Calls for PM Kevin Rudd to raise West Papua with Indonesian president

[Statement by the Australia West Papua Association Sydney - March 1, 2010.]
The Australia West Papua Association in Sydney has written an open letter to Prime Minister Rudd asking that he raise the human rights situation in West Papua with the Indonesian President during his March visit.

Joe Collins of AWPA said “we understand that it is in the interests of the Australian Government to have good relations and friendship with Jakarta and to have a stable region to our north, but good relations with Jakarta should not be at the expense of the West Papuan people who are struggling for their right to self-determination”.

AWPA believes the situation in West Papua is deteriorating. Since last July there have been 14 incidents of shootings around the Freeport copper and gold mine including one on the 11 July in which Australian mine technician Drew Grant was killed.

AWPA believes that Australia can contribute greatly to peace and stability in West Papua by supporting the West Papuan people in capacity building in the fields of health, education and in attaining economic security.

We are calling on the Prime Minister to urge the Indonesian President to,

*release all West Papuan political prisoners arrested for simply taking part in peaceful rallies which is their democratic right

*as a sign of good faith to the West Papuan people control the security forces in West Papua, urging that the security forces halt their intimidation of human rights defenders and peaceful demonstrators as a way of avoiding further escalation of the situation and avoiding possible bloodshed.

*As the West Papuan people are calling for dialogue with the Indonesian Government to try and solve the many issues of concern in West Papua, AWPA urges you to encourage the Indonesian President to dialogue with genuine representatives of the West Papuan people

*And finally the Australia West Papua Association urges you to cease all ties between the Australian military and the Indonesian special forces unit Kopassus, until such time that Indonesian military personnel involved in past human rights abuses are brought to justice and the culture of the Indonesian military becomes of an acceptable standard to both the Australian military and the Australian people.

We also encourage the government to send a cross -parliamentary delegation to visit West Papua to investigate the human rights situation in the territory.