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Mon, 02/26/2007 - 06:12 — Sentral Info AMP, West Papua

JAKARTA (JP): An international human rights watchdog has accused the Indonesian government of detaining Papuan activists for their political views.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report, which was made available to The Jakarta PostY on Wednesday, that dozens of activists in Papua have been detained by theauthorities for expressing their views and raising the Bintang Kejora (Morning Star) separatist flag.

"HRW urges the Indonesian government to immediately and unconditionally release all persons detained or imprisoned for the peaceful expression of their political views," HRW said in the report.

The rights group also called on the government to drop all charges against activists who are awaiting trial for their political activities, and urged a public commitment by Jakarta to ensure no further arrests of political activists in the country'seasternmost province.

HRW also asked the government to open access to the province.

"End all arbitrary restrictions on access to Papua for journalists, diplomats and human rights organizations," the report said.

The group said it could not provide exact figures on how many political activists have been detained by authorities, given the restrictions on access to Papua.

"It is impossible to establish with certainty. However, that this happens with regularity is not in doubt," it said.(mtr)