Separatist rebels in Indonesia’s Papua province who killed a group of workers building a bridge this month have rejected government calls to surrender and instead demanded a referendum to decide the future of the area, Reuters reports. While separatists have often been blamed for carrying out attacks, Indonesia’s human rights commission has also urged President Joko Widodo to end rights violations by security forces in Papua, an area where access by foreign media has often been restricted. Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said the murder of innocent construction workers was unacceptable, but added that the root causes of the simmering conflict in Papua were not understood or addressed by Jakarta.