Press Release - U.S.-West Papua Solidarity/Tour
John M Miller
wp...@redwire.us
For Immediate Release!
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: wp...@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