EXPLOITATION AND GENOCIDE IN WEST PAPUA

(SleeperCells) – West Papua is the western half of the island of New Guinea, bordering the independent nation of Papua New Guinea. It lies just 200km North of Australia. The land comprises a large mountainous interior, forest lowlands, large areas of coastal mangrove swamps and is surrounded by numerous small islands and coral reefs. Since the first days of Indonesian occupation, the people and land of West Papua have been under relentless attack. In an attempt to control the Papuans, and to claim the land to make way for resource extraction, the Indonesian army has systematically murdered, raped and tortured people in numbers that would constitute a genocide. Over the last fifty years Indonesia has carried out a social engineering project on a massive scale in West Papua by relocating hundreds of thousands of people from across Indonesia to live in camps cut into the forests of West Papua. This program of transmigration has long been heavily criticized and has brought problems for both the indigenous population and trans migrants alike. One of the worst examples of this is the displacement and killing of thousands of people to make way for the giant American-owned Freeport mine, the largest gold mine in the world, which has reduced a sacred mountain to a crater and poisoned the local river system. Indonesia guards West Papua aggressively not allowing journalists, diplomats or human rights workers into the country. West Papua is one of the Indonesia’s largest taxpayers. Many countries turn a blind eye to what is happening in West Papua due to their own financial interests in the country. Australia a quasi military ally of Indonesia through the 2006 Lombok Treaty (which was itself based on suppressing international support for West Papua), will find itself in an increasing awkward position: a self proclaimed promoter of human rights, yet a supporting actor in an occupation entailing crimes against humanity and genocide. The following video explains the exploitation and Genocide and the reason many countries keep quiet about it.

 

Video and article prepared by Craig Moore.