Papua

In the restive eastern province, Cold War realpolitik continues to reverberate.

The armed forces were forced to issue a rare apology after a video showing soldiers torturing a Papuan separatist fighter was posted online.

The attack came as a unit of soldiers attempted to search for a New Zealand pilot captured by Papuan separatists in February.

The West Papua National Liberation Army says it holds Western countries, including New Zealand, responsible for supporting the Indonesian military.

The past few years have seen growing numbers of violent incidents in the eastern region, home to a long-running separatist insurgency.

A longtime proponent of non-violence, Filep Karma spent years calling for "a dignified dialogue with the Indonesian government."

The killings came amid protests over an Indonesian government plan to create new provinces in the eastern region.

A plan to create three new provinces in the Papua region highlights how Jakarta's development approach has failed to resolve a long-running conflict.

The plan to break Papua and West Papua into five provinces has spurred widespread protests in the eastern region.

The attack came on the same day that a group of U.N. experts called out Indonesia's "shocking abuses" in the eastern province.

Rights groups claim that the revised law could lead to “further marginalization and militarization in the region.”