Freeport McMoRan

A Victory in West Papua

Submitted by rains on Sun, 04/06/2008 - 20:03
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The global wave of organized resistance to multinational mining companies continues with a strike at Freeport McMoran in West Papua Workers employed by mining multinational Freeport McMoran in the Indonesian province of West Papua struck from 18 to 21 April, gaining a 100 percent wage increase among other concessions. 6,000 workers at Grasberg, the world’s second largest copper and gold mine, slowed production – resulting in estimated losses of $11.32 million for the New Orleans based company.

RFK West Papua Report - May 2005

Submitted by FdN on Sun, 04/06/2008 - 15:45
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The following is the 15th in a series of regular reports prepared by the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights (CHR)-West Papua Advocacy Team providing updates on developments in West Papua. The CHR has monitored and reported on the human rights situation in West Papua since 1993 when Indonesian lawyer Bambang Widjojanto received the annual RFK Human Rights Award.
Summary/Contents
∑ US Congressman Presses Senior U.N. Official on “Act of Free Choice"
∑ Major U.S. Investors Tell Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold to Review Relationship with Indonesian Military

Prospects for peace in West Papua

Submitted by FdN on Sun, 04/06/2008 - 08:43
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It is not yet clear whether the election of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as president of Indonesia is a positive development for West Papua and whether he will bring peace and stability to the restive territory any closer.
The signals are ambiguous and we simply do not know what policies the new president will pursue when in office. Susilo was the preferred candidate of many Papuans. He was regarded as the more competent and wiser leader who in the past has supported dialogue as a means of resolving the West Papua conflict and made encouraging statements about reforming the military.

Documents Show US Backed Sham Papua Vote

Submitted by rains on Fri, 03/28/2008 - 15:51
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Newly declassified documents reveal the US government supported Indonesia's brutal takeover of West Papua despite overwhelming Papuan opposition and United Nations' requirement for genuine self-determination. Not surprisingly, the documents also show former US national security advisor Henry Kissinger played a key role in Washington’s ultimate decision to ignore the fact that West Papua’s 1969 “act of free choice” was a sham.

OPM denies involvement in Freeport killings.

Submitted by rains on Fri, 03/28/2008 - 15:36
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WEST PAPUAN PEOPLE'S REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE P.O. Box 1571, Port Vila, Republic of Vanuatu PRESS RELEASE - Port Vila, Vanuatu, June 29, 2004. Against strong evidence to the contrary, Jakarta and Washington are now attempting to place direct responsibility on the OPM for the murder of two American civilians and the wounding of eleven others, in 2002, near the US owned Freeport gold and copper mine in the disputed Indonesian province of West Papua. The OPM believes this is a blatant cover-up.

Freeport Killings Arrest Denounced By Rights Groups

Submitted by Alezev on Fri, 03/28/2008 - 15:32
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Edward McWilliams, a former senior U.S. diplomat in Jakarta, said, "If we go after the Free Papua Movement, we're basically conspiring in a cover-up." An Indonesian man charged by U.S. authorities over the murder of two American teachers is not a rebel leader as claimed in Washington and the case against him is an unfair attempt to blame rebels for the crime, human rights activists said Friday. The rights groups said the man, far from being a member of the Free Papua Movement, has close ties to the Indonesian military, which is fighting the insurgency.