Speaking tour May 13th-28th
US Involvement in the
History of West Papua and the Human Rights Situation Today
May 13, 2004 –
Today marks
the launch of the West Papua Action Network (WPAN), a grass-roots advocacy
group formed by U.S. citizens. The
leading Papuan human-rights defender John Rumbiak, of the Institute for Human
Rights Study and Advocacy (ELSHAM), will be speaking in ten cities across the
Western U.S. during the WPAN inaugural events.
Patsy Spier, an American schoolteacher who
survived an ambush at the gold mine of Freeport McMoRan in 2002, will be
joining Mr. Rumbiak for part of the speaking tour. WPAN has been founded to stop
human rights abuses and genocide in West Papua, the Indonesian-occupied half of
New Guinea. The aim of this network is
to educate policy makers about the history of U.S. involvement in the region. This speaking tour is co-sponsored by the
East Timor Action Network (ETAN).
John Rumbiak is briefly stopping in the U.S. on an
international tour. “Forty years ago,”
says Mr. Rumbiak, “Papuans became victims of Cold War politics. In 1962, the U.S. government helped broker
the transfer of West Papua from the Netherlands to Indonesia. Denying Papuans the right to
self-determination is the fundamental source of conflict in the region. About 100,000 Papuans have lost their lives
at the hands of Indonesians. Economic
and political interests have made the world community turn a blind eye to these
on-going systemic abuses. Today
Americans are standing up. They are
asking their leaders to help bring an end to the violence in West Papua.”
Recently Mr. Rumbiak visited Ireland where a majority of national parliamentarians
have requested that the United Nations conduct a formal review of the 1969 “Act
of Free Choice.” During this sham referendum 1,022 Papuans were hand picked by
the military to unanimously proclaim their desire to be part of Indonesia.
Patsy Spier is one of the
eight American, and three Indonesian, survivors of an ambush that took place in
West Papua on August 31, 2002. Rick Spier, Patsy’s husband, was killed in the attack along with
two other teachers. She says, “I knew I
had to do something about the evil that happened on that mountain. My role became clear when the Indonesian
National Police reported that the Indonesian military (TNI)
were apparently behind the ambush, and then the TNI
exonerated themselves of any involvement.”
Patsy’s fight for justice is an inspiration to all Americans. Military aid to Indonesia under the IMET program has been blocked until the TNI
fully cooperates with a U.S. investigation into the attack.
The WPAN is forming local chapters throughout the
U.S. Harold Green, the WPAN Contact
Person for Los Angeles and Director of the Pan-African Coalition for the
Liberation of West Papua, says, “People of African descent are usually
surprised to find out that the black people of West Papua have suffered in much
the same way as we have, through slavery and colonialism. The world’s last
vestige of direct colonial rule is in West Papua.” In June WPAN members will head to Washington
D.C. to meet with their representatives in Congress.
For more information on the West Papua Action
Network: wpan@redwire.us
To
interview John Rumbiak or Patsy Spier call the WPAN
Contact Person nearest you:
May
13-15: Seattle (206-543-9606 )
May
17: Berkeley (510-540-0945)
May
18: Palo Alto (650-326-8837)
May
19: Santa Cruz (831-227-4347)
May
20: Watsonville (831-254-4527)
May
21: Santa Barbara (805-965-5938)
May
23-24: Los Angeles (323-291-4114)
May
25: Phoenix (480-965-0477)
May
26: Tucson (520-731-0572)
May
28: Telluride (970-728-4123)