Leaflets against tyranny

Members of the KNPB distribute leaflets 

On August 12, twenty-one young Papuans were arrested for distributing tracts calling for a peaceful protest against the New York agreement of August 15, 1962. 

This was a political manipulation between the US, the Netherlands and Indonesia, which led to the handover of West Papua to the Republic of Indonesia, without the consent of the Papuan people. 

At the same time, these Papuan activists also wanted to commemorate a racist incident that occurred four years ago in Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city, where a group of Papuan students were assaulted in their dormitory while being shouted "Monkeys!"

What are these two dozen young Papuans with leaflets in hand, compared to tens of thousands of heavily armed Indonesian soldiers and police? The incident prompted an immediate backlash from the solidarity group Australia West Papua Association (AWPA). It urged Canberra to admonish Jakarta to be fair.

“Canberra should be urging Jakarta to control its security forces in West Papua, otherwise we will see more arrests and more human rights abuses." said Joe Collins, AWPA's spokesperson. Collins said it was of “great concern” that Indonesian security forces could again stage a crackdown in “their usual heavy-handed approach to any peaceful rallies held by West Papuans” during this coming week. In the past, West Papuans had not only been being arrested for peaceful action but had also been beaten, tortured – and some people had faced charges of treason." (Quoted from asiapacificreport.nz)

For Markus Haluk, executive director of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua - ULMWP:

"What the police are doing today to the KNPB is a blockade of democratic space. Racism in West Papua is still happening: 60 years of Indonesian occupation (1963-2023), isn't it synonymous with systemic racism against Papuans in all areas of life? There is no justice, no peace, no prosperity and no future for the Papuan people in Indonesia. The time has come for West Papua to return to the fold of Melanesia and to seek with it a democratic solution to self-determination, independence and political sovereignty".