West Papua

AFP and other news agencies reported that thousands of people rallied across West Papua on Friday April 3, 2009 to call for independence from Indonesia and a boycott of elections amidst a police crackdown on dissent.
At least four people were wounded when police opened fire on a subsequent demonstration on Monday April 6 according to a local church activist, Yones Douw, quoted in the Catholic News website.

By Matthew Jamieson
April 3, 2009: Reports from West Papua today indicate that 10,000 people are staging a rally in Nabire, while another rally planned for Wamena is occurring in the grounds of the Efata Church after a joint Police and Military security operation to block that rally.
Other reports from the capital Jayapura say that Police have arrested 11 West Papuans off the street in Abepura and a further two are detained at Police Headquarters in Jayapura, apparently in relation to the organisation of these rallies.

Human rights activist Buchtar Tabuni is currently facing trial for 'subversion' at Jayapura District Court, Indonesia. The main charge against him is under article no. 106 of the Indonesian Penal Code, which, in effect, criminalizes the expression of certain political opinions.
Tabuni was arrested after a political demonstration in October 2008. The charges against him are 'subversion' under article 106 of the Indonesian Penal Code; 'incitement' under article 160 as well as 'resisting personnel of the state' under article 212.

Matthew Jamieson
January 5, 2009: Reports of police violence in Timika, Wamena and Sorong are marked resurgence in Human Rights abuse by the Indonesian security forces in West Papua in the later part of 2008. Also reports of mysterious deaths in Manokwari, before the massive earthquake, suggest ‘black killings’ have occurred there over the Christmas/New Year period.

By Joe Collins
AWPA, December 9, 2008: Just days before International Human Rights Day, Indonesian police including Brimob attacked Papuan members of the GKIP church (Gereja Kemah Injil Papua/(Tabernacle Bible Church of Papua) in Nabire West Papua. 12 members were beaten, 5 students shot and wounded
AWPA (Sydney) calls on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to raise the human rights situation in West Papua with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Bali Democracy Forum (10-12 December ).

Between October 15-17, 2008 thousands of West Papuans held rallies for self-determination in several parts of this Melanesian nation that has been occupied by Indonesia since 1962.
AFP reported that at least 5,000 people gathered in the Papuan provincial capital Jayapura on October 16 to denounce the 1969 staged UN-sanctioned "referendum" that handed sovereignty of the resource-rich former Dutch colony to Indonesia. The rally was watched by hundreds of riot police.

Australia West Papua Association (Sydney), October 21, 2008: 18 West Papuans were arrested on October 20 for taking part in a peacefully rally held in front of the local legislative council in Jayapura. The demonstrators were calling for a review of the so called "act of free choice" which took place in 1969 and, according to a Jakarta Post report, "shouting support for the success of five members of a separatist movement who managed to draw international attention by meeting members of the British parliament".

By Farida Iqbal
“The right of self-determination is important because it’s part of the pure principle of democracy”, Jacob Rumbiak, foreign affairs co-ordinator of the West Papua National Authority (WPNA), explained to Green Left Weekly during the national conference of the Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) on September 13-14.
“West Papuans must choose their future. [Wanting] to be free, separate from Indonesia, that’s their right. If they want to choose to support autonomy that’s also their right.”

ETAN media release, August 21: The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) and the West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) today welcomed the removal of Colonel Burhanuddin Siagian from his command in West Papua. Siagian faces two indictments in East Timor for crimes against humanity committed in 1999.
"Col. Siagian's removal from Papua is a welcome move," said John M. Miller, National Coordinator of ETAN. "Indonesia should take the next steps and suspend him from any command and then hand him over for trial for the crimes he committed in East Timor."
Siagian was the target of international campaign urging his removal from Papua and calling for his trial.

August 18, 2008: Fresh evidence links Indonesia’s military to the 2002 murder of two American school teachers in the remote Papua province. An article in the latest issue of South East Asia Research, a peer-reviewed journal published in London, is a forensic account of a murder that is still the subject of an open FBI investigation. “Credible sources link Indonesian intelligence agents to the planning of this attack,” said co-author Eben Kirksey, an American anthropologist. “But, Senior Bush Administration officials—including Condoleezza Rice, John Ashcroft, and Robert Mueller—have helped cover-up evidence of Indonesian military involvement in the murder of U.S. civilians,” continued Dr. Kirksey. “The FBI has failed to bring this case to a definitive resolution.”