45 years ago on the 1st May 1963, the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA) transferred responsibility for West New Guinea to Indonesia.

45 years later the oppression of the West Papuan people continues. The latest report titled "The Practice of Torture in Aceh and Papua 1998-2007" (by a number of church groups and non-governmental organisations ), documents hundreds of cases of human rights abuse in West Papua and Aceh between 1998 and 2007.

In the report it states:

"it can be concluded that the use of torture is long standing in the police and military and is committed in a systematic and widespread manner and the victims are civilians in Aceh and Papua. Because of that the government of Indonesia must take the responsibility to ensure criminal prosecution for acts of torture which occur in Aceh and Papua, some of which can already be classified as crimes against humanity".

In the past month there has been a number of arrests of West Papuans because of their involvement in protests and for simply displaying the West Papuan national flag, The morning Star.

Joe Collins from AWPA said "the Australian Government should be raising the ongoing human rights abuses being committed by the police and military in West Papua with the Indonesian Government. We have a moral duty to do so. Just before the so called act of free choice in 1969, which the West Papuans call the act of no choice, Australian officials removed two West Papuans leaders from a plane (in Australia's then colony of PNG), just weeks before the UN supervised vote in West Papua. They were on their way to the UN in New York carrying testimonies from many West Papuan leaders calling for independence. Because of Australia's involvement, they never had a chance to plead their case". Australian officials removed them at the request of the Indonesian foreign minister.

The Australian Government should be supporting the call by the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation (WPNCL) who is asking for dialogue with Jakarta to resolve the ongoing conflict in West Papua.

Joe Collins said "West Papua is one of Australia's nearest neighbors and we should not be ignoring the human rights situation in the territory. The Australian Government should be doing everything it can to get Jakarta to the negotiation table with the West Papuan leadership to try and solve peacefully all the issues of concern in West Papua.

For more information contact Joe Collins mob. 04077 857 97

Background

The Republic of Indonesia was created in 1949 when the Indonesian people won their struggle for independence against their former colonial masters, The Dutch. West New Guinea, due to its distinct Melanesian population, was retained as a colony by the Dutch and during the 1950s, the Dutch government prepared the territory for independence. However, President Sukarno continued to claim that West New Guinea should be part of Indonesia and when his demands were not met, armed conflict ensued in 1962.

Under pressure from the United States to come to terms with Indonesia, the Dutch agreed to secret negotiations and in August 1962, an agreement was concluded in New York between the Netherlands and Indonesia. Under this agreement, the Dutch were to leave West New Guinea and transfer sovereignty to UNTEA (the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority).

After 7 months the UN transferred power to Indonesia with the provision that a referendum be held to determine Papuan preference for independence, or integration with Indonesia.

From the moment Indonesia took over the administration from UNTEA, the oppression of the West Papuan people began.

A sham referendum called the "Act of Free Choice" was held in 1969, under UN supervision. Only 1022 hand-picked voters, one representative for every 700 West Papuans, were allowed vote, and under coercion, voted to remain with Indonesia.

The West Papuan people call this the 'act of no choice'. A UN official, a retired undersecretary-general, who handled the takeover said: "Nobody gave a thought to the fact that there were a million people who had their fundamental human rights trampled," and "It was just a whitewash. The mood at the United Nations was to get rid of this problem as quickly as possible".