"I'm doing well !"
In a short video, Philip Mehrtens gives reassuring news.
It's been a year since the New Zealand plane pilot was taken hostage by Papuan rebels in a remote mountainous area of the Indonesian province of Papua.
A year without news for his family and his country, apart from a threat from the independence group to
“shoot him down”
in May 2023 and a few photos published where we can see him pale and emaciated.
In the video filmed on December 22, for his family, the former pilot of the Australian company Jetstar explains that he is
“treated well”
and that he
“tries to stay positive”
.
Full beard and long hair, surrounded by men armed with rifles and bows and arrows, Philip Mehrtens adds that the
“Komadan”
(commander in Bahasa) suggested that he make a call to his family when he returns to him to visit.
"I miss you a lot"
“I love you both very much, I miss you very much and I hope to be able to talk to you soon,”
says the 37-year-old man, in the video broadcast on February 7, one year to the day after his kidnapping at the Paro Airport in Nduga District by the West Papuan National Liberation Army (TPNPB), the military wing of the main separatist group.
The same day, Terianus Satto, chief of staff of the TPNPB, ordered the release of the pilot and
“to return him to his family under the jurisdiction of the Secretary General of the United Nations”
, without however specifying the date of his release.
Indonesian police in the province of Papua were skeptical about a possible release.
“We suspect that (the separatists) made this statement to attract attention
,” said Benny Ady Prabowo, a spokesperson.
The main unknown is the links within the TPNPB, considered by Jakarta as a terrorist movement, while the rebel group is divided into factions.
The local military leader, Eganius Koyega, did not respond to the requests of his superiors, and the location of the New Zealand pilot in the western half of Papua New Guinea remains unknown.
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Rebel attacks increase
Attacks by independence rebels have increased in recent years in Papua, a province rich in natural resources.
The island's Melanesian population shares few cultural ties with the rest of the archipelago, and the Indonesian military there has long been accused of serious human rights violations.
A United Nations expert had called for
“urgent and unrestricted humanitarian aid to the region”
in 2022, speaking
of “shocking abuses”
against local populations by listing
“child murders, disappearances, torture and displacement massive populations.”
In the case of Phillip Mehrtens, the rebels wanted to use the pilot as a bargaining chip for their demand for independence from Indonesia, in order to force New Zealand to put pressure on Jakarta on the subject of independence.
Without success.
A former Dutch colony, Papua declared itself independent in 1961, but neighboring Indonesia took control two years later, promising an independence referendum.
The subsequent vote in favor of remaining in Indonesia was widely considered rigged.