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BRIEF
West Papuans mark anniversary

James Crafti, Canberra

17 August 2007

On August 15, 25 of the 43 West Papuan refugees who sought asylum in Australia in 2006 joined a protest outside federal parliament to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1962 New York Agreement — the US-brokered agreement to transfer West Papua from Dutch to Indonesian control that included the guarantee of an “act of free choice” for West Papuans to decide whether to be incorporated into the Republic of Indonesia. However, instead of a genuine act of self-determination being held, a group of hand-picked West Papuan “representatives” were coerced into voting for Indonesian rule.

Herman Wainggai, spokesperson for the refugees, said that Jakarta’s “Special Autonomy” law, introduced in 2001, has failed: “The political elite in Jakarta don’t know what to do … with even conservative Indonesian leaders admitting the human rights violations [in West Papua] have escalated.”