July 2008

Maori tribe in autonomy talks with NZ government

A 'rebellious' (fPcNs preferred term: 'dispossessed') New Zealand Maori tribe entered into negotiations with the government Thursday in a bid to gain autonomy over its land.

Ngai Tuhoe is the only Maori tribe that refused to sign the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, which established peaceful relations between New Zealand's indigenous groups and white settlers.

Tuhoe still insists it retains sovereign control over its culture and its lands in central North Island, which it claims were confiscated illegally by settlers in the 1800s.

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Maori tribe in autonomy talks with NZ government

7 reports: WEST PAPUA: Indonesian military attacks PNG villages. Jakarta forced to apologise to PNG government

1) Indonesians give word of no repetitions (The National PNG)
2) Students protest border incursions (The National PNG)
3) PNG to Formally Protest Indonesia Border Incursions (Pacific Magazine)
4) Indonesia to apologise for PNG border incursions: report (ABC)
5) Indonesians promise to apologise (The National PNG)
6) Indonesians raid village (The National PNG)
7) Border post in bad shape (The National PNG)

Indonesia: Must Release Peaceful Demonstrators in Papua

Press Release
Police Beatings and Arrests at Flag-Raising
also:
Indonesia must release detained Papuans: rights group.

(New York, July 24, 2008) – The Indonesian government should immediately release more than a dozen Papuans detained for raising the Papuan "Morning Star" flag in Fakfak, a major city in western Papua, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called on the Indonesian government to launch an investigation into the excessive use of force by the Indonesian police, who beat and kicked the activists during the arrests on July 19, 2008.

Local reports say Indonesian soldiers making frequent incursions to PNG

Two reports:
1) Border incursion
2) Local reports say Indonesian soldiers making frequent incursions to PNG

1) Border incursion The National PNG 14/7/08 from: http://www.thenational.com.pg/071408/
By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK

INDONESIAN soldiers have defied diplomatic and military protocols and continue to violate international border agreements with Papua New Guinea. Government Ministers Belden Namah (Forest) and his Housing and acting Internal Security colleague, Andrew Kumbakor, were told by villagers and PNG Defence Force personnel at Wutung in Vanimo, Sandaun province, that there had been numerous border incursions allegedly made by the Indonesians at the end of May, June and this month, with the latest being last Saturday and yesterday evening. In one such incident, army personnel said the Indonesians defaced a cement PNG border monument at Wutung by spray-painting it with their 408 battalion symbol.

Gold rush spells doom to Yaeda

Signs of Hadza extinction now evident
Just a few weeks after the Arabian hunting firm officially pulled out of Yaeda, a new monster is reported to have moved into the vast valley and intends to unleash even worse destruction.
Yaeda valley lying mostly within Mbulu District in Manyara, with part of it extending to Singida region is currently being visited by hordes of people interested in starting mining activities in the area.

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loggers attack indigenous Amazonians

Indigenous peoples in the Peruvian Amazon are being killed and having their houses burned to the ground by illegal loggers, according a statement from the International Indigenous Committee for the Protection of Peoples in Voluntary Isolation CIPIACI. The loggers have invaded the Murunahua Territorial Reserve, a remote area near the Brazilian border set aside in 1997 for uncontacted indigenous peoples, and built an illegal network of roads, the statement charges.

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Logging in Indian Amazonia

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West-Papua

Remembering the Biak Massacre ten years on

In early July 1998 the small West Papuan island of Biak rejoiced. Rumours were circulating that President Clinton had officially recognised West Papua’s independence. Celebrations followed and the Morning Star flag was flown freely despite being a banned ‘separatist’ symbol.

Before dawn on Monday 6 July, after a night of revelry, a large group of young people slept near the town’s harbour. A mixed army unit drawn from four battalions approached and opened fire on these people as they slept.