[Kabar-Irian] News: Sept 30 - Oct 3 2007
Admin-Editors Kabar-Irian
editors at kabar-irian.info
Tue Oct 2 18:33:00 MDT 2007
KABAR IRIAN NEWS
Sept 30-Oct 3
TOPICS
* Statement by Agust Rumbiak
* Pertamina, LUKOIL to apply new block in Indonesia
* Forum leaders asked to consider observer status for Papuans
* Tribal encounters in New Guinea
* Papuan activist’s daughter allegedly kidnapped by security force-linked
group
* Papuan leaders unite to push for self-rule talks
* Papuan activist's daughter attacked
* Indonesia positive about workings of Papuan autonomy
* Conflict areas more peaceful: Govt
* Military Repression in Burma mirrors West Papua
* Media Statement by WPNCL
---
Statement by Agust Rumbiak, Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy,
PBHI
Abridged in translation
Plans are afoot for Biak's traditional community to hold demonstrations to
reject a plan by the Indonesian and Russian governments to turn the island
of Biak into a launching pad for satellites in 2010. In preparation for the
base, the Russian government will build the infrastructure for the base.
This project is rejected because the traditional communities are the
legitimate owners of the land in Biak and have never been involved in this
project. They dont agreed to basing the satellite launching pad in Biak.
The Russian government has only held discussions with Yusuf Maryan, the
district head of Biak , Nehemia Wospakrik, the chairman of the Biak Numfor
legislative assembly and the Indonesian government.
Yusuf Maryan and Nehemia Wospakrik have deceived the Indonesian and Russian
governments because no consultations have been held with the community.
The chairman of the Biak Traditional Council, Yan Pieter Yarangga, who
heads the 100,000 people who inhabit the island of Biak , said he fully
supports the plan to demonstrate against the project.
On 6 September 2007, the Indonesian president signed a memorandum of
understanding with the Russian government in Jakarta. The MoU only refers
to the positive aspects of the satellite base while saying nothing about
possible negative aspects, such as the chances of an accident occurring.
Marthinus Omba who lectures on law at the Cenderawasih University said that
in his opinion, if the launch is successful, there will be no problems, but
if the rocket launching the satellite were to leak, the consequence for
people living in the vicinity would be fatal, as would the whole territory
of Papua because the rocket will be fueled with uranium. Moreover, he said,
there is no difference between the satellite and the atom bombs that
exploded in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Until now, the district administration of Biak Numfor has only drawn
attention to the positive aspects of the satellite but has told the local
community nothing about the consequences of an accident. This is why
launching pads for satellites are always located far from human habitation.
While people are given the opportunity to watch a launch, the public are
warned that the authorities accept no liability in case of an accident
occurring because the risks are very high. He wondered whether the people
living in Biak have been told about the consequences.
It is now almost half a century since Papua was incorporated into
Indonesia. In 1961, the Soviet Union (now Russia) supported Indonesia.
Since development projects in Papua usually involve large-scale
deaths, the people of Biak are fearful that the satellite project will
repeat past experiences. In this case, Papuans and non-Papuans would be
affected if accidents occur as the result of sabotage or straightforward
accidents.
Given the incidents of 'bio-militarism' such as alcoholism and the spread
of HIV/AIDs in the past nine months, others may regard this is nothing more
than just an issue but the fact is that many people have died as a result
of these incidents.
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign
111 Northwood Road, Thornton Heath, Croydon CR7 8HW, UK.
tel +44 (0)20 8771 2904 fax +44 (0)20 8653 0322
tapol at gn.apc.org http://tapol.gn.apc.org
---
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKJAK30336720071001
Pertamina, LUKOIL to apply new block in Indonesia
Mon Oct 1, 2007 10:52am BST
JAKARTA, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Indonesian state oil firm Pertamina and Russian
oil major LUKOIL (LKOH.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) will jointly apply
for rights to explore offshore of Semai block in Papua province,
Pertamina's chief said on Monday.
"We will choose Semai block because it has the potential of crude
reserves. We don't know yet how big the reserves are, but if we are
awarded then we will explore to determine the reserve," Ari Soemarno,
Pertamina's ceo, told reporters.
The Indonesian government plans to open a tender for around 25 oil and gas
exploration blocks, some of them new. Among the block includes 5 blocks of
Semai.
Pertamina has said it will raise crude output to 118,000 barrels per day
(bpd) in 2007 from its own operations, compared with 107,000 bpd last
year.
Indonesia has been offering new exploration rights and financial
incentives for oilfields in a bid to stem a steady decline in production
as OPEC's second-smallest producer has failed to tap new oilfields fast
enough to meet domestic demand.
Indonesia's crude oil production fell to 827,400 barrels per day (bpd) in
September from 834,700 bpd in August.
Indonesia also produced 122,100 bpd of condensate in September, compared
with 120,300 bpd in August.
© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved.
---
http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=35483
Radio New Zealand International
The Voice of New Zealand, Broadcasting to the Pacific
Te Reo Irirangi O Aotearoa, O Te Moana-Nui-A-Kiwa
Forum leaders asked to consider observer status for Papuans
Posted at 04:29 on 01 October, 2007 UTC
Pacific Islands leaders are being asked to consider the plight of the
nearly two million Melanesian people in the Indonesian region of Papua
when they meet in Tonga in two weeks.
A spokesman for the Australian West Papua Association, Joe Collins, says
there is a growing military presence in Papua and increasing human rights
abuses there.
He says it is encouraging to see the increasing number of non -self
governing territories and organisations that have recently become Forum
observers and West Papua should be given the same status.
He says the Forum leadership speak of inclusiveness and a Pacific vision
but this falls flat if the concerns of the Melanesians in West Papua are
ignored.
“It’s a regional issue, I mean it is not going to go away. The Pacific
Islands Forum could be the EU of the South Pacific. It could be
involved in security matters, I mean, really trying to help all
Pacific people and West Papua are a Melanesian people - one point
eight million Melanesians that are not part of the Pacific Islands
Forum in any way and they should definitely be brought in.”
---
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070929/NEWS/109290085
Tribal encounters in New Guinea
New Guinea is one of the least explored places in the world. Tribes
previously unknown to the West are still being discovered. Until the
introduction of Christianity the various tribes practiced cannibalism and
some still do to this day in the swampy lowlands.
I flew to the port of Jayapura on the Indonesian side of New Guinea which
is known today as West Papua. From there I took a small and shaky plane to
the remote village of Wamena in the Baliem Valley. The flight from Wamena
covers expanses of jungle and mountains that seem to go forever. I
wondered what or who was looking up at the plane as we passed above. I got
off the plane at a dilapidated airport, the faces of Papuans staring over
a fence greeted me. They herded us into a dingy room while they inspected
the bags of all of the passengers but me. The door to the outside was
padlocked and soon the dark room was packed with a couple of dozen Papuans
carrying huge sacks of this and that, the room thick with the smell of
clove cigarettes that they constantly smoke. The security guard couldn't
find the key to the padlock and we were finally led through a series of
office rooms to the outside.
The local people stared at me with looks that seemed like a mixture of
concern and fear. They are small people for the most part and I was later
to find out that they thought I might be a 'smack down' wrestler like they
see on TV. A large fire was being put out as I pulled into town. A large
drugstore had burned to the ground and the locals were foraging through
the rubble to salvage whatever was left.
Wamena is a friendly but somewhat chaotic community. Indonesians, mostly
from Java, own all of the businesses and are predominantly Muslim. The
Papuans, however, maintain an existence from selling fish and sweet
potatoes on the street. Others taxi people around in rickety bicycle
rickshaws that squeak along the streets. Most of the people wear Western
clothes in the village but many men still only wear a penis sheath made
out of gourd they cultivate for this accessory. Bob Marley T-shirts are
popular but strangely, so are heavy metal T-shirts of bands like Black
Sabbath, Deicide, Cannibal Corpse and other dark metal bands. Missionaries
have had a huge impact on New Guinea. In Jayapura, half of the airport is
owned by various evangelical organizations, who fly their cessnas to
remote parts of the jungle to spread their message.
Walking down the street in Wamena, surrounded by the chaos of fish and
vegetable hawkers, the squeaking rickshaws, the melancholy sounds of the
Islamic call to prayer blaring over loudspeakers, creates a unique
atmosphere. It is part Asia, part Africa and part Middle East, but with
the mix of influences emerges something totally different - it is as if
someone went back in time and somehow shifted the course of history
allowing for this curious result.
Strange graffiti covers many of the walls of the buildings, the
expressionistic drawings look as if Basquiat came through and decorated
the town. They are acts of rebellion against the ruling Indonesian
presence. In 1969 West Papua was given over to Indonesia by the Dutch for
its abundant gold and copper resources and the Papuans would prefer
independence like the eastern side of the island, Papua New Guinea.
Occasional violence breaks out and because of that there is a strong
police presence in the town.
The Papuans proved to be very friendly and when I walked around town; many
of them would come up to gently shake my hand. The more tribal and naked
ones would take my hand and say 'hwha, hwha, hwha' over and over again,
smiling. If you offer a Papuan an unexpected gift of a clove cigarette or
candy, the men will either brush the bottom part of your chin or lightly
grab your scrotum in appreciation.
Two tribes live in the vicinity of the Baliem valley, the Dani and the
Yali. My guide Rufus and I set off in a jeep into the hinterlands to trek
in the lands of the Dani. Rufus was taken from his family in the lowlands
at the age of 12 by Catholic missionaries. His family practiced
cannibalism. As with many Papuans I met, he is only a generation separated
from cannibalism.
The Dani live in mountainous terrain with jungle areas and hills that have
been cultivated for centuries. The hiking was cool and breezy for the most
part. A cool mist cooled us down but promised the occasional rain storm
that would make the trail very slippery. At one point Rufus and I had to
go down a basically non-existent trail of mud and grasses that basically
went straight down. Holding on to grasses and ferns we struggled down the
muddy trail, all the while wondering if I would disturb some poisonous
snake or insect. At the bottom we found to our dismay that the bridge we
intended to cross over the raging Baliem river had washed away. We were
forced to hike back up and over to another bridge that was mercifully
intact.
We stayed in a few different villages and each had its own character.
Often the people of the village called me over to sit with them and they
would all stare at me and laugh, speaking to me in Bahasa Indonesian or
the Dani language. It was a bit overwhelming at one point, looking over
the laughing posse of naked men and women in their tribal regalia,
feathers sprouting from their headresses.
The Dani had created some primitive guitar-like instruments ingeniously
using parts of a cell phone and computer innards to create frets. The
songs they sang reminded me of the music of the Fulani tribe of Mali and
the Gambia. The naked men sat around smiling in the evenings and asked me
for the clove cigarettes I brought for them. The children politely asked
me for candy and notably always made sure that everyone got a piece and
never tried to trick me into giving them more. Most of the children had
open sores on their skin from some kind of skin disease and I applied
Neosporin to their wounds as they lined up to meet the hairy white man.
Older people came to me pointing at their eyes or joints thinking I might
have some magic cure from the West. Small children mostly cried at the
sight of me.
While I never felt threatened at any time with the Dani, apparently they
still kill each other from time to time over women and territory. While
cannibalism in these parts is a thing of the past many aspects of their
animistic traditions still linger. When mourning, the practice of cutting
off one's fingers or a piece of an ear is still practiced after the
passing of a loved one. Entrails are still used to divine the future and
such. The men sleep in one hut while the women and children live in
another. Each village provided me with my own little hut. Flies would
cover me as I sat outside my hut but would leave me alone if I entered my
dwelling - but there these tiny fleas would assault me. The fleas hang
around the villages because of the pigs who are the most important animal
to the Papuans. Often, the pigs will sleep in the same hut as the men and
are treated better than the women until they are eventually killed to feed
the village. Everyone smokes and they smoke a lot. The Dani mostly smoked
these large spliffs of tobacco wrapped in a tobacco leaf but would gladly
bum a clove or cigarette when one was offered.
At night when everyone would retire to their respective huts, I would sit
with Rufus and the other porters and we would talk over a fire and eat
chicken. Sometimes, I would just listen to the musical sounds of their
conversation which seemed to never stop. Every now and then and without
warning, one of the porters named Wir would let out this tribal scream
'Woo Woop Woop' that was so hilarious that you could hear the Dani
laughing in their huts throughout the village. You had to be there to
truly experience it, but every time he did it the whole village charged
with this crazy energy. I sat with my camera trying to record it but never
captured Wir in action.
I promised Rufus that I would return one day to Wamena and possibly visit
the lowlands with him where he was raised - the lands of the Korowai and
the Kombai where cannibalism is still practiced and birds of paradise
grace the jungle.
Brian McQuade is a freelance writer, avid and intrepid traveler, and owner
of Space Cowboy in Breckenridge.
---
http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=35480
Radio New Zealand International
The Voice of New Zealand, Broadcasting to the Pacific
Te Reo Irirangi O Aotearoa, O Te Moana-Nui-A-Kiwa
Papuan activist’s daughter allegedly kidnapped by security force-linked group
Posted at 01:47 on 01 October, 2007 UTC
The 17-year-old daughter of a prominent activist in Indonesia’s Papua
region has reportedly has been kidnapped, drugged and assaulted by a group
linked to Indonesian security forces.
The Melbourne Age newspaper reports that Yane Waromi, the daughter of
Edison Waromi, was reportedly abducted on the outskirts of Papua’s
capital, Jayapura, after getting in a car that she thought was a taxi.
According to human rights workers, she was then drugged, taken to a house
and abused.
Mr Waromi, who heads the West Papua National Authority, has reportedly
been receiving death threats.
His daughter was reportedly found semi-conscious near a stream after the
18-hour ordeal.
The newspaper says analysts believe the attacks are a response to
activists holding sensitive talks about forming a unified front to
negotiate West Papuan rights with Indonesia.
---
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/papuan-leaders-unite-to-push-for-selfrule-talks/2007/10/01/1191091027803.html
Papuan leaders unite to push for self-rule talks
Sarah Smiles
October 2, 2007
A UNITED front of Papuan leaders has called for crisis talks with Jakarta
as human rights abuses escalate in the militarised Indonesian province.
Banding together for the first time, the political leaders have called on
the international community to mediate talks similar to those Jakarta held
with Aceh in 2005.
The West Papua Coalition for National Liberation wants a referendum held
on self-determination and an end to Indonesia's military occupation of
Papua and "long standing" human rights violations there. It also wants aid
groups and journalists to have unrestricted access to the province, which
came under Indonesian control in 1963.
Damien Kingsbury, an Indonesian specialist at Deakin University, said the
formation of the coalition was historically "very significant" because
Papuan groups had traditionally been fragmented. He said the coalition
"appears to have very widespread social and political support".
Indonesia has repeatedly played down reports of human rights abuses in
Papua. But last year Australia became embroiled in the conflict when it
accepted 43 Papuan asylum seekers who landed on Cape York, triggering a
diplomatic stoush with Jakarta.
Dr Kingsbury said there needed to be recognition on behalf of Indonesia
about the problems in the province, and the proposed talks are a "good
opportunity to resolve once and for all the West Papua problem".
In its statement the coalition called on the world to support talks
"intended to end more than four decades of suffering by the people of West
Papua".
---
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/09/30/1191090945552.html
Papuan activist's daughter attacked
Sarah Smiles, Canberra
October 1, 2007
THE 17-year-old daughter of a prominent Papuan activist has been
kidnapped, drugged and assaulted at gunpoint by a group allegedly linked
to Indonesian security forces, human rights workers have reported.
Yane Waromi, the daughter of Edison Waromi, was reportedly abducted on the
outskirts of Papua's capital, Jayapura, after getting in a car that she
thought was a taxi. She was then drugged, taken to a house and abused.
The attack is part of a rise in violence directed against pro-independence
Papuan activists in the Indonesian province. Analysts believe the attacks
are a response to activists holding sensitive talks about forming a
unified front to negotiate rights with Indonesia.
Mr Waromi, who heads the West Papua National Authority, has reportedly
been receiving death threats. His daughter was found semi-conscious near a
stream after the 18-hour ordeal.
"They beat her, tortured her, and now she can't speak because she's been
traumatised," said Reverend Socratez Sofyan Yoman, the chairman of Papua's
Baptist Church.
Reverend Yoman said the human rights situation in Papua had deteriorated,
despite a 2001 "special autonomy" agreement negotiated with Jakarta.
The agreement was meant to devolve local governance to Papuans, but
Reverend Yoman said the Indonesian military had increased troop numbers in
the province and human rights abuses continued. He said Indonesian
migration to the province had also increased.
"It's a terrible situation in West Papua
the special autonomy agreement
has failed," Reverend Yoman said. "We want to make a genuine peaceful
dialogue (with Indonesia) — mediated by the international community — to
solve the West Papuan problem."
Dino Kusnadi, a spokesman for the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra, denied
that the attacks on activists were committed by the Indonesian military or
police. "The attacks on activists (are) criminal rather than political,"
he said.
Mr Kusnadi said he travelled to Jayapura last month with Indonesian
ambassador Hamzah Thayeb and a delegation of 35 Indonesian officials to
observe the status of the special autonomy agreement.
He said it was working and that reports by human rights groups were "very
far from the truth".
Mr Kusnadi said troop increases in Papua were due to the establishment of
a naval base there.
But Damien Kingsbury, an Indonesian expert at Deakin University, said the
troop increase started before the naval base's establishment, and the
military was predatory.
"Because troops are not adequately funded by the Government, they have to
make a living from local activities, and that's usually around things like
extortion and protection rackets," he said.
"There's been a rise in attacks against West Papuan leaders and
organisations
because the army is concerned about the possibility that
West Papuans are getting organised to take a claim to the international
community."
---
http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=35486
Radio New Zealand International
The Voice of New Zealand, Broadcasting to the Pacific
Te Reo Irirangi O Aotearoa, O Te Moana-Nui-A-Kiwa
Indonesia positive about workings of Papuan autonomy
Posted at 04:30 on 01 October, 2007 UTC
Indonesian officials who have recently visited the Papua region to observe
the progress of special autonomy there say that it is working.
A spokesman for the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra, was one of a
delegation of 35 which travelled to Papua last week to observe the status
of Papua’s Special Autonomy agreement which was established in 2001.
Dino Kusnadi says reports by human rights groups that Special Autonomy has
failed to improve the lives of Papuans are far from the truth.
Mr Kusnadi says there is an effective working relationship between Papua’s
local government and the central Indonesian government.
He says because of this, the delivery of better services is reaching the
people.
“It’s just that it needs more time to be implemented, to be developed
further. But whatever the difficulties there are, there is good
intention from all sides to bring prosperity and peace in Papua - only
that the know-how of co-ordination of implementing, of planning, we
see that that’s a process that needs to be pushed further.”
Dino Kusnadi
---
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20071002.H02&irec=1
Conflict areas more peaceful: Govt
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government has said the situation in the three conflict areas of Aceh,
Maluku and Papua are moving steadily toward peace -- but said national
security would remain "on alert against separatist movements".
"In general, security conditions in the three areas are relatively
conducive to peace ... there are almost no armed conflicts," Coordinating
Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo A.S. was quoted
as saying by Antara.
Widodo met with the House of Representatives Commission I overseeing
defense and security affairs on Monday, along with Maritime Affair and
Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi, the Indonesia Military chief Air Chief
Marshal Djoko Suyanto, the National Police chief Gen. Sutanto and the
State Intelligence Agency chief Syamsir Siregar.
Widodo said small criminal incidents in Aceh were because Aceh residents
were not satisfied with tsunami rehabilitation works or with post-conflict
reintegration efforts.
"Flag-burning and the establishment of a new local party GAM are against
the spirit of Helsinki peace agreement and have led to security incidents
in Aceh," Widodo said.
The flag-burning incident took place in North Aceh before the celebration
of Indonesia's Independence Day on Aug. 17.
Aug. 17 also saw some 150 national flags lowered across Aceh, including in
the provincial capital Banda Aceh.
Widodo said the implementation in Papua of a special autonomy status and
the following developments throughout Papua and West Papua provinces had
eased security problems there.
However, Papuan armed and unarmed separatists movement still exist. The
armed group is considered a threat despite its small size.
The Free Papua Organization (OPM) is involved in a low-level conflict in
Papua.
"The separatist groups often focus on poor human rights and slow
development issues," Widodo said.
"They also try to bring Papua issues to the international arena to demand
the United Nations review the integration of Papua into Indonesia."
On Maluku, Widodo said the separatists incidents carried out by supporters
of the South Maluku Republic (RMS) included a separatist flag being raised
in Ambon on July 3. And he said on March 24 a flag was flown in Utrecht,
the Netherlands.
Widodo said RMS supporters were seeking sympathy from local and
international communities through "the distribution of brochures, flag
raising activities and bombings".
"They just want to show their existence to local and international
communities," he said.
RMS supporters performed on June 29 a cakalele war dance and tried to
unfurl a separatist flag in front of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
who was in Ambon to commemorate National Family Day.
Widodo said his office had issued policies to prevent similar
disintegration movements nationwide.
"Technically, we are conducting intelligence and defense operations for
the defense sector," he said.
"The central government also urges regional administrations to carry out
existing regional autonomy schemes.
"Regions should develop local economies to increase their public's welfare."
---
Forwarded message from joe collins <seosamh20 at hotmail.com> ---
- --
Letter in yesterday's Newcastle Herald
>From AWPA Newcastle
- -------------------------------------
Military Repression in Burma mirrors West Papua
So how does Mr Howard distinguish between what's going on in Burma
now and
what has been happening in West Papua for the past 45 years? He
stated that
the Burmese military regime is "loathsome" and "the repression is
appalling".
Sounds exactly like the Indonesian military and what they're doing
in West
Papua. He also said Burma is a "closed country...very resistant to
outside
pressure". Again, just like West Papua and the way in which
Indonesia rules
it. Is it because Australia doesn't profit from any natural
resources in
Burma that he is so willing to condemn what is going on there?
Whilst it's
good to see the plight of the Burmese people finally exposed to the
rest of
the world, perhaps Australia should also think a little more
regionally and
consider the crimes against humanity that continue to be ignored
immediately
to our north, in West Papua.
Amanda Freund
Australia West Papua Association - Newcastle
Adamstown
---
From: matthew jamieson <matthew at hr.minihub.org>
Date: Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:21:43 +0900
West Papua National Coalition for Liberation
Media Statement
The West Papua National Coalition for Liberation (WPNCL) is calling
on the Government of Indonesia to end more than four decades of
oppression and human rights abuses. WPNCL representative, Paula
Makabory, said the Indonesian government should discuss the future of
West Papua with an elected team of West Papuan political leaders in
an international setting.
‘The Indonesian government has said it wanted to talk with West
Papuan leaders’, Ms Makabory said, ‘but they wanted to talk within
Indonesia. The West Papuan people now call on the Indonesian
government to show it is sincere and talk with west Papuan leaders in
an internationally mediated setting.’
Ms Makabory said that West Papuan leaders could only talk with the
Indonesian government in an international setting to ensure
transparency and guarantees of any outcome. ‘We, the people of West
Papua, have suffered the oppression of the Indonesian government &
security forces,’ Ms Makabory said. ‘Tens of thousands of our people
have been murdered and we have been kept in poverty despite the
richness of out land. It is time to end this injustice.’
Ms Makabory’s comments come with the release of a list of demands by
the WPNCL, including the right to self-determination for the people
of West Papua and the political re-unification of the territory. The
WPNCL is the umbrella organization for West Papuan political
organizations seeking peace and freedom for the people of West Papua.
Its statement of demands follows the official formation of the
organization, following a recent meeting of West Papuan political
leaders at a secret location.
For further information, contact:
Paula Makabory +61(0)402547517 Fax: +61(0)395435843
John Otto Ondowame +67842601
Octo Mote +12035203055
West Papua National Coalition for Liberation
Statement of Claims Against the Government of Indonesia
Deploring the continuing genocide of the people of West Papua at the
hands of the Republic of Indonesia and its military;
Deploring the long-standing and continuing gross human rights
violations of the people of West Papua by the Republic of Indonesia
and its military;
Recognizing the illegal occupation of West Papua by the Republic of
Indonesia under the illegitimate and sham ‘Act of Free Choice (1969)’;
Noting the illegal dispossession of West Papuan people from their
hereditary lands;
Noting the economic and environmental rape of West Papua and its
indigenous peoples at the hands of companies licensed by the Republic
of Indonesia and illegal companies that act with impunity;
Recognizing the corruption of the Indonesian judiciary and police
force in allowing with impunity crimes against the people and lands
of West Papua by the Indonesian military and police;
And recognizing the abrogation of the obligations of the Government
of Indonesia towards the people of West Papua through the undermining
and dismemberment of the provisions of Special Autonomy;
We, the united leaders of the people of West Papua, under the
umbrella organization of the West Papua National Coalition for
Liberation (WPNCL), call upon the Government of Indonesia to restore
to the people of West Papua their full civil, political, economic and
cultural and social rights, as identified under the relevant United
Nations instruments.
In this, we claim the following rights:
0. to self-determination;
0. to the unity of the West Papuan people
0. to the territorial unity of West Papua
0. to the demilitarization of West Papua
0. to full and free democratic participation, organization and
representation under international supervision;
0. to independent control over West Papua’s economy;
0. to practice unhindered our religion, traditions and culture;
0. to the immediate, full and unhindered access to West Papua by
internationally recognized human rights monitors and defenders;
0. to the immediate, full and unhindered access to West Papua by
the international media;
0. to the immediate, full and unhindered access to West Papua by
international aid and development organizations.
In confirmation, the WPNCL calls upon the Government of Indonesia to
discuss with it and resolve these claims in an external
(international) setting under the auspices of an internationally
recognized mediator. The WPNCL also calls upon the international
community to endorse and support such an internationally mediated
process, intended to end more than four decades of suffering by the
people of West Papua at the hands of the Indonesian state and its
institutions.
Signed,
Paula Makabory,
member of the
West Papua National Coalition for Liberation
representing:
Tentara Pembebasan Nasional Papua Barat (TPN PB) National Liberation
Forces of West Papua
Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) Free Papua Movement
Presidium Dewan Papua (PDP) Papua Presidium Council
Dewan Musyawarah Masyarakat Adat Koteka (DEMMAK) Traditional Koteka
Peoples Council
Dewan Komite Pelaksana Kemerdekaan dan Kedaulatan Melanesia Barat
(DKPKKMB)/Bintang 14, West Melanesia Independence Executive
Committee Council
PENTANA/PARNA
West Papua Youth Awareness Team (WESPANYAT)
West Papua Women Solidarity (SPP)
Front PEPERA
Front Nasional Mahasiswa Papua (FNMP)
Aliansi Mahasiswa Papua (AMP)
Mairasi Tribal Community Council
West Papua National Authority (WPNA)
West Papua People's Representative Office (WPPRO)
Papua Resource Center
ELSHAM Australia (Observer)
ELSHAM Europa (Observer)
For further information, contact:
Paula Makabory +61(0)402547517
Fax: +61(0)395435843
Melbourne, Australia
More information about the Kabar-Irian
mailing list