1) West Papuans
now in hiding
2) Tony Abbott clashes with
senators over West Papua comments
3) Abbott backs Jakarta over West
Papua issue
4) Abbott warns West Papuan activists
5) Activists leave consulate but plead
for help
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http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2013/s3864155.htm
1) West Papuans now in hiding
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Broadcast: 07/10/2013
Reporter: Emma Alberici
Human rights lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, who has been working with West Papuan asylum seekers for ten years discusses why three West Papuans scaled the fence to the Australian Consulate in Bali over the weekend and where they are likely to be now.
Transcript
EMMA ALBERICI, PRESENTER: The three West Papuans who entered the Australian consulate in Bali over the weekend are now said to be in hiding in fear for their lives.Exactly what happened after they scaled the two-metre high fence of the Australian compound in the early hours of Sunday morning remains the subject of debate.
Prime Minister Abbott insists the activists left of their own accord after delivering a letter.
Reports from those in touch with the men say the Consul-General Brett Farmer warned that the Indonesian Army would be called if they didn't leave.
Human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson has been working with West Papuan asylum seekers, including leader-in-exile Benny Wenda, for more than a decade. She's a member of the group International Lawyers for West Papua and she's the director of legal advocacy at the Bertha Foundation in London. She joins us now from our office in Westminster.
Jennifer Robinson, welcome to Lateline.
JENNIFER ROBINSON, INT. LAWYERS FOR WEST PAPUA: Thanks for having me, Emma.
EMMA ALBERICI: The West Papuan issue is on our doorstep and involves our biggest and most important neighbour. How much recognition does the independence cause have in the rest of the world?
JENNIFER ROBINSON: It is increasingly gaining recognition, I think, particularly within the Melanesian Spearhead Group and other countries within the region. But historically, Australia has always supported Indonesia's claimed territorial integrity. The background context to this current dispute is of course the disputed territory of West Papua, which was annexed by Indonesia in circumstances that international law academics have said amount to a grave breach of the right to self-determination. Since that time, it's estimated that more hundreds of thousands of West Papuans have been killed by Indonesian forces. And that repression and discrimination continues today. So it's in that context that the three West Papuans entered the consulate seeking protection from Australia and seeking that Australia starts raising human rights concerns in light of this ongoing human rights abuse.
EMMA ALBERICI: Now you represent the leader of the Free West Papua movement, who now has political asylum in Britain. He recently said the entire province had been enslaved by the Indonesian military and he described the situation as genocide. What's the evidence for that?
JENNIFER ROBINSON: It's not just Benny Wenda who's making the claim of genocide. Academics at Sydney University have also made the claim that it is a slow-moving genocide. This is on the basis that it's a heavily militarised region, and as I said before, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed or disappeared by the Indonesian forces. Today the situation remains incredibly difficult. Peaceful activists who dare to speak out against human rights abuse, or more sensitively for Indonesia, raise concerns about asking for a referendum for self-determination, are routinely arrested, beaten and tortured. This is a very serious situation and one that the international community has not to date paid sufficient attention to.
EMMA ALBERICI: I know you haven't spoken directly to the three West Papuan men who entered the Australian consulate in Bali over the weekend, but what do you think they were hoping to achieve by their act?
JENNIFER ROBINSON: I understand that they are now in Bali in hiding out of concern for their safety. It is clear from the face of the open letter that they published - that has been published in The Guardian that they were seeking that the Australian Government raise human rights concerns in West Papua and ask Indonesia to allow international observers and foreign journalists entry to West Papua to verify what's going on. Now, they were not going to ask for independence; they were going to seek these very legitimate concerns. It is within the power of the Australian Government, and indeed other governments in the region, to raise these legitimate human rights concerns with Indonesia. If the situation is, as Tony Abbott said today, getting better and not worse, then it shouldn't be a problem. It's only logical that they ought to have foreign observers and international organisations in there to verify that fact.
EMMA ALBERICI: What was your reaction to the Prime Minister's other comments today that people seeking to grandstand against Indonesia are not welcome in Australia?
JENNIFER ROBINSON: Prime Minister Abbott's responses, both on his trip to Indonesia last week and more recently in response to this request, show that he has no commitment to free speech. Mr Abbott has promised Indonesia that he will take harsh measures against protestors in Australia, and last time I checked, we were a free country in Australia, unlike Indonesia, and free to speak out publically on matters of political opinion and indeed to peacefully protest. So that Mr Abbott would make those assurances to Indonesia is merely an empty promise and would only serve to reinforce Indonesia's mistrust of Australia. Either that, or he's proposing to undermine the free speech protections that we enjoy in Australia.
EMMA ALBERICI: Australia though has responsibilities under the Lombok Treaty it signed with Indonesia in 2006 to be a good neighbour and not to interfere in Indonesia's internal affairs.
JENNIFER ROBINSON: That's correct. But asking about human rights concerns and asking for international observers to have access to West Papua is not only consistent with our supposedly human rights-based foreign policy, but it's in Indonesia's own interest. If, as Indonesia claims, that West Papua is a safe place, that there are no human rights abuses in West Papua, then it should not be a problem to have access for international organisations. If - again, if Mr Abbott is going to claim that the situation in West Papua is improving, then let us see proof of that. If he is indeed relying on Indonesian Government assurances, we know from the past, for example, the Indonesian Government asserted that there were no political prisoners in Indonesia, but we know for a fact that there are at least - more than 50 political prisoners in Indonesian prisons in West Papua at present. So Mr Abbott ought not be relying entirely on Indonesian Government assurances of that fact.
EMMA ALBERICI: And just by way of background, Jennifer, a referendum on the takeover of West Papua was held in 1969, but the members of the Free Papua Movement have long argued that that was rigged by the Indonesian military. What role has the United Nations played in trying to resolve this issue that's now more than 40 years on?
JENNIFER ROBINSON: Shamefully, the United Nations turned a blind eye at that time to Indonesia's whitewash in that vote for self-determination. As a matter of international law, Indonesia was required to provide the people of West Papua a vote for self-determination which complied with international law, which meant that every person over the age of 18 had a vote. In that vote, only 1,000 people were rounded up and forced to vote in favour of integration with Indonesia under threat of violence. UN officials that were present at the time have since admitted that it was a whitewash, and as I said before, international academics have said that it was a grave breach of international law. The Free West Papua campaign and indeed a widespread civic-led movement within West Papua are calling on the UN to revisit that referendum and to provide them the vote they ought to have been provided in the late '60s. And it is Indonesia's sensitivity towards the risk of this happening, that is why they don't want international observers and they don't want foreign journalists in the province.
EMMA ALBERICI: We're out of time. Jennifer Robinson, thanks so much.
JENNIFER ROBINSON: You're very welcome.
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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/07/tony-abbott-west-papua-comments
2) Tony Abbott clashes with senators over West Papua comments
PM claims things are 'getting better, not worse' in West Papua, in response to questions about protest incident at consulate
Tony Abbott has bought himself a fight with a key Senate kingmaker after declaring that West Papua is better off under Indonesian rule.
On Monday, Abbott told reporters in Bali that “the people of West Papua are much better off as part of a strong, dynamic and increasingly prosperous Indonesia”.
The Australian prime minister appeared to shrug off reports of human rights abuses in the troubled province, arguing the situation in West Papua was “getting better, not worse”, courtesy of reforms implemented by the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Abbott’s remarks were part of a response to questions about an incident in Bali where three West Papuan students occupied the Australian consulate on Sunday morning to protest about conditions in the province.
The prime minister was implicitly critical of the incident. “Australia will not give people a platform to grandstand against Indonesia,” Abbott said. “We have a very strong relationship with Indonesia. We are not going to give people a platform to grandstand against Indonesia. I want that to be absolutely crystal clear.”
Abbott has been looking to soothe tensions in the Australia-Indonesia relationship prompted by the Coalition’s policy on unauthorised boat arrivals.
The prime minister has used a state visit to Jakarta and his subsequent visit to the Apec conference in Bali to send public messages that Australia respects Indonesia’s sovereignty in its waters and its territory. He said on Monday he wanted the pro-Jakarta messages on billboards, and up in “flashing lights”.
But the remarks from Abbott on Monday prompted a swift retort from Democratic Labor party senator John Madigan, one of the crossbench senators Abbott will have to court to achieve his legislative agenda in government.
Madigan is a strong supporter of West Papuan independence. The DLP senator has already called on the government to give the students involved in Sunday’s incident sanctuary in Australia.
“I’d like to know what evidence has been presented to Mr Abbott for him to be so adamant that the situation in West Papua is getting better, not worse,” Madigan told Guardian Australia on Monday. “Is he simply taking the Indonesian president’s word for it? I certainly hope not.
"If Mr Abbott is so sure that things are improving in West Papua, why won’t he support calls for international journalists and human rights observers into the region? It just doesn't add up.”
Madigan was joined by the South Australian independent senator Nick Xenophon, who said the students involved in Sunday’s protest were simply making “modest and respectful” demands of Australian consular officials. “I’m not supporting separatism for West Papua but I am supporting the close monitoring of human rights,” Xenophon said. “Why aren’t journalists allowed into West Papua?”
Abbott also received criticism on Monday from businessman Ian Melrose, owner of the Optical Superstore chain and a prominent human rights campaigner. Melrose bankrolled a series of pro-West Papua TV advertisements for Madigan earlier this year.
Melrose told Guardian Australia: “The reason journalists aren’t allowed into West Papua is because of human rights abuses.
“If Tony Abbott is 100th the Christian he tells the public he is, he wouldn’t be doing what he is doing and and saying what he is saying. He would be standing up for human rights in West Papua and he’s not.”
The businessman praised the “bravery” of the West Papuan students involved in the protest at the Australian consulate.
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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/abbott-backs-jakarta-over-west-papua-issue/story-fn59nm2j-1226734279460
3) Abbott backs Jakarta over West Papua issue
TONY Abbott says activists who want to "grandstand" against Indonesia are not welcome in Australia.
The Prime Minister today reiterated his support for Indonesia's sovereignty over West Papua while insisting three activists who breached the walls of the Australian consulate in Bali left the compound voluntarily.
The three men - Rofinus Yanggam, Markus Jerewon, and Yuvensius Goo - climbed the walls of the consulate in the early hours of yesterday morning to highlight claims of abuse and ill-treatment of West Papuans in the restive Indonesian province.
The men, who hoped to gain the attention of world leaders in Bali for the APEC summit, left the compound before 7am but it has since been alleged they were threatened with arrest by Australian Consul-General Brett Farmer.
Mr Abbott today insisted the activists left of their own accord after a “lengthy discussion” and warned Australia would not be party to protests aimed at undermining Indonesia's authority over West Papua.
“We have a very strong relationship with Indonesia and we are not going to give people a platform to grandstand against Indonesia,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the APEC summit.
“And people seeking to grandstand against Indonesia, please, don't look to do it in Australia. You are not welcome.”
Mr Yanggam claimed consular officials threatened to call the Indonesian military unless the trio of protesters left.
“We don't accept you to stay here. If you stay here for five minutes, I will call the Indonesian army to come and take you out”, Mr Yanggam quoted Australian officials as saying.
Australian Greens Senator Richard Di Natale said the three “effectively had a gun to their head”.
“After hearing directly from the West Papuans involved, we now know the truth is that they only (left) after being threatened with being handed over to the Indonesian police,” he said in Melbourne.
Senator Di Natale, the founding co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of West Papua group, said West Papuan protesters would face imprisonment if handed over to the Indonesian authorities.
Indonesia, which took control of Papua from the Dutch in 1963, has for a long time fought a separatist movement in the province and faced various allegations of systematic abuse of the native population.
There have been numerous incidents of torture committed by the Indonesian military, while the local population also complains that much of the wealth generated in the resource-rich province flows back to Jakarta while West Papuans remain poor.
Mr Abbott says the “situation in West Papua is getting better not worse”.
“I want to acknowledge the work that President (Susilo Bambang) Yudhoyono has done to provide greater autonomy, to provide a better level of government services and ultimately a better life for the people of West Papua,” he said.
The protest had threatened to overshadow what was Mr Abbott's first involvement in a meeting of world leaders since he was elected Prime Minister last month.
AAP
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4) Abbott warns West Papuan activists
TONY Abbott has issued a stern warning to West Papuan activists, declaring he would not allow Australia to become "a platform to grandstand against Indonesia".
The Prime Minister's comments come as Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said three West Papuan activists who made a series of political demands at the Australian consulate in Bali left the building voluntarily in a taxi.
Speaking at the APEC summit, Mr Abbott said he wanted to stress "in flashing neon lights" that Australia's relationship with Indonesia was strong and people seeking to grandstand against the country were "not welcome".
"We have a very strong relationship with Indonesia and we are not going to give people a platform to grandstand against Indonesia -- I want that to be absolutely crystal clear," he said.
Mr Abbott said Australia respected the territorial integrity of Indonesia, and claimed the situation in West Papua was "getting better, not worse".
Ms Bishop dismissed suggestions by the Greens that Australian officials threatened to hand three West Papuans over to the police. "I understand that the three men left voluntarily, that there were no threats made at any time," she told The Australian.
She said the three men delivered a letter to the Australian consulate, spoke with the consul-general, and then telephoned a friend to collect them. She said when the friend could not be reached, they phoned for a taxi.
"I am advised that the consul-general did not make any threats at any time," Ms Bishop said.
Greens spokesman for West Papua Richard Di Natale had earlier called on Ms Bishop to "to provide a clear and detailed explanation of events immediately".
"After hearing directly from the West Papuans involved, we now know the truth is that they (left) only after being threatened with being handed over to the Indonesian police," Senator Di Natale said.
"They didn't leave voluntarily -- they effectively had a gun to their heads," he said, claiming the consulate's actions had "put the lives of these three brave young men in grave danger".
- See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/abbott-warns-west-papuan-activists/story-fn59nm2j-1226734347742#sthash.DEd42u4X.dpuf
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http://www.smh.com.au/national/activists-leave-consulate-but-plead-for-help-20131006-2v1nn.html
5) Activists leave consulate but plead for help
A source said the group, who had earlier wanted to “seek refuge” in the building, decided for their own safety that they should leave. They hailed a taxi and drove away before 7am local time (10am AEDST).
The incident raises questions about security at the Australian consulate just a week after Prime Minister Tony Abbott assured Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that he would not tolerate "grandstanding" by West Papuan activists.
The men said they were not demanding independence from Indonesia, but using the APEC meeting in Bali to ask Mr Abbott, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US secretary of state John Kerry to press Indonesia for greater freedoms and better treatment.
"We want these leaders to persuade the Indonesian government to treat Papuan people better. Human right abuse [sic] are our routine. Many of our colleagues protested and sought their political aspirations heard. But they end up prisons [sic] … We want the Indonesian government to lift the 50 year restriction it has imposed on West Papua. We want foreigners, including Journalists, diplomats, observers and tourists, to be able to visit West Papua freely without asking for special permits."
Mr Abbott arrives in Bali late on Sunday. If the men had chosen to stay, the incident could have caused acute embarrassment to both Indonesia and Australia.
At the consulate, security is heavy at the front but around the back, the wall is high but easy to scale. Part of it is a mesh fence because of construction at the neighbouring provincial forestry department building.
There are ladders nearby, as well as a local food stall near the wall, which could enable access via its roof to the consulate grounds.
The Australian government is saying the protestors left voluntarily, but Guardian Australia is reporting the men, Markus Jerewon, Yuvensius Goo and Rofinus Yanggam, left the consulate in fear for their lives because consul-general Brett Farmer threatened to call the Indonesian police and army.
“They told us: 'We don’t accept you to stay here. If you stay here for five minutes, I will call the Indonesian army to come and take you out,'” Yanggam is reported saying.
“I know that if I am arrested then my life will be over. I will have no control over my life any more. So better to get out now.”
Joe Collins of the Australia West Papua Association asked for a clarification from the Australian Consulate, saying it was "of great concern that they may have being coerced to leave, as the students would have great reason to fear the Indonesian security forces".
"There are ongoing human rights abuses in West Papua and the security forces have been banning and cracking down on recent rallies to try and stop international attention being focused on the territory," Mr Collins said.
A spokesperson from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade denied the claim.
"Consul-General Farmer did not make threats and explained to the three individuals that they were free to leave the premises voluntarily."
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