19 November 2008
Human rights focus on West Papua
14 August 2006
By Dianna Vezich: Te Waha Nui Online
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New Zealanders can learn more about the suffering in their neighbouring Pacific countries next weekend.
A two-day conference at AUT University on August 18-19 will focus on the plight of West Papua, an Indonesian-ruled territory since 1963.
Organised by the Indonesian Human Rights Committee, the West Papua human rights conference will examine the situation in the Pacific colony.
“It’s very much an oppressive situation and the Indonesian military have a heavy presence in West Papua,” says Marie Leadbeater, spokesperson of the IHRC.
Environmental devastation is also a major concern among West Papuans.
Large international corporations are involved in illegal logging in the country and in exploitation of the largest gold mine in the world at Freeport.
One of the key speakers at the conference is Baptist leader Rev Socratez Sofyan Yoman, one of many West Papuans threatened and harassed by the military and police intelligence officers.
He has travelled internationally to protest for justice and human rights in his country.
Another important speaker is John Wing, coordinator of the West Papua project at the University of Sydney’s Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies.
Leadbeater emphasises that West Papuans want peace in their homeland.
“Their simple demand is dialogue. They’re not asking for self-determination overnight,” she says.
She believes peace will occur when there is demilitarisation in West Papua.
Links:
- West Papua conference programme
- BBC’s Rachel Harvey reports on Indonesian human rights abuses
- West Papua seminar news website
- West Papua website
