This Video Shows the Bloody Treatment of Malay Indonesian Army to Melanesians in West Papua

Indonesia creates new committee on Papua after talks with Vanuatu

Joint talks between Vanuatu and Indonesia have taken place in Jakarta with West Papua high on the agenda

It comes amidst tensions in the region, and ahead of a state visit next month to Papua New Guinea by Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

Indonesia's state-owned news agency Antara reports Vice President Ma'ruf Amin met with Vanuatu's Deputy Prime Minister Jotham Napat in Jakarta on Monday.

Vanuatu has strongly supported the separatist push in West Papua for many years and Antara reports the issue of conflict in the province was discussed.

Amin announced a Papua Special Autonomy Development Acceleration Steering Committee had been formed to evaluate development in the Papua region.

"The granting of this special autonomy has been planned for the long term up to 2042," he said.

Amin said Indonesia respects the diversity in West Papua.

"I want to emphasise that the welfare approach will continue to become the main priority by respecting diversity and based on the principles of fairness, equity, and sustainability. The settlement of security issues is also done through a comprehensive approach," he said.

The Vice President said Indonesia is also ready to serve as a gateway for Vanuatu to enter the ASEAN market.

Vanuatu is hoping to forge a technical cooperation agreement as well as establish sister city and provincial partnerships.

At Monday's meeting, Napat stated that his visit to Indonesia is a fundamental step to recover trust and to express eagerness to build sound cooperation between Vanuatu and Indonesia.

Napat also echoed his country's keenness to forge a technical cooperation agreement between both nations as well as to establish sister city and sister province partnership that he said can be started with Papua Province.

In West Papua, thousands upon thousands of displaced people lack basic life-giving services

People from Nduga, Puncak, Intan Jaya, Maybrat, Pegunungan Bintang, and Yahukimo are suffering while the armed conflict between the West Papua National Liberation Army and Indonesian security forces in these areas is ongoing.

Many internally displaced people have little choice but to live in remote shelters in the forest, where they lack access to food, sanitation, medical treatment, and education. Local human rights defenders and churches, managing to access some of these shelters, have documented extremely poor living conditions.

In Maybrat, for example, people are reluctant to return to their villages as military deployments and security force raids continue. According to data received from church informants, the total number of internally displaced persons from Maybrat has reached 1,836 persons, some of whom testified that the local government distributed rice and other food supplies. However, the funds used for the aid were deducted from the funds the village administration receives regularly.

Internally displaced persons in Pegunungan Bintang had to deal with extreme weather conditions in the central highlands. Almost all from the Kiwirok District continue to live in forest shelters, although an estimated 200 people—many of them women and children—crossed the border to Papua New Guinea, where they live in a refugee camp in the town of Tumorbil. The displaced people’s food and supplies come from small gardens and hunting in the forest. Their informal camps are often located in remote areas in the forest which can only be accessed through small mountain trails.

Church workers visiting such camps documented many health issues, as well as the danger of Indonesian military attacks and snipers.

Human Rights Monitor is an EU-based international group promoting human rights through documentation and advocacy. The group works in collaboration with the World Council of Churches on situations of conflict and human rights violations in West Papua.

https://www.oikoumene.org/news/in-west-papua-thousands-upon-thousands-of-displaced-people-lack-basic-life-giving-services

#westpapua #humanrights #genocida

Calls to end violence in West Papua

Experts recommend military withdrawal from West Papua region

ABC News – By Catherine Graue on Pacific Beat

Calls for the West Papua region to be granted independence continued this week as activists took to the streets in various Australian cities, calling for the Federal government to support an independence referendum.

Melanesians who call the region home have been pushing for independence for decades.

A referendum was held in July 1969, overseen by the United Nations.

It was called the Act of Free Choice but it has been heavily criticised.

Hugh Lunn, an Australian journalist who was on the ground reporting for the Reuters news agency during the 1969 referendum, is among those critics.

“I thought it would be a vote. What a fool I was. Under the UN, it was note a vote. They specially selected 1025 people, in the eight provincial capitals and told them they had to make the decision,” Mr Lunn told Pacific Beat.

“They all voted for staying part of Indonesia, but as I was walking through the fair, people stuck letters under my arm, one of them was addressed to the ‘nicest man in Merauke’, and they said ‘this is all a farce, we’re scared to say anything, no one knows what to do'”.

The West Papua region is actually two provinces, Papua and West Papua, that make up the western half on New Guinea island, and has previously also been known as Irian Jaya.

It officially became part of Indonesia after that vote, and since then, there have been continuous reports of violent crackdowns and human rights abuses committed by Indonesian authorities, particularly its military, against pro-independence supporters.

The Indonesian government says it has been paying special attention to the human rights issues.

Since coming to power in 2014, President Joko Widodo has made economic and infrastructure development a priority, which is something experts like Cahyo Pamungkas say is important to help stem the conflict.

He is a researcher at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, and has conducted extensive field research on West Papua.

But he says that economic and infrastructure development won’t resolve the violence, because there are still limited benefits to the Melanesian population.

Mr Pamungkas and his colleagues recently visited the Indonesian Presidential office to deliver their recommendations on how best to approach the issue of West Papua, ahead of the national election in April.

“The government should cancel the military operations, or withdraw the troops and police from the central mountains, because it increases the potency for human right abuse. There is no other option,”

he said.Duration: 5min 2secBroadcast: Fri 15 Feb 2019, 7:00am

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