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This is a video that gives a background to the situation in West Papua, reminding the viewer that despite human rights abuses by the Indonesian Government, the Papuan people continue to struggle for independence. This video was produced in 2003 to raise awareness about the condition in West Papua. It uses interviews from people based in Melbourne, combined with archival footage from a variety of sources to tell the story. If Australians won't help stop the humanitarian disaster that is West Papua, who on earth will? With each passing day, similarities between West Papua and pre-independence East Timor grow more ominous. The big difference, according human-rights activists and church organisations, is the lack of international attention.
For Joe Collins, secretary of the Australia West Papua Association (AWPA), the Australian Government's inaction over West Papua is a travesty made even worse by its recently announced plans to renew military ties with Indonesia. âThe Australian Government always says it has raised concerns with the Indonesian Government about the human rights situation in West Papua but I'd just love to see them make a public statement about it," he says.
"What we have is a potential East Timor on our hands," says Steffen Keulig, who heads the Friends of People Close to Nature, an international organisation dedicated to the protection of tribal people. "For 25 years everyone ignored East Timor until white missionaries and UN workers were killed and then they started paying attention," he says. Often referred to as Irian Jaya (an 'Indonesianised' name), the western half of New Guinea is a province of Indonesia. It has been fighting for independence for 40 years and suffering under siege. In a 1968 referendum titled the Act of Free Choice, overseen and ratified by the United Nations, West Papua was handed over to Indonesia. Around 1,000 elders were bribed and intimidated into backing the territory's assimilation into Indonesia, and voted unanimously in what has become known as the 'Act of No Choice'. Even the former UN Under-secretary General, who helped organise the Act, has called it "a whitewash". And late last year, in a historic move, the British Government admitted that the people of West Papua were forced into Indonesian rule against their will.
Estimates of the number of people killed in West Papuan conflicts since 1968 vary widely, from around 100,000 to as many as one million. Prisons across the country continue to hold Papuans - some for up to 25 years - for raising the Papuan Morning Star flag on 1 December: a date covertly celebrated as West Papuan National Day. On the first day of December last year, government-backed paramilitary groups attacked a crowd of around 200 during a peaceful flag-raising ceremony in the capital, Jayapura. Two West Papuans were arrested and charged with treason, which carries a maximum sentence of death.
 Papua local. Wender and his people are members of the Free West Papua Movement (Organisasi Papua Merdeka, or OPM), which has been running a campaign of guerrilla warfare against the Indonesian military since the 1960s. Every past leader of the OPM has been murdered, most famously Theys Eluay, who was tortured and killed by Indonesian troops in 2001. According to Wender, virtually every West Papuan is a member of the OPM. Wender was forced into hiding in the jungle several years ago. He later returned to meet with the Koteka but was arrested on the way. Charged with attacking a police station, though there was no evidence or witnesses, he had to appear in court seven times, during which he was held in prison and repeatedly threatened. He eventually escaped and crossed the border into Papua New Guinea, before moving to Britain, where he now lives.
"I last heard from my people on January 13," he says. "I heard from the president of the Baptist church in Puncak Jaya. He told me the situation is getting worse. This is a time bomb waiting to go off. The Indonesian military have burned 375 villages to the ground - churches, gardens, everything. More than 6,000 people have had to flee from their homes. They are looking for my people and if they find them, they will kill them. They are already killing them; they are dying in the jungle. Thirteen military posts have been put up and no one can get into the area. My people are really suffering."
For more than a year now, Enrico Guterres - one of the architects of the terror activities that plagued East Timor â has reportedly been distributing shipments of guns to local militia in West Papua. According to Wender, Guterres is mobilising troops in a government-backed operation he describes as "a secret genocide". He regards Indonesia's 'transmigration' programme as thinly veiled ethnic cleansing. "The government has divided West Papua into three provinces and then into 14 districts," he explains. "This is to break up Papuans and divide them into smaller groups so they are easier to control. Then they are moving the military into each area to get rid of remaining West Papuans, as well as bringing in more Indonesians all the time."
In the last four years an additional 25,000 troops have arrived in West Papua, along with more than a million Indonesian migrants. West Papuans may soon become a minority in their own land. In fact, in some urban areas, they already have. "This is a forgotten war, like the one going on in Aceh," says Steffen Keulig. "And the West has too many vested economic interests in West Papua. There are logging companies; the Freeport mine is there, as are BHP Billiton and BP. No one wants to rock the boat."
With the UN insisting that it is unable to step in unless the Indonesian government calls for assistance, the onus is on Australia to help West Papua, says Joe Collins. "Our government went into East Timor because of the outrage of the Australian public, not because it wanted to," he says. "As the crisis worsens in West Papua, we'll need the Australian public to be aware of the historical wrongs and history of West Papua, if we expect them to pressure the government to act. We have to be prepared to be in for the long haul."
Adocumentary about the fight of the people of Bougainville against New Guinea and imperialistic mining corporations that only want to exploit Bougainville and its people leaving the environment of the island totally devastated. I wish I could help these outstanding people in the fight for their culture and nature anyhow! This is the modern-day story of a native peoples' remarkable victory over Western Colonial power. A Pacific island rose up in arms against giant mining corporation Rio Tinto Zinc (RTZ) - and won despite a military occupation and blockade. When RTZ decided to step up production at the Panguna Mine on the island of Bougainville, they got more than they bargained for. The island's people had enough of seeing their environment ruined and being treated as pawns by RTZ. RTZ refused to compensate them, so the people decided it was time to put an end to outside interference in the island's affairs. To do this they forcibly closed down the mine. The Papua New Guinea Army (PNGDF) were mobilised in an attempt to put down the rebellion. The newly formed Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) began the fight with bows & arrows, and sticks & stones. Against a heavily armed adversary they still managed to retain control of most of their island. Realising they were beaten on the ground, the PNGDF imposed a gunboat blockade around Bougainville, in an attempt to strangle the BRA into submission. But the blockade seemed to of had little or no effect. With no shipments getting in or out of the island, how did new electricity networks spring up in BRA held territory? How were BRA troops able to drive around the island without any source of petrol or diesel? What was happening within the blockade was an environmental and spiritual revolution. The ruins of the old Panguna mine where being recycled to supply the raw materials for the world's first eco-revolution.
 Map Papua Papua lies south of the equator and is predominantly mountainous. The Maoke Mountains run from west to east and contain the province's highest peak, Puncak Jaya (5,030 m/16,503 ft), which is also the highest peak in Indonesia. The second highest peak in the province is Puncak Trikora at 4,750 m (15,584 ft). Rivers in the province include the Baliem, Mamberamo, Taritatu, and the Tariku. The climate of Papua is tropical and wet, although a relatively dry period occurs between June and August. Precipitation totals as much as 5,500 mm (200 in) annually. The mountain peaks are snow-capped throughout the year.
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YOU MUST KNOW ALL MILITARY EQUIPMENT AND ALL THE VERY BIGS GOVERNMWENT OF INDONESIA FUND FOR KILLING ALL PAPUANS SO FAR, WE TODAYS ONLY NEED YOUR HUMANRIGHTS FILLING TO US.
BY EDOWAY YUNNUS