Vitalis Yogi Trisna, Jakarta – Coinciding with the commemoration of 50 years since the New York Agreement, Papuan National Solidarity (NAPAS) held a protest action in front of the United States Embassy in the Gambir area of Central Jakarta on Wednesday August 15.

"We are calling on the United States government to investigate human rights violations committed by PT Freeport through a legal trial in the United States", said action coordinator Marthen Goo. NAPAS also called on the US government to end military cooperation with Indonesia.

The New York Agreement was signed on August 15, 1962 in New York. According to Goo, the agreement represented the first chapter in the suppression of the Land of the Cenderawasih (Bird of Paradise, West Papua). "Indonesia, Holland and the United States intentionally made the agreement without involving representatives from the Papuan nation", said Goo.

The demonstration proceeded in an orderly fashion with traffic passing in front of the US Embassy largely unaffected.

[Translated by James Balowski.]