The Safe Journalism Consortium reacts to the explosion next to the residence of Papuan journalist Victor Mambor in Jayapura City, Papua. An improvised explosive device (IED) exploded on the side of the road just 3 meters from the wall of his house in Angkasapura Village, North Jayapura District, Jayapura City. This incident occurred on Monday, January 23, 2023 at around 01.00 WIT.
"The Safe Journalism Consortium consisting of the Tifa Foundation, Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) and the Nusantara Media Development Association (PPMN) condemns the intimidation of journalist Victor Mambor. This is clearly the second intimidation to him over the past 2 years related to his duties as a journalist who is critical of human rights issues in Papua," said Zico Mulia, Program Officer for Human Rights, Tifa Foundation on Tuesday, January 24, 2023.
In the record of the Assessment Report of the results of the Regional Meeting of Multi Media Stakeholders conducted by the Tifa Foundation in 2022, it was stated that the Eastern region of Indonesia, especially Papua, had quite a lot of reported cases of physical violence and intimidation against journalists in Papua and West Papua and the lack of access to foreign journalists. There were at least 114 cases of violence against journalists in Papua from 2000 to 2021.
This is in line with the Indonesian Journalist Security Situation Report 2022. The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Indonesia recorded four cases of attacks on journalists in Papua and West Papua throughout 2022 with 7 journalists as victims. These cases include censorship (1 case), criminal reporting (1 case), sexual violence (1 case), and physical violence (1 case). This number increased compared to 2021 with 3 cases and 3 victims.
This explosion intimidation is the second act of terror experienced by Victor Mambor. The first case occurred on April 21, 2021. The Isuzu D-Max (Double Cabin) car belonging to the 2022 Udin Award winner that was parked on the side of the road next to his house was vandalized by unknown people.
Therefore, the Consortium for Safe Journalism urges the security forces to immediately investigate this case transparently until it is resolved. "The security forces must seriously investigate this case and immediately find the perpetrators to the brain behind this incident. Otherwise the security of journalists and the public is threatened. Moreover, this is ahead of the political year," said Daniel Awigra, Coordinator of the Human Rights Working Group.
The same thing was expressed by the Executive Director of the Media Development Association of the Archipelago (PPMN), Eni Mulia, who asked the government to investigate this case for the safety of journalists.
"There is no democracy without journalism. Good journalism can only be realized if journalists can freely and safely carry out their profession. Therefore, all parties must protect journalists from all forms of threats and violence," said Eni.
Jakarta, January 25, 2023.
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About the Safe Journalism Consortium
Safe Journalism, a program initiated by three non-profit organizations: Tifa Foundation, Human Rights Watch Group (HRWG), and the Nusantara Media Development Association (PPMN). The goal of the program is to promote the safety of journalists in Indonesia, aiming to create a safe and enabling ecosystem for journalists to spread press freedom and ensure independent media. The consortium of these three organizations sees a major problem that makes the press and journalists increasingly constrained, namely the absence of a systematic mechanism for protecting the work of journalists and citizen journalists.
For more information about Safe Journalism contact:
Arie Mega: ariemega@tifafoundation.id
Safe Journalism Project Officer