[AFP]
The capital of Papua province and surrounding areas have been without internet for a month, complicating the media’s efforts to report on the armed conflict in Indonesia s easternmost region that has escalated sharply during the same period, press freedom advocates say.
The blackout – due to the accidental cutting of a seabed cable, according to the government – began April 30, days after separatist insurgents killed an army general and President Joko Jokowi Widodo ordered security forces to step up efforts to eradicate the armed groups, in response.
As part of the crackdown, the government declared the separatist rebels a terrorist group, raising alarm among rights activists who said the classification could lead to human rights abuses and endanger civil society.