MEP backs petition on West Papuan independence
05 October 2005
Green Euro-MP Caroline Lucas has joined calls for the UN to hold anindependence referendum in West Papua after the Green Party adopted a policymotion condemning the UN-sponsored 'sham' Act of Free Choice which led toWest Papua formally joining Indonesia in 1969.
"The so-called Act of Free Choice in West Papua was a sham in which just1,022 West Papuans hand-picked by the Indonesian military regime wereforced to vote for Indonesia - at a cost of more than 100,000 lives andongoing, systematic violations of West Papuans' human rights," said DrLucas.
"The UN must conduct a review of the whole process under which West Papuawas annexed by, and recognised to be a part of, Indonesia - and conduct anew, genuinely free, independence referendum in the province."
Dr Lucas has joined parliamentarians and campaigners from around the worldin calling on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to review the Act of FreeChoice - known on West Papua as the 'Act of No Choice' - and bring a halt tohuman rights violations in West Papua.
Since Indonesia annexed West Papua, at least 100,000 (and as many as300,000, according to some estimates) indigenous Papuans have been killed bythe Indonesian military, and human rights violations - including torture,extra-judicial killings, rape, arbitrary arrest and detention and denial offree assembly and free speech - continue today.
The conflict is intensifying after West Papuans rejected anIndonesian-drafted 'autonomous' status in August. Indonesian troops havepoured into West Papua leading to a heightened spate of attacks in villagesin recent weeks which have forced 6,000 from their homes.
The Green Party has adopted a new policy condemning the UN's role in the Actof Free Choice after members of the Oxford-based Free West Papua Campaignaddressed the party's annual conference in Lancaster.
Members of the party's interim policy committee voted overwhelmingly onSaturday to call for an immediate end to human rights violations in theprovince, the withdrawal of the Indonesian military in favour of UNpeacekeepers, and a new referendum on independence, free and open to allindigenous West Papuans.
Dr Lucas added: "I am delighted the party has decided to campaign forfreedom and peace in West Papua. Their struggle, for independence, freespeech, democracy and control over their cultural and physical resources,mirrors the Green Party's campaign for peace, social justice and protectingthe environment worldwide."
ENDS
Notes to editors:
1. The policy motion adopted by the Green party reads:
Noting that, on August 12th 2005, West Papuan leaders, supported by ademonstration of 100,000 West Papuans, rejected Indonesia's imposition of'Special Autonomy Laws' on the territory as a final solution to the ongoingstruggle for West Papuan independence;
Noting reports, from Amnesty International and West Papuans themselves, ofan escalation of the Indonesian military's violations of West Papuans'human rights, especially but not exclusively a heightened spate of attackson villages which have forced at least 6,000 refugees to flee into thejungle in recent weeks - many of whom are now dying of starvation andexposure;
Noting the ongoing build-up of Indonesia's military presence in West Papua,including the recent deployment of an additional 15,000 Indonesian troops tothe territory;
The Green Party believes:
a.. The West Papuan people were denied their internationally-recognisedright to self-determination by the fraudulent 1969 'Act of Free Choice'b.. That the West Papuans have a continuing right to self-determinationc.. That the Indonesia must immediately halt all violations of WestPapuans' human rights, and those responsible for violations should be heldaccountable in lawd.. That the United Nations must conduct, as soon as possible, a free andfair referendum on self-determination, involving all West Papua's indigenouspopulation
2. For more information on the Free West Papua Campaign seewww.freewestpapua.org
3. For further details of the online petition seewww.petitiononline.com
For more information please contact Ben on 01273 671946, 07973 823358 orben@greenmeps.org.uk
www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk
