Fresh claims have emerged that an Indonesian “counter-terrorism” unit that receives Australian funding and training has perpetrated human rights abuses against independence campaigners in Maluku and West Papua.
West Papua
West Papuan independence leaders have threatened a "total intifada" (uprising) against Indonesian occupying forces, following the failure of the August 4-5 Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) to discuss West Papua's demands for independence, the Sydney Morning Herald said on August 7.
A unprecedented mass demonstration took place on July 8 in Jayapura, the capital of Indonesian-occupied West Papua, Straighttimes.com said that day.
Thousands of people joined a long march, walking 17 kilometres from the Papua People’s Assembly (MRP) to the Papuan Provincial Legislature (DPRP) to reject the “special autonomy” granted by Indonesia in 2001. Protesters demanded a referendum on West Papuan independence and an internationally-mediated dialogue with Jakarta.
Indonesian military forces have stepped up their campaign of repression in West Papua in recent months. But leaders of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) continue to defy Indonesian demands to surrender.
The campaign for West Papuan independence has been amplified by the continuing repression and lack of improvement of living standards under the current “special autonomy” system.
An eyewitness report from West Papua Media Announcements (WPMA) posted on Pacific.scoop.co.nz on June 16 described a large military mobilisation in the mountainous Puncak Jaya region in central West Papua.
Below is an open letter from Herman Wainggai of the Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) to Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
Below is an abridged April 22 statement by the Institute for Papuan Advocacy and Human Rights. A statement the following day reported that the seven arrested students had been released.
Below is an abridged March 19 statement by Human Rights Watch, .
According to a March 3 Radio New Zealand International report, a series of demonstrations calling for a referendum on Papuan self-determination took place on the same day in several main towns in Indonesian-occupied West Papua.
The following is abridged from a January 18 article by Richard Samuelson, the co-director of Britains Free West Papua Campaign ().
In a July 26 media statement, the Institute for Papuan Advocacy and Human Rights (IPAHR) in Australia expressed its concern at threats by the Indonesian military (TNI) to use militia groups against separatists in West Papua.
Indonesian police routinely torture, rape and kill with impunity in West Papua and risk fanning separatism there, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released on July 5.
Hundreds of Papuans rallied on June 8 during a one-day visit by Hina Jilani, the UN secretary generals special representative on human rights defenders. In Jayapura, capital of Papua province, protesters welcomed Jilani while others called on her to stop the genocide of the Papuans and stop the killing in West Papua. In Manokwari, capital of the province of West Papua, protesters called on the UN to pressure Jakarta to overturn the 1969 referendum that resulted in the territorys incorporation into Indonesia.
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