From infoPAPUA.org
FREE WEST PAPUA (UK): Good news! West Papua in The Guardian. ACTION: Please E-MAIL EDITOR!
By FREE WEST PAPUA CAMPAIGN (UK)
Mar 21, 2008, 23:17
FREE WEST PAPUA CAMPAIGN (UK)
Oxford, 20th March 2008
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Dear friends of West Papua,
GOOD NEWS! WEST PAPUAN VOICE IN U.K. MEDIA AT LAST!
ACTION: PLEASE E-MAIL/WRITE TO GUARDIAN EDITOR
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As you may have already seen, an article on BP's highly controversial West Papua natural gas project was published in The Guardian newspaper here in the UK yesterday (19 March 2008).
The article, "Shattered illusions", copied below, was written by the Guardian's Environment Editor, John Vidal, using information sent to Benny Wenda from our sources inside West Papua.
It's incredibly dangerous for Papuans to speak out against BP like this inside West Papua. BP Tangguh is regarded by the Indonesian regime as a "national asset", so any Papuans who oppose the project are regarded as "enemies of the state". John Vidal's Guardian article is so important because it has allowed West Papuans directly affected by BP's Tangguh project to be heard by the outside World.
NOW WE NEED YOUR HELP ...
FWPC needs your help to get the voice of West Papua AS A WHOLE heard by the outside World, via the international media.
Please e-mail/write to the Editor of the Guardian (see how below):
1) THANKING the Guardian for John Vidal's crucially important article (Shatterd illusions, March 19) which will help bring WEST PAPUA out into the international spotlight. For most of the 45 year long history of Indonesia's bloody occupation, the outside World has tragically ignored the oppression of the indigenous West Papuan population by the Indonesian military, but now, at long last, John Vidal's article shows that things are beginning to change.
2) ASKING the Guardian to REPORT REGULARLY on the continuing suffering of the West Papuan people under Indonesian occupation and on the Papuans' peaceful struggle for self-determination. (You may like to mention that last week, on March 13, Indonesian police arrested nine people in Manokwari, West Papua, during a demonstration against a 2007 Indonesian law banning the display of "separatist symbols", including the West Papuan Morning Star Flag. One of the nine in custody is a 16-year-old boy. See yesterday's Human Rights Watch report "Free Peaceful Protesters in Papua", also copied below).
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How do I send a letter to the Guardian?
You can email messages at letters@guardian.co.uk,
fax letters to 0207 837 4530,
or post them to: The Editor, The Guardian, 119 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3ER.
We do not publish letters where only an email address is supplied; please include a full postal address and a reference to the relevant article. If you do not want your email address published, please say so. We may edit letters.
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THANK YOU! This is a really important chance to show The Guardian (and the international media as a whole) that you care about what's happening now in West Papua.
Papua Merdeka!
Free West Papua!
Richard
Richard Samuelson
Free West Papua Campaign, Oxford, UK.
www.freewestpapua.org
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BP WEST PAPUA: Shattered illusions
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/mar/19/fossilfuels.indonesia
When BP set out to build a £3.5bn natural gas plant in remote West Papua, local villagers hoped for a bright future. But all is not well.
John Vidal
The Guardian,
Wednesday March 19 2008
Recently, with hundreds of Indonesian troops just out of sight in scenes of intense security, Prince Andrew, the government's official business envoy, dropped in on Bintuni Bay, one of Indonesia's mots remote corners. The plan was to inspect BP's new £3.5bn natural gas plant. What the Duke of York probably did not know was that he had walked straight into a row between the giant oil company and local villagers.
The British firm had promised its new neighbours, who live on the edge of the pristine Papuan rainforest, better homes, long-term jobs and full environmental protection when it started several years ago to build its giant plant to extract 14 trillion cubic metres of gas. But with the gas about to flow, village leaders have now complained bitterly that the company has reneged on its agreements.
In a long letter sent to the Guardian and in telephone conversations, Papuan leaders requesting anonymity have complained that the company has blocked off their fishing grounds, attracted a flood of migrants to the villages, provided very few jobs for local people and is now siding with the Indonesian authorities against native Papuans who are engaged in a long struggle for independence.
"Everything we feared when BP came to the area has come true," claims one community leader. "People are not allowed to catch any fish or shrimps in the exclusive zone established by BP. More and more migrants are coming because of the plant. There is very high inflation because there is lots of money around. The number of local people from Bintuni Bay who work in the project is very low. Local Papuans are never recruited as full-time members of staff."
BP has been desperately keen to avoid the experiences that it, Shell and other oil companies, have had in Africa and Latin America, where oil and gas extraction has left a trail of pollution, human rights abuses and distressed people with no share in the wealth extracted from their land. The company pledged from the start to set new social and environmental standards, and to be a model of corporate social responsibility. It hired some of the best development NGOs to offer advice.
Papuan leaders say they were initially impressed when BP completely rebuilt one fishing village, poured money into the nearby communities, and employed leading environment, human rights and health groups to advise them on how to avoid conflict and bring prosperity to the villages. But as the project has come closer to opening, people have flooded into the area. "Conflicts between local communities and migrants have begun," says the leader. "The migrants [from all over Indonesia] have come here to look for jobs, and are staying. There are about 1,500 in the village of Babo and 1,200 in Bintuni. They are the majority now in all the villages," he says.
The Tangguh gas field, believed to be eventually worth more than £100bn to BP and the Indonesian government, is one of the largest in the world. Known as a "super giant", it is contracted to provide gas for China, Mexico and the US, and should last 30 years.
But the Papuan leaders, who have long been pressing for independence from Indonesia, say they fear that BP is taking sides with the Indonesian government, as they are bypassed from all the lasting benefits. According to documents seen by the Guardian, less than £30m was budgeted for the Tangguh social programme over six years, including money for resettlement and security; nearly £15m was earmarked for "consultants" and administration. The nine most affected villages in the area are being given £15,000 a year for five years, and others in the area £5,500 a year.
"BP has built 100 houses for 100 heads of families. All looks wonderful," another village leader says. "But the people actually suffer mentally from their new settlement. Their access to the sea is limited because of the company's exclusion zone, and they cannot expand their gardens. They do not have enough [space] to expand their families."
Criticism of BP's employment policy was levelled at the company last year and the Tangguh Independent Advisory Panel, chaired by Lord [David] Hannay, to monitor the project, encouraged BP to employ more Papuans and to educate the local population about the "demobilisation" process when the construction work is complete.
Although nearly 6,000 people have been employed in constructing the plant, fewer than 500 will be employed by the company after the building is complete later this year. Of these, only around 50 are expected to be Papuan.
"People's dependency on BP is very high. There will be problems when the work ends. There will be economic and psychological degradation," say Papuan leaders in their letter to the Guardian.
"We predicted that BP and Indonesia would not care about the very survival of the Papuans on their land and their nation. We expected that BP and Indonesia would continuously destroy our forests and our trees and pollute the rivers and seas," they says. "And we feared that BP and Indonesia would bring misfortune for the Papuans by employing skilled workers from outside West Papua, claiming that we Papuans are not 'skilled workers'. I have to tell you that our worst predictions and fears have come true."
BP denies that it is causing environmental damage, or that it is favouring non-Papuans. The company said it is bound by strict guidelines about how many Papuans should be employed. A spokesman says: "We think about 30% of the construction workforce is Papuan. The intention is that there will be long-term employment for Papuans. We are prioritising the most affected villages," says a BP spokesman.
But he also concedes that Papua is large and that it has been difficult to identify who is an original inhabitant of these villages. On the fishing situation, he points out that BP has provided outboard motors to some people so they can travel further to fishing grounds. "We believe we have set new standards for the BP group. There has been a lot of progress but there is no complacency," he says.
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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, 19 March 2008
“Raising a flag at a demonstration is a non-violent act, but in Indonesia it can land you in prison. If Indonesia wants recognition as a rights-respecting nation, it should stop imprisoning people for acts of peaceful expression.”
“Crucial Indonesian legal reforms on free expression have no bearing on events in Papua. Unfortunately, once again there is a different set of rules for Papua and other areas with separatist sympathies than for the rest of Indonesia.”
“Committing to the human rights treaties Indonesia recently ratified means more than signing on the dotted line. It means stop punishing people for peaceful acts of expression.”
Elaine Pearson, Deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
19 March 2008
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH report (see below):
Indonesia: Free Peaceful Protesters in Papua Activists Face Charges for Non-violent Expression
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/03/19/indone18314_txt.htm
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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Indonesia: Free Peaceful Protesters in Papua.
Activists Face Charges for Non-violent Expression.
(London, March 19, 2008) – The Indonesian government should order the immediate release of nine Papua activists arrested for displaying the Papuan Morning Star flag, Human Rights Watch said today. All charges against them should be dropped.
On March 13, police arrested nine people in Manokwari, West Papua, during a demonstration against a 2007 law banning the display of separatist symbols, including the Morning Star Flag. One of the nine in custody is reported to be a 16-year-old boy. Indonesia’s arrest and detention of peaceful activists violates the internationally recognized rights to freedom of expression and assembly.
“Raising a flag at a demonstration is a non-violent act, but in Indonesia it can land you in prison,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “If Indonesia wants recognition as a rights-respecting nation, it should stop imprisoning people for acts of peaceful expression.”
In July 2007, Human Rights Watch welcomed the ruling of the Indonesian Constitutional Court declaring unconstitutional certain provisions in Indonesia’s criminal code prohibiting free expression. Despite the ruling, several Indonesian laws continue to restrict freedom of expression in violation of international law, including article 6 of Government Regulation 77/2007, which prohibits the display of the Morning Star Flag in Papua, the South Maluku Republic Benang Raja flag in Ambon and the Crescent Moon flag in Aceh.
“Crucial Indonesian legal reforms on free expression have no bearing on events in Papua,” said Pearson. “Unfortunately, once again there is a different set of rules for Papua and other areas with separatist sympathies than for the rest of Indonesia.”
Human Rights Watch is also concerned that the nine individuals facing trial for breaching Regulation 77/2007 will also be charged with makar, which translates into English as “rebellion.” In the past, Papuan activists openly supporting separatism have been sentenced to a 20-year prison term for the peaceful expression of their political views. On March 12, two pro-independence demonstrators in the province of Maluku were sentenced to 15 and 17 years in prison for possession of the South Maluku Republic Benang Raja flag.
Human Rights Watch takes no position on Papuan claims to self-determination, but it supports the right of all individuals, including independence supporters, to express their political views peacefully without fear of arrest or other forms of reprisal.
Peaceful campaigning for self-determination is a right protected by international human rights law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Indonesia ratified in February 2006.
“Committing to the human rights treaties Indonesia recently ratified means more than signing on the dotted line,” said Pearson. “It means stop punishing people for peaceful acts of expression.”
Related Material
“Protest and Punishment: Political Prisoners in Papua”
Report, February 21, 2007
More of Human Rights Watch’s work on Indonesia Country Page
Indonesia: Police Abuse Endemic in Closed Area of Papua Press Release, July 5, 2007 Out of Sight: Endemic Abuse and Impunity in Papua’s Central Highlands Report, July 5, 2007
From: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/03/19/indone18314.htm
© Copyright 2003, Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA
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Richard Samuelson
Free West Papua Campaign, Oxford, UK.
www.freewestpapua.org
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