From infoPAPUA.org
International support for ongoing repression...
By Ben King
Jun 25, 2008, 00:42
Tale of West Papua
International support for ongoing repression...
http://grimeandreason.googlepages.com/taleofwestpapua
By Ben King [University of Sussex, England] 2008
An Overview:
This is a tale which, though I would consider myself well-read and well-informed, I had no clue about until Christmas 2007. Before that date, I would have struggled to believe that there was an answer to the question 'Which Genocide has the UK supported for the last 40 years' which would stand up to five minutes scrutiny. Unfortunately Noam Chomsky has once again made the world that little bit more tansparant for mine eyes to see, and the more I looked the more disgusted I was, not only with successive Western governments but also the media, who have singularly failed in their "job" as a moral check against unlimited state power.
This is a tale which beggers belief. Soon after the establishment of the UN, together with the moral and ethical leap forward that was the Universal Declaration of Human rights, the idealism with which it was founded was broken asunder. In 1969, following years of racist repression, the UN, with specific help from the US and UK governments, contrived with Indonesia to rig the elections which were meant to determine West Papuans right to self-determination, as stipulated by Resolution 1514 (XV) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 1000 people were handpicked and forced to vote on behalf of nearly a million people to vote for integration with Indonesia. The vote was unanimous and from then on the fate of the West Papuan people lay in the hands of Indonesia's military.
Not only did the International community know over a year in advance that the election was to be rigged, they also knew that repression and genocide were at the least a possibility. Despite this, the US and UK governments sold Indonesia massive amounts of arms, planes and helicopters which they duely used not only upon the people of West Papua but also in the genocide of East Timor. Diplomatic, strategic and logistical support were also forthcoming whilst hundreds of thousands of people die.
And why did the UN ratify the Act of Free Choice? At first an irrational and overblown propaganda fuelled ideological battle against the 'threat' of communism. As for why this practice of defending war criminals continues today, look no further than RioTintos huge Gold and Copper mine and BP's newly developed Gas fields. It would seems that so long as there are natural resources to steal, no amount of bloodshed or environmental damage can stop these "democratic", "morally up-standing" from taking the pragmatic (see: colonial/racist/evil) route of money over principles.
The current British government still stands by the Act of Free Choice. To this day they maintain that Indonesia's policies in West Papua are improving and that the special autonomy plan introduced in 2001 are having a beneficial effect. They are not. Today, people are still outinely beaten, arrested and tortured simply for trying to raise the West Papuan National Flag. If you are shocked by this, please read the 8000 dissertation at http://grimeandreason.googlepages.com/westpapua%2Cthefullstory I struggled to get the University to agree to (due to no-one in the History department having adequate knowledge of the subject: disgusting). The links for the article and the sources/references can be found on the right of this page. http://grimeandreason.googlepages.com/westpapuafootnotesandsources
Please also visit www.freewestpapua.org and email your local MP to register your disgust at this governments actions.
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For the entire essay see:
http://grimeandreason.googlepages.com/westpapua%2Cthefullstory
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