Indonesia rights body criticises military after 12 civilians killed in Papua

Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission strongly criticised the military on Monday as it investigated the killing of 12 civilians last week during an operation against rebels in Papua province.



The military said it had no information about the deaths, but the state-run rights commission said over the weekend that 12 people including women and children had been shot dead during an operation against separatists in central Papua on April 14. Dozens of others sustained serious injuries, it added.



The commission said it was investigating the deaths. It was not immediately clear whether the civilians were the killed by Indonesian or rebel fire, or both. "We condemn the enforcement operation against Papuan rebels that resulted in civilian casualties," commission chief Anis Hidayah said in a statement.



"All forms of attacks against civilians, whether in situations of war or otherwise, carried out by state or non-state actors, constitute violations of human rights and International Humanitarian Law," she added.



The commission also urged Indonesia's military to reevaluate operations against Papuan rebels