www.kaskus.co.id/show_post/58dca99998e31b6e058b4567/80/-

Eurocopter AS565 Panther is also used by Indonesia military and can be fitted with Thales rocket systems.

[2] Communications with Conflict Arms Research.

At the location in Tumolbil, there was one modified Krusik mortar which appeared to have its detonator defused and two tail fins from an exploded mortar.

Reporting by Conflict Arms Research indicates that the Indonesian State Intelligence Agency was the importer and declared end user^[1] of the Krusik mortars which were delivered to the Indonesian Government arms manufacturer PT Pindad. These

[1] Conflict Arms Research reports Krusik mortars were identified “as part of 2,480 mortar rounds to PT Pindad

(Bandung, Indonesia), for the Indonesian State Intelligence Agency, the declared end user.” “Indonesian State Intelligence Agency, … provided the Serbian authorities with an end-user certificate (number R-540/X/2020) of 6 October 2020, confirming that the items were to be used exclusively in Indonesian State Intelligence Agency operations, and would not be transferred or sold to other parties without prior permission from the Serbian authorities; Serbian authorities did not receive a request to transfer the materiel from the Indonesian State Intelligence Agency.” Preliminary report on munitions used in attacks in Kiwirok in 10 October 2021 Compiled by Conflict Armament Research (CAR) 17 March 2022.

Eurocopter AS565 Panther is also used by Indonesia military and can be fitted with Thales rocket systems.

[1] Communications with Conflict Arms Research.

[1] Conflict Arms Research reports Krusik mortars were identified “as part of 2,480 mortar rounds to PT Pindad

weapons appear to have been then modified and used by the Indonesian National Armed Forces aircraft in Kiwirok.

Figure 12: Modified Krusik Mortar collected from Kiwirok attack site dated 17 October 2021

Two witnesses were able to draw an unidentified helicopter shaped drone (UAV) with a tail rotor which carried green modified Krusik mortars hanging from the fuselage. These witness drawings of the UAV’s configuration together with online investigations of drones used by Indonesian military forces, suggests that the Chinese made Ziyan UAV Blowfish/Fugu^[1] is likely to have been the drone/UAV used in the Kiwirok attacks.
A YouTube video report published 18 August 2021 by Indonesian Military News Observer suggests that the Ziyan Blowfish A3 UAV was operated by the Indonesian Paramilitary Police (Brimob) in Ilaga, Papua targeting the OPM (local guerrillas fighters).

[1] See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MfGl-HI6sE; https://inf.news/en/tech/fe82ac4222ddf0acc70d49ae74c3bb1c.html; https://associationofgeostrategicanalysis.com/chinas-blowfish-uav-family/ Reports highlighting concerns with the Ziyan Blowfish UAV suggesting it is a hi-tech AI combat drone, which can be armed with a range of weapon systems, which is capable of autonomous warfare and drone swarming. Also see:

https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/impossible-to-defend-china-goes-rogue-with-newweapon/news-story/85a295cbb4928a2afecfe2ff91f86650 https://www.thedefensepost.com/2023/03/06/china-ai-drone-human/

Figure 13: Image from video relating Brimob usage of Blowfish UAV in Ilaga, Papua https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MfGl-HI6sE post dated 18/08/2021

Shootings and starvation of Community Members

After the initial attack, community members were reported to be unable to return to their gardens to gather food because of military action and sniper fire by Indonesian military forces which targeted community members. Discussion with Human Rights investigators in West Papua indicate that more than 2,000 people are living in temporary camps, as internally displace people (IDP), as a direct result of the attacks in October 2021.
The four witnesses recorded a list of 297 community members who died as a result

Figure 14: Graves attributed to individuals who died since 10 October 2021

of Indonesia military attacks or as a result of being driven from their homes. Of

these, a total of 284 people are recorded by the Witnesses as having died from starvation. 58. Peoples who died of starvation are listed by name, age, village of origin and ward. People are recorded from 32 Council Wards. The witness who was the principal author of the list reported that more people who died from starvation but he did not know their names. Time constraints in the field meant that this investigation was not able to support this data by obtaining individual narrative detailing the circumstances of these deaths.

[1] Indonesian military forces are reported to be using sniper weapons fired north across the valley toward villages in the vicinity of Kiwi station. In social media posts see https://youtu.be/k6XuY90TShg

Indonesian military forces stationed at Kiwirok firing at targets out of range display the vantage point at the perimeter of Kiwirok township overlooks abandoned villages, gardens and main walking path through the valley.

[1] Reported shooting by Indonesian army sniper 27 October 2022. https://humanrightsmonitor.org/case/sniper-shootsdead-mr-yahia-tepmul-in-pelebib-village-pegunungan-bintang/

[1] Indonesian press from describes events of KKB or TPNPB guerrilla reported shot.

https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20221028175510-12-866729/satgas-damai-cartenz-tembak-diduga-anggotakkb-di-kiwirok-papua and https://westpapuadaily.com/kkb-member-killed-shot-by-cartenz-peace-task-force-in-kiwirok papua.html

The Witnesses reported a total of 15 community members were shot or killed by the Indonesian military forces being:
1. Teon Behiakaipla, 40, Pombinhilin, Ngapo, who came to Kiwirok to protest the treatment of the community. He was reported to have been executed by Indonesian military forces.
2. Seber Wimuop, 25, Okdo Okamin who came to the regional capital Ok Sibil to protest the treatment of the community. He was also reported to have been executed by Indonesian Military forces.
3. Hevotum Kahipha, 35, and her two children from Banamka Dikdon were reported to have been shot by Indonesian military on the walking track close to Kiwirok.
4. Three adult men, being Kaoweng Kakea, 76, Okatem, Depsos, Okdo Kahipdanva, 26, Kanok, Okamin and Babmwoki Vopka, 32, Pemas, Delpem, were captured and executed.
5. Two adult men, being Yerri Taplo, 28, Itakhikin, Dikdon, and Marius Taplo, 49, Attekaip, Kiwi, were reported to be captured, tortured and executed.
6. Two adult men, being Apimyap Lapkilin, 36, Dapyaka, Dikdon and Yusak Taplo, 50, Pelebip, Depsos, were reported as both shot by Indonesian military with M16 type weapons.
7. Three men, being Yahia Tepmul (Miga), 39, Leo Uopdana, 24, Wangkom, Pomding and Elli Mimin, 28, Atenar, Bumbakonon, were reported to be killed by sniper fire.
Sniper fire^[1] was reported to have missed or injured 11 persons. The Witnesses said that the last person killed by sniper fire was Yaya Miga also called Yahya (Yahia) Tepmul^[2] and Yahya Uropmabin,^[3] who was with his son Yanse Minmin, in his garden looking for his pigs on the morning of shooting.
Since the attacks from 10 October 2021, the Witnesses say that the community is living on the mountain. One witness stated that the community has established small gardens where they can subsist in the mountains.
A parallel investigation by Human Rights investigators^[4] lists 54 persons having died, 18 with serious sickness and three individuals, including Yahya Uropmabin, who were shot by military while hiding in the bush, between October 2021 and November 2022. The list of names from the Human Rights source corroborates 13 persons who match either as first name or full name with the list prepared by the Witnesses. The difficulty, as stated before, is that the surnames used by witnesses are contextual, so the same person will be ascribed different surnames.
A report received on 22 July 2023 from TPNPB-OPM Regional Defense Command 15 Ngalum Kupel states:

“Since September 13, 2021 we have been at war and we are still trying to flee in the forest until now in 2023 and many of our residents have died in the forest, so national and international parties can know the total number of deaths from September 13 to now in 2023, 72 people have died in 7 evacuation points, being:

Wapdon
Miem
Baing
Hiwakop
Ok
Ehipmata
Ngumolkona bakon.

Since the war in Kiwirok on September 13, 2021 to 2023, we are still surviving in the forest and many people have died in the forest and some are suffering in the forest.”

This project did not find reporting to indicate that Indonesian Government agencies have undertaken any human rights investigation into attack on villages at Kiwirok beyond what is acknowledged above in point 49.

Findings

This report details an aggravated human rights abuse by Indonesian authorities which commenced on 10 October 2021 and continues through to the date of the investigation. Government documents indicate that the Indonesian Government has knowledge of the events at Kiwirok, which was last acknowledged in the response to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review in 22 February 2022, but has not acted to rectify the human rights situation.
The evidence presented here indicates that the Indonesian military forces conducted punitive raids against several villages causing deaths of community members, destruction of family-owned houses, property, livestock and subsistence gardens, and damage or destruction of community and Church facilities. These attacks are corroborated by other reports from that time.
Investigators were able to identify weapons used in the attacks from 10 October 2021 as Krusik mortars dropped by drones/UAVs, likely to be Ziyan Blowfish UAV, and the Thales FZ68 rockets fired from helicopters, likely to be Fennec attack helicopters of Airbus manufacture.
This report concludes that the Indonesia National Armed Forces who are equipped with Airbus Fennec attack helicopters fitted with Thales rockets systems are responsible for the helicopter components of the attacks.
Witness drawings of drones/UAV used in the attacks are consistent with configuration of Ziyan Blowfish UAV. Social media reports indicate that the Indonesian Paramilitary Police (Brimob) had previously operated the Ziyan Blowfish

UAV in Ilaga Papua. This indirect evidence suggests the Indonesian Paramilitary Police (Brimob) is implicated by the operation of drones (UAVs) which were used in the attacks around Kiwirok.

Based on prolonged military action by Indonesian Military forces, including sniper fire targeting individuals and shootings and torture of community members, the Witnesses report that the Ngalum Kupel people are not safely able to return to and live in their homes, subsistence gardens and land.
Witnesses provide a list of 284 names of community members dying from starvation and attest that an even larger number of community members have died from starvation. These witnesses detailed a further 15 persons who died as a result of extra judicial killings and named 6 person killed during the aerial attacks. These witness statements are only partly corroborated by other sources. Other research by human rights sources accounts for 54 dying in the bush and 3 directly killed by Indonesian military forces. A TPNPB-OPM Ngalum Kupel statement relates that 72 persons died at evacuation points as result of conflict with Indonesian military forces.
Actions of Indonesian Government agencies, involving Indonesian Armed Forces, Indonesian State Intelligence Agency and Indonesian Government arms manufacturer PT Pindad and possibly the Indonesian Paramilitary Police (Brimob), have had effect to drive an Indigenous community, reported to be about 2000 persons, from their traditional homes and land. These government actions, including the ongoing threat of extrajudicial killings, have directly forced part of a distinct ethnic group into starvation.
This report presents direct evidence of Indonesian National Armed Forces and Indonesian State Intelligence Agency targeting the whole of a community with Krusik mortars, Thales rocket weapon systems and military attack helicopters should have implications for the continued supply and maintenance of these weapons and weapon systems by the manufacturers.
The involvement of a range Indonesian Government agencies in these serious human rights violations of the Ngalum Kupel people should have implications for military cooperation and training and the supply and maintenance of weapons, delivery systems and aircraft by the manufacturers and countries of origin.
The data collected suggests a serious state sponsored human rights crime, significantly impacting a single ethnic group by sustained and targeted military action, which demands urgent investigation by the United Nations agency.

Participation in this Report

This report is a PNG Trust research project undertaken with organisational and logistic support from October 2021. Kristo Langker, as filmmaker and production manager, made a short film to support the project outcomes and evidence production. The research component of the project was led by Matthew Jamieson. This work was privately funded by Langker and Jamieson. Legal action arising from this research is being investigated by Australian firm Xenophon Davis.

[2] Reported shooting by Indonesian army sniper 27 October 2022. https://humanrightsmonitor.org/case/sniper-shootsdead-mr-yahia-tepmul-in-pelebib-village-pegunungan-bintang/

[3] Indonesian press from describes events of KKB or TPNPB guerrilla reported shot.

https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20221028175510-12-866729/satgas-damai-cartenz-tembak-diduga-anggotakkb-di-kiwirok-papua and https://westpapuadaily.com/kkb-member-killed-shot-by-cartenz-peace-task-force-in-kiwirokpapua.html

[4] West Papua Council of Churches 2023