INTERVENTION West Papua - Indonesia Frederika Korain / the Fondation for Human Right and Legal Aid in Papua – Indonesia. AGENDA ITEM # 5: Minority youth as an agent for peace and stability in a conflict zone Thank you, Mr. Moderator. My name is Frederika Korain, I am a lawyer, representing minority Melanesian Papuans in Indonesia, who have been discriminated for fifty five years. I speak about the condition of youth as an agent for peace and stability in a conflict zone. In the last three years, our youth have lived in constant atmosphere of fear and terrors. Almost hundreds have been tortured and killed by the state security apparatus in several areas in the region. Some of their bodies were threw into the streets as if the victim was killed in a traffic accident. Moreover, our youth who are studying in Java and Sulawesi, their homes and dormitories have been under terror by the security officials including the hardliner groups among the local Indonesian. Even several students have been prosecuted just because they defends their communities from the attack. For all these incidents, there is no genuine investigation by the authorities to ensure rule of law. There were only two cases in which the perpetrators had been punished, but this process is through the military court and in a form of adminisrative punishment. Last week, one victim’s family have been forced to sign a letter stating that they will not bring the case to the legal proccess.Indeed, culture of impunity is well-maintained in the region of Papua. Given this facts, therefore, I would like to recommend to forum to put attention to the early warning and urgent action procedures recommended by the Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination to Indonesia in October 2016, underlining the allegation of the excessive use of force, arrests, killings and torture of persons belonging to the indigenous people of West Papua, especially the youth. Finally, our youth in the region could play an important role as an agent of peace and stability but this mostly depends on every effort to prevent conflict and to stop all form of violation of human rights. I thank you.