International Parliamentarians for West Papua

A HISTORICAL EVENT committed to a free and independent West Papua took place in the Committee Room 13 Main Building of the UK Houses of Parliament last Wednesday 15th of October. The event was the launch of the International Parliamentarians for West Papua. This assocation of international parliamentarians was launched by Hon. Andrew Smith who is the MP for Oxford East in the United Kingdom. Mr Smith along with Lord Richard Harries, Bishop of Oxford, were instrumental in establishing the All Party Parliamentary Group within the UK Houses of Parliament. Several Members of Parliament attended the launching of the “International Parliamentarians for West Papua” including Moanna Carcasses Kalosil (Vanuatu), Lembit Opik (UK), Andrew Smith (UK); Lord Harries (UK). A long time human rights activist and MP in Papua New Guinea, Powes Pakop, was expected but didnot attend the event.

This association of international parliamentarians will strive to address the general cause for self-determination in West Papua by bringing this issue to the attention of international governments and organisations such as the United Nations. A similar organisation involving international parliamentarians played a vital role in the East Timor campaign for independence from Indonesia. We hope and pray that this group of parliamentarians can do the same for West Papua. Further details about this event can be found at http://www.freewestpapua.org.

Often when news of international support gets into the mountains, valleys, rivers and villages of West Papua, people there often rise up to express their anguish about how much they are tormented and repressed by Indonesian military and colonial presence. This has provoked a predictable pattern of violence inflicted by the Indonesian military because Indonesia sees any kind of Papuan resistance as a threat to its internal security. Indonesian security personnel are often deployed immediately to contain this swelling tide of resistance.

Last Thursday (16/10/08) about 2000 West Papuans gathered in Jayapura calling out for FREEDOM and INDEPENDENCE from Indonesia. The Indonesian Government reacted by sending in truck loads of security forces to quell the uprising. Some details about this protest march is provided by REUTERS. As the committee of the International Parliamentarians for West Papua was being launched in London, the Indonesian Embassy in Papua New Guinea organised a function in Port Moresby to call for closer military co-operation with Papua New Guinea on matters relating to the border and other security issues in the region.

A news article in the Post Courier indicated that there is an ongoing unrest in Jayapura and Papua New Guineans are warned against traveling into Jayapura because they would be easily mistaken for being West Papuans. No doubt the unrest that is going on in various parts of Jayapura, Abepura and Sentani are related directly to last week’s march for independence in Jayapura. Anecdotal accounts report that 3 West Papuans in the Waena area have been shot dead by Indonesian military as a result of these protests. The Indonesian military has beefed up its strength by increasing the number of soldiers in stations near the border. Papua New Guinea’s capacity to monitor the border has been lagging for a considerable number of years now.