Activists have accused Indonesian police of being heavy handed as they arrested pro-independence protesters in the eastern province of Papua.
Around 1,000 protesters were detained in the provincial capital Jayapura, and hundreds more in other cities in the biggest clamp down by Indonesian police in more than a decade.
Those in Jayapura were held in an outdoor jail at police headquarters for eight hours before being released.
Chairman of the West Papua National Committee Victor Yeimo has told SBS many people were assaulted during the arrests.
"There's no room for democracy in West Papua, so they came suddenly to the place where we wanted to prepare for demonstration and they arrested the people, they beat the people,” Mr Yeimo said.
“This is peaceful action, we are the peaceful resistance. There are no [forms of] torture there is no violence, but Indonesians give us the torture."
The protests coincide with the anniversary of the end of Dutch colonial rule in 1963, as well as a weekend visit by Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
Papua, the western half of the island of New Guinea, has seen a long-running and often violent separatist conflict since being incorporated into Indonesia after a widely criticised UN-backed referendum in 1969.
The arrests occured during mass protests to mark the anniversary of the end of Dutch colonial rule in Papua. Source: Supplied
Demands for a new referendum as an act of self-determination are viewed as treason, and this has been hugely detrimental according to Papuan journalist Victor Mambor.
"It's terrible for us. In my opinion it is not good for Indonesia [either],” Mr Mambor told SBS.
“The problem is not about the welfare or the economic development, but the problem is the history."
Access to police headquarters had been blocked off to media, family and advocacy groups, as up to 40 people remain detained.
Camellia Webb-Gannon from Sydney University think tank West Papua Project believes the arrests highlight Indonesia's heavy-handed approach.
She has called on the Australian government to pressure Indonesia President Joko Widodo over the matter.
"I'm surprised that such a large number of people would be detained for simply exercising their right to gather and to peacefully protest,” Ms Webb-Gannon said.
“They have the right to gather to assemble and to peacefully protest for their other right: their right to self-determination."
Activists said the arrests will not stifle them, and have pledged to continue to publicly state their demands.
West Papuan independence leaders are joining parliamentarians, lawyers and humanitarian groups from the United Kingdom and the Pacific region in London on Tuesday to demand the United Nations pass a resolution for an independence referendum.
Sade Bimamtara, spokesman for the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra, has told SBS he cannot verify the number of people arrested but believes that number is closer to 400.
"I cannot verify the 1,700 number, from what I heard there we don't think it was that many, we believe it was around 400 people," Mr Bimamtara said.
“In Indonesia demonstrations are quiet regular and often it is okay for people to have demonstrations. But if people are breaking the law then police will try to control the crowd.
"If (allegations of abuse are) true then we have a way of rectifying that problem.”
