Saturday, November 24, 2018

1) ULMWP Calls for National Day of Prayer in West Papua



2) West Papuans demand Melanesian Spearhead Group reviews Indonesia’s status

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1) ULMWP Calls for National Day of Prayer in West Papua






23rd November 2018

On behalf of the West Papuan people, the ULMWP calls for a National Day of Prayer in West Papua to take place on 1st December 2018. This day will commemorate the 57th anniversary of the day the West Papuan flag was first raised, and our national symbols were first recognised. 1st December is a day of hope for all West Papuans as we remember the day that we stood in 1961 watching our national flag the Morning Star being raised for the very first time. We stood then as we do now, with full freedom in our hearts and minds, remembering the promise of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for West Papua’s independence.
Therefore, the ULMWP calls for this National Day of Prayer to take place from Sorong to Samarai and all corners of West Papua. The ULMWP appeals for all sectors of all groups and organisations in West Papua, both those formally affiliated with the ULMWP and not, along with all civil society to participate in the day. The ULMWP also appeals for the participation of all churches and religious denominations around the country. On 1st December, all regular activity will stop as we peacefully commemorate this day and pray for the self-determination and freedom of our nation. This commemoration has been approved by both the Executive and Legislative Committees of the ULMWP.
Moving forwards into 2019, we will continue to mobilise and work with all sectors of society to drive the collective aspirations and agenda of the West Papuan people forward. We will show the Indonesian government and the world that an independence referendum is the only solution for West Papua. For over 50 years, successive colonial Indonesian governments have kept us silent, but we have no need to fear as now is the time for our voice to be heard. This is the day to reveal ourselves to our neighbouring countries and to the international community, and to assert with pride that we are West Papuan and not Indonesian.
Fundamental to 1st December is unity, from 1961 until now. The Morning Star flag was raised in 1961, with both the hope of our nation and the trust of our ancestors in us to stand united in liberating our country from colonial rule. Ever since the illegal “Act of Free Choice” of 1969, Indonesia has tried to divide West Papuans and turn us against one another. We will not be divided. We will stand together as one, under our one flag for our one destiny of independence.
Independence and the recognition of national identity are the right of all nations and as a nation, we the people of West Papua have the right to commemorate our national day and celebrate our national identity in peace. Therefore, the ULMWP calls upon the Indonesian government to respect 1st December as the day West Papua’s national flag and other national symbols were first recognised, and not to arrest, abuse or in any way hinder the commemoration of this national day.
On behalf of the ULMWP and the people of West Papua, I also call for international solidarity with our freedom struggle and for the West Papuan flag to be raised around the world. The increasing advocacy of international supporters we see every year continues to bring more hope and confidence for the people of West Papua. As Chairman of the ULMWP I therefore appeal to all solidarity organisations and individuals from the international community to take action for West Papua on 1st December, in support of our demand for a referendum.
From now until West Papua is free, the ULMWP will continue to mobilise around civil resistance and collective actions nationally and continue to expand our diplomatic lobbying internationally. Through this, the ULMWP will focus on our demand as West Papua moves towards full freedom at last. This is the beginning of a new chapter in the West Papuan freedom struggle as we journey together as united as ever in our one agenda of independence through self-determination.
With hope in our hearts, let us come together and stand as one people with one soul and one destiny for West Papua’s freedom.
May God bless West Papua.
Benny Wenda
Chairman of The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP)
November 23, 2018

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2) West Papuans demand Melanesian Spearhead Group reviews Indonesia’s status


UNITED LIBERATION MOVEMENT FOR WEST PAPUA
 
Winston Churchill St, Port Vila, Vanuatu
 
TEL  +61 42025 0389;  61 49786 7070
 
EMAIL  spokesperson@ulmwp.org;  rumbiakjacob@gmail.com

MEDIA STATEMENT, Tuesday 20 November 2018
The United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) demands the MSG immediately reviews Indonesia’s status in the intergovernment forum after yesterday’s unwarranted arrest and incarceration of ULMWP Executive Director Markus Haluk, and dozens of students during a commemorative prayer meeting in Jayapura.
MSG Summit leaders in 2015 upgraded Indonesia’s status from observer (2011) to Associate Member, believing they could assist mediate the republic’s long-standing conflict with the independence-seeking West Papuans.
However, Syaprin Zahidi (2018) from Muhammadiyah Malang University in East Java, after interviews with Indonesian Government Foreign Affairs officials, found that Indonesia’s motive for joining the MSG was quite the opposite:
“… to maintain domestic stability which, in this context refers to closing down separatist movements such as the Free Papua Movement that receives international support from Melanesian countries sharing the same racial background [and] to prevent the Melanesian intergovernmental organization from supporting such separatist groups”.[1]
Zahidi found that government officials have been impressed by the benefits of MSG membership:
“….since becoming an Associate Member, Indonesia’s bargaining power in the MSG has been increasing, since Indonesia can propose requirements and participate in every MSG activity. This means Indonesia can monitor the direction of MSG policies… and prepare policy formulas in case MSG policies are counter to the national interest
[and]
“ … despite the organization’s economic insignificance, membership of the MSG makes it easier for Indonesia to take part (or influence) any policies issued by the MSG, by providing financial support to member countries.”
Government officials interviewed by Zahidi do not mention ‘democracy’, or ‘fairness’ or ’accountability’, despite PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill stipulating during the 2018 MSG Summit in Port Moresby that ‘MSG members are equal’.
The ULMWP claims that since it joined the MSG in 2015, twenty-thousand West Papuans have been arrested, tortured and incarcerated for voicing their right to self-determination, and that at least one-hundred Papuans have ‘disappeared’ (that is, cannot be found and are presumed dead).  In July 2018, after extreme levels of state-violence against West Papuan students in Malang, Sulawesi, Bali and West Papua, and the release of a report by Amnesty International, Don’t bother, just let him die, Killing with impunity in West Papua, the ULMWP requested President Jokowi to voluntarily remove his nation from the UN Security Council before taking its seat in January 2019.[2]
After this most recent assault, the West Papuan people are requesting their Pacific kin nations—Marshal Islands, Tuvalu, Tonga, Palau, Nauru, Kiribatis, and Samoa—to stand with the MSG, and support Vanuatu’s motion to insert West Papua on the UN Decolonisation List.  Such solidarity might even disprove Hawai’i University Professor Kabutaulaka’s claim that letting Indonesia join the MSG was a mistake.[3]

Markus Haluk, Executive Director of the ULMWP, at a prayer ceremony in the Student  Dormitory on Monday 19 November 2018 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the West Papua National Committee (a student media organisation).
Markus Haluk with KNPB members and activists being transported to the Police with the dozens of West Papuan activists also arrested and detained in the Police Detention Centre in Jayapura on 19 October 2018

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Friday, November 23, 2018

Gov't to Settle Freeport Environment Issues in Weeks: Ministry Official



Gov't to Settle Freeport Environment Issues in Weeks: Ministry Official

By : Bernadette Christina Munthe | on 7:25 PM November 23, 2018



The Ministry of Environment and Forestry aims to resolve within two weeks environmental issues that have been holding up the government's plans to acquire a majority stake in Freeport McMoRan's Grasberg copper mine in Papua. (Antara Photo/M. Agung Rajasa)

Jakarta. The Ministry of Environment and Forestry aims to resolve within two weeks environmental issues that have been holding up the government's plans to acquire a majority stake in Freeport McMoRan's Grasberg copper mine in Papua.
The deal in which state-owned miner Inalum will acquire a 51.23 percent stake in Freeport Indonesia is expected to end years of wrangling over ownership rights to Grasberg, the world's second-biggest copper mine.
But the planned $3.85 billion series of transactions are still subject to environmental clearances and a special mining permit by the government after a 2017 audit found the mine to be in breach of environmental rules.

The environmental report said Freeport had allowed tailings from the mine to extend beyond previously agreed limits, polluting coastal areas, and that the Arizona-based company had operated in areas of Papuan forest without a permit.
Freeport has said it complies with environmental rules.
Ilyas Asaad, inspector general of the environment ministry, said on Thursday that his office had issued preliminary documents for Grasberg's environmental clearance.

The government and Freeport would finalize a tailings management "roadmap" in the coming weeks, he said.
"We are taking steps on how to manage total suspended solids, and how to use the tailings more," Ilyas told the House of Representatives.
"It's impossible to transport all the tailings, so it's best to use them to make bricks, roads [and] bridges," he said.
The government is also calculating a fine for Freeport for using forests without a proper permit, Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said. Siti also said she had asked her office to resolve their calculations within two weeks.
There were still on three or four issues left to resolve, Siti said.
Inalum raised $4 billion in its first US dollar bond offer earlier this month to fund the Grasberg deal.
The transaction is expected to close in late 2018 or early 2019, but Freeport is "not popping champagne bottles yet," chief executive Richard Adkerson said on a conference call last month.
Reuters
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1) West Papua: Supporters of Self-Determination Present Petition to British Foreign Office


2) West Papua Builds Roads in Arfak Mountains to Boost Tourism
3) Indonesian activists attack Widodo over new army chief pick

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Nov 23, 2018
1) West Papua: Supporters of Self-Determination Present Petition to British Foreign Office



Last year, West Papuan activists gathered a total of 1.8 million signatures and thumbprints on a petition to the United Nations asking for respect for the self-determination of the West Papuan community. This last month, October 2018, supporters of the petition were able to present it at the Foreign Office in the United Kingdom with the hopes that the Britain use its power in the UN to speak out against such colonialist practices.
The article below was published by the Guardian:
Every colonial enterprise pretends to be inspired by something other than theft. The General Act of the Berlin Conference in 1885, under which the European powers carved Africa into formal colonial possessions, claimed that their purpose was “furthering the moral and material wellbeing of the native populations … and bringing home to them the blessings of civilisation”.
[…] Preposterous as such propaganda may seem to most of us today, it was taken very seriously. In some quarters, it still is. Take the case, scandalously neglected in both journalism and politics, of West Papua.
West Papua, the western half of New Guinea, is owned and run like a 19th-century colony. But in one respect its situation is even worse, as it is not formally recognised as such. Instead, it is treated by the United Nations and powerful countries – including the United States, Australia and the UK – as part of the national territory of Indonesia, the colonial power.
Until 1962 the Netherlands, which was then the colonial master, had planned to oversee West Papua’s transition to independence. But the Dutch came under massive pressure from the US government, for whom south-east Asia was nothing but a series of counters to be deployed in its great game against the Soviet Union. It insisted that Indonesia be allowed to “administer” West Papua, as long as its people were permitted a referendum on independence by 1969.
Indonesian administration consisted of imprisonment, torture, killing and the theft of everything on which officials and soldiers could lay hands. As the US embassy noted, around 95% of the people of West Papua supported independence. To encourage them to change their minds they were bombed, shelled and strafed, bayoneted and beaten to death. According to the Indonesian governor at the time, between 1963 and 1969 the armed forces murdered 30,000 Papuans.
[….] Among the most preposterous justifications were those put forward by British officials. “Naturally one sympathises with the natives, but colonialism is not always such a bad thing, indeed it is often beneficial,” one diplomat asserted. A note from the Foreign Office advised that it is “in the general interest to turn a blind eye”, while another official report stated that government policy was “to help sustain the present moderate regime in Indonesia” (the moderate regime being President Suharto’s government, which had already killed around 500,000 opponents).
We’ve had 50 years of such excuses. Last year, foreign office minister Lord Ahmed told the House of Lords that the UK “retains its position on supporting the integrity of Indonesia”. But the principle of integrity does not apply, under international law, to occupied territories.
Doubtless these positions are unconnected to the tremendous mineral wealth of West Papua, now being exploited by multinational corporations without the consent of its people. BP, for example, is working an £8bn natural gas field called Tangguh. Vast deposits of gold, copper and petroleum, timber from the world’s largest contiguous tract of rainforest outside the Amazon, and fertile soils on which palm oil can be grown have been seized from the indigenous people – assisted by the government’s continued imprisonment, torture, rape and murder of those who resist it. Despite the riches being extracted from their land, the Papuans suffer horrendous levels of childhood malnutrition, preventable disease and illiteracy.
But last year something remarkable happened. At great risk to their lives, and in constant danger of discovery by the soldiers occupying their land, West Papuan campaigners gathered 1.8 million validated signatures and thumbprints on a petition to the UN to respect their right to self-determination. This amounts to 70% of the indigenous population. Many people were beaten and tortured for spreading it or signing it.
This month, after a year of being stonewalled, parliamentary supporters of West Papuan independence (who include Jeremy Corbyn) have at last been allowed to present this petition to the Foreign Office. Because the leader of the independence movement, Benny Wenda, lives in this country and because the UK, with its seat on the UN security council, has been instrumental in justifying the seizure of their land, using the age-old excuses for colonial rule, the attempt at international recognition begins here. The question is: will the government listen, or will it continue to pretend, as it did in 1885, that the theft of a nation is a sacred duty?
Photo courtesy of Axel Drainville @ Flickr
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2) West Papua Builds Roads in Arfak Mountains to Boost Tourism

TEMPO.CO, Manokwari - The West Papua administration will build roads in Arfak Mountains regency to support the development of the tourism sector and public services in the area. 
“The construction will begin for the Anggi-Ulong-Penibut and Sakumi roads,” said the Governor of West Papua, Dominggus Mandacan, in Manokwari, Thursday, November 22. 
Dominggus said the administration wanted to facilitate the access from Anggi as the hub of administration with other districts. However, the construction will be carried out in stages according to budget capabilities. 
He said the construction had already been started by the local administration and the central administration through the National Road Implementation Center (BPJN). 
“The latest information that I received was like that, BPJN is temporarily could not continue the construction of the road in Pegaf (Arfak Mountains) because it was given a target to complete the trans road in West Papua,” he said. 
According to Dominggus, the people of Kampung Uper refused the road paving if they had to bring in materials such as stones and sand from other areas. They want the construction to utilize the materials available in their own area. 
According to the governor, the people’s wish was positive as it can cut the construction's costs. Even so, the materials used must go through laboratory tests to ensure the quality of the building. “ The material feasibility must be considered, the terrain here is quite heavy,” he said.
The quality of the stones in the area is considered poor because they are mixed with soil. If used, said the governor, the asphalt would be easily damaged due to the weather and track loads. “ I have told the regent to convey [this] to the community. So that they understand and the construction will run smoothly,” the West Papua Governor said.
 
ANTARA


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3) Indonesian activists attack Widodo over new army chief pick


Konradus Epa, Jakarta  Indonesia  November 23, 2018
Appointment of General Andika Perkasa will not see resolutions of rights abuses by military, they say


Right activists have questioned Indonesian President Joko Widodo's commitment to settling human rights abuses carried out by the military with the appointment of a traditionalist as the new army chief.

General Andika Perkasa is not concerned about reforming the military, they say.

Perkasa, 54, formerly the Army Strategic Reserves commander, assumed his new role on Nov. 22 following a ceremony at the Presidential Palace. He replaces General Mulyono who has retired.

"He [Perkasa] is not a reformist and has obstructed moves to settle rights violations," Usman Hamid, executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia, told ucanews.com.

Hamid also said it would be difficult for Perkasa to revise military tribunal laws that have victimized many civilians because he is considered close to and one of those thought to have committed violations in the past.

"Civil leaders need military support to settle human rights issues. Without military support, it will be difficult," he said, adding that Perkasa is not capable of doing that.

Bonar Tigor Naipospos, deputy chairman of the Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy, said Widodo had ignored warnings from the institute and other rights groups not to appoint Perkasa as the army chief of staff.

"He [Perkasa] was allegedly involved in human rights violations, particularly the murder of Dortheys Hiyo Eluay in 2001 in Papua," he told ucanews.com. "The killer admitted [Perkasa's involvement] during a tribunal." 

Eluay was chairman of the Papua Presidium Council, a tribal organization in Papua. He was allegedly abducted and murdered by members of the army.

Catharina Sumarsih, a Catholic woman whose son was allegedly killed by the military during anti-Suharto protests in May 1998, said Perkasa should at least ensure the military does what it is supposed to do. "Perkasa has to make sure the military protects and not threatens the lives of civilians," she said.

Lucius Karus, a Catholic political analyst, said the president had made a tactical error in appointing Perkasa as army chief of staff. "The president should listen to the people and not ignore human rights abuses," he said.
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Thursday, November 22, 2018

Agus Mahuze: I wrote ‘SOS Our Earth’ using wood charcoal



Agus Mahuze: I wrote ‘SOS Our Earth’ using wood charcoal

Published 2 hours ago on 23 November 2018 
By pr9c6tr3_juben

Merauke, Jubi – Agustinus Mahuze, Marind native who is a member of the Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) of Merauke Regency, had become public attention when the Indonesian President Jojo Widodo arrived in Merauke on Friday, 16 November 2018.



Mahuze who is also known as an environmentalist raised a paper with SoS Our Earth written on it when the president and his contingents passed the junction Lepro heading to Sota sub-district.
“I have planned it since President Jokowi visited Merauke for a couple of times but never done. So this is the first time that I can complete my plan. Moreover, it coincides with the president’s itinerary to attend the APEC Summit in Papua New Guinea,” he said on Monday (11/19/2018).
Furthermore, Mahuze explained that he wrote the phrase using wood charcoal, not marker or ballpoint because he did it spontaneously. According to him, the phrase ‘SOS our Earth’ has no other meaning but to save the earth and human soul.
“What I expressed in the writing does not only in the context of Merauke but the worldwide. So when the APEC Summit takes place, it should be a boost for the world leaders,” he said.
“I also hope that President Jokowi can read it and raise this global issues related to drought and forest fires that often occurred,” he said.
The point is, he continued, the message that I want to express is about the climate change. It’s only about the environment and has no connection with the political issue.
He also mentioned that it has no connection to his position as a member of the Election Supervisory Agency of Merauke Regency. “I brought the writing paper from home and stopped at the junction Lepro. When the presidential convoy passed, I immediately took it from my pocket and lifted it. People can see it, and the convoy ran slowly. But I don’t know whether the president read it or not,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Election Supervisory Agency of Merauke Agency Oktavina Amtop said the agency had heard the news that Agustinus Mahuze held a poster.
“Before becoming a member of the Election Supervisory Agency, he was an activist and environmentalist. Then what he’s done does not reflect him as a member of the Election Supervisory Agency, “said Amtop. (*)
 
Reporter: Ans K
Editor: Pipit Maizier
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West Papuan flag raising

West Papuan flag  raising

The Inner West Council will raise the West Papuan Nation Flag on its Leichhardt Town Hall on Friday 30 November  at 9am.

Normally  its raised on the 1st December but council will be closed that day.

West Papuan flag  raising
Friday 30 November  at 9am.
Leichhardt Town Hall
Corner of Marion and, Norton St 
Leichhardt NSW 2040



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West Papuan National Flag Day.  1st December
On the 1st December in 1961, the Morning Star flag (the West Papuan National flag) was flown for the first time officially beside the Dutch Tricolor.  The Dutch were finally about to give the West Papuan people their freedom. 

However it is one of the great tragedies that at their moment of freedom it was cruelly crushed and West Papua was basically handed over to Indonesia in 1963.
Fifty seven years later, the West Papuan people are still struggling for their right to self-determination.

Supporters around the world on the 1st December raise the West Papuan flag in a show of support for the West Papuan people.


From free West Papua Campaign

Join the Global Flag Raising for West Papua on December 1st

NOVEMBER 1, 2018
On the 57th anniversary of the first raising of West Papua’s symbol of independence, the Morning Star Flag, we invite you to take part in this year’s Global Flag Raising action to show your solidarity for West Papua’s freedom and right to self-determination.
To help show the growing worldwide support for West Papua, each year we ask supporters to send in photos of themselves raising the Morning Star Flag in their area. When people publicly display the Morning Star, they not only show their solidarity with the Papuan people, but also acknowledge their rightful path to freedom; a process that was interrupted by Indonesian occupation.
Spokesperson for the Free West Papua Campaign, Raki Ap, explains;
“The land of West Papua will always be remembered as the birth place of the Morning Star, which is the last glimpse of night as the sun rises. The Morning Star has guided seafarers to West Papua’s shores for thousands of years, and so too it will also guide us to freedom.  The Morning Star is the symbol of our home, and represents our dream to live independently and in peace. This is why we will keep calling on our friends around the world to participate in raising the Morning Star flag alongside us, and continue asking then to show Indonesia they affirm our path to freedom and right to self-determination.”
Please join us on December 1st……...

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1) Govt Urged to Solve Human Rights Violations in Papua


2) Indonesia-Pacific ties important, says Indonesia
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1) Govt Urged to Solve Human Rights Violations in Papua

Indonesian soldiers assist people who were evacuated from their villages, following a security operation against separatists, to disembark from a bus upon arrival at a temporary shelter in Timika, Papua province, Indonesia, Monday, Nov. 20, 2017. Hundreds more people have left villages that were at the center of the clashes with separatists, Indonesian police said Monday. AP Photo/Mujiono


TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Papua National Liberation Army of the Free Papua Movement (TPN-OPM) General Coordinator Lambert Pekikir pressured the Indonesian government to immediately solve human rights violations in Papua. 
“That is the duty of the government,” said Lambert to Tempo on Wednesday, November 21. 
Lambert believes that the government has yet offered the opportunity of an open discussion between the government and the people of Papua. He asserts that the government should be able to discuss matters together and formulate a solution.
He maintains that there are a number of human right violation cases in Papua that has yet been resolved. One of the high-profile cases was the alleged assassination of Theys Hiyo Eluay, who’s known to be the leader of 250 tribes in Papua prior to his death.  
They founded the Free Papua decree and flown the Bintang Kejora flag, which represents the OPM. His death in 2001 is suspected by many to be murdered by Indonesia’s Special Command Troops after Theys and his driver Aristoteles Masoka were ambushed in the evening after attending an event at the Kopassus Jayapura headquarters. 
“That case is yet to be solved,” said Lambert.
DEVY ERNIS


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2) Indonesia-Pacific ties important, says Indonesia

Thursday, November 22, 2018 - 12:56.  Updated on Thursday, November 22, 2018 - 13:29.
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
By Finau Fonua


Indonesia's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Rudiantara (center) and a Papuan official (right) address a delegation of Pacific Island journalists and public servants in Jakarta.

Indonesia’s relationship with Pacific Island States is important, said Indonesian officials, who commented on their commitment to developing Papua and who see Indonesia as a member of the Pacific community.
The Indonesian Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Minister Rudiantara, said that his country had invested heavily in developing the infrastructure of its Pacific regions of West Papua and Papua (Western New Guinea), when he addressed a delegation of Pacific Island journalists and civil servants hosted by the Indonesian Government in Jakarta recently.
Accompanying the Minister were two officials native to the country's eastern-most province of Papua. The officials commended the recent “Palapa Ring Project”; a nationwide fibre optic network that connected communities in remote areas of Indonesia including Papua.
“We are Pacific”

In Bali, a senior Government official Dr. Sri Yunanto and the Executive director of Indonesia’s Institute of Peace and Democracy Mr. I Ketut Putra Erawan, also stressed that Indonesia was part of the Pacific region and thus relations with its Pacific neigbours were natural.

“Why cooperation between the Pacific and Indonesia is so important from the past and now on is because we are Pacific,” Mr Erawan told Pacific journalists.

“Our being is Pacific…Indonesian people are one third Pacific so how can we not be brothers and sisters?...So it is natural for us to need to learn from each other and need to understand each other.”
“I would really want to see one day that we have a Indonesian Studies Center in the Pacific or an Asian Studies Center in the Pacific, in the same way we have Pacific studies here…the future is there we need to grab it.”
Papua
Indonesian Government senior official, Dr. Sri Yunanto, re-iterated that Indonesia was heavily committed towards developing Papua – a region which has been the focus of concern and criticism by some Pacific Island states, including the Tonga Government.

“What we hear from the international community sometimes is not true,” he said.

“In Indonesia, we also have disparity and Papua needs to run a bit faster…and we have a strong commitment from the central Government not only for the infrastructure, for the border, the issue also for the law enforcement. So if there’s a problem with the law enforcement, we will tackle that.
“On the issue of human rights, we are committed to that,” he asserted.
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Tuesday, November 20, 2018

1) Britain has the chance to bring a brutal colonial occupation to an end


2) Indonesia calls for palm oil development in Solomon Islands

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1) Britain has the chance to bring a brutal colonial occupation to an end
George Monbiot

The treatment of West Papua has been scandalously neglected by our politicians. Now they have a chance to atone
 @GeorgeMonbiot Wed 21 Nov 2018 17.00 AEDT

An Indonesian activist kneels before West Papuan pro-independence demonstrators in Jakarta last year. Photograph: Goh Chai Hin/AFP/Getty Images
E


very colonial enterprise pretends to be inspired by something other than theft. The General Act of the Berlin Conference in 1885, under which the European powers carved Africa into formal colonial possessions, claimed that their purpose was “furthering the moral and material wellbeing of the native populations … and bringing home to them the blessings of civilisation”.Similar rhetoric has attended all such seizures. To save native people from their enslavement to the Devil, or the Arabs, or each other, they had to be forced into general servitude, while their land and natural wealth were transferred to more enlightened people from overseas. Preposterous as such propaganda may seem to most of us today, it was taken very seriously. In some quarters, it still is. Take the case, scandalously neglected in both journalism and politics, of West Papua.

West Papua, the western half of New Guinea, is owned and run like a 19th-century colony. But in one respect its situation is even worse, as it is not formally recognised as such. Instead, it is treated by the United Nations and powerful countries – including the United States, Australia and the UK – as part of the national territory of Indonesia, the colonial power.
Until 1962 the Netherlands, which was then the colonial master, had planned to oversee West Papua’s transition to independence. But the Dutch came under massive pressure from the US government, for whom south-east Asia was nothing but a series of counters to be deployed in its great game against the Soviet Union. It insisted that Indonesia be allowed to “administer” West Papua, as long as its people were permitted a referendum on independence by 1969.
Indonesian administration consisted of imprisonment, torture, killing and the theft of everything on which officials and soldiers could lay hands. As the US embassy noted, around 95% of the people of West Papua supported independence. To encourage them to change their minds they were bombed, shelled and strafed, bayoneted and beaten to death. According to the Indonesian governor at the time, between 1963 and 1969 the armed forces murdered 30,000 Papuans.


But there still had to be a referendum. So in 1969 Indonesian officials rounded up 1,026 men, took their families hostage and, under the guns of soldiers, told them to vote. An Indonesian general explained that if they made the wrong choice they would have their tongues ripped out. Swayed by such persuasive arguments, they voted unanimously for annexation. This process was officially known as the Act of Free Choice.

There was, of course, no greater justification for this farce than for the treaties struck at gunpoint with native people in Africa, to fulfil the terms of the Berlin conference. A huge body of international law, including the agreement Indonesia had signed with the Netherlands, shows that questions of sovereignty cannot be decided this way, and that Indonesia has illegally annexed West Papua. But foreign governments affect to take the Act of Free Choice seriously.
Among the most preposterous justifications were those put forward by British officials. “Naturally one sympathises with the natives, but colonialism is not always such a bad thing, indeed it is often beneficial,” one diplomat asserted. A note from the Foreign Office advised that it is “in the general interest to turn a blind eye”, while another official report stated that government policy was “to help sustain the present moderate regime in Indonesia” (the moderate regime being President Suharto’s government, which had already killed around 500,000 opponents).
We’ve had 50 years of such excuses. Last year, foreign office minister Lord Ahmed told the House of Lords that the UK “retains its position on supporting the integrity of Indonesia”. But the principle of integrity does not apply, under international law, to occupied territories.
Doubtless these positions are unconnected to the tremendous mineral wealth of West Papua, now being exploited by multinational corporations without the consent of its people. BP, for example, is working an £8bn natural gas field called Tangguh. Vast deposits of gold, copper and petroleum, timber from the world’s largest contiguous tract of rainforest outside the Amazon, and fertile soils on which palm oil can be grown have been seized from the indigenous people – assisted by the government’s continued imprisonment, torture, rape and murder of those who resist it. Despite the riches being extracted from their land, the Papuans suffer horrendous levels of childhood malnutrition, preventable disease and illiteracy.

But last year something remarkable happened. At great risk to their lives, and in constant danger of discovery by the soldiers occupying their land, West Papuan campaigners gathered 1.8 million validated signatures and thumbprints on a petition to the UN to respect their right to self-determination. This amounts to 70% of the indigenous population. Many people were beaten and tortured for spreading it or signing it.
This month, after a year of being stonewalled, parliamentary supporters of West Papuan independence (who include Jeremy Corbyn) have at last been allowed to present this petition to the Foreign Office. Because the leader of the independence movement, Benny Wenda, lives in this country and because the UK, with its seat on the UN security council, has been instrumental in justifying the seizure of their land, using the age-old excuses for colonial rule, the attempt at international recognition begins here. The question is: will the government listen, or will it continue to pretend, as it did in 1885, that the theft of a nation is a sacred duty?
• George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist

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2) Indonesia calls for palm oil development in Solomon Islands


9:35 am today

Indonesia's President is encouraging Indonesian companies to develop palm oil in Solomon Islands.


Joko Widodo met with the Solomons Prime Minister Rick Hou on Saturday on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in Papua New Guinea.
Mr Widodo said they discussed Indonesian investment in Solomon Islands, including through palm oil development.
Indonesia also offered support with its fishing and tourism industries.
Mr Widodo said he appreciated the Solomons' support for Indonesian sovereignty, an apparent reference to the provinces of Papua and West Papua.
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