45 Years of Indonesian rape of West Papua

When the Dutch handed West Papua over to President Suharto on this day in 1963, 2.5 million indigenous people lost their freedom, and 45 years of human rights abuses and pillaging of the nation’s natural resources by Indonesia began.

To quote Benny Wenda, the UK leader of the West Papuan Independence Movement who is petitioning the Brown government today: “Many tears will be shed by my people today. That’s why I am here at the Prime Minister’s house in Downing Street. I bring with me to his door the bones of thousands of West Papuans killed by Indonesia. We need the UK to be our voice crying for freedom and justice!”

Please consider adding your support to the West Papuan cause – details of how to do so are on their website: http://freewestpapua.org/

Published: 5.1.08 / 12pm
Tags: indonesia, politics, west papua