Green Euro-MP Caroline Lucas said: "The so-called Act of Free Choice in West Papua was a sham in which just 1,022 West Papuans hand-picked by the Indonesian military regime were forced to vote for Indonesia – at a cost of more than 100,000 lives and ongoing, systematic, violations of West Papuans’ human rights (i). The UN must conduct a review of the whole process under which West Papua was annexed by, and recognised to be a part of, Indonesia - and conduct a new, genuinely free, independence referendum in the province.”

Since Indonesia annexed West Papua, at least 100,000 (and as many as 300,000, according to some estimates) indigenous Papuans have been killed by the Indonesian military, and human rights violations - including torture, extra-judicial killings, rape, arbitrary arrest and detention and denial of free assembly and free speech – continue today (ii).

Philip Booth, a Gloucestershire Green party spokesperson said: "The conflict is intensifying after West Papuans rejected an Indonesian-drafted ‘autonomous’ status in August. Indonesian troops have poured into West Papua leading to a heightened spate of attacks and villages in recent weeks which have forced 6,000 from their homes. I urge people to show their support by signing the online petition at:  http://www.petitiononline.com/unreview/"


Notes to editors:

(i) The policy motion adopted by the Green party reads:

Noting that, on August 12th 2005, West Papuan leaders, supported by a demonstration of 100,000 West Papuans, rejected Indonesia's imposition of 'Special Autonomy Laws' on the territory as a final solution to the ongoing struggle for West Papuan independence;

Noting reports, from Amnesty International and West Papuans themselves, of an escalation of the Indonesian military's violations of West Papuans' human rights, especially but not exclusively a heightened spate of attacks on villages which have forced at least 6,000 refugees to flee into the jungle in recent weeks - many of whom are now dying of starvation and exposure;

Noting the ongoing build-up of Indonesia's military presence in West Papua, including the recent deployment of an additional 15,000 Indonesian troops to the territory;

The Green Party believes:

a.. The West Papuan people were denied their internationally-recognised right to self-determination by the fraudulent 1969 'Act of Free Choice'
b.. That the West Papuans have a continuing right to self-determination
c.. That the Indonesia must immediately halt all violations of West Papuans' human rights, and those responsible for violations should be held accountable in law
d.. That the United Nations must conduct, as soon as possible, a free and fair referendum on self-determination, involving all West Papua's indigenous population

(ii) For more information on the Free West Papua Campaign see
 http://www.freewestpapua.org/