NZ govt urged to apply more scrutiny in West Papua
2:12 pm today
A West Papua solidarity group in New Zealand has criticised the government for not doing enough about violence and human rights abuses in Indonesia's Papua region.
West Papua Action Auckland said the government should be engaging with Indonesian authorities more after a shooting attack at mining company PT Freeport Indonesia's offices in Papua province killed a New Zealander Graeme Wall on 30 March.
The attack occurred in a regency, Mimika, where deadly conflict between pro-independence West Papuan guerilla fighters and Indonesian security forces has surged in the past two months.
Catherine Delahunty of the West Papua Action Auckland group said New Zealand's government should be applying more scrutiny on what was happening in Papua.
"It's a code of silence that costs lives, in this instance a New Zealand life. So we're actually really disappointed in the consistent blocking of any action or any diplomacy leadership."
Ms Delahunty said that in recent times violent conflict had escalated in West Papua, and more political prisoners detained, but that the group's calls for the New Zealand government to do more to about it had been ignored.
"We have consistently tried to get meetings with the foreign minister or prime minister to try and engage on this issue, but it just doesn't lead anywhere," she said.
"This country can't say it's not involved. This latest tragic incident where a New Zealander lost his life at Freeport, clearly we're involved.
"Incidents like this one, which are very confused, require independent scrutiny, and it was a New Zealand citizen.”
New Zealand's government said it has been reassured by Indonesia that there would be a thorough investigation into the killing of a New Zealander in Papua.
A spokesperson from New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the government was alarmed by the attack.
She said Indonesian Police assured New Zealand's Embassy in Jakarta about an ongoing investigation, after Wellington made a formal request to be kept informed.
A faction of the West Papua Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack.
"We have sought further details from the Indonesian authorities through our Jakarta Embassy," the ministry spokesperson said.
"From our most recent engagement with Indonesian regional police authorities last month, we are aware two suspects were killed during a police raid and that one person has been charged with a number of offences."
Meanwhile, Ms Delahunty said her group was also concerned about pressure on a West Papuan church leader in the wake of the Freeport attack.
Reverend Socratez Yoman of the West Papua Baptist church had been 'invited' by Indonesian police to 'clarify' an article he wrote about a shooting attack in which Graeme Wall was killed.
While the West Papua Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack, the Baptist leader suggested it could have been engineered by Indonesian security forces.
West Papua Action Auckland said it was concerned for his safety.
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