West Papuan talks

national | miscellaneous | news report Thursday March 07, 2002 16:01 by ciara ciaraoc_ at hotmail dot com

The following is a copy of part of a message sent to me. A few people from the Irish west papua support group are giving a talk at NUIGalway on tuesday, 12th march. The situation with West Papua is the people are some of the last stone age tribal people left in the world, however the indonesian government are killing and torturing them with the approval of the US and UK. They are trying to protect their land (which is rich in minerals) and heritage and culture. The latest info on the situation is below and you can catch updates and more info at the NUIG talks.

WEST PAPUAN ACTIVISTS IN GRAVE DANGER

Sem Karoba, global spokesman for the West Papuan
Student Alliance, and John Rubiack, from the Institute
for Advocacy and Human Rights have been given priority
listing by Amnesty International as being in grave
danger for their lives. It is understood that a
substantial bounty has been placed on their heads-
dead or alive. Only recently, the moderate
independence campaigner and leader of the Papua
Presidium Council, Theys Eluay, was assassinated in
similar circumstances.
Sem especially is well known in ecological and
activist circles in Europe; he's a veteran of several
speaking tours highlighting the struggle for West
Papuan autonomy. For over 40 years the people of West
Papua have been striving for independence, first from
the Dutch and then from Indonesia, which invaded the
country in 1963 with UN compliance. Indonesia is not
going to give up without a fight: West Papua (or Irian
Jaya as Indonesians call it) is incredibly rich in
mineral resources. Suppression of indigenous
resistance by the Jakarta regimes has always been
brutal. On December 1st 2000, the people of West Papua
declared 'Enough is enough: independence or death!'.
Indonesia has made it clear which option it would
prefer. Since that date countless Papuans have been
murdered, brutalised or rounded up and imprisoned. The
moderate Theys is dead and now the authorities openly
want the same fate for the unashamedly radical Sem
Karoba and John Rubiack.
"Anything that happens to me will bring a serious
impact on the Koreka people all over the world, in the
villages, the towns, the jungles. But they are
determined to eliminate people like us. They did it
clearly to Theys. They have done it to Arnold Ap, Tom
Waiggani, Willem Onde, Hans Bomay , Simon Alom and now
they are threatening John Rubiack and me"- Sem Karoba

WE ARE BEGGING YOU TO HELP

Hassling beareaucrats is normally a total waste of
time; in this instance it could save lives. When
trouble flared in the town of Wamena in 2000, people
from Europe contacting the Indonesian authorities and
asking searching questions in English made a serious
difference: no politician wants to attract an
international scandal! So we are asking EVERYONE who
can access a fax machine to fax Wamena Police Station,
West Papua, on

0062 969 31110

and demand to know IN ENGLISH about the fate of Sem
Karoba and John Rubiack. Mention Amnesty
International, mention what you will but PLEASE DO IT,
then DO IT AGAIN. These men's lives might well depend
on our actions.