Morning Stars Plag
The first
Free West Papua campaign office was recently opened in Australia to raise
awareness about Indonesia’s occupation and ongoing violence. Now they need
Australia’s help to withstand the pressure from Indonesia.
This
Anzac Day weekend [last weekend of April], we opened the first ever Free West
Papua campaign office in Australia.
For more
than 50 years, my people have suffered what I considered to be a slow-moving
genocide under the repressive military occupation of Indonesia. During the
second world war, the “Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels” of West Papua came to the aid of
Australian soldiers. Now it is the West Papuans that need Australia’s help in
order to end human rights abuses so that my people can be free to live in
peace.
Indonesia’s
response to West Papua advocacy abroad has been frighteningly vehement. After
the opening of our UK office in 2013, Indonesia made a diplomatic complaint to
the British government. Foreign minister Natelegawa said he could not
understand why the British government was “unwilling to take steps against the
Free West Papua office”, and the president even tweeted about it. The British
ambassador in Jakarta was summoned and had to remind Indonesia of the
protections enjoyed in democracies, pointing out that no steps would be taken
against our office, since it “does not require [government] permission to open”.
Bob Carr
revealed in his recent memoir that he had discussed the prospect of us opening
an Australian office with Indonesia’s foreign minister at that time, and was
told that Indonesia would “prefer [Australia] not to allow an office to open”.
During his state visit to Indonesia last year, prime minister Abbott said last
year that West Papuan activists were not welcome in Australia, and that
Australia would not tolerate West Papuans’ demonstrations against Indonesian
control.
But we
hope that the Australian government will follow the example set by the British
government: reminding Indonesia that, unlike in West Papua where people are
sent to prison for 15 years for merely raising a flag, Australia is a democracy
where freedom of speech is protected and where West Papuans and those who
support us can speak out about our desire for self-determination.
The
Australian public clearly has much sympathy for West Papua and for our cause –
both historically and today. Australia initially prepared to go to war with the
Dutch to prevent Indonesia’s invasion of West Papua in the early 1960s. As a
result of Cold War real-politik and US pressure, Australia stepped out of the
dispute. Much like the support for Indonesian control over East Timor until
1999, the Australian government has so far refused to acknowledge West Papua’s
claim to self-determination out of concern for its relationship with Indonesia.
Like in East Timor, the law is on our side. If Australia can change its
position on East Timor, it can change its position on West Papua.
Despite
the government’s current position, the Australian public remains supportive. An
opinion poll commissioned in 2006 showed over 75% of Australians support self
determination – including the option of independence – for West Papua. My last
visit to Australia was for a 2013 TEDx event where I spoke alongside my lawyer,
Jennifer Robinson. We received two standing ovations from a packed out Sydney
Opera House, and I was overwhelmed by the support and encouragement we received
from the audience.
Predictably,
Indonesia was concerned. Some officials argued that Indonesia should cut
diplomatic ties with Australia for allowing me the opportunity to speak about
my people’s cause. A few days later, Australia’s then foreign minister Bob Carr
responded in the Senate, saying that Australians supporting West Papua’s claim
to self-determination was “an appalling thing to do”. In his memoir, Carr
refers to our office opening in Oxford, alleging we are “provocateurs who
encourage Papuans to put their lives on the line”, and spoke with concern about
the prospect of an office opening in Australia.
What is
appalling is how my people have been betrayed by the United Nations and by the
international community and left to suffer at the hands of a brutal Indonesian
military regime. What is appalling is Indonesia asking Britain and Australia to
compromise on their own values and freedoms in order to silence us.
We are
not provocateurs, but advocates for the rights of the West Papuan people. As a
leader in exile, I have an obligation and duty to my people to use the
democratic freedoms I enjoy abroad to speak out about their suffering. The only
people putting Papuan lives on the line are those who kill peaceful activists
with absolute impunity (more than 22 of them were killed in 2012 alone).
My
people’s lives remain on the line – and the nations who continue to support
Indonesian control are complicit. We aim, through opening the office in
Australia, to raise awareness about the illegality of Indonesia’s occupation,
and about this ongoing violence.
Raising
awareness is important, especially when Tony Abbott claims that West Papuans
are “better not worse off” under Indonesia. This is just not true. It is
estimated that more than half a million West Papuans have been killed since
Indonesian occupation in the 1960s. We are the poorest province in Indonesia,
despite being the richest in natural resources. Literacy is very poor – the
worst in Indonesia. Health statistics are grim. We are suffering an HIV/AIDS
crisis with the highest rate of infection in Indonesia. There are at least 73
West Papuan political prisoners in Indonesia today. I cannot and will not
remain silent while my people suffer.
Australia
has before taken a stand against Indonesia in order to respect international
law and protect West Papuans. In 2006, Australia granted asylum to 42 West
Papuans after concluding (correctly) that, as activists advocating independence
for West Papua, they would be persecuted if they were returned to Indonesia.
This decision was taken in accordance with Australia’s obligations under
international law, and Australia should be commended for standing by that
decision despite Indonesia recalling its ambassador.
We hope
that Australia will withstand pressure from Indonesia over the opening of our
office. Lest we forget: by the time Australia changed its political position to
support East Timor, close to a third of its population had been killed by the
Indonesian military. My people need Australia’s help before it is too late.
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