Freeport

Portrait of General Kelly Kwalik, Leader of the TPN/OPM

Submitted by rains on Wed, 12/23/2009 - 13:53

A. Biodata of General Kelly Kwalik

Full Name: Keletus Kelly Kulalok Kwalik

Nickname: Kelly Kwalik (KK)

Place and date of birth: In Lembah Jila, in 1955 (Can’t be sure of the exact date because they were not recorded.)

Tribal background: Tsinga, of the tribe of Amungme, (the clan that owns the mountain region where Freeport Corp. mine is presently located – a mine which is exploiting that area, mining copper, gold and other materials.)

Education: He finished his primary school education in Agimuka, and then continued to junior high school in Kokonau. However, he did not finish this level. In 1973 he continued his education at SGB ( School for training lower level teachers) at the Catholic Organisation for Education and Schooling at Bakti, Waena Jayapura, until 1974. According to the evidence of the Rector who was teaching there at that time, he did not go on to the Higher School for teachers, but in 1975 was sent out to teach at Agimuka.

Status: Married with children.

A. Leader in the struggle for independence:

1975-1979 : Deputy Leader III (Area Military Commander) Nemangkawi, Timika Papua

1980-2007 : Leader KODAP III Nemangkawi, Timika, Papua

2007- : Leader TPN-PB/OPM (National Liberation Army of Papua Barat/ Organisation for the Liberation of Papua)

Free West Papua - Bintang Kajora flag

Let the bird of paradise go free

Submitted by rains on Thu, 11/12/2009 - 11:39

The theft of West Papua's mineral wealth must end. The province's courageous resistance movement deserves nothing less

When General Suharto, the west's man, seized power in Indonesia in the mid-1960s, he offered "a gleam of light in Asia", rejoiced Time magazine. That he had killed up to a million "communists" was of no account in the acquisition of what Richard Nixon called "the richest hoard of natural resources, the greatest prize in South-east Asia".

In November 1967, the booty was handed out at an extraordinary conference in a lakeside hotel in Geneva. The participants included the most powerful capitalists in the world, the likes of David Rockefeller, and senior executives of the major oil companies and banks, General Motors, British American Tobacco, Imperial Chemical Industries, American Express, Siemens, Goodyear, US Steel. The president of Time Incorporated, James Linen, opened the proceedings with this prophetic description of globalisation: "We are trying to create a new climate in which private enterprise and developing countries work together for the greater profit of the free world. The world of international enterprise is more than governments . . . It is a seamless web, which has been shaping the global environment at revolutionary speed."

West Papua Report - September 2009

Submitted by rains on Fri, 09/04/2009 - 10:37

Summary: There were Indonesian security force attacks on Papuan civilians in August with reports of continuing assaults in Puncak Jaya and a new report from Yapen island where security forces terrorized villagers following security force murder of a tribal leader and former political prisoner. Amnesty International-recognized prisoner of conscience Filep Karma has been hospitalized after a week's delay in medical attention at the notorious Abepura prison. The Australian Senate has called for a return of the International Committee of the Red Cross to West Papua after Indonesian officials closed its offices there in the wake of an ICRC visit to Abepura prison this Spring. Despite the jailing of several Papuans alleged to have been behind July attacks in the area of the Freeport mining concession, attacks continued in August. Amnesty International has issued a public statement decrying the lack of progress in the investigation of the murder of Papuan activist Opinus Tabuni. Officials of the Home Affairs Ministry have met with Papuans in a rare dialogue. The discussion falls far short of the senior-level, internationally mediated dialogue that Papuans have been seeking for several years. More than a dozen international organizations meeting in Dili have urged an end to impunity for Indonesian security forces operating in West Papua and for a positive Jakarta response to Papuan calls for dialogue. Senior Papuans, in a late August conference, have emphasized the failure of "special autonomy" to address Papuan needs. Conservation groups have joined together to create a protected region in the waters off West Papua's "bird's head" region.

Contents:
*Security Forces Burn Homes and Churches in Puncak Jaya Region and Terrorize Civilians in Yapen Island
*Inadequate Medical Response to Illness of Papuan Prisoner of Conscience
*Australian Government Voices Concern Over Banning of ICRC in West Papua
*Attacks on Freeport Vehicles Continue in August Despite July Arrests
*Amnesty International Statement Decries Lack of Progress in Investigation of Murdered Peaceful Papuan Protester
*Low-Level Dialogue Between Papuans and Indonesian Government Officials
*At Conference in Dili International Call for End to Impunity in West Papua
*Addressing the Moribund "Special Autonomy" Policy
*Prominent NGO's Join Forces to Protect "Bird's Head" Region

West Papua Thumbnail

Op Ed: Will Australia allow another Balibo at Freeport?

Submitted by manukoreri on Thu, 08/27/2009 - 08:56

Op Ed: Will Australia allow another Balibo at Freeport?
By Nick Chesterfield

Often it takes the death of a white man to get the story of West Papua past the gatekeepers of the media. With the shooting death of Melbourne man Drew Grant at the massive and controversial Freeport mine in Timika, West Papua, a powerful spotlight has been shone on an otherwise ignored struggle that has claimed an estimated 564,126 people as of late 2008, according to analysis of demographic discrepancies by Sydney University.