More聽than 500 people were arrested in West Papua on December 18 during self-determination protests that were demanding the 聽聽be granted full membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group.
West Papua
The statement below was released by socialist groups from around the Asia-Pacific region聽on December 1 to coincide with protests across Indonesia and elsewhere in solidarity with West Papua鈥檚 struggle for freedom.
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We, the undersigned organisations, express our support to the struggle of the people of West Papua for self-determination.
December 1 marks the West Papua鈥檚 Independence Day for Papuans when the Morning Star flag was raised in 1961 before annexed by Indonesia. The flag symbolised the aspiration of many Papuans for a Free West Papua.
Papua New Guinea marked its independence from Australia 鈥 achieved in 1975 鈥 on September 16. But West Papua, a province on the same island, continues its struggle for self-determination in one of the world鈥檚 least publicised and longest-running independence struggles.
West Papuans won their independence from Dutch colonialism in 1963, but the country was invaded by Indonesia and officially annexed in 1969 after a controversial referendum in which just over 1000 people voted.
West Papuan independence leader Benny Wenda has been touring Australia, spreading awareness of the West Papuan struggle for freedom from Indonesian rule.
British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn publicly criticised human rights abuses in Indonesian-occupied West Papua and backed Papuan demands for self-determination, in a May 3 meeting at Britain鈥檚 House of Commons.
The meeting was a 鈥渉istoric step on the road to freedom for West Papua鈥, International Parliamentarians for West Papua (IPWP) said. At the meeting, a new declaration was signed calling for an internationally supervised vote on the independence of West Papua.
Punks For West Papua
Directed by Anthony Brennan
46 minutes
www.punks4westpapua.com
A friend's request to film a punk rock concert and a rushed drive across Sydney to do a last-minute interview with West Papuan independence leader Benny Wenda 鈥 without even knowing who the twice Nobel Peace Prize-nominated activist was 鈥 was the catalyst for filmmaker Anthony 鈥淎sh鈥 Brennan to make his award-winning film Punks For West Papua.
Indonesian police shot two senior high school students in Gorong Gorong, Timika, West Papua on September 28, the the next day.
The IPAHR said 17-year-old Kaleb Bogau was shot in the chest and died on the scene. Efrando Sabarofek, also 17, was shot in the chest and leg and is in a critical condition in the Timika hospital.
Demonstration in solidarity with West Papua. Honiara, Solomon Islands.
Indonesian police beat two West Papuan students in Yahukimo, Papua Province, on September 16 for handing out leaflets about the Pacific Islands Forum.
Civilians and hospitals are being targeted deliberately in Yemen by the Saudi-led Arab coalition airstrikes against the rebels in the country, officials from the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) medical charity said on July 30.
Marchers in Honiara in support of West Papua鈥檚 bid to join the MSG, June 19.
The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) granted the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) observer membership during a summit meeting in Honiara on June 26. It also upgraded Indonesia鈥檚 membership from observer to associate.
"After international pressure, today the Indonesian President has claimed that all foreign journalists are now free to report in West Papua without travel restrictions,鈥 the BBC reported on May 11.
鈥淭his is historic news as for 50 years the Indonesian government has banned foreign journalists from entering West Papua."
A global day of action on April 29 featured protests in several cities that called on the Indonesian government to allow free and open access into occupied West Papua for international journalists, humanitarian agencies and human rights groups.
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