Australia West Papua Association (Sydney) ೪ ವೆಸ್ಟ್ ಪಪುಅ rasism

Sydney Rally photos + AWPA Letter + AFFWP+Greens statements + New website by ASAP/AWPA activist Monday January 23, 2006 at 01:29 AM bunyip@bigpond.net.au 61.2.99601698 Australia West Papua Association (Sydney), PO Box 28, Spit Junction, Sydney, Australia 2088 Photos from the 100-strong rally in support of the West Papuan refugees on Friday, 20 Jan, 2006 +++ Australia West Papua Association (Newcastle) letter to Prime Minister John Howard +++ Australians for a Free West Papua say: "Asylum seekers' move to Christmas is 'shocking'" +++ Greens demand: "Stall Indonesia treaty talks" +++ Raise the Flag and Cry Merdeka - New SafeCom website for West Papua (incl. Flag-making kit: The Morning Star) @ http://www.safecom.org.au/merdeka.htm click to enlarge west-papua-rally_sydney_jan-2006_sm.jpg, image/jpeg, 646x40022nd January 2006 Prime Minister John Howard Parliament House, Canberra Dear Mr. Howard, We are deeply concerned about Australia's impending signing of a security treaty with Indonesia. The clause recognising territorial integrity for Indonesia over West Papua further protects the Indonesian military's ability to continue their long-standing history of human rights abuses, without criticism. In an effort to combat terrorism in the region, through this treaty and training of TNI personnel, the Australian government is at risk of complicity in the TNI's record of abuse. The Australian government should uphold the highest standards of human and political rights and protection of innocent civilians, of which it has been neglectful regarding West Papua for many years (note 1969 Act of Free Choice 'sham' referendum). The recently arrived asylum seekers from West Papua have raised long-deserved media and political attention to the 40 year crisis which has been largely ignored by our government. Public awareness is also continuing to increase. The report on East Timor, recently presented to the United Nations, detailing 24 years of military oppression by the TNI and Kopassus, adds to the already comprehensive body of evidence (University of Sydney's report 'Genocide in West Papua?', 2005, and Yale Law School's report 'Indonesian Human Rights Abuses in West Papua...', 2004). We call on the government to postpone talks with Indonesia on the security treaty, until Indonesia withdraws its massive military presence from West Papua and demonstrates vastly improved standards in human rights issues. We also request that the Australian government provides the asylum seekers with the protection and justice that is their right under Australian law. Yours sincerely, Michael & Amanda Freund Australia West Papua Association (Newcastle) P.O.Box 345, Adamstown, NSW 2289, Australia. cc Alexander Downer, Minister for Foreign Affairs Senator Kerry Nettle (Greens) Senator Natasha Stott-Despoja (Democrats) Senator Kevin Rudd, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs (ALP) Sharon Grierson, MP for Newcastle (ALP) Kelly Hoare, MP for Charlton (ALP) ------------------------------------------------------------ Asylum seekers' move to Christmas is 'shocking' A Northern Territory human rights advocate says a group of West Papuan asylum seekers should be brought back from Christmas Island and housed in Darwin. The 43 Papuans arrived on Cape York on Wednesday and have been flown to the Christmas Island detention centre off Western Australia. There are concerns about possible links between their processing and a clash involving independence supporters in Papua, which left one person dead and two others injured. Rob Wesley Smith, the Darwin spokesman for "Australians for a Free West Papua", has likened the political situation in Papua to that in East Timor under Indonesian rule. He says the volatile political situation in the province is well known and the group deserves Australia's protection. "It's quite shocking really that people who've come to Australia for political asylum and it's quite clear from the sign on their boat and so on and what we know about them, that they then get sent on a seven-hour Hercules flight almost to the door of Jakarta - get them as far away from people who might help them in Australia," he said. Mr Wesley Smith says the group has a convincing case for asylum and should be quickly processed on the mainland. "On any standard they're likely to be given refugee status," he said. "There is plenty of accommodation in Australia, in fact there is empty accommodation in Darwin and we offered to accommodate them anyway and to send them out to Christmas Island is a farce." [Photo - see below] A human rights advocate says the sign on the boat, which accuses the Indonesian Government of genocide, makes it clear the Papuans are seeking asylum. (Torres News) from http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200601/s1552476.htm ------------------------------------------------------------ Stall Indonesia treaty talks: Greens AAP, January 21, 2006 AUSTRALIA must stall security treaty negotiations with Indonesia following the fatal shooting of four teenage civilians in West Papua, the Greens say. The four were reportedly on their way to school when the Indonesian military allegedly opened fire in a West Papuan village yesterday. One of the murdered teens, Moses Douw, was believed to be a close relative of a West Papuan man who was among those to land in Cape York on Wednesday in an outrigger that featured a large sign claiming military oppression in Papua. Greens senator Kerry Nettle says the Australian Government should immediately stall talks with Indonesia over a security treaty, which includes a clause requiring respect for "territorial integrity". "In that treaty there's a clause which Indonesia has put in which talks about Australia recognising the territorial integrity of Indonesia," Ms Nettle said. "That's concerning ... we should never sign into anything that means we can't comment on human rights abuses when they occur." She also expressed concern that Australian troops had recently recommenced training with the Indonesian military. "Nobody wants that to lead to a situation where Australian troops are involved with jointly training militias who might become active in West Papua or Aceh," she said. from http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17890751-29277,00.html ------------------------------------------------------------ Raise the Flag and Cry Merdeka - New SafeCom website for West Papua (incl. Flag-making kit: The Morning Star) ------------------------------------- http://www.safecom.org.au/merdeka.htm ------------------------------------- The first traditional Papuan boat - a canoe with outriggers - arrived on Australian shores this week from West Papua or Irian Jaya, as Indonesia has called it since 1962. Alas, the Australian Department of Immigration is now so beyond redemption that it declares for days that the families "have not declared to seek asylum", it burns the boat and starts an investigation to identify any people smuggling in this "breach of border safety" - while every person, no matter how little they know about the issues relevant for John Howard's Fortress Australia, can see that these are people sailing themselves to Australia, that they are no queue jumpers, and that they came to the nearest country to seek asylum from four decades of violence and killings, from reprisals and injust imprisonment for raising the Freedom Flag of West Papua, The Morning Star. Raise the Flag and Cry Merdeka Project SafeCom co-ordinator Jack H Smit outlines what happened since the Dutch relinquished colonial control over the country in 1962. A Foreign Minister with a huge nose [ --> http://www.safecom.org.au/merdeka.htm ] The Act of No Choice [ --> http://www.safecom.org.au/merdeka.htm ] The Drooglever Report [ --> http://www.safecom.org.au/merdeka.htm ] New Internationalist's summary [ --> http://www.safecom.org.au/merdeka.htm ] News from Copper and Gold Below are some links and summaries of articles about the Freeport mine in West Papua. Freeport, also known as Grasberg, is the world's biggest gold mine and second-biggest copper mine. Unconfirmed sources quote staff numbers of approx. 20,000 workers, i.e. it is a boom mining town... Australia's Rio Tinto reportedly now has also a large stake in the Freeport mine. There was a disturbing ABC Four Corners story about Freeport some years ago, reported by Mark Davis. The Four Corners Episode was called "Blood on the Cross". The ABC promo stated: 'Mark Davis investigates allegations about the role of the International Red Cross and the British military in a massacre in the Southern Highlands of Irian Jaya in May 1996. The story of what happened has never been told before.' http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/s39706.htm Murder at the Mine [ --> http://www.safecom.org.au/merdeka.htm ] Freeport mine: the Cairns dispute [ --> http://www.safecom.org.au/merdeka.htm ] The complex story of Freeport [ --> http://www.safecom.org.au/merdeka.htm ] Freeport Says It Paid Indonesia $1 Billion Since 2004 [ --> http://www.safecom.org.au/merdeka.htm ] The West Papuans arrive The Torres News photographer Damian Barker had the scoop when the boat arrived. The Torres News is an independent newspaper on Thursday Island, and they flew to the arrival location and made their pictures just in time - as soon as they were spotted the Howard government declared a "no-fly-zone" around the area where the asylum seekers were camped. The images are reproduced here with permission of Damian and The Torres News. Click on any of the links to The Torres News to read the article where the images were first posted. On the ground with the West Papuan asylum seekers [ --> http://www.safecom.org.au/merdeka.htm ] Resources and downloads News and media coverage The Project SafeCom News and Updates has an almost complete coverage of the issues arising from the arrival of the West Papuans. Click here to browse through the January 2006 archives, and click here to subscribe to the newsletter. Media releases * West Papuan killings and violence are part of a four-decade Indonesian pattern * Vanstone's refugee injustice when it suits her 'knows no borders' * WA Rights group remains skeptical about Vanstone's Papuan refugee assessment impartiality promise ----------------------------- Flag-making: The Morning Star ----------------------------- The Morning Star, the flag of West PapuaThe beautiful Morning Star has represented, for almost half a century, the will to have self-determination and freedom for the Papuan people and it has become the symbol for the West Papua Freedom movement, but many, many people have been beaten or imprisoned and worse for "illegally" flying the Morning Star. You can help the West Papua people and the refugees who just arrived in Australia by making copies of the Flag and using the Flag as a central symbol whenever you work for the cause of the West Papuans. The Morning Star flag was designed by Nicolaas Jouwe, Chairman of the National Liberation Council of West Papua (and one of two Papuans who argued against West Papuan integration into Indonesian territory at the United Nations in New York back in the early 1960s). The 13 stripes represent the tribes, the red strip the political struggle, the morning star the star of hope, and the red-white-blue stands for gratitude. (from koteka.net) In the top row of the table below, you'll find a linked WORD document for download. This one-sided document prints in colour and creates two flags under each other, and each flag is also "mirrored" at the left for the back of the design. All you need after printing is some kebab skewers and some glue, and you will have made two small flags. In the second row of the table below, you'll find a linked WORD document with a larger flag. This is a double-sided document and it creates one larger flag, also "mirrored" at the left for the back of the design. The third and fourth row of the table below contains links to the two larger images - printable on an A4 sheet of paper, front and back, they make one flag. Please use your fantasy: you can string hundreds of small flags on a strong piece of twine at your supporting event for the Papuan refugees! Maps Also in the downloads table, two maps of West Papua. [ --> http://www.safecom.org.au/merdeka.htm ] Other websites * http://www.zulenet.com/awpa/ * http://www.freewestpapua.com/ * http://www.koteka.net/ * http://www.asia-pacific-action.org/ * http://westpapuaaction.buz.org/ * http://www.geocities.com/awpab/ * http://www.papuaweb.org/ * http://www.tapol.org/ * http://www.angelfire.com/journal/issues/irian.html --> http://www.safecom.org.au/merdeka.htm www.zulenet.com/AWPA/ add your comments AWPA Newcastle activist, AWPA Sydney's Anne Noonan, Greens Senator Kerry Nettle by ASAP/AWPA activist Monday January 23, 2006 at 01:29 AM bunyip@bigpond.net.au 61.2.99601698 Australia West Papua Association (Sydney), PO Box 28, Spit Junction, Sydney, Australia 2088 click to enlarge west-papua-rally_sydney-speakers_jan-2006.jpg, image/jpeg, 800x400 www.zulenet.com/AWPA/ add your comments The 43 West Papuan Refugees' sign & flag on top of their boat by ASAP/AWPA activist Monday January 23, 2006 at 01:29 AM bunyip@bigpond.net.au 61.2.99601698 Australia West Papua Association (Sydney), PO Box 28, Spit Junction, Sydney, Australia 2088 west-papuan_refugees-boat_jan-2006.gif, image/gif, 500x249 www.zulenet.com/AWPA/ add your comments The 43 West Papuan Refugees resting under a tree near Mapoon, Cape York by ASAP/AWPA activist Monday January 23, 2006 at 01:29 AM bunyip@bigpond.net.au 61.2.99601698 Australia West Papua Association (Sydney), PO Box 28, Spit Junction, Sydney, Australia 2088 west-papuan_refugees-tree_jan-2006.gif, image/gif, 500x333 www.zulenet.com/AWPA/ add your comments LATEST COMMENTS ABOUT THIS ARTICLE Listed below are the 10 latest comments of 1 posted about this article. These comments are anonymously submitted by the website visitors. TITLE AUTHOR DATE Meanwhile in Canberra. Solidarity Sunday January 22, 2006 at 05:51 PM

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