The Bloodwood Tree

Boat people are people fleeing their country because they have no other option. Think of the Papuans back in 2006; Indonesia took over their country in 1969 by forcing about 1000 people to vote at gunpoint. Since then they’ve gone through with helicopters machine gun strafing swathes of jungle and towns, the army and Police torture […]

The article below comes from an American campaign. The US stopped training the Kopassus (Indonesia’s Special Forces) because they have a law that stops them from giving support to human rights abusers, but Bush started talks about restarting the training. Notice however that Australia never stopped training them despite strong public opinion. Indonesia does not […]

Isn’t it timely that now the new Balibo movie is hitting the screens, John Howard and Alexander Downer have suddenly revealed that they were on East Timor’s side the whole time? They ask us to take them at their word, but to do so we need to throw away a few other pieces of the […]

Melbourne father Drew Grant and security guard Markus Rattealo were both shot by snipers over the weekend at West Papua’s Freeport Mines. As questions are raised about “separatist” activity, the only piece of evidence to come to light so far is the fact that the bullets that killed the men were Indonesian military issue. Unfortunately, […]

The article below is taken from The Age: “Three years on, Papuans win the right to a life”

Welcome: Successful asylum seekers from back right, Hendrikus Sarau, Herman Wainggai, Julius Kogoya, Izack Marani and Richard Rumbiak and, front row, Marike Tebay, Papuana Motte with her baby, William Omabak, and Stefanus Akanmor. Photo: Justin McManus

 
Andra Jackson
June 2, […]

The response of Foreign Minister Stephen Smith’s office to the letter by the Monaro Christian Forum asking for an account of Australian action on human rights in West Papua was disappointing, but not necessarily surprising. The question is, where to now? Fortunately our Government is designed with a built-in conscience called the Senate. One of […]

The Dept. Foreign Affairs and Trade has written to the Monaro Christian Forum to defend the track record of this and previous governments in speaking up for human rights in West Papua.
A letter signed by about 50 Monaro Christians, community members and with the support of members of the Sydney Muslim community has asked for […]

A year into the Rudd Federal Government, the Monaro Christian Forum are asking for evidence that this government is taking seriously the human rights abuses that occur in West Papua. A petition is gaining signatures from Monaro Christians, but has also received interest from members of the Sydney Muslim community who have expressed deep concern […]

From Herman Wainggai, leader of the 2006 West Papuan refugees:
Dear ALL,
The right to self determination is a right held by West Papuan people – a right which has been recognised by United Nations as pre-eminent and preceding UN acknowledgment of Indonesia’s acquisition of ‘the Land of the Papuans’.
On 15th September 2008, a rally will be […]

 
Source: Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights’
Reports today confirm that it was the Indonesian Police who shot the local man Opinus Tabuni yesterday at remote highland city of Wamena in West Papua.
The UN World Indigenous People Day event where the shooting occurred, was attended by 20,000 West Papuan people, who had travelled mostly from […]