The Act of free Choice will go down in history as one of the biggest U.N. shams, a disgrace to the organization."
"With help from the U.S. under something called the “New York
agreement” which led to the “Act of Free Choice,” 1,000 Papuans out of a
population of 1.9 million were given the right to vote at gunpoint as
to whether to become part of Indonesia or not. What should have been a
one-person one-vote consultation of the Papuans about the future status
of their nation became an Indonesian-controlled mockery of the United
Nations policy on de-colonization and self-determination. The results
were obvious. Papua is now under the control of Indonesia."
New article from the USA. Awareness amongst the American public about West Papua is now growing everyday.
Article by Craig Harris.
I received a late-night phone call from my friend Mike who lives in
Portland, Oregon. “There’s going to be the 38th environmental law
conference at the University of Oregon and nine West Papuans have been
invited to attend.” My heart was pounding. Rarely are Papuans given the
chance to leave their open cage. It has been this way ever since West
Papua became a part of Indonesia in 1969.
West Papua is
Indonesia’s 26th province. It became so under a suspicious piece of
legislation called the “Act of Free Choice.” For years West Papua was a
Dutch colony, but Indonesia had plans for this remote corner of the
world. The Dutch were preparing West Papua for independence. It even
went as far as the Papuans creating their own flag, the morning star,
and a national anthem. However, a team of geologists had been exploring
this hidden corner of the world and came to the conclusion that
minerals, specifically copper were abundant. Now, Papua had taken on a
whole new perspective, one that has haunted the indigenous people of
this land for over 50 years.
In the 1960s the Republic of
Indonesia was finishing up becoming a country, but there was one
important link that needed to become part of the chain in Indonesia’s
vast archipelago. The Dutch had other ideas and continued to prepare the
Papuans for independence. But outside pressure by the United Nations
and the United States caused the Dutch to cave in. What followed will go
down in history as one of the biggest U.N. shams, a disgrace to the
organization.
With help from the U.S. under something called the
“New York agreement” which led to the “Act of Free Choice,” 1,000
Papuans out of a population of 1.9 million were given the right to vote
at gunpoint as to whether to become part of Indonesia or not. What
should have been a one-person one-vote consultation of the Papuans about
the future status of their nation became an Indonesian-controlled
mockery of the United Nations policy on de-colonization and
self-determination. The results were obvious. Papua is now under the
control of Indonesia.
For the Indonesians it seems to matter
little that the people of Papua belong to a different culture of the
South Seas, that they have animist beliefs, praying to the gods of the
water and sun, an economy based on pigs rather than money, and hardly
anything in common with the Asian, predominantly Muslim, culture that
abhors pork.
The indigenous, however, declared their jungle-clad
province to be an independent state. Armed with arrows and spears as
well as a few guns, obsolete booty of the Dutch, they founded the
organization Free Papua-Organisi Papua Merdeka (OPM). To this day, the
OPM pounds in practically every Papuans’ heart.
Of the nine
Papuans who were supposed to attend the Portland conference, seven had
their visas rejected. Not surprising! The two that did arrive gave a
presentation regarding Freeport-McMoRan, the giant U.S.-based mining
company that has been in West Papua since the 1960s. Originally a copper
mine, the company recently found gold in its diggings, and now Freeport
is considered one of the largest gold mines in the world. Freeport
extracts some eight million U.S. dollars every day. The mine is on land
that belongs to the Amungme tribe, who have been at war with the mining
company since its beginning.
The two Papuans at the conference
focused on the mine’s environmental destruction over the years. Massive
amounts of tailings from the mine’s processing have polluted sacred
river systems as well as destroyed animal life so vital as a food source
of these indigenous people. Villages have been relocated overnight as
the mining company pushes to devour more and more land.
Freeport
has contracted with the Indonesian government for at least the next 10
years. However, with the vast amounts of minerals in Papua, and Freeport
being the largest foreign taxpayer providing millions of dollars to the
Indonesian government, they could be around for awhile.
The two
Papuans received a standing ovation after their presentation. It was
their first time in America, and I could feel their excitement in
relaying their message to this large audience. A message that begins
with awareness leads to hope and ends in victory.
http://www.independent.com/news/2014/apr/19/west-papuas-riches-push-independence-further-away/
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