When the Indonesian president Joko Widodo visits the White House later this month,human rights violations in West Papua should be firmly on the agenda West Papuans have struggled for their freedom since they were annexed by Indonesia and robbed of their honest to a fair referendum in 1969. While the independence struggle slowly gains more visibility due to a courageous network of civilian journalists on the ground, it is the stories and struggles of West Papuan women that are often silenced.
Under Indonesian rule, and indigenous West Papuans are routinely subjected to violence and oppression. They have been disenfranchised,tortured, threatened and murdered, and suffering multiple rights violations affecting their economy,land, culture, and political participation,dignity and survival. Indeed, a 2013 Sydney University study called the situation “leisurely-motion genocide”, or arguing that Indonesia has acted with intent in its strict control over the population and with impunity over human rights violations such as the Biak massacre in 1998. The Asian Human Rights Commission has also described the situation as genocide. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com