Home > South-East Asia >> West Papua

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd should raise the issue of West Papua with Indonesian government

Australia West Papua Association (Sydney) Media release - June 10, 2008

Prime Minister Rudd should raise the issue of West Papua with the Indonesian Government as he did the issue of Tibet with the Chinese Government.

The Australia West Papua Association in a letter to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has called on the Prime Minister to raise the human rights situation in West Papua with the Indonesian President. In a speech during his visit earlier this year to China, Kevin Rudd said:

“The current situation in Tibet is of concern to Australians. We recognise the need for all parties to avoid violence and find a solution through dialogue."

and

"It's important, as I said in my speech earlier today, to have a relationship that is capable of handling a disagreement and putting views in a straight-forward fashion".

Kevin Rudd also said on his visit to China that:

"We recognise the need for all parties to avoid silence and find a solution through dialogue".

For more information contact Joe Collins: Mob. 04077 857 97

Letter to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd

Australia West Papua Association (Sydney)
PO Box 28, Spit Junction
Sydney, Australia 2088
Ph/fax 61.2.99601698
Email: bunyip@bigpond.net.au

The Hon Kevin Rudd MP
Prime Minister
Parliament House
Canberra
ACT 2600

10 June 2008

Dear Prime Minister,

I am writing to you on behalf of the Australia West Papua Association (Sydney) about the issue of West Papua. AWPA believes the situation in West Papua is deteriorating and we urge you to raise the human rights situation in West Papua with the Indonesian President during your upcoming visit to Indonesia. We understand that it is in the interests of the Australian Government to have good relations and friendship with Jakarta but good relations with Jakarta should not be at the expense of the West Papuan people who are struggling for their right to self-determination”.

The West Papuan people suffer from ongoing human rights abuses and we bring your attention to a number of recent reports outlining these abuses

The latest report titled “The Practice of Torture in Aceh and Papua 1998-2007” (by a number of church groups and non-governmental organisations), documents hundreds of cases of human rights abuse in West Papua and Aceh between 1998 and 2007.

In the report it states:

“it can be concluded that the use of torture is long standing in the police and military and is committed in a systematic and widespread manner and the victims are civilians in Aceh and Papua. Because of that, the government of Indonesia must take the responsibility to ensure criminal prosecution for acts of torture which occur in Aceh and Papua, some of which can already be classified as crimes against humanity”.

The following is an extract from her report in relation to West Papua:

“A climate of fear undeniably prevails in West Papua, especially for defenders engaged with the rights of the Papuan communities to participation in governance, control over natural resources and demilitarization of the province. The situation of these defenders does not seem to have eased, and despite the adoption of the Special Autonomy Law in 2001, their legitimate activities for the protection of human rights continue to be targeted. The Special Representative heard credible reports of incidents involving arbitrary detention, torture, and harassment through surveillance. She was also informed of cases where human rights defenders had been threatened with prosecution by members of the police and the military. It was alleged that when defenders had attempted to register their complaints, that had been denied and they had been threatened. Instances of excessive and disproportionate use of force when policing peaceful demonstrations were also brought to her attention”.

In March of this year there were numbers of arrests of West Papuans because of their involvement in peaceful protests and for simply carrying the West Papuan national flag the Morning Star and for having the symbol displayed on their clothing. Two other political prisoners, Filip Karma and Yusak Pakage are now serving 15 and 10 years in prison also for being present at a demonstration in 2004 where the Morning Star flag was raised.

In Amnesty International’s 2008 report, it states in relation to West Papua “The low-level conflict between the security forces and pro-independence militants in Papua continued. The military repeatedly threatened local community members who supported independence through peaceful means. An army official who had been indicted for crimes against humanity in Timor-Leste, but had yet to face trial, was nominated as military commander in the Papuan capital, Jayapura. Reported human rights violations by security forces included extrajudicial executions, torture and excessive use of force”.

This intimidation by the security forces of the West Papuan people is all pervasive and creates a climate of fear in the people of West Papua. The overwhelming military presence ensures that they can act with total impunity.

We note the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) report “Seeing Indonesia as a normal country” (May 2008), implies that because of “lingering suspicions in Indonesia about Australian intentions towards Papua” and eastern Indonesian generally, that it would be better for Australia to focus its aid effort elsewhere in the archipelago. However, as West Papua is one of our nearest neighbours and one of the most poverty stricken in the archipelago (although one of the richest in natural resources), AWPA believes that Australia should be making a greater effort in helping the West Papuan people particularly in the fields of health and education. We thank the Australian Government for its contribution towards supporting HIV/AIDS programs in West Papua but we believe that Australia as one of the best resourced countries in the region could do more in helping the West Papuan people.

Health

We are concerned about the health of the West Papuan people in general. The current epidemic of HIV –AIDS in West Papua, the dangerous emergence of antibiotic resistant tuberculosis and the endemic malaria infection are a result of negligence on the part of the Indonesian government public health policies of prevention, diagnosis and treatment. These are areas where the Indonesian government is negligent. Health is recognized as a human right by the United Nations as “a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. Health is a human right which is being denied to the West Papuans.

Forests

West Papua also contains some of the last great tracts of undisturbed rain forest in the Asia-Pacific region. However, the rich, bio-diverse forests of West Papua are coming under major threat as the Indonesian government looks to replace the exhausted forests resources in Sumatra and Kalimantan. The main threats include logging (both legal and illegal) and oil palm plantations although transmigration sites and mining areas have also impacted on the forests of West Papua. The cutting down of tropical forests in West Papua will not only lead to increased global warming but also destroy some of the last great tracts of untouched tropical forest in the Asia Pacific region. The forests of West Papua which are rich in bio-diversity are also utilised by the indigenous people in every aspect of their lives. The forests offer a wealth of natural resources for hunting and gathering and are also used for constructing materials for huts, and for tools medicines as well as having cultural and spiritual significance.

We note that Australia has already signed a forest carbon partnership with Papua New Guinea and during your visit to Indonesia you will also discuss a similar plan with the Indonesian President. However, this raises the issue: who would receive the money for the protection of the forests? The central government? the provinces ? or the Indigenous people who actually own –or should own them? We encourage you in discussing any plan to protect the forest of West Papua that the West Papuan people themselves are guaranteed to benefit from and participate in such a plan as will the global community.

Australian Governments of all persuasions seem to believe that by ignoring what is going on in West Papua that somehow the issue will disappear. It won’t. We understand that a stabilised region to our north is in the interest of the government, but it is the Indonesian military that are one of the main destabilising factors in West Papua. The activities of the military, their involvement in human rights abuses and resource extraction will lead to the very instability our government is trying to avoid.

We urge you to raise the ongoing human rights abuses in West Papua with the Indonesian President as you did the issue of Tibet with the Chinese Government. We also urge you to encourage the Indonesian Government to dialogue with the West Papuan leadership to try and solve the many issues of concern in West Papua.

Yours sincerely
Joe Collins
AWPA (Sydney)

See also:

West Papua Links

Indonesia News Digest

Statements/press releases on West Papua