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I was cooking at home to eat, because at that time my old mother had gone to Jayapura. At night the army picked
up all the girls. One soldier entered my house. When he saw I was alone, he immediately forced me to take off my
clothes, if not, I would be shot dead . . . He used a bayonet to rip my clothes and I was raped. Since then, that soldier
always came and asked me to serve him until I got pregnant and had a daughter. But when this child was born she
died immediately. 23
Security forces committed sexual violence such as rape and sexual abuse against women in villages during
military operations, and also during cultural activities they organized, like the organized singing and dancing
event known as Yosim-Pancar [Yospan]. Women witnesses from West Biak and North Biak speak.
[In] 1967, a military operation began in the town of Biak and shifted to the villages. In 1969 [we] returned home to
Swaipak, West Biak . . . and were living there [during] Operation Awareness. The Yospan event was a threat to
parents because they [had to] allow their daughters, or even push their daughters, to attend Yospan rather than have
the parents or husbands be the target of physical violence or threats . . . In the middle of the night, at 12 o’clock or
later, the people would be awakened . . . girls and young women would be invited to go to Yospan, which was followed
with intercourse. Usually the troops told the parents and husbands, they hoped the parents would understand. 24
A male witness from West Biak also told a story:
. . . in 1970-1974 [Troop] 753 came . . . while on duty, they took women. They had an event [Yospan],
definitely women were invited, and definitely there was rape . . . girls from Sarui, Wusdori, Sarwa were deliberately
hurt. If people argued, for sure they’d encounter misfortune. 25
Baliem Valley, Jayawijaya 1967–70:
Arbitrary Arrest and Sexual Abuse in the Context of Ethnic War
From about 1967-70, with the aim of securing Pepera in Baliem Valley, the Indonesian government set up
many security posts and placed police at each post. According to witnesses, the police were usually assisted
by local residents when they arrested people accused of theft and other acts of violence in the context of
tribal war. A woman who was detained and was a victim of sexual violence speaks:
I came home from the field when suddenly . . . we were taken to the police post . . . and held . . . with the excuse .
. . we had to pay fines for murders committed by our village against neighboring tribes . . . Every night, we were
forced to have sex with the police and the local people who helped the police . . . We were taken to the creek and
ordered to bathe, then they held and poked our genitals with their fingers . . . They also often did this . . . in front of
our husbands . . . After two weeks of detention, we were released. Most women who were detained couldn’t get
pregnant again. Like me–when I came home from there, although they conducted a traditional ceremony [to heal
me], I could not get pregnant. There was also once a time at the creek . . . a young and pretty [woman] was
beaten . . . in the right eye [with] the stock of a gun because she refused to have intercourse, until she was blind in
that eye. Now she’s dead. 26
23 BIA06 narrative.
24 BIA19 narrative.
25 Field notes on BIA07 case.
26 WAM01 narrative.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! 20