Vanuatu pushes for position on UN committee to counter Indonesian colonization

Barak Sope, Mantan PM Vanuatu, Penyantun Perjuangan Papua Merdeka di Vanuatu

Former Prime Minister of Almasdarnews – Vanuatu, Barak Sope, wants his country to become a member of the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation to counter Indonesia’s aggression on its eastern most provinces of West Papua.

Vanuatu has consistently been one of the most consistent advocates of Papuan self determination and to end Indonesian genocide against the Melanesian people of the region.

The former Prime Minister believes that Indonesia only has a seat on this committee to protect its interests in West Papua.

“The reason why Indonesia is there is to prevent West Papua’s case. That is all they are doing – always wanting to be in that top committee to ensure that West Papua is not discussed in that committee,” he said.

“That is why it is important that we have countries that would support the idea of West Papua to get independence and the proper way of doing it is to be on the Committee of 24.”

Radio NZ explained that while West Papua is not on the list of 24 territories being considered for independence, six Pacific territories are on it – namely French Polynesia, New Caledonia, American Samoa, Guam, Tokelau and Pitcairn.

December 9, 2016 0

Declaration of Indonesia People’s Front for West Papua

To: Out Friends, Printed and Electronic Media

DECLARATION OF INDONESIAN PEOPLES SUPPORTING THE RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION OF THE PAPUAN NATION

Since Indonesia went into West Papua in 1961, the suffering of the Papuan people has been continuing under Indonesia’s colonialism. Manipulation of history was carried out sistematically by the Indonesian government. The root of the prolem in West Papua is the manipulation of history.

In 1969, an Act of Free Choice, referendum to determine whether West Papua will join Indonesia was carried out with full of lies. Therefore, the outcome of the referendum is unjustifiable.

Narrow nationalism with a jargon such as “NKRI is a final price” has killed many West Papuan peoples. Thousands has been killed, tortured, kidnapped by the state. Land grabbing has been happening everywhere. Repression against freedom of expression and conscise towards West Papuan peoples has ben on of the worst in this country.

Therefore, we the Indonesian peoples think that it is already time for West Papua to determine her future by herself on their own land.

For this purpose, we intend to encourage and invite all our media friends to broadcast our “Declaration of Indonesia People’s Front for West Papua” through this Press Conference that will be held:

Day and Date: Tuesday, 29 November 2016
Time: 10:30 – the end
Place: Flor 1, LBH Building Jakarta
Jalan Diponegoro No. 74 Menteng, Jakarta Pusat

For further information, please contact Surya Anta (081574304391). For your attention and cooperation, we thank you.

Jakarta, 28 November 2016

Sincerely,

Front Rakyat Indonesia untuk West Papua
(FREE-WEST PAPUA)

Original text in Malayo – Indos: HERE
Translation by: PMNews CEB

November 29, 2016 0

West Papua: Australia’s Neighbour Under Siege

By Paul Gregoire | 26/11/2016 | http://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/

Indonesian police arrested 106 West Papuans praying in a park in the coastal city of Sorong in West Papua last Saturday. The group was celebrating the eighth anniversary of the West Papua Committee (KNPB): a non-violent organisation campaigning for self-determination.

Authorities said the activists were taken to the Sorong police station as they’d been calling out pro-independence slogans. After questioning, most were released, but seven were detained – accused of treason and provocation.

West Papuan independence leader Benny Wenda (pictured) said it was no surprise Indonesian police targeted peaceful protesters as it’s a common occurrence in the region.

Mass arrests

“Over 4,000 West Papuan people have been unlawfully arrested this year alone just for peacefully protesting,” Mr Wenda told Sydney Criminal Lawyers. He added that the government is trying to prevent the world from finding out about “the secret genocide and illegal occupation in West Papua.”

Thousands of people were arrested in early May this year, when Indonesian security forces cracked down on rallies held across West Papua.

The protests were in support of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua – a coalition of independence movements formed in December 2014 – and their bid to gain full membership in the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

The Indonesian occupation

Since Indonesia began its occupation of the restive region 53 years ago, an estimated 500,000 local people have been killed under harsh military and police repression.

Indonesian president Joko Widodo had promised improvements in West Papua at the time of his election in July 2014. But Indonesia’s leading human rights organisation announced in May this year that human rights abuses are as rampant as they were under previous governments.

“We are kept like prisoners in our own land, unable to freely express our identity or make choices over our own future,” said Wenda, international lobbyist for the Free West Papua Campaign. He describes the Indigenous people as living in constant fear of being “the next ones to be killed.”

Transmigration

And West Papuans are fast becoming a minority in their own land. The government’s decades-old transmigration program – that resettles people from highly populated islands like Java to low-density areas – is marginalising the local people, both socially and economically.

Wenda has pointed out that in 1971 West Papuans made up 96 percent of the population, but today they only make up 49 percent of the people living in the region.

And despite claims by a government official earlier this year that the policy was stopped three years ago, this isn’t the case.

In October 2014, then Indonesian minister of villages and transmigration, Marwan Jafar, announced the government’s transmigration program would be continuing and further stated in June last year that because of its success, it would be expanding.

And it’s clear the boats are still arriving.

International recognition

However, the West Papuan campaign has been gaining traction in the international arena over recent months.

At the 71st UN General Assembly held in New York in September this year, seven Pacific Island nations called for immediate global attention to human rights abuses in West Papua.

As Wenda put it, “this signals a major turning point as it is the first time that we have had so much international support at a UN level for our struggle since the 1960s.”

And the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) could be given full membership into the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) in December this year. The MSG is an intergovernmental organisation of Melanesian states promoting economic growth.

The ULMWP has had observer status in the group since 2014, but full membership would see West Papua recognised as a political identity by foreign nations.

This prospect rattles Jakarta. Indonesia has been recognised as an associate member of MSG since June last year.

At the Indian Ocean Rim Association ministerial meeting in Bali last month, Indonesian defence minister Ryamizard Ryacudu asked Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop to caution MSG member countries against allowing the West Papua coalition membership into their group.

The defence minister warned Ms Bishop that the West Papua issue could pose a “stumbling block” to closer bilateral ties between the two nations.

The Act of NO Choice

In 1962 the New York Agreement resulted in the United Nations assuming administration of West Papua – then known as West New Guinea – after former coloniser the Netherlands left.

The agreement allowed Indonesia to assume occupation of the territory in 1963 on the proviso that a referendum was carried out to give West Papuan people a choice between remaining part of Indonesia or becoming an independent nation.

Following widespread resistance to Indonesian rule, the UN brokered Act of Free Choice referendum was held in 1969. However, the Indonesian military selected only 1,062 West Papuan representatives to vote and under threat of death, all of them voted to stay with Indonesia.

Calls for a just vote

Wenda refers to the referendum as the Act of NO Choice. And today, he’s calling for an internationally supervised vote on independence. “We have the fundamental right to self-determination that was promised to us by the UN, but stolen by Indonesia,” he outlined.

On May 3 this year, he hosted a meeting of the International Parliamentarians for West Papua at the Houses of Parliament in London. The Westminster Declaration for an internationally supervised vote for self-determination in West Papua was signed.

Those present at the meeting included the Tongan prime minister Akilisi Pōhiva and leader of the British Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn.

The independence leader

A Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Benny Wenda fled West Papua after being imprisoned by Indonesian authorities on charges he states were politically motivated because of his involvement in the independence movement. He was granted political asylum by the British government in 2003.

“As the indigenous Melanesian people in a Melanesian country our right to sovereignty is guaranteed to us,” said Wenda, who now lives in Oxford. “We call upon the world to please not forget us, but to help us in our campaign to be free people at last.”

Although the Indonesian government split West Papua into two provinces in 2002, this article refers to the whole region as West Papua, as the indigenous people do.

November 28, 2016 0

Questions Over Jakarta’s Push for Australia Messenger Role

Radio NZ – 1 November 2016

There are questions over the effectiveness of a push by Indonesia to have Australia lean on Pacific countries to not talk about West Papua.

Indonesian Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu. — Ryamizard Ryacudu Photo: SONNY TUMBELAKA / AFP

Indonesia’s Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu has urged Australia to rebuke Pacific states, in particular Solomon Islands, for raising Papua in global fora.

He urged Canberra to speak to Honiara on the matter because Australia contributes a big aid package in the Solomons.

Pacific leaders at the UN General Assembly expressed concern about human rights abuses in Papua. Top L to R: Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai; Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare; Tonga Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva. Bottom L to R: Nauru President Baron Waqa; Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine; Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga Photo: UN Photo

“In fact, the one thing that Pacific island countries really value is their sovereignty, so it is not as if Australia can just tell them what to do.” – Dr Stewart Firth 3′ :19″

from Dateline Pacific

A Research Fellow at the Australian National University’s State, Society and Governance in Melanesia Program, Stewart Firth, said Jakarta has misinterpreted Australia’s relationship with Pacific countries.

“These are sovereign states. And in particular in the case of Solomon Islands, Solomon Islands has a right to do that [speak out about West Papua] as a sovereign country, and Australia’s not in a very good position to tell them differently”, Dr Firth said.

“The one thing that Pacific Island countries really value is their sovereignty.

“Of course there continues to be big bilateral aid, but that doesn’t mean you can then determine a country’s foreign policy,” he said.

Dr Firth said Jakarta’s sensitivity is evident in multiple representations on the matter by government ministers.

“What’s worrying the Indonesians is the way in which this whole question of membership in the MSG has assumed a kind of symbolic political value to West Papuan independence activists,” he said.

“And earlier this year we saw major demonstrations in a number of towns in West Papua, for which people were arrested and so on, because they were demonstrating in favour of West Papuan membership in the MSG.”

November 19, 2016 0

Jakarta Diplomacy Odd and Backwards, ULMWP

Radio NZ – 3 November 2016

A warning by Indonesia’s Defence Minister for Pacific countries not to speak out about West Papua has been described as an odd and backward form of diplomacy.

The Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu urged Australia to rebuke Pacific states, in particular Solomon Islands, for raising West Papua in global forums and inviting Papuans to join the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG).

Indonesia's Defence Minister for Pacific countries says Indonesia is a sleeping tiger that can attack if disturbed. Photo: AFP — Indonesia’s Defence Minister for Pacific countries says Indonesia is a sleeping tiger that can attack if disturbed. Photo: AFP

He subsequently told Australian media that it’s better if Canberra delivers the warning to Pacific governments, because if it was left to him he would ‘twist their ears’.

The United Liberation Movement for West Papua’s Pacific regional ambassador Akabou Amatus Douw said the minister’s statements in the past week show a militaristic attitude, out of touch with Pacific Islanders.

At September’s UN General Assembly session, leaders of seven Pacific states spoke out about rights abuses in Papua and on support for Papuan self-determination.

Pacific leaders at the UN General Assembly expressed concern about human rights abuses in Papua. Left to right: Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai; Solomon Islands Prime Minsister Manasseh Sogavare; Tonga Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva; Nauru President Baron Waqa; Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine; Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga Photo: UN Photo

Ryamizard warned that Indonesia would not stay silent when its sovereignty is compromised – he described Indonesia as a sleeping tiger that can attack if disturbed.

Mr Douw said the minister’s sleeping tiger analogy was, in a sense, apt.

“This expression is symbolic,” he explained, “meaning that Indonesia’s sleeping face [will] never wake up to see what [is] their wrongdoing with massive atrocities and genocide to the Papuan minority.”

The ULMWP, which has observer status in the MSG, is pushing for full membership in the group, something opposed by Indonesia which is an associate MSG member.

The United Liberation Movement for West Papua’s ambassador for Australia and Pacific countries, Amatus Douw. Photo: RNZI

Mr Douw has urged the leaders of Australia and Indonesia to have a robust discussion on West Papua.

The Indonesian President Joko Widodo is due to have his first state visit to Australia this month for bilateral talks with Australia’s prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Mr Douw is pushing for the two governments to abolish the Lombok Treaty between the two countries which formalised both governments’ agreement to oppose Papuan separatism.

“This already became a hell policy,” said Mr Douw, “because the fact that Australian government trained Indonesian army who evolved in killing and torturing Papuan freedom fighter then we indicated that killing of younger generation is new form of genocide.”

November 19, 2016 0

ICMI Condemns Pacific Countries over Meddling on West Papua Issue

Jakarta, Jubi – The Association of Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals (ICMI) condemned the statement by Pacific countries’ leaders for what it called their meddling in Indonesia’s affairs over West Papua.

ICMI Deputy Chairman Priyo Budi Santoso in a press release received in Jakarta on Thursday (29/9/2016) accused those Pacific leaders of intervening concerning West Papua.

“Pacific countries should not intervene the internal affairs of Indonesia with provocative statements that the West Papua should be given their rights for self-determination,” said Priyo.The Prime Minister of Solomon Islands Manasye Sogavere said there have been the human rights violations in West Papua, therefore the people should be given the rights for self-determination through a referendum to decide whether they would stay with the Republic of Indonesia or build their own state.

Priyo asserted that West Papua Province could not be separated from Indonesia. So, if there are problems, the one who should be responsible to resolve it is the Indonesian Government, not other countries.

“So, if there are problems in West Papua, the Indonesian Government has responsibility to resolve it”. According to him, the open statement by the Pacific countries has been disturbed and intervened the internal affairs of Indonesia in the UN forum.

“As the neighbor countries, they shouldn’t do it, because the problems occurred in West Papua is the internal affairs of Indonesia as the sovereign country and the member of the United Nations,” said Priyo.

He urged the Indonesian Government to explicitly condemn the provocative act by Pacific countries against West Papua. In their statement, ICMI is clearly support the Unitary State of the Republic Indonesia or death! and West Papua is part of the Republic Indonesia, therefore it should be kept under the sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia. (*/rom)

November 19, 2016 0

Gen. Wenda: West Papua is Ready to Function as a Postmodern Nation-State

Following the signing of West Papua Revolution Constitution by the West Papua National Parliament in September 2016, Gen. TRWP Mathias Wenda urges United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) to follow it up according to the order of the constitution that says,

“ULMWP shall form a Transitional Government or Revolutionary Government or Provisional Government of West Papua within 90 days after the constitution takes into force”.

It is important for all Melanesian leaders and tribal elders to understand, that I myself as an elder, would like to invite all Melanesian elders to pray for us in West Papua so that ULMWP has the ability and bravery to declare a “West Papua Provisional Government” not long from now. This is important in order for us Melanesian leaders and for the ULMWP to have a stronger position within international law in our South Pacific Region.

By declaring our West Papua Revolutionary Constitution (WPRC) on 13 September 2016, on the day we celebrated the 9th anniversary of UN Declarations on Indigenous Populations that was passed by the UNGA on the 61-session dated 13 September 2007. The UN Declaration on Indigenous Populations, particularly on Article 3. clearly stipulates

Indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.

All UN Documents and primarily UN Charter clearly guarantees the rights of all human society in the world, individuals and groups to determine their/our future. And what we Melanesians are doing now in West Papua is just in accordance to these principles, in order to implement the basic values of the United Nations and to appreciate our human civilization that have rejected any forms of slavery and colonization with any reason.

West Papuans are fighting against Indonesian colonialism not because we hate the Malay – Indos.

What we are doing is to respect the values and principles of the UN and to end manipulation and lies that have been colonizing and suppressing, terrorizing and obliterating Melanesian peoples all the way from Fiji to Sorong.

West Papua was invaded militarily beginning from the December 19th, 1961’s Triple Command of Indonesian President. The Western World was not interested in taking risk of Communism expanding to South Pacific region after failure to defeat communist influence in South East Asia, particularly Vietnam and Indonesia.

We human beings in this planet have said “Good Bye” to Communism. The threat from Russia is no longer to do with communism anymore. The eastern block is now already part of our human history. And yet, the impacts of the Cold War Era is still disturbing and deadly to Melanesians in West Papua, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and Kanaky. Papua New Guinea and Fiji have been reluctant lately, to acknowledge us West Papuans as one race, wan solwara, wan graun and wantok, not based on their choice, but they are presented day and night, back and forth, by forces and threats from outside Melanesia, pressuring them to accept whatever happened in the past and its consequences, however insulting and deadly it is to our race as human beings.

Only until June 26, 2015 that we all Melanesians have declared our dignity and integrity as human race on this planet, on the South Pacific Region, that Melanesians are all united as one race and one family under our house called MSG. We indeed acknowledged the reality of God’s creation that we are created as Melanesians, not as Indonesians. What we are doing is God’s will, based on the laws and principles of God from creation. West Papuans are not Indonesians, we are Melanesians, and this is according to what God has created. Let us agree with God and work towards social-engineering projects being actively and massively, with a lot of resources being executed in West Papua since 1961.

Right now, since 13 September 2016, West Papuans now already have a Constitution that will guide us towards a free and independent West Papua. We invite all Melanesian leaders to understand and cooperate, in order to promote a United Melanesia that is based upon the Values and Norms, Customs and Traditions of Melanesian peoples that we inherited from our ancestors.

This very Provisional Constitution of West Papua clearly states that the citizens of West Papua Nation-State are (1) spiritual beings, (2) plants, (3) animals, (4) matter and human beings who live and share the Western half of the Isle of New Guinea. This constitution is based upon Melanesian values and philosophy, that acknowledges the existence and rights of all communities of beings, including human beings, regard all communities of beings as part of our life, see the forests as our homes, see the animals as our fellow beings, see the spirits of the living and of our ancestors nurtures our lives, honour and worship God in His Spirit, and respect and protect the rights of matters like rivers, gold, timber, soil as fellow beings that should be respected and treated accordingly.

This very Provisional Constitution of West Papua also states that the National or Official Language of West Papua nation-state is Tok-Pisin and the National Currency is Kina West Papua.

We are standing based on our Melanesian norms, values and philosophy, and following our Melanesian brothers and sisters today who already have their independent nation-states. We are going to have our National Government soon, because we already have our National Parliament and Our National Law in place.

As the Commander in Chief of West Papua Revolutionary Army (WPRA) and as the Elder of my own Lani Triba, I would like to invited the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Rt. Hon. Prime Minister of Solomon Islands, Rt. Hon. Prime Minister of Vanuatu, Rt. Hon. Prime Minister of Fiji, Rt. Hon. Leader of FLNKS, and Leaders of ULMWP that

We fully trust and rely on you all, and look forward to what the future brings from your kind wisdom and leadership in liberating our occupied land by Melayo – Indonesians;
We look forward to sit and stand-up, talk and work together hand-in-hand to fully liberate West Papua from colonialism.
West Papua is the westernmost part of Melanesia, and without West Papua, our own entity as a human race is not complete and we are socially and culturally paralyzed. West Papua independence is per-requisite towards a stable, peaceful, prosperous and powerful Melanesia. Those who against West Papua independence are the ones who want to colonize, manipulate and exploit our Melanesian race and our resources, of course for their own sake not for us Melanesians.

West Papua is our hope for our future. We are looking forward to establish a post-modern nation-state that is based fully on our Melanesian wisdom, based on our Melanesian norms and values, and our system of governance.

We are ready to step into running West Papua Government that will coordinate and organise our movement towards full independence and sovereignty.

Please receive our warmest greetings and salute, from the jungles o New Guinea.

Issued at: The Central Defense Headquarters of the West Papua Revolutionary Army

On date: 10 October 2016

———————————————————–

Commander in Chief of WPRA

Mathias Wenda, Gen. TRWP
NBP:A.001076

October 20, 2016 0

Stand on West Papua, NC unchanged: PM Salwai

Port Vila – DailyPost – Vanuatu Prime Minister has reiterated the government and the country’s stand for the independence of West Papua and New Caledonia, as unchanged.

Prime Minister Salwai, made the statement Tuesday afternoon when he officiated at the opening of a Kanaky-West Papua Exhibition at the National Cultural Centre in Port Vila.

He said despite Vanuatu being supportive of the New Caledonia Government, and that of French Polynesia for them to become members of the Pacific Islands Forum, this does not change the stand of Vanuatu and the people of Vanuatu which remains strong and unchanged for West Papua and New Caledonia and French Polynesia towards self-governing.

The Vanuatu Prime Minister went further to stressed that the exhibition is a self-evidence of the desire for the Melanesian people of Kanaky, West Papua to run their life and freedom

He said emphasized that Vanuatu continues to support their struggle for freedom of the two Melanesian neighbours at regional and international level. Prime Minister Salwai pointed out that the recent call by Vanuatu in support for their freedom was at the United Nations Meeting in New York.

He assured the people of West Papua who organized the exhibition that Vanuatu’s position in support of West Papua becoming member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) remain unchanged.

Prime Minister Salwai, said the MSG Meeting that was supposed to have taken place in Port Vila week before last, will now take place in December of this year, to address the application of West Papua to become member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, MSG.

ligo@dailypost.vu

October 14, 2016 0

Speeches delivered at the Sydney March for West Papua: Speaker Julian Mckinlay King

Town Hall, Sydney City, October 2, 2016.

Speaker 1: Julian Mckinlay King.

________________________________________________

For those who aren’t fully aware, I’ll just go through the details of the history of West Papua.

It’s our closest neighbor with Papua New Guinea, just on the edge of our continent.

It was a former Dutch colony in the 1800’s and it was really on the road to independence right up until 1960.

The Dutch established the indigenous New Guinea council and they set up their own flag, the morning star flag, with the intention to become an independent country, they chose the name West Papua, They wrote their national anthem and a national seal. This was recognized and accepted by the Dutch on the first of December, 1961 when a ceremony was held in Hollandia, now Jayapura and other major cities around West Papua for the first time and the morning star flag was raised alongside the Dutch Netherlands flag.

After that we had the New York agreement where America stepped in supporting Indonesia to take control of West Papua.

What it did thou was transfer the colony of the Netherlands to the United Nations, so the United Nations set up an administration in Hollandia and then it gave that administration to Indonesia, So the legal framework of West Papua is still under the administration of Indonesia, and if you look at the United Nations resolutions, it’s illegal to transfer a colony from one colonizer to another colonizer. So we believe that West Papua is still a United Nations trusteeship territory and it’s the responsibility of the United Nations to put West Papua on that decolonization committee and report yearly on the status of West Papua.

We believe that the United Nations with the support of Australia, America and the West in general has conspired to deceive the world about West Papua’s status.

The United Nations has the legal obligations under article 76 of the UN charter to promote independence but they’re failing to do so.

Instead what we are seeing in West Papua is the worst case, in the world’s history, of genocide. For fifty four years the atrocities of torture, intimidation, abductions, rape, distributing HIV and AIDS through the community, forced sterilization of women.

It’s been studied ( also a report) by the Yale University and there is a similar report by the center for peace and conflict studies at the University of Sydney where they detailed that what is going on in West Papua is, in fact, genocide.

Augustinus Aud is a young West Papuan in Sorong and on the 24th of September at 3am in the morning he was surrounded by at least ten plain clothes men whose faces were covered with scarves and claimed to be police officers. They banged on his door and windows shouting orders for him to come out. After some of the men smashed some parts of his windows, Augustinus Aud saw two men armed with M16 rifles. He managed to call his mates who came around to his house shortly after, after which the police left the premises.

This happened on the 24th of September, just a week ago, and this sort of thing is happening every day, day in day out of course media is not allowed into West Papua. It’s very hard to get these stories out.

And what are we doing? Australia? We’re supposed to be a democratic country, we’re supposed to be having wars against terrorism, we go and invade Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria under the guise that they are terrorists and right on our border we’ve got the worst atrocities occurring in this world.

The Indonesian military is a dictatorship. It always was and it’s still is. We’ve got the case of General Wiranto.

Wiranto was responsible for the deaths, the murders, the tortures in East Timor for years and years and years and now he is a minister, a member of parliament under the current Jokowi regime and here we have our glorious minister, our attorney general, Brandis shaking hands with this war criminal.

We train the Indonesian military; we train the police detachment 88 and this people cause the ongoing murder and oppression of our neighbors.

So who are the real terrorists?

And it’s not just West Papua; anyone who’s been to Indonesia knows the people are all suffering under the hands of this military dictatorship and our government supports them.

We’ve had surveys in Australia, We know that 75% of Australians support West Papua and yet our government supports the Indonesian occupation and the ongoing genocide.

West Papua is a microcosm of the world’s stage; the illegal invasion of East Timor, Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Syria is all in breach of the Geneva Convention and the United Nations charter.

And what’s it about?

The only reason this is going on is so western corporations can steal the resources in the world.

West Papua is one of the richest areas per square meter of resources. It’s got Australian corporations, American corporations, European corporations, and UK corporations and let’s face it; it’s a lot easier to steal resources when you’re using a gun than dealing with a democratic country.

So please, tell your friends and try and encourage Australians to address this issue. We have to get rid of these so called government representatives that we have. They do not represent us; they represent the corporations of the world.

ENDS. SOURCE

http://rememberwestpapua.org/

October 2, 2016 0

“We’re in”: ULMWP spokesman Benny Wenda says MSG membership likely

ABC.net – Updated 15 Jul 2016, 9:22am

Melanesian leaders, meeting in Honiara, have deferred a decision on whether West Papua can gain full membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group until a special meeting in Vanuatu in September

The postponement came despite a strong push by Vanuatu and Solomon Islands, which is chairing the MSG at the moment and sponsored the West Papuan application.

Word from the MSG meeting was that negotiations were very delicate, with Fiji and PNG threatening to pull out unless the decision was put off.

However, spokesman for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, Benny Wenda, says he’s confident West Papua will be given full membership because the leaders of Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and New Caledonia are behind the move.
Richard Ewart

Source: Pacific Beat | Duration: 4min 34sec

July 15, 2016 0