Three West Papuans occupy Australian consulate in Bali Markus Jerewon, 29, Yuvensius Goo, 22 and Rofinus Yanggam, 30, scaled the two-metre high fence of the Australian compound in Bali’s Renon district at 3.20am local time (6.20am AEST) on Sunday morning. They called on the Abbott government to pressure Indonesia to release all Papuan political prisoners and open the secretive province to foreign journalists. In an open letter to the Australian people (theguardian/world/2013/oct/06/west-papuan-open-letter-australia), which was handed to consulate staff this morning, the threesome wrote, “We’re writing to inform you that we had [sic] entered the Australian consulate in Bali to seek refuge and to deliver our message to the APEC leaders in Bali including US State Secretary John Kerry and Australian prime minister Tony Abbott. “We want these leaders to persuade the Indonesian government to treat Papuan people better. “Human rights abuses are our routine,” they wrote, before asking Australia to demand that all Papuan political prisoners be released. Dozens of Papuans are in jail for expressing political opinions. The crime of “treason” carries a long jail term in Indonesia. “We [also] want the Indonesian government to lift the 50 year restriction it has imposed on West Papua,” the letter said. West Papua has been closed to foreign journalists since Indonesia acquired the province under controversial circumstances in the 1960s. “We want foreigners, including journalists, diplomats, observers and tourists to be able to visit West Papua freely without asking for special permits.” In an exclusive interview with Guardian Australia before he scaled the wall, Yanggam said, “the Indonesian army is killing our families, and taking them to jail. This is the best thing we can do in order to expose the situation in Papua. We want to survive. “I’m not [disrespecting] the Indonesian people, I’m just saying that we want treatment from the Indonesian government like human beings.” He told Guardian Australia that two of his brothers had been killed by the Indonesian military – and that one had died just last week. Asked why he was prepared to risk his own safety to bring awareness to the situation in West Papua, he said “I feel it is important for not only him, but other Papuan people also. “We don’t feel safe in Papua.” Rest of article here: theguardian/world/2013/oct/06/west-papuans-australian-consulate-bali
Posted on: Sat, 05 Oct 2013 23:51:06 +0000
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