Indonesia accused of Papua atrocities

[struggle4progress]

19.8.2005 08:05:37

.. the Indonesian military is accused of committing systematic genocide in the province of West Papua.

Citing eyewitnesses to military campaigns which have destroyed whole villages in the remote highlands region, the report details military involvement in acts of arson, theft and destruction of property, rape, torture and arbitrary disappearances.

The report produced by the University of Sydney's Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, the Papuan Church, and human rights investigators, is based on a two-year investigation ...

http://www9.sbs.com.au/radio/index.php?page=wv&newsID=118490


<edit:>
Indonesia Military Commits Genocide in Papua, Study Alleges

<snip> A team from the center spent two years from 2003 to study the Indonesian military's activities in Papua. The military has also been supporting militants to counter the separatist movement in Papua, the center said in its report posted on its Web site. The Indonesian government denied the allegations.

"A culture of impunity exists in Indonesia, which sees its highest manifestation in Papua and Aceh,'' authors of the report John Wing and Peter King said. Indonesia's ``armed forces act as a law unto themselves with no real accountability for crimes against the Papuan population." <snip>

Indonesia has been fighting the rebel Free Papua Movement in its easternmost province, where resources include oil, gas, gold and copper. The province, formerly called Irian Jaya, shares an island with Papua New Guinea and became part of Indonesia in 1963. <snip>

Indonesia should "immediately commence demilitarization of the Papuan highlands, ending military campaigns and human right abuses, which have included killings, rape, torture, arson, destruction and theft of property," the report said. <snip>

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000081&sid=alrMqatRvQqY&refer=australia

[fishnfla]

1. Oil , lumber, minerals, or hydroelectric

greed inc

[struggle4progress]

2. The continuing colonial enterprise: rape, pillage, or murder -- nothing ..

.. will get between the man with a machine gun and the resources he wants to seize ...

[bemildred]

3. E. Timor, Aceh, Sulawesi, Kalimantan.

Just one big happy family.

[MisterP]

4. let's give them even more money!

*Kissinger mode off*

[bemildred]

6. And guns, don't forget the guns ... nt

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. It should never have become part of Indonesia

Like Indonesia, it was a Dutch colony, but the Papuan tribes are not related ethnically to the majority Malay population of Indonesia. In 1963, Sukarno essentially had a tantrum and demanded that the Dutch handed it over.

It would have been more logical to merge that region with the other half of the island, which was held by Australia at the time and eventually became the nation of Papua New Guinea.

The excuse for represssion that the Indonesians used earlier was that they have five "legal" religions, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism, and that most of the Papuans don't practice any of them, so they need to be forcibly "civilized."

However, they have also been oppressive toward the people of Aceh and East Timor, who DO practice the five "legal" religions (Islam in Aceh and Christianity in East Timor), so I suspect that the Indonesian government is simply made up of conformity freaks.

[MisterP]

10. they were ruled by that butcher Suharto and his junta for 33 years!

[splat@14]

7. A visit by Wolfowitz right after the tsunami started US military aid.

I wrote to one of my senators in January about the US dropping the military embargo we had on indonesia due to their army's atrocities as a result of Wolfowitz's visit. The senator, being Kay Bailey Hutchinson, did reply saying it was an important part of our continued relief efforts in the area, post tsunami. I wrote her back saying she should be ashamed and sooner or later we'll be fighting against our own weapons again.........they never learn!!



Published on Friday, February 18, 2005 by Foreign Policy in Focus
After the Tsunami: Military Aid For Indonesia?
by Frida Berrigan

Although few Americans had heard of Aceh before the tsunami, they poured millions of dollars into Indonesian westernmost province that helped survivors rebuild and recover. More than 100,000 Indonesians, mostly from Aceh, were killed when the wall of water swept over the coastline.

Unfortunately, now that the tsunami has receded from the media spotlight, Washington and Jakarta are using the tragedy to push for restoration of military ties.

A long-time U.S. ally, Indonesia has been under a military embargo for over a decade because of its military’s brutal track record of repression and human rights abuses. After the September 11 attacks, Jakarta vowed cooperation in the war on terrorism. The Bush administration is seeking to restore military ties as a reward.

With help from friends in the Pentagon and White House, Jakarta donned a “moderate Islam” mantle and the Bush administration is heralding it as the world’s largest Muslim democracy. While Indonesia revamps its image and repairs relations with the U.S., it isn’t addressing the reasons military aid was suspended in the first place. Instead, the Asian country continues its pattern of abusing human rights, engages in corruption and allows the military to act with impunity.

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0218-32.htm

[Julius Civitatus]

8. Another atrocity to the long list of Indonesia's crimes

East Timor, Banda Ache, Papua... Indonesia has been extremely cruel to those who do not agree with their brutal regime. They are a bunch of bastards who were financed and supported by (surprise, surprise) Richard Nixon and Kissinger.

[Julius Civitatus]

9. Papua is the last place on earth with authentic hunter-gatherers

completely distinct from the rest of the world's population, who are mainly a product of the farm revolution that took place 10,000 years ago.

Papua still has many intact tribes of real hunter-gatherers in their original state. I fear Indonesia would just exterminate them. It's horrible.