John Rumbiak

Visiting Scholar - Colombia University Center for Human Rights Study.

Chairman of International Affairs for ELSHAM.

As the leading Papuan human rights defender, and an advocate for self-determination for the people of West Papua, John Rumbiak is an inspiration to all those working for peace and justice in the world. ELSHAM is an internationally respected West Papuan human rights organization instrumental in efforts to establish West Papua as a Zone of Peace.

Patsy Spier

School teacher.

Patsy survived an ambush that took place at the gold mine of Freeport McMoRan—a US multinational corporation—on August 31, 2002. Patsy's husband Rick was killed in the ambush along with her school superintendent Ted Burgon, of Oregon, and her teaching colleague Bambang Riwanto, an Indonesian citizen. This case is currently being investigated by the FBI.

Call for UN Review

West Papua is currently occupied by the Indonesian military, whose reputation for brutality was underscored by its more-publicized abuses in its former colony, East Timor.

In 1961 America helped seal the fate of West Papua by brokering the “New York Agreement”—a deal that transferred administration of this territory from the Dutch to the newly independent Republic of Indonesia. The New York Agreement guaranteed Papuans the right to participate in a referendum where they would decide ‘(a) whether they wish to remain with Indonesia; or (b) whether they wish to sever their ties with Indonesia’. Instead of a referendum, just 1,022 people were rounded-up by the Indonesian military under its dictator Suharto. These people publicly declared their love for Indonesia. Not a single person dared to air a dissenting opinion.

Chakravarthy Narasimhan, who was then the UN Undersecretary, said in November 2001: "It was a whitewash. Nobody gave a thought to the fact that there were a million people there who had their fundamental human rights trampled. Suharto was a terrible dictator. How could anyone have seriously believed that all voters unanimously decided to join his regime?"

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THE MISSION of West Papua Action Network (WPAN) is to stop the human rights abuses and genocide in West Papua, influence U.S. foreign policy to implement the original terms of the New York Agreement, and pressure the United Nations to bring about a legitimate act of self-determination in West Papua.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Voice Your Opinion !

Join Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa in support of the UN Review. Your congress person can call on the UN Secretary General to initiate a review of the UN's actions in the Indonesian take-over of West Papua.

See: www.wpaction.org/letters

Form a WPAN Chapter!

To form a WPAN Chapter all you need are five committed members and a clear plan of action. See: www.wpaction.org/chapters

Join us in Washington!

From June 6^th-8^th WPAN will join the East Timor Action Network in lobbying our representatives. See: www.wpaction.org/lobby

West Papua

Speaking Tour of

the West Coast

Patsy Spier to join John Rumbiak from May 17-24

Thurs. May 13: Seattle - daytime talk (11-12:30) at UW Seattle, Thomson Hall, Rm 317 (206-543-9606 )

Sat. May 15: Seattle - 2:00-3:30pm presentation at the Art of Resistance conference (206-547-7735 )

Mon. May 17: Berkeley - 7pm talk at UC Berkeley, 182 Dwinelle Hall (510-540-0945)

Tues. May 18: 7pm talk at Stanford University, Palo Alto, History Corner, Building 200, Rm 203 (650-326-8837)

Wed. May 19: Santa Cruz events (831-227-4347)

Fri. May 21: Santa Barbara - 7pm talk at Karpellis Museum, 21 W. Anapamu (805-965-5938)

Sun. May 23: Los Angeles - 6pm talk at the Faith United Methodist Church, 1713 W. 108th Street

Mon. May 24: Los Angeles - 7pm talk at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 3300 W. Wilshire (for all LA events: 323-291-4114 )

Tues. May 25: Phoenix - 7pm talk at Arizona State University, Nursing 101 (480-965-0477)

Wed. May 26: Tucson (520-731-0572)

Thurs. May 27: John and Patsy arrive at Teluride Film Festival as speakers

* More events to be confirmed. Contact us for more info.