Yahukimo, Papua Highlands — Indonesian human rights lawyer and activist Veronica Koman has accused the Indonesian security forces of violating international humanitarian law after the reported killing of a West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) commander who was allegedly not engaged in combat at the time of his death.
The incident occurred in Dekai, Yahukimo Regency, Papua Highlands Province, where Mayor Semut B. Sobolim, a local commander of the TPNPB’s Kodap XVI unit, was shot dead by what sources described as a sniper during a motorcycle patrol on Thursday, 6 November 2025. He was rushed to Dekai Regional Hospital but was pronounced dead the following morning around 8 a.m. local time.
In a post on the social media platform Facebook, Koman argued that executing combatants who are no longer actively participating in hostilities breaches the Geneva Conventions on the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.
“Members of the TPNPB cannot simply be shot dead just because they are combatants,” Koman wrote.
“Under the Geneva Conventions, those who are hors de combat — meaning no longer engaged in fighting — must not be executed. This constitutes a war crime.”
What the Geneva Conventions Say
Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which applies to non-international armed conflicts, prohibits violence against anyone taking no active part in hostilities — including combatants who have laid down their arms or are incapacitated due to injury, detention, or surrender.
The article explicitly bans:
- Violence to life and person, particularly murder in all forms, mutilation, cruel treatment, and torture;
- Taking hostages;
- Outrages upon personal dignity, particularly humiliating and degrading treatment; and
- The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without due judicial process.
Such protections, Koman said, apply equally to all parties to a conflict, regardless of their political status or affiliation.
“This isn’t only a breach of humanitarian law under Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions,” she added, “but also a violation of human rights law — the right to life itself.”
Conflicting Accounts
Local sources told titastory.id that the fatal shooting occurred when Mayor Semut and several of his men were riding through the Jembatan Agung Mulia area in Dekai.
Photographs circulating on social media show a damaged motorbike lying near the road where the shooting reportedly took place.
A spokesperson for the TPNPB’s Kodap XVI, Odiyawiuu, confirmed the death and said the group had declared a period of national mourning.
“He was a fighter who stood to defend Papua. We have lost one of our best commanders,” Write Odiyawiuu on various social media platforms
Odiyawiuu also expressed concern over what he described as excessive restrictions imposed by Indonesian security forces during the handling of Semut’s remains.
“We hope that the burial process respects human dignity and the family’s right to perform customary rites,” he said.
Indonesia’s Security Response
The Indonesian Police and Military (TNI) have yet to issue a detailed statement on the incident. However, the national security task force Operation Damai Cartenz has confirmed that it conducted an armed operation in Yahukimo against members of what it calls the armed criminal group (KKB).
Authorities said the operation was aimed at restoring public safety following recent attacks on civilians.
Human rights groups, however, have long accused Indonesian forces of blurring the line between legitimate security operations and extrajudicial killings in Papua.
Mayor Semut, who joined the TPNPB in 2019, was known to be active in several armed operations opposing Indonesian state projects in the region. His death adds to a growing list of combatants killed in Papua’s long-running conflict, which has displaced thousands and deepened mistrust between indigenous Papuans and the central government.
Call for Independent Investigation
Koman and other human rights defenders have urged the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and international bodies to independently investigate the Yahukimo incident.
“Indonesia is a state party to the Geneva Conventions. It has a legal obligation to ensure that all parties — including its security forces — comply with the principles of humanity and distinction,” Koman said.
Rights observers warn that the killing of combatants in non-combat situations could amount to extrajudicial execution, a serious violation under both domestic and international law.
As Papua’s decades-old conflict continues, activists argue that justice and dialogue — not force — are the only ways to end the cycle of violence in Indonesia’s easternmost region.
Background: Who Is Veronica Koman?
Veronica Koman is an Indonesian human rights lawyer who has long campaigned for justice in Papua and West Papua.
Currently based in Australia, she has been the recipient of the Sir Ronald Wilson Human Rights Award (2019) for her advocacy work exposing human rights violations in Papua.
She remains a vocal critic of Indonesia’s military approach in the region and a proponent of peaceful resolution through international law.
Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (1949)
Adopted at the Diplomatic Conference for the Establishment of International Conventions for the Protection of Victims of War, Geneva, 21 April – 12 August 1949.
Article 3 – Conflicts Not of an International Character
In the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each Party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the following provisions:
- Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria.
To this end, the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons:
- Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;
- Taking of hostages;
- Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment;
- The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without a previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.
- The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for.
An impartial humanitarian body, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, may offer its services to the Parties to the conflict.
The Parties to the conflict should further endeavour to bring into force, by means of special agreements, all or part of the other provisions of the present Convention.
The application of the preceding provisions shall not affect the legal status of the Parties to the conflict.
