Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Summary of events in West Papua for September



Australia West Papua Association (Sydney)
PO Box 28, Spit Junction, NSW 2088

                                       Summary of events in West Papua for September -3 Oct. 2017



                                                    

                      Rockin’ for West Papua events this weekend (List of events at end of update) 

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72"d Session of the United Nations General Assembly General Debate

The Pacific leaders again raised the issue of West Papua at the 72"d Session of the United Nations General Assembly General Debate  in New York. Vanuatu, The Solomon Islands, Tuvulu and  from the Caribbean region, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines all raised concerns about the human rights situation in West Papua.

The Solomon Islands Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare condemned consistent human rights violations in West Papua, adding that the people there had never been allowed to exercise their right to self-determination.




                                                      UN Photo

Extract from his statement in relation to West Papua (pages 11-13).
72"d Session of the United Nations General Assembly General Debate 

Mr President,
Solomon Islands position on the aforementioned issues are premised on principles that we have consistently upheld. In this connection, Solomon Islands condemns the consistent human rights violations in West Papua.

Our Sustainable Development Goals that promote the notion of "no-one left behind" is synonymous to empty promises unless we, in the United Nations, take active steps to address the plight of the peoples of West Papua. Indeed, we have left them behind some 50 years ago when we, as a Family of Nations, noted their plight without much to add. Since then, the peoples of West Papua were never allowed the proper act of self-determination guaranteed by the inalienable right to self- determination as expressed in UN human rights Covenants. Only international action -- by individual countries and from the leading organizational bodies of the international system, especially the United Nations General Assembly - can pave the way for the recognition of a people whose right to self-determination had been denied for nearly fifty years ago. Failing this, we as a Family of Nations will become complicit in perpetuating the suffering and being blind to the injustice; missing yet another golden opportunity to remain true to the saying of "leaving no-one behind.

At the 71st session, a group of Pacific Island nations called for this august body to address the human rights violations in West Papua. Today, I stand on behalf of my people and those in the Pacific region to reiterate that same call on this august body to address the plight of West Papuan women, children and men. Our people are watching, West Papuans inside West Papua are watching, praying and are hoping for a brighter future. They have come in numbers to express their hope for a better future. We as leaders have this responsibility of "leaving NO-ONE BEHIND".  I  would therefore encourage Indonesia to engage in more constructive dialogue, including with West Papua to find a way forward in addressing the aspirations of the people of West Papua. I urge the UN to proactively engage in these dialogues as well. 

Vanuatu
Prime Minister Charlot Salwai Tabimasmas of Vanuatu in his summary said,
“The Human Rights Council should meanwhile address the situation in West Papua, he said, calling for decolonization to be put back on the United Nations radar”.

In a RNZI report (23 Sept.).
He also accused world leaders at the UN of turning a deaf ear to more than half a century of atrocities committed by Indonesia on the people of West Papua, and
"We also call on our counterparts throughout the world to support the legal right of West Papua to self-determination and to jointly with Indonesia put an end to all kinds of violence and find common ground to facilitate a process to make their own choice. "


The Tuvalu Prime Minister, H.E. Mr. Enele Sosene Sopoaga, said The United Nations must also be involved in addressing the issue of self-determination for the people of West Papua.
Extract from his statement (page7)  
37. Of similar concerns, the people of West Papua should be enabled to exercise their fundamental right, with the intervention of this responsible body, to allow them to determine their own development aspirations and future. The West Papuans are a distinct people with Pacific roots, with their own land, history and identity. The violation of human rights in West Papua is a constant matter of great concern to us. Tuvalu strongly believes the UN must engage in setting a clear pathway to addressing these issues and the issue of self- determination of the people. 

Deputy Prime Minister H.E. Mr. Louis Straker of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines said “his country had been honoured to host the 2017 Caribbean Regional Seminar on Decolonization, but the “inconvenient truth” was that the decolonization process remained incomplete, including in West Papua."    https://gadebate.un.org/en/72/saint-vincent-and-grenadines




No surprises in Indonesia’s right of reply to these statements
Right of Reply (25 September 2017)
The representative of Indonesia, responding to concerns by the representatives of Vanuatu and Solomon Islands concerning Papua and West Papua, and echoed by Tuvalu and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, said their false allegations were economically motivated.  Those countries were “blindfolded” and refused to understand that the provinces had enjoyed great strides in economic growth and development.  They were growing at 9.21 per cent, the fastest in Indonesia, and remained integral and sovereign parts of her country.  Those making such claims were motivated by individuals with separatist agendas to exploit the issue of human rights, she said, asking why those concerns — if accurate — had not been raised in the appropriate forum of the Human Rights Council.  Stressing that those countries’ own human rights records were not perfect, she said illegal attempts to dismember the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a Member State violated the principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter.  “We cannot let this happen.”
https://gadebate.un.org/en/72/indonesia




Johnny Blades from RNZI reports on the events in New York
Annual stoush in New York over West Papua
It's become an annual stoush in New York.
Pacific leaders call for an investigation into killings and various alleged human rights abuses against West Papuans by Indonesian security forces. The long-running complaint that Papuans were denied a legitimate self-determination process in the 1960s is also raised. Indonesia then exercises its right of reply to lash out at the leaders of Solomon Islands and Vanuatu in particular. This year however there has been a twist: the delivery of a petition by Papuan independence activist Benny Wenda purporting to have signatures of 1.8 million West Papuans demanding an internationally supervised vote on independence. It also seeks West Papua's reinscription to the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation.





Leading on from the Historic swim across Lake Geneva, on the 26th September at 17:00 New York Time, the West Papuan People’s Petition, together with the Global Petition for West Papua was presented to the United Nations Decolonisation Committee by Benny Wenda, the Spokesperson for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP).  On delivering the petition, Benny Wenda stated: “Today, we hand over the bones of the people of West Papua to the United Nations and the world. After decades of suffering, decades of genocide, decades of occupation, today we open up the voice of the West Papuan people which lives inside this petition.

                                  West Papuan independence leader Benny Wenda. Photo: RNZI/ Koroi Hawkins

Lots of media coverage on the issue (below).



Banned West Papua independence petition handed to UN
Exclusive: Document outlawed by Indonesia was ‘smuggled from one end of Papua to the other’ and signed by 70% of the population
Ben Doherty and Kate Lamb in Jakarta 27 September 2017 
A petition banned by the Indonesian government, but bearing the signatures of 1.8 million West Papuans – more than 70% of the contested province’s population – has been presented to the United Nations, with a demand for a free vote on independence. Exiled West Papuan independence campaigner Benny Wenda presented the bound petition to the UN’s decolonisation committee, the body that monitors the progress of former colonies – known as non-self-governing territories – towards independence.
The petition was banned in the provinces of Papua and West Papua by the Indonesian government, and blocked online across the country, so petition sheets had to be “smuggled from one end of Papua to the other”, Wenda told the Guardian from New York. Independence campaigners have been jailed and allegedly tortured in Papua for opposing the rule of Indonesia, which has controlled Papua (now Papua and West Papua) since 1963. Those signing the petition risked arrest and jail. “The people have risked their lives, some have been beaten up, some are in prison. In 50 years, we have never done this before, and we had to organise this in secret,” Wenda said.






UN committee rejects West Papua independence petition
RNZI 30 September 2017 

Rafael Ramírez, the chair of the UN decolonisation committee, says it will not accept a petition signed by 1.8 million West Papuans.  Photo: UN Photo / Manuel Elias

The United Nations decolonisation committee says it will not accept a petition signed by 1.8 million West Papuans calling for an independence vote.
The petition, presented by the independence leader Benny Wenda on Tuesday, asked the UN to appoint a special representative to investigate abuses and to put West Papua back on the decolonisation agenda. But the UN decolonisation committee says the West Papua cause is outside its mandate, which extends only to the 17 states identified by the UN as "non-self governing territories."

The committee's chair and Venezuela's representative to the UN, Rafael Ramírez, says he had received no formal petition document, and his office had been "manipulated" for political purposes. Mr Ramírez also says the committee accepts Indonesia's sovereignty over West Papua, which took control of the western half of New Guinea in 1969. In a statement, Indonesia's UN representative, Triansyah Djani, who sits on the committee, called Mr Wenda's petition a hoax and separatist propaganda.





Statement from Benny Wenda on the West Papuan People’s Petition


The West Papuan people’s petition is no hoax: it is the voice of our peoplesigned by the majority of West Papuans   The real hoax is Indonesia’s justification for its occupation of West Papua
This week I delivered a petition signed by the majority of West Papuans to the United Nations, calling on the UN to act over human rights abuses in West Papua and to carry out its 1962 commitment to ensure West Papuans have the opportunity freely to exercise their right to self-determination. This petition is more than just paper. These signatures are the bones and blood of my people who have been killed and who have suffered; and who continue to suffer and die under Indonesian occupation. This petition was presented with tears in my eyes and hope in my heart as I handed over the spirit of my people, people who have struggled and died in a neglected genocide for over 50 years, for the world to finally hear their voice…….    https://www.ulmwp.org/5017-2




Indonesia is becoming concerned about the growing support for West Papua in the region.

Indonesia offers increased assistance to Samoa and Pacific
RNZI 18 September 2017 
Samoa and other Pacific countries are being offered increased technical assistance and capacity building programmes by Indonesia.
The Observer reported that Indonesia restated its commitment to playing an active role in regional development during the recent Pacific Islands Forum summit in Apia. The Director for Technical Cooperation for Indonesia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Syarif Alatas, said the active role was part of his country's effort to contribute to world peace and prosperity.

He said renewed technical assistance was being made available to Samoa, which recently entered a trade relationship with Indonesia. Mr Alatas said the assistance is usually in the form of training, apprenticeships and scholarships in various fields. According to him, Pacific countries have become one of then priority areas for Jakarta's international development outreach. The various capacity building programmes Indonesia offered come in the form of bilateral and triangular cooperation arrangements. The newspaper reported that between 1999 and 2016 Indonesia conducted at least 182 programmes followed by 1457 participants from countries in the Pacific region. The programmes were in areas including fisheries, agriculture, democracy and good governance, disaster risk management, seaweed processing technique and entrepreneurship.



Indonesia, Fiji agree to set up defense cooperation
Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-29 |Editor: ying

JAKARTA, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Defense ministries of Indonesia and Fiji on Friday reached an agreement on defense cooperation, bringing the bilateral ties to a higher strategic level, an Indonesian minister said here. Indonesian Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu and his counterpart from Fiji Ratu Inoke Kubuabola witnessed the signing of the agreement at the Indonesian defense ministry after their meeting. "This shows the advancement of defense ties of the two nations heading to a more-strategic level," said Ryamizard after the signing. The cooperation included exchanges of military intelligence, collaboration on weapon industry, shifting of defense technology and others, he said. On the same occasion, Fiji's defense minister said his country considers Indonesia as a partner particularly in relation with the security in the Pacific region. Indonesia has long faced insurgency of Free Papua Movement known as OPM in Papua province of easternmost of the country. The rebels have sought to have an independent state of Papua. The rebels have targeted companies' workers, civilians, and soldiers in conducting their mission.




Churches unimpressed by Indonesia’s comments on West Papua
RNZI 14 September 2017 
The Pacific Conference of Churches says it is unimpressed by comments made by Indonesian officials at the recent Pacific Island Forum Leaders' Summit in Apia.
The General Secretary, Reverend Francois Pihaatae, said a protest that took place during the forum supporting West Papua's independence was nothing new.
Indonesia’s Ambassador to New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga, Tantowi Yahya, was at the meeting and condemned the protest and accused Pacific Islanders of being misled on a human rights situation that had largely improved. But Mr Pihaatae said the demonstrators believe that people in West Papua are still struggling. “Whatever the Indonesian said, I will never, never believe that something is fine in West Papua because we have evidence that [they are] living out everyday, the killing of the people," Reverend Francois Pihaatae said.





Second shooting in two days reported in Freeport mining area, Papua
Nethy Dharma Somba The Jakarta Post
Jayapura | Mon, September 25, 2017 
Ronald Sajensolar, a driver of a patrol car, sustained injuries to his cheek and shoulders from shards of a broken window, after the car he was traveling in was shot at by unknown assailants at Mile 60 in the mining area of PT Freeport Indonesia in Papua on Monday.It was the second shooting incident in the area in two days. On Sunday, a water tanker truck and patrol vehicle reportedly belonging to Freeport were shot at by unknown assailants while traveling to Mile 61 in the mining area. ''Ronald is receiving medical treatment at Tembagapura Hospital at Mile 68,'' Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. AM Kamal said in Jayapura on Monday.  The shooting occurred when Ronald’s car was traveling with 30 other vehicles carrying mining workers from Timika to Tembagapura. The gun shots were heard from the left side of the road. Following the incident, 20 of the vehicles could not immediately continue their journey to Tembagapura.
Kamal said the police had been investigating the case and looking for the perpetrators.
Freeport Indonesia spokesman, when asked about the incident via test message, only replied, “we are still looking for confirmation [over the incident].”

He added all scheduled journeys for employees between Timika and Tembagapura had been postponed until further notice. Mimika Legislative Council Speaker Eltinus Mom said he was concerned over the two shootings in the area, while none of the perpetrators had been arrested. “The shootings are acts of terror that worry people,” Eltinus said in Timika. (bbs)





Do not bow down to Freeport, Kadin tells government
Jakarta | Mon, October 2, 2017
The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) has advised the government not to bow down to the wishes of the United States’ Freeport McMoRan, the parent company of PT Freeport Indonesia, which had rejected the government’s proposal on its divestment scheme. Kadin deputy chairman for eastern Indonesia H. Andi Rukman Karumpa said in Jakarta on Monday that the government needed to defend its position on the divestment of 51 percent shares of PT Freeport Indonesia as required by Indonesian law.
“I hope the government will not feel pressured. It needs to defend the scheme,” he said as reported by tribunnews.com.  Andi’s statement was made in response to a letter sent by Freeport McMoRan Inc. CEO Richard C. Adkerson to the Finance Ministry’s secretary general, a copy of which was also sent to Finance Minister Sri Mulyani. In his letter dated Sept. 28, Adkerson said his company, which agreed in late August to divest 51 percent of its shares, could not accept a number of issues related to the valuation, timing and structure of the divestment.
With regards to valuation, for example, the government’s position is to buy the shares based on the market price, while Freeport wants to take into consideration the reserve of its gold and copper mining site in Papua in calculating the share price. He said the government was in a strong position.
“The mineral reserve is owned by the state. The company only rents. It is unlikely that we have to buy our owned [mining reserves],” said Andi, citing Article 33, paragraph 3 of the Constitution. (bbn)




Rockin’ for West Papua events taking over Australia this October


Gathering to make some passionate noise in rallying around the peoples of West Papua, multiple shows around Australia are kicking off – in conjunction with other global events – from October 6th – 8th. In its second year in 2017, the Rockin’ for West Papua  global concerts have been massive, with events taking places across Australia and abroad in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Spain.

With over 100 artists taking part, these concerts are going to be unmissable. With West Papua still enduring horrific living conditions, constantly living in fear, it is unacceptable that such issues aren’t being given due exposure in mainstream press in Australia, given our close proximity to West Papua itself.
To find out more about recent developments surrounding the historic ULMWP Petition that was submitted to the UN General Assembly this month, check out this Guardian article here. The petition itself received signatures from 1.8 million people after it was smuggled from village to village in West Papua, with the majority coming from indigenous West Papuans who risked their lives to sign the petition calling for vote on self-determination.
Of course, much more work needs to happen for conditions to change, but in the concerts Rockin’ for West Papua have been hosting right around the world, more awareness is being raised and the good vibes for peace are being spread importantly, at a time when we could use it the most.
Check the details of the Australian concerts out below and follow Rockin’ for West Papua online here for updates. All money raised will be going towards the United Liberation Movement for West Papua.
List of events at




Opinion pieces/press releases/reports etc.


Report-Human Rights in West  Papua 2017



New Book-Rockefeller And The Demise Of Ibu Pertiwi


Samsung won’t partner with Korindo following outrage over forest destruction in Indonesia




Rough road ahead for powder keg Papua



August update
http://awpasydneynews.blogspot.com.au/2017/09/summary-of-events-in-west-papua-for.html
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