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1 December, AWPA Wrote an open letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Australia
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| AWPA-News Australia |
An
open letter from the Australia West Papua Association to Australian Foreign
Minister Julie Bishop, asking her to call upon the Indonesian government to
allow West Papuans to celebrate their national day on 1st December without any
crackdown.
"Dear
Foreign Minister,
I am
writing to you concerning the issue of West Papua and the planned celebrations
of West Papuan National Day or National flag day which is on the 1st December.
Fifty
three years ago on the 1st of December in 1961, in the then Dutch colony of
West New Guinea, the West Papuan flag, called the Morning Star was flown for
the first time officially beside the Dutch Tricolor. The Dutch were finally
about to give the West Papuan people their freedom. However it is one of the
great tragedies that at their moment of freedom it was cruelly crushed and West
Papua was basically handed over to Indonesia in 1963.
Every
year the West Papuan people celebrate the 1st of December risking jail terms
for raising their banned national flag. Filep Karma is serving a 15-year jail
term because he was at a rally where the flag was raised on 1st December in
2004. Amnesty International recognizes him as a prisoner of conscience.
We
are concerned that at the planned rallies to take place this year the security forces
will again crackdown on peaceful demonstrators. The West Papua National
Committee (KNPB) has called on the West Papuan people to celebrate their
national day.
It
was reported that the Police Chief has said that they will deal firmly with
anybody raising the Morning Star flag and anybody doing so could be charged
under the article on treason.
On
Wednesday 19 November the security forces broke up peaceful rallies that had
been called to celebrate the 6th anniversary of the KNPB. One demonstrator was
shot in the leg and a total of 22 activists, 10 from Nabire and 12 from Dogiyai
were arrested.
The
Indonesian President Joko Widodo is reported to be keen to improve the
situation in West Papua and will visit West Papua in December to spend
Christmas with the Papuan people. The West Papuan people are hoping he will
make significant policies in relation to West Papua including allowing the West
Papuan flag to fly freely as it did under former President Abdurrahman Wahid.
The importance of the 1st December can be seen by the fact that the Vanuatu
Government has declared the 1st December this year as a National Holiday in
Vanuatu in support of the West Papuan people.
We
urge you to use your good offices with the Indonesian Government asking that
the Indonesian Government allow all peaceful rallies to take place on the 1st
December without interference by the security forces so as to avoid the
bloodshed and arrests that occurred on the 19 November and at other peaceful
throughout the past year.
We
urge you to also ask the Indonesian President to release Filep Karma and all
West Papuan political prisoners.
Yours
sincerely
Joe
Collins
AWPA
(Sydney)"
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