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Australian report excoriates Indonesia, church over Papua
UCA News - May 4, 2016
The Archdiocese of Brisbane's Justice and Peace Commission officially launched the 24-page report, "We Will Lose Everything" on May 1. The report was based on the commission's fact-finding mission to West Papua in February that found no improvement to the human rights situation there.
The report said the genesis of the present violence and marginalization endured by the Papuan people was in the shabby dealings by international powers that enabled the Indonesian government to annex West Papua in 1963 without the consent of the people.
Resistance to the Indonesian occupation has continued, as did brutal repression by Indonesian security forces, the report said. Resistance leaders were assassinated while thousands of other Papuans were killed as a result of violence led by Indonesian security forces.
Divine Word Father Paulus Rahmat, coordinator of VIVAT International-Indonesia, a Catholic human rights advocacy organization, said the report was important because it demonstrated the concern of the church in the Asia-Pacific region for the suffering of the Papuan people.
"On one hand, the report helps us see obviously that problems in Papua have worsened. On the other hand, the report serves as an important input since it's such an autocriticism against the church in Indonesia," he said during a May 3 Jakarta meeting that addressed the report.
Speaking with ucanews.com separately, Father John Djonga from the Diocese of Jayapura in Papua, said the report "strongly criticizes the church in Indonesia" for not taking "strict actions to deal with problems in Papua."
"Such a stance taken by the church in Australia strengthens our steps in consistently fighting together with the Papuan people against any kinds of injustice," said Father Djonga.
Natalius Pigai, a Papuan and a member of the National Commission on Human Rights, said the report offered no surprises. "That's what happens in Papua," he said. "So the question is, when will crimes in Papua stop?" he said.
Budi Hernawan, a researcher at the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy, said President Joko Widodo failed to meet his commitment to restoring human rights in the region. He referred to May 2 protests in which more than 1,700 people were arrested for protesting the May 1, 1963, annexation of West Papua.
"What happened recently shows an irony: the Papuan people were arrested only because they expressed their political aspirations," he said. "What is written in the report is basically a confirmation of the present situation in Papua," he said.
Source: http://www.ucanews.com/news/australian-report-excoriates-indonesia-church-over-papua/75941.
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