fPcN interCultural:

friends of Peoples close to Nature

This is the 54th in a series of monthly reports that focus on developments affecting Papuans This series is produced by the non-profit West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) drawing on media accounts, other NGO assessments and analysis and reporting from sources within West Papua. This report is co-published by the East Timor and Indonesian Action Network (ETAN) Back issues are posted online at http://etan.org/issues/wpapua/default.htm Questions regarding this report can be addressed to Edmund McWilliams at edmcw@msn.com.

Summary:
* International Parliamentarian Group (IPWP) Concerned about West Papua Convenes in London
* Peaceful Papuans Beaten, Detained for Welcoming Launch of IPWP; Indonesian Parliamentarians Protest Launch
* Papuan Religious Leaders Call for Dialogue between Papuans and Jakarta over Fraudulent 1969 "Act of Free Choice"
* Greenpeace Calls for Moratorium on Logging in West Papua*
* The Failure of TNI "Reform"
* U.S. Academic Testimony to US Congress Regarding Impact of Freeport Operations on The Papuan People

ress Release: for immediate release & circulation
INTERNATIONAL PARLIAMENTARIANS FOR WEST PAPUA

At the Houses of Commons, London on 15th October 2008 at 3pm, will be the launch event for a historical international gathering of Parliamentarians, in support of self determination for the native people of West Papua.

Exiled West Papuan independence leader Benny Wenda will be joined by Melanesians & Parliamentarians from across the world for the launch of 'International Parliamentarians for West Papua'.

Please assemble in Parliament Square for 2pm.

The Lani Singers will be special guests on BBC Radio 3 this Saturday 27th September, when they make an appearance on the World Routes show.
Deeply emotive and compelling, their songs are rooted in the sacred rituals of the Lani tribe – a tribe whose way of living has remained largely unchanged since the Stone Age. But their music has also come to embody a powerful modern day message - the struggle that their fellow people endure under a brutal and illegal Indonesian occupation.

Two hundred and ninety one Papuan tribal people have died from cholera since April this year in West Papua, Indonesia, according to local church officials, sparking fears of a major epidemic.

In 1961, a global cholera pandemic began in Indonesia. It spread rapidly to other countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and finally, in 1991, to Latin America. There were nearly 400,000 cases and over 4,000 deaths from cholera in the Americas that year.

This is the 52st in a series of monthly reports that focus on developments affecting Papuans This series is produced by the non-profit West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) drawing on media accounts, other NGO assessments and analysis and reporting from sources within West Papua. This report is co-published by the East Timor and Indonesian Action Network (ETAN) Back issues are posted online at http://etan.org/issues/wpapua/default.htm Questions regarding this report can be addressed to Edmund McWilliams at edmcw@msn.com.

Summary:
* 40 Members of US Congress Force Look at Justice in West Papua in the Cases of AI Prisoners of Conscience Filip Kamra and Yusuf Pakage
* New Report Reveals Evidence of TNI Role in 2002 Murder of U. S. and Indonesian Civilians and US Government Cover-up
* Indicted War Criminal Removed from Post in West Papua... and Promoted
* Police Killing of Peaceful Papuan Protester Draws International Protest and Calls for Investigation
* Human Rights Victims' Families in West Papua Meet to Discuss Absence of Justice
* Papuan Tribal Chief to Sue Freeport over Environmental Pollution
* US Court Action Regarding Exxon-Mobil Collusion with TNI Could Expose Freeport to Court Action in U. S.
* UK Environmental Justice Urges UK Government to Press for Ecological Justice and Human Rights Protection in West Papua
* Local Papuan Community Points to Central Government's Violation of "Special Autonomy" in Awarding Mining Contracts

This is the 51st in a series of monthly reports that focus on developments affecting Papuans. This series is produced by the non-profit West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) drawing on media accounts, other NGO assessments and analysis and reporting from sources within West Papua. This report is co-published by the East Timor and Indonesian Action Network (ETAN) Back issues are posted online at http://etan.org/issues/wpapua/default.htm Questions regarding this report can be addressed to Edmund McWilliams at edmcw@msn.com .

SUMMARY:
*A Respected International Medical Officer Describes Inadequate Health Care and Migration as Likely to Make Papuans a Minority in Their Own Land by 2011
*International Community Calls for Release of Peaceful Papuans Demonstrators Beaten and Arrested by the Police
* World Council of Churches Say Papuans Traumatized and Subject to Militarization
*A WPAT Member Who Visited the Tailings Wasteland Created by Freeport-McMoran Mine Rebuts the Operation's Propaganda about Successful "Reclamation" Efforts"
*A WPAT Alum Writes about the Need to Ensure a Role for Local Communities in Advocacy for the Environment
*Papuans Call for Halt on Development Schemes until Papuans Obtain Rights to Consider their Impact
*Forestry Firms Provide Little to Local Papuan Communities as They Destroy West Papua's Natural Resources
*Indonesian National Human Rights Commission to Investigate Abuses in West Papua Despite Government Opposition

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

This is the 50th in a series of monthly reports that focus on developments affecting Papuans This series is produced by the non-profit West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) drawing on media accounts, other NGO assessments and analysis and reporting from sources within West Papua. This report is co-published by the East Timor and Indonesian Action Network (ETAN) Back issues are posted online at http://etan.org/issues/wpapua/default.htm Questions regarding this report can be addressed to Edmund McWilliams at edmcw@msn.com.

SUMMARY:
*The West Papua Advocacy Team announces creation of the "John Rumbiak Human Rights Defenders Award" and that the first winner of this annual award is legendary human rights defender Carmel Budiarjo, founder of TAPOL.
*Chronic Public Health Emergencies in West Papua Belie Claims of Special Autonomy Success.
*We Mark The Tenth Anniversary of The Biak Massacre with Personal Accounts by Two WPAT Members.
*Government Plans for Massive Highway Project Threatens Papuan Forests and Papuans Themselves.
*International Crisis Group Report Looks at Prospects of Communal Violence But in Recommendations Fails to Call for Justice and An End to Impunity for Security Forces.
Carmel Budiardjo Wins First "John Rumbiak Human Rights Defenders Award."

Press Release

On this day the 1st of July 2008, the representatives of the West Papua Refugees camped at Apex Park – Boroko, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea – wish to raise the following concerns regarding the continued displacement of their families in Port Moresby.

1. Our status as refugees in PNG:

"Anton was … beaten from the front and back [by Indonesian police and soldiers] until he fell down. They stamped on his body with their jack boots and then beat him.
PUNCAK JAYA – A bad day for Anton Asse (28 years old), a government official from the information and communication department, Puncak Jaya Regent’s Office. He was tortured by a police officer in Tingginambut on Wednesday (25/6/08).

TO A FREE WEST PAPUA

It is meaningful for a person to spend time writing and publishing reliable articles in order to raise and debate important issues. It is inappropriate, however, for a person to publish articles (whether it be in books, journals or on the internet) when the topic and the publication is not researched properly, providing inaccurate, misplaced or solely speculative data. This creates unsuitable grounds for interesting debates, rather forcing other parties concerned to correct mistakes and obviously wrong believes made by those who initiated the topic.

In this context the article by Mr. Lee Jones “Is West Papua being Eco-Colonised?” is a good example and makes it unfortunately necessary to rectify the lack of research and understanding by Mr Lee Jones regarding several aspects of his article.