latest West Papua Report for August 2014

Read here: http://etan.org/issues/wpapua/2014/1408wpap.htm

CONTENTS

This month's PERSPECTIVE takes the form of West Papua Advocacy Team's (WPAT) open letter to President-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo urging him to address fundamental problems in West Papua.
UPDATE notes that Widodo won substantial majorities in West Papua, but that many Papuans boycotted the election. A prominent Papuan activist fled West Papua to Australia following attempts to abduct her. The Asian Human Rights Commission called the President-elect's attention to outstanding human rights problems in West Papua and elsewhere. Leaders of the "Federal State of West Papua" were released after serving nearly three years in prison for their roles in the Third Papuan People's Congress. Planning is under way for a meeting of Papuan groups in Vanuatu. President-elect Widodo has criticized a deal with Freeport McMoRan signed by outgoing president Yudhoyono. West Papuan students staged coordinated protests in Java over the denial of Papuan rights, including the right to self-determination.Recent shootings have raised concerns over a possible "sweeping operation" as a retaliatory "collective punishment" response. The new Army Chief of Staff has a record of provocative statements which point to an intent to defame and persecute rights advocates.

CHRONICLE highlights a motion by the Green Party's Catherine Delahunty in the New Zealand Parliament concerning the absence of media freedom in West Papua. A new documentary reveals repression in West Papua. Amnesty International urged Widodo to address human rights abuses and security force impunity. A new article focuses on institutional racism in West Papua. Groups write urging Indonesia to implement the UN's Universal Periodic Review recommendations concerning West Papua.

Link to this issue: http://etan.org/issues/wpapua/2014/1408wpap.htm 
Back issues of West Papua Report

NZ Green MP Catherine Delahunty and Maire Leadbeater (West Papua Action Auckland)
 receive the John Rumbiak Human Rights Defenders Award,given annually
by the West Papua Advocacy Team. Photo by AWPA.

July 2014 West Papua Report

Read the full issue here

CONTENTS

This edition's PERSPECTIVE by David Webster that explores the role of US business in the Kennedy administration's decision to block Papuan self-determination and facilitate Indonesian annexation of West Papua.

UPDATE announces that the West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) is awarding dual recipients for its annual "John Rumbiak Human Rights Defender Award." For 2014, WPAT honors New Zealand activist Maire Leadbetter and Catherine Delahunty and the Green Party of New Zealand. Also, the Melanesian Spearhead Group has shelved a Papuan application for membership, pending since 2013. West Papuans are calling for a boycott of the July 9 Indonesian Presidential election. Papuan human rights activists expressed concerns about a Prabowo victory. 

Indonesia said it cancelled a New Zealand police training program because of "hidden motives." There have been renewed calls for UN monitors to go to West Papua to verify charges of human rights violations, and Papuans spoke out about the denial of their rights at a church-sponsored gathering at the margins of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

CHRONICLE notes a statement by 32 international organizations for the next Indonesian administration to address long-standing security force impunity for human rights crimes; to make reparations to those who have suffered abuses at the hands of security forces; and to establish civilian control of the military. A panel discusses Papuan rights in Geneva. A new video highlights human rights violations in West Papua. Human rights advocate Yan Christian Warinussy urges President Yudhoyono to release West Papuan political prisoners and open the territory before he leaves office, and a commentary by prominent Papuan academic Budi Hernawan on the "choices" confronting Papuans in the Indonesian presidential election. A three-part series on links the spread of AIDS/HIV in West Papua to the Freeport mining complex.

Just out: West Papua Report June 2014: West Papua Report June 2014: Poverty and Discrimination, land rights, calls for UN action, Police training, more

Read issue here

CONTENTS

This edition's PERSPECTIVE by renowned human rights campaigner Carmel Budiardjo provides a succinct overview of the history of Indonesian repression of West Papua and includes a focus on the special challenges facing Papuan women.

UPDATE highlights the intention of the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission to focus on the plight of indigenous peoples, notably in West Papua. The Asian Human Rights Commission draws attention to police shooting of three Papuans in Nabire. The online activist network "Anonymous" has announced that it will focus on the plight of Papuans. A Pacific regional UN forum on decolonization was urged to consider the situation in West Papua. Indonesian President Yudhoyono's planned visit to Fiji illustrates Jakarta's efforts to undercut the broad appeal of the Papuan cause in the region. Religious activists are focusing on the exploitation of workers and their families by the oil palm plantation run by Sinar Mas. A New Zealand police training program in West Papua has been cancelled. The Australian government is urged to mitigate culpability for rights violations abroad.

CHRONICLE highlights "West Papua: No-One's Colony" by the Pacific Network on Globalization and May 14comments before the UN by Julianus Septer Manufandu, of the Papua Customary Council. A new illustrated, interactive eBook tells Papuan stories. Australian TV journalist broadcasts program on human rights in West Papua.

Freeport Mine