Indonesia is a multiparty democracy with a population of approximately 245 million. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono became the first directly elected president in free and fair elections in 2004. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces, although the fact that the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) continued to be partly self financed weakened this control.
Anti Capitalism
The Secret War Against the Defenseless People of West Papua
In 1993, I and four others travelled clandestinely across East Timor to gather evidence of the genocide committed by the Indonesian dictatorship. Such was the depth of silence about this tiny country that the only map I could find before I set out was one with blank spaces stamped "Relief Data Incomplete." Yet few places had been as defiled and abused by murderous forces. Not even Pol Pot had succeeded in dispatching, proportionally, as many people as the Indonesian tyrant Suharto had done in collusion with the "international community."
SOS Amazon! – World Social Forum Lends Indigenous Leaders and Supporters Opportunity to Defend Amazon Rainforest
<p>BELEM, Brazil- As world leaders focus on severe economic crisis in their homelands, an estimated 100,000 activists travelled from all over the world to attend the World Social Forum in Brazil. Critical environmental impacts in the Amazon rainforest regions brought Indigenous tribal representatives from across Latin America, environmentalists and supporters together for the multi-day event. One full day during the World Social Forum will focus on issues impacting the Amazon rainforest and the resident tribal nations who dwell there.
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<p>Led by Indigenous people from all across Latin America, over 1000 participants formed a human banner, using their bodies, to draw attention to the increasingly precarious situation of the Amazon rainforest. The wording was formed around the massive silhouette of an indigenous warrior taking aim with a bow and arrow. photo courtesy of Lou Dematteis/Spectral Q. </p>
<p><img name="" src="/files/images/sosamazon2.jpg" width="500" height="538" alt="Amazonian protest" /></p> Lani Singers interview on the BBC Radio - 3rd Sept 2008
The Lani Singers interview and music that went out on BBC Radio 3, in September 2008
West Papua Report November 2008
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
Whenua Fenua Enua Vanua
Revolutionary Anti Colonialism & Anti Capitalism in the Pacific.
"Australia and NZ remained unrepentant for their brutal suppression of indigenous independence movements in the Pacific. They rationalized such behaviour as enhancing the welfare of the Islands and the human development of their people – just as they justified similar behaviour towards indigenous peoples in their own countries"
by Ana
Kulin Nations,
Occupied Aboriginal Australia
