Please Sign the Petition to help get justice for West Papua

[Akyeame Kwame]

Please Sign the Petition to help get justice for West
Papua

Sent: Monday, October 03, 2005 12:12 AM
Subject: Please Sign the Petition to help get justice for West Papua



Please Sign the Petition Online at
http://www.petitiononline.com/unreview
and forward this email to help get justice for West Papua.

To: United Nations Secretary General
To: Secretary General United Nations
UN Plaza
New York NY 10017, USA

Appalled by the ongoing suffering of the people of West Papua, we join
a
growing list of international parliamentarians and non-governmental
organizations, and call on you as United Nations Secretary General to
initiate a review of the UN's conduct in relation to the "Act of 'Free'
Choice" in West Papua, 1968-69.

West Papua has entered its fifth decade of occupation by the Indonesian
military.

Crimes against humanity have been and continue to be perpetrated
against
the West Papuan people. An estimated minimum of 100,000 West Papuans
have
died since Indonesia took over in 1963. There have been systematic
violations of the human rights of West Papuans at the hands of the
Indonesian regime, including extra-judicial killings, rape, torture,
arbitrary arrest and detention, violations of the rights of freedom of
assembly and freedom of speech, and denial of free access to NGOs,
human
rights groups, international observers and the media to freely carry
out
their work.

In 1969, instead of a proper independence referendum, 1,022 West
Papuans
were rounded up and forced to declare - unanimously and in public -
their
"wish" to integrate West Papua into the Republic of Indonesia, then
ruled
by the brutal dictator Suharto. The population at the time was
estimated
at some 800,000 people, so a fraction of one percent of the people took
part.

The Act has been widely dismissed as a farce, yet no action has been
taken
to redress the injustice to date.

Former United Nations Under-Secretary General Chakravarthy Narasimhan,
who
handled the takeover, has since admitted that the process was a
"whitewash":

"It was just a whitewash. The mood at the United Nations was to get rid
of
this problem as quickly as possible. Nobody gave a thought to the fact
that there were a million people there who had their fundamental human
rights trampled. How could anyone have seriously believed that all
voters
unanimously decided to join his [Suharto's] regime?. Unanimity like
that
is unknown in democracies."

The United Nations had certain responsibilities in relation to the Act,
as
specified in the New York Agreement, an international agreement signed
at
UN Headquarters by Indonesia and the Netherlands on August 15, 1962.
However there is strong evidence that the UN failed to fulfill its
obligations under the Agreement. A representative of the UK mission to
the
UN said in July 1969:

"Our strong impression is that the great majority of United Nations
members want to see this question cleared out of the way with the
minimum
of fuss as soon as possible. the Secretariat, whose influence could be
important, appear only too anxious to get shot of the problem as
quickly
and smoothly as possible."

In the years 1962-69, an estimated 30,000 West Papuans were killed and
an
atmosphere of fear and intimidation pervaded the country at the time of
the Act.

Moreover, in the report of the Act by the then UN Secretary-General's
Representative Ortiz Sanz, it was stated that "an act of free choice
has
taken place. in accordance with Indonesian practice". The New York
Agreement referred to "in accordance with international practice".
Evidence of what was considered international practice at the time can
be
found in UN General Assembly Resolution 1541 (XV) of 1960. This
Resolution
states that the integration of one territory with another should result
from the "freely expressed wishes of the Territory's peoples acting
with
full knowledge of the change in their status, their wishes having been
expressed through informed and democratic processes impartially
conducted
and based on universal adult suffrage". This crucial discrepancy was
not
pointed out to the UN General Assembly, which voted to "take note" of
the
report of the Act.

Detailed substantiating documentation on the case for a review was
presented to your office on 26 March 2002.

An outline briefing is available at
http://westpapuaaction.buz.org/unreview and more background detail is
provided in "The United Nations and the Indonesian Takeover of West
Papua,
1962-1969" by Dr. John Saltford.

De-classified US documents released in 2004 and edited by Brad Simpson
available at http://www.gwu.edu/%7Ensarchiv/NSAEB...B128/index.htm
have further underlined the complicity. The US Embassy in Jakarta for
example told the US State Department in a cable dated July 2, 1969 that
"[private] political views of the UN team are. 95 per cent of the
Irianese
support the independence movement and that the Act of Free Choice is a
mockery".

Former Indonesian Ambassador to Australia Sabam Siagian said in March
2004
that the Act of Free Choice in 1969 was never viewed as a truly
democratic
exercise.

In December 2004 a British foreign office minister admitted in
parliament
that the handpicked representatives were coerced into declaring for
inclusion in Indonesia.

Given the overwhelming evidence, and appalled by the ongoing suffering
of
the people of West Papua, we therefore call on you as United Nations
Secretary General to initiate a review of the UN's conduct in relation
to
the "Act of 'Free' Choice" in West Papua, 1968-69.



Sincerely,

Sign Here Now and forward this email!
http://www.petitiononlinecom/unreview

West Papua Action
134 Phibsborough Road
Dublin 7
Ireland
http://westpapuaaction.org
+353 (0)1 860 3431
wpaction(a)iol.ie
+++++++++++++++++++++++
for human rights in West Papua
including the right to self-determination

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[Akyeame Kwame]

Why should Papua aspire to full independence?

http://www.infopapua.org/artman/publ...icle_117.shtml

Why should Papua aspire to full independence?
By WPNews Europe
Oct 10, 2005, 21:40

The factors that have caused Papuans' desire to be
free from Indonesia cannot easily be determined.
Papua's desire is rooted in many different factors
ranging from the issues of race, culture and
socio-political rights to economic reasons. It can
also be argued that, by and large, there are two
opposing views regarding Papua's demand to be
independent: Keeping its status as a provincial state
of Indonesia on the one hand, and freedom from
Indonesia as an independent state on the other hand.

Discovering the origins of Papua's aspiration to gain
independence will lead us to the long history of Dutch
occupation in the region, Indonesia's attempt to
integrate this region into its territory and also
Papua's struggle to defend its identity as Melanesian
in the midst of a modernization wave and of outsider
political influence.

Basically, the problem of Papua has been caused by the
Indonesian government. The Indonesian government tends
to hide the real history of Papuans. John Rumbiak, a
Papuan scholar suggests that Papua's independence is
not an easy thing to decide whether for Indonesia or
Papua. He identifies the Indonesian government in
Papua as meaning nothing but a new form of
colonialism.

It is ironic that, given their richness in natural
resources, Papuans are left impoverished. Colonial
powers that are mainly foreigners (sometimes
foreigners also refers to Indonesians from a Papuan
viewpoint) exploit Papuan resources without involving
indigenous Papuans in doing so. They have been
benefiting from the exploitation of Papua's rich
natural resources with no concern for the Papuans
themselves.

This policy is also accompanied by what Rumbiak calls
a racist policy. He states: "When Jakarta
transmigrates 'expert' agriculturalists from Java it
is also being racist, because Papuans already know how
to use the land."

Furthermore, Rumbiak proposes that possible ways to
solve all problems occurring in Papua are dialog and
non-violent approaches. Violence and a militaristic
approach would only worsen the situation and decrease
the trust of Papuans in the Indonesian government.

The most forceful factors that have caused Papuans to
desire to be free from Indonesia are the militaristic
"approaches" that have killed thousands of Papuans.
Through dialog, it would be clear what Papuans require
from Indonesia and what the Indonesian government
should do about Papua.

They propose three fundamental questions:

First, Papuans want to know about their history.

Second, they want Jakarta to handle and address
systematic violations of their civil and
socio-economic rights.

Third, they want to speak up about their identity
crisis as a Melanesian group within Indonesia.

However, the Papuans should be aware of the necessary
preparations to achieve independence and of what would
need to be done once independence was achieved. The
absence of this awareness would only lead Papua into
further trouble.

The difficulty of integrating Papua into Indonesia is
related to identity. They do not identify themselves
as Indonesians, but as Papuans.

Many Papuans believe that they belong to a sovereign
modern nation state, which was established on Dec. 1,
1961 through the raising of the flag.

When Habibie took over power from Soeharto, a group of
Papuan leaders demanded that Habibie grant what had
been granted to East Timor: autonomy or independence.
When Abdurrahman Wahid came to power, he seemed to be
more accommodative of Papua. The first thing he did
was to change the name of the region from Irian Jaya
to its original name of Papua.

Unfortunately, his government's generosity was wrongly
perceived as the readiness of Jakarta to give
independence to Papua.

In conclusion, the problems that accompany the issue
of West Papuan independence must be carefully weighed.
On the one hand, the Indonesian government should be
honest about West Papuan history and truthful in
relating the process of Papua's integration into
Indonesia. On the other hand, from Papua's side, it
should be realized that creating an independent modern
state is not simple.

The writer is a lecturer at the Muhammadiyah
University of Malang, currently studying at the
Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

[XXPANTHAXX]

I signed!!

[Akyeame Kwame]

Originally Posted by XXPANTHAXX

I signed!!

big ups...everyone should sign...WE spend too much time advocating for everyone but other Black People! Meda ase XXPANTHAXX, your commitment to Afrikan people is real!

AK

[Draptomania]

I did my part and also a little investigating Asante for giving me the heads up on this subject!!! I found this link: http://www.westpapua.net/ altho I can't read some of it...but a pic is worth a thousand words sometimes

[Jahness]

Greetings Everyone!

Warrior Akyeame, I signed.

Thank you for making a conscious effort to advocate on
behalf of our people in West Papua.

Peace & Blessings!

[Nandii]

petition signed ...thanks for that info

[Akyeame Kwame]

Originally Posted by Draptomania

I did my part and also a little investigating Asante for giving me the heads up on this subject!!! I found this link: http://www.westpapua.net/ altho I can't read some of it...but a pic is worth a thousand words sometimes

i'm glad u were inspired to do some more research on the topic. bro Runoko has been pumping the issue for a couple of years in his Global African Presence list serve. glad WE can do a little to be of service to other Afrikans in the world. Stay BlackNificent!

AK

[Akyeame Kwame]

Originally Posted by Jahness

Greetings Everyone!

Warrior Akyeame, I signed.

Thank you for making a conscious effort to advocate on
behalf of our people in West Papua.

Peace & Blessings!

anything for the BlackNificent, Jahness!

[Akyeame Kwame]

Originally Posted by Nandii

petition signed ...thanks for that info

Asante Sana for signing!!!

AK

[Jahness]

Please Sign the Petition to help get justice for
West Papua

Sent: Monday, October 03, 2005 12:12 AM
Subject: Please Sign the Petition to help get justice for West Papua



Please Sign the Petition Online at
http://www.petitiononline.com/unreview
and forward this email to help get justice for West Papua.

To: United Nations Secretary General
To: Secretary General United Nations
UN Plaza
New York NY 10017, USA

Appalled by the ongoing suffering of the people of West Papua, we join
a growing list of international parliamentarians and non-governmental
organizations, and call on you as United Nations Secretary General to
initiate a review of the UN's conduct in relation to the "Act of 'Free'
Choice" in West Papua, 1968-69.

West Papua has entered its fifth decade of occupation by the Indonesian
military.

Crimes against humanity have been and continue to be perpetrated
against the West Papuan people. An estimated minimum of 100,000 West Papuans have died since Indonesia took over in 1963. There have been systematic violations of the human rights of West Papuans at the hands of the Indonesian regime, including extra-judicial killings, rape, torture,
arbitrary arrest and detention, violations of the rights of freedom of
assembly and freedom of speech, and denial of free access to NGOs,
human rights groups, international observers and the media to freely carry
out their work.

In 1969, instead of a proper independence referendum, 1,022 West
Papuans were rounded up and forced to declare - unanimously and in public -
their "wish" to integrate West Papua into the Republic of Indonesia, then
ruled by the brutal dictator Suharto. The population at the time was
estimated at some 800,000 people, so a fraction of one percent of the people took part.

The Act has been widely dismissed as a farce, yet no action has been
taken to redress the injustice to date.

Former United Nations Under-Secretary General Chakravarthy Narasimhan,
who handled the takeover, has since admitted that the process was a
"whitewash":

"It was just a whitewash. The mood at the United Nations was to get rid
of this problem as quickly as possible. Nobody gave a thought to the fact
that there were a million people there who had their fundamental human
rights trampled. How could anyone have seriously believed that all
voters unanimously decided to join his [Suharto's] regime?. Unanimity like
that is unknown in democracies."

The United Nations had certain responsibilities in relation to the Act,
as specified in the New York Agreement, an international agreement signed
at UN Headquarters by Indonesia and the Netherlands on August 15, 1962.
However there is strong evidence that the UN failed to fulfill its
obligations under the Agreement. A representative of the UK mission to
the UN said in July 1969:

"Our strong impression is that the great majority of United Nations
members want to see this question cleared out of the way with the
minimum of fuss as soon as possible. the Secretariat, whose influence could be important, appear only too anxious to get shot of the problem as
quickly and smoothly as possible."

In the years 1962-69, an estimated 30,000 West Papuans were killed and
an atmosphere of fear and intimidation pervaded the country at the time of
the Act.

Moreover, in the report of the Act by the then UN Secretary-General's
Representative Ortiz Sanz, it was stated that "an act of free choice
has taken place. in accordance with Indonesian practice". The New York
Agreement referred to "in accordance with international practice".
Evidence of what was considered international practice at the time can
be found in UN General Assembly Resolution 1541 (XV) of 1960. This
Resolution states that the integration of one territory with another should result from the "freely expressed wishes of the Territory's peoples acting
with full knowledge of the change in their status, their wishes having been
expressed through informed and democratic processes impartially
conducted and based on universal adult suffrage". This crucial discrepancy was not pointed out to the UN General Assembly, which voted to "take note" of the report of the Act.

Detailed substantiating documentation on the case for a review was
presented to your office on 26 March 2002.

An outline briefing is available at
http://westpapuaaction.buz.org/unreview and more background detail is provided in "The United Nations and the Indonesian Takeover of West
Papua, 1962-1969" by Dr. John Saltford.

De-classified US documents released in 2004 and edited by Brad Simpson
available at http://www.gwu.edu/%7Ensarchiv/NSAEB...B128/index.htm
have further underlined the complicity. The US Embassy in Jakarta for
example told the US State Department in a cable dated July 2, 1969 that
"[private] political views of the UN team are. 95 per cent of the Irianese
support the independence movement and that the Act of Free Choice is a
mockery".

Former Indonesian Ambassador to Australia Sabam Siagian said in March
2004 that the Act of Free Choice in 1969 was never viewed as a truly
democratic exercise.

In December 2004 a British foreign office minister admitted in parliament
that the handpicked representatives were coerced into declaring for
inclusion in Indonesia.

Given the overwhelming evidence, and appalled by the ongoing suffering
of the people of West Papua, we therefore call on you as United Nations
Secretary General to initiate a review of the UN's conduct in relation
to the "Act of 'Free' Choice" in West Papua, 1968-69.

Sincerely,

Sign Here Now and forward this email!
http://www.petitiononlinecom/unreview

West Papua Action
134 Phibsborough Road
Dublin 7
Ireland
http://westpapuaaction.org
+353 (0)1 860 3431
wpaction(a)iol.ie
+++++++++++++++++++++++
for human rights in West Papua
including the right to self-determination

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[Kentake]

Hotep fam!,
I signed! ....all forum members dat pass thru dis thread should do the same!!

SANKOFA!,
Sistah Kentake.

[Jahness]

Originally Posted by Kentake

Hotep fam!,
I signed! ....all forum members dat pass thru dis thread should do the same!!

SANKOFA!,
Sistah Kentake.

Hotep to you also sister Kentake!

I appreciate you taking the time out to sign the petition. Our Afrikan family in West Papua needs all our support.

I agree with you that all forum that check the threads out should sign the petition.

Now as with all alerts we advocate on behalf of our extended Afrikan families around the world. It seems like not enough brothers and sisters are signing the petition. The drill remains the same, when they see the Action Alert Petition, they should sign it and then in the Alert thread they let us all here at the forum know that they have signed. I would look at some alerts with so many people viewing the thread but only a couple even taking the time to sign the petition.

To me that is sad because if we are about the business of activism, then we need to be helping all our people where ever they are at on this planet.

Thank you for your continued support and dedication.

Peace!

[G.O.D.F.A.T.H.A.]

I signed. Uhuru warrior!

[Jahness]

Originally Posted by G.O.D.F.A.T.H.A.

I signed. Uhuru warrior!

Greetings & Uhuru G.O.D.F.A.T.H.A.!

Thank you for your continued effort to help our people!
Your input is truly valued.

Peace & Blessings!