West Papuans seek UN help to overturn 1969 vote

Hundreds of people have rallied in West Papua, calling on the United Nations to pressure Jakarta into overturning a 1969 referendum that joined the territory to Indonesia.

The demonstrators, rallying during a visit by UN envoy Hina Jilani, claim the referendum was a sham.

Rally organiser, Jek Wanggai, says the UN must accept the Papuan people's aspiration to review the Act of Free Choice, as the referendum was known.

"The United Nations must register Papuan areas as colonised zones and organise an immediate referendum vote," he said.

Papuans have long accused Indonesia's military of violating human rights in the province and complain that the bulk of earnings from its rich natural resources flow to Jakarta.

Radio Australia

West Papua protest for UN visit

About 1,000 Papuans are expected to conduct a peaceful demonstration in Manokwari today to coincide with the visit to Indonesia’s Papua province of a United Nations representative.

The UN Secretary General`s Special Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs, Hina Jilani, is making an excursion to Papua during her working visit to Indonesia at the government`s invitation.

The purpose of her trip is to observe how human rights are being funded and promoted in Indonesia as well as to study the legal framework to defend human rights.

The Papua Youth and Student organisation, which has planned the demonstration, aims to inform the UN about human rights abuses they continue to suffer.

Its spokesman, Jek Wanggai, says they have three main points to make:

“The people people of West Papua, we want to [have the UN] review the Act of Free Choice in 1969; then the second, we cannot use Special Autonomy again, because it’s not good for our people; and then the third, we want a total referendum [on self-determination] in West Papua.”

Radio NZ

Abuses continue in West Papua: Amnesty International

This is an excerpt of the Amesty International Annual Report for 2007:

There were reports of extrajudicial executions, torture and ill-treatment, excessive use of force during demonstrations and harassment of human rights defenders.

In at least six incidents civilians were shot at by the security forces.

• In January, a child was shot dead and at least two people were injured after security forces opened fire in the village of Waghete. Accounts of the incident by the police and by victims and witnesses differed widely. Many observers feared that the incident was in reprisal for the high-profile actions of 43 people from the Waghete region who sought asylum in Australia in January.

• In March, five members of the security forces were killed in Abepura after clashes with protesters demanding the closure of the gold and copper mine, PT Freeport. Security forces used tear gas and fired rubber bullets at the crowd. At least six civilians - and possibly many more - were injured, including one passer-by. Twenty-three people were prosecuted in connection with the violence. By the end of 2006, at least 21 men had been sentenced after unfair trials to between four and 15 years' imprisonment. All the detainees were reportedly ill-treated in police detention. Lawyers and human rights defenders involved with the trials were subjected to intimidation and received death threats.

Severe restrictions continued to bar nearly all foreign journalists and NGOs from operating in Papua. Officials claimed that foreign organizations were divisive, although access to Papua was granted to at least one international media team, albeit restricted and closely monitored.

The full summary of Amnesty finding for Indonesia can be found here

Rapacious Indonesian security forces

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australian rights activists on Monday criticised a security pact with Indonesia, telling parliament in a submission that it could help Jakarta brutally put down separatist groups in the archipelago.

The pact, signed on the Indonesian island of Lombok in November, aims to smooth often-prickly ties between the two neighbours and underline Australian support for Jakarta's sovereignty over restive provinces including the Papua region.

But pro-Papuan independence groups and the Australian Civil Liberties Union told the Treaties Committee of the Australian Parliament, which must approve the pact, that parts of the document were at odds with the country's democratic values.

"We cannot dictate to a neighbouring nation, but nor can we hide our colours without diminishing our nation and ourselves as individuals," Civil Liberties Australia chief executive Bill Rowlings said in a submission.

The Australian parliament, he said, should insist on a yearly reporting and monitoring role in Papua, where separatists have waged a low-level insurgency against Jakarta rule for decades.

"Monitoring is required to make sure that the new treaty does not inadvertently provide a paper cover for human rights abuses in Papua, particularly by or under the control of the (Indonesian military)," the submission said.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said last year the pact would lead to stronger anti-terrorism cooperation and joint naval border patrols, as well as joint civilian nuclear research and Australian sales of uranium to Indonesia.

The treaty was agreed following militant bomb attacks in Bali in 2002 and 2005, as well as on Australia's Jakarta Embassy in 2003, which together killed 92 Australians and scores of Indonesian and foreign bystanders.

But the Australia West Papua Association blamed rapacious Indonesian security forces in Papua for instability and warned against plans to boost military training between Australia and Indonesian special forces.

"We believe that any aid or training given to the Indonesian military will only be used to oppress the West Papuan people," the association said, listing rights abuses in the far-flung mineral-rich province.

The new pact was almost scuttled last year when Canberra granted protection visas to 43 Papuan asylum-seekers who claimed persecution at home by Indonesian security forces.

Indonesia tore up a previous defence pact with Canberra seven years ago when Australia led an international peacekeeping force into East Timor to restore order after the territory voted to break from Jakarta.

Rowlings said the new pact, which Canberra has hailed as a model for the region, should contain clauses protecting Australians from the Indonesian death penalty as a group of Australian drug smugglers fight the firing squad on Bali.


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A different flag at the Big Day Out

Audio from West Papua TV ads

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For those who haven't seen the TV ads launched last week here's the audio from two of the commercials:

30 second ad:
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/01/137897.php

45 second ad:
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/01/137898.php

These are currently screening on Channel 9 & SBS.

For more info on the TV campaign visit this page:
http://www.freewestpapua.com.au/media_release_17_jan_07.php

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Congressional attention for West Papua

New head of Asia panel in U.S. Congress champions self-determination for Papua

The Associated Press Published: January 23, 2007

WASHINGTON: The new chairman of a congressional panel on Asia promises to turn a spotlight on a little known, long-simmering independence movement in the Indonesian province of Papua.

Eni Faleomavaega, American Samoa's nonvoting delegate and an 18-year veteran of Congress, means to examine the North Korean nuclear standoff, the rise of China and U.S. policy on resource-rich central Asian nations and small Pacific islands.

But the fate of Papua is of particular interest to Faleomavaega, whose relatives served as Christian missionaries in the province. Faleomavaega assumed leadership Tuesday of the House of Representatives' subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. And while the Democratic delegate from the Pacific island territory will have little say in shaping the policies of Republican President George W. Bush, he plans to hold public hearings on Indonesia's actions in Papua.

That could be awkward for the Bush administration, which opposes Papuan independence and is deeply sensitive to Indonesia's concerns about sovereignty. The world's most populous Muslim country, Indonesia is a crucial U.S. ally in fighting terrorism. U.S. officials are wary of undermining the vast archipelago's stability or damaging recently improved relations between the countries' militaries and governments.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Faleomavaega bluntly stated his intention to champion the right of Papua, also called West Papua, to stage a vote of "self-determination" about its future. "The bottom line, as I've said to Indonesian leaders in recent times, is that you've done such a lousy job in your relationship with the West Papuan people, you might as well give them their independence," he said. "If you want to talk about fairness, give the people of West Papua the right of self-determination."

Doug Bereuter, a congressman for more than two decades until 2004 and former chairman of the House's Asia panel, said Faleomavaega's leadership of the subcommittee will bring fresh attention to the issue. When it comes to "the question about increased autonomy" in Papua, the government of Indonesia is "always quite mindful of what the opinion of members of Congress might be, and especially Mr. Faleomavaega, who has spoken out more on that subject than anyone else," said Bereuter, currently the president of The Asia Foundation.

Faleomavaega has used his position on the Asia panel often to press for the United States to review its policy toward the province, where rights groups maintain that about 100,000 people have died as a result of military action or abuses by Indonesian troops. Some critics contend that an abundance of natural resources, including large gold deposits, and Indonesia's strategic importance have prompted the United States to ignore atrocities against natives of the western half of New Guinea island.

Riaz Saehu, a spokesman for the Indonesian Embassy, pointed out that his country is emerging as a democracy after more than 30 years of dictatorship. It was not until 2004 that Indonesia held its first direct presidential election. Saehu said Faleomavaega's meetings with Indonesian officials have led to an understanding that the country is "taking care of the welfare of the people and upholding the human rights" in Papua.

For his part, Faleomavaega said he recognized the sensitivity of the issue for Indonesia, which would see Papuan independence as a potential spark for the country's breakup. Still, he signaled a strong willingness to continue bringing congressional attention to Papua. He wants to lead a delegation of U.S. lawmakers to Indonesia this year to discuss the matter with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. "I would like to see more action on the part of the Indonesian government that they really do care and appreciate looking after the people of West Papua as they would any other region of the country," Faleomavaega said.

Source: International Herald Tribune


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