West Papua Merdeka/Freedom curtailled with Oz Govt assistance ? : Melbourne Indymedia

If you need some background to the issue of West Papua please try this
<http://freewestpapua.com/issue?PHPSESSID=c4799418f129b29d25c693661fcd1684>
link.

Or this <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_New_Guinea>
Wikipedia entry for a full history.

++++++

Hi there,

The Howard-Downer Government has touted the security agreement as:

- highly necessary to defend us from the ever-growing threat of
terrorism.

- a valuable opportunity to strengthen militarism, military training
& intelligence sharing with Indonesia.

- necessary to protect Australia from the threat of asylum seekers.

- setting the benchmark for management of other Pacific region
engagements.

Others have described it as:

- a shameless attempt to silence dissent.

- a tragic sell-out of free speech, expression and fundamental human
rights.

- the first step in criminalising defenders of human rights &
justice.(yes! In Australia)

- bowing to the pressure of the corrupt Indonesian Military Regime.

- a failure of leadership to stand up for basic Australian values.

- a slap in the face for people seeking justice for past crimes and
human rights abuses in the Asia Pacific (think: Balibo 5 incident in
Sydney
<http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/apology-set-to-defuse-balibo-row/2007/05/31/1180205427798.html>
).

What we've been doing about it.

During the last six months supporters of a Free West Papua have
denounced the current security agreement. We believe it sends the
message to the Indonesian Military that Australia condones the status
quo and won't do anything to improve the situation on the ground for
ordinary West Papuans.

So, we've promoted a security agreement that would allay some of the
concerns held by people in the community. We've asked that no treaty
be signed unless there is:

1. Inclusion of clauses that allow access to international media into
West Papua . (Currently it's a media black hole and journalists can
only "sneak in" on tourist visas).

2. Inclusion of safeguards against humans rights abuses. (Despite the
mention of military training and nuclear cooperation in the Security
Agreement, there is not a single clause to protect against human
rights abuses).

Sadly, all indications are that there won't be any compromises and
they will rush the treaty through before the end of June. There has
been no delegation to visit and research the conditions in West
Papua, even despite calls last year from figures such as Andrew Bolt.

This is despite:

- over 90%
<http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/6december2006/subs.htm>
of public submissions (academics [ 1
<http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/6december2006/subs/sub28.pdf>
,2
<http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/6december2006/subs/sub2.pdf>
], human rights groups
<http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/6december2006/subs/sub17.pdf>
, women's groups
<http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/6december2006/subs/sub16.pdf>
, jurors
<http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/6december2006/subs/sub39.pdf>
, Churchs[ 1
<http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/6december2006/subs/sub23.pdf>
, 2
<http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/6december2006/subs/sub44.pdf>
,3
<http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/6december2006/subs/sub24.pdf>
, 4
<http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/6december2006/subs/sub26.pdf>
], civil liberties groups
<http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/6december2006/subs/sub22.pdf>
, West Papua solidarity groups[NSW,
<http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/6december2006/subs/sub6.pdf>
VIC
<http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/6december2006/subs/sub47.pdf>
, WA
<http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/6december2006/subs/sub8.pdf>
, SA
<http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/6december2006/subs/sub18.pdf>
) being critical of the agreement, or raise serious concerns(Peter
Beatie
<http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/6december2006/subs/sub51.pdf>
, University Representatives
<http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/6december2006/subs/sub22.pdf>

<http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/6december2006/subs/sub22.pdf>
, Aust Conservation Foundation
<http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/6december2006/subs/sub36.pdf>
);

- thousands of petitions from people across Australia and the world
saying the treaty should not be signed without humans rights
safeguards and free media access.

- ongoing military operations and refugee crises in West Papua.

What can you do right in 2 minutes?

So, we are asking all readers of this email to make one final effort
to sway the decision. Let the Treaty Review Committee, and the
Government know that ordinary Australians don't want them sell out on
Basic Human Rights.

Please, send a personal message to these address:

1. ----Cut and Paste: Members of the Parliamentary Committee on
Treaties---

jsct@aph.gov.au <mailto:jsct@aph.gov.au>
, Andrew.Southcott.MP@aph.gov.au
<mailto:Andrew.Southcott.MP@aph.gov.au>
, Kim.Wilkie.MP@aph.gov.au <mailto:Kim.Wilkie.MP@aph.gov.au>
, senator.andrew.Bartlett@aph.gov.au
<mailto:senator.andrew.Bartlett@aph.gov.au>
, senator.carol.brown@aph.gov.au
<mailto:senator.carol.brown@aph.gov.au>
, senator.ian.macdonald@aph.gov.au
<mailto:senator.ian.macdonald@aph.gov.au>
, senator.mcgauran@aph.gov.au <mailto:senator.mcgauran@aph.gov.au>
, senator.sterle@aph.gov.au <mailto:senator.sterle@aph.gov.au>
, senator.trood@aph.gov.au <mailto:senator.trood@aph.gov.au>
, senator.wortley@aph.gov.au <mailto:senator.wortley@aph.gov.au>
, D.Adams.MP@aph.gov.au <mailto:D.Adams.MP@aph.gov.au>
, Michael.Johnson.MP@aph.gov.au
<mailto:Michael.Johnson.MP@aph.gov.au>
, Michael.keenan.MP@aph.gov.au <mailto:Michael.keenan.MP@aph.gov.au>
, Margaret.May.MP@aph.gov.au, andrew.lamingmp@aph.gov.au
<mailto:Margaret.May.MP@aph.gov.au>
, Bernie.Ripoll.MP@aph.gov.au <mailto:Bernie.Ripoll.MP@aph.gov.au>
, bruce.scott.mp@aph.gov.au <mailto:bruce.scott.mp@aph.gov.au>

2. ---Cut and Paste: A Message from below (or think of your
own!)-----

- Don't sign any treaty that doesn't allow free international media
access to West Papua.

- Don't sign any treaty that doesn't include basic human rights
safeguards.

- Don't sign any treaty in my name that doesn't protect the basic
right of free speech and assembly.

- West Papuans are welcome in my country to protest against the
military occupation of their homeland.

- Don't sign the treaty without safeguards for basic human rights.

- Don't sign the treaty unless the media black hole is opened up.

- If we share intelligence with Indonesia the result could be
imprisonment for human rights defenders!

- Increasing militarism will not solve the underlying causes of
unrest in West Papua.

- Telstra might have been sold off, but the integrity of our Defence
Forces is a national asset that isn't yours to sell!

- 77% of Australians support self-determination for West Papua.

- Support those sections of Indonesian Society who want justice for
past human rights violations.

Ok you get the idea! Please take the time to do this!

Thanks so much,

Edan Baxter & James Cocking

------------

For people interested in getting involved in the campaign to raise
awareness about West Papua, we suggest reading this
<http://nautilus.rmit.edu.au/forum-reports/0604a-burchill.html>
, and then checking out
http://www.freewestpapua.com.

Also there is an online petition here
<http://freewestpapua.com.au/>
for people to sign.