1. June 30th 2004
Yusak Pakage was chairman of the West Papua Solidarity Committee. He was preparing a peaceful protest to celebrate 1st July 2004. Yusak Pagake was arrested by Indonesian Police today at 3 o'clck PM West Papua time. Right now he is being held in the cells at police headquarters. We are now appealing to you all West Papua friends to make a call to this number.....

00+62 967 521926 (House of the West Papua Police Commissioner) and + 531014 (Office).

Please insist that Indonesian Army let him go free without any condition.
Thank you for your support.

West Papua freedom Fighter 2004
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2. DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE INDONESIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS, LONDON MONDAY 5TH JULY 2004.
Meet Midday, Green Park Tube or later at the Embassy on Grosvenor Square.

Following the successful global demonstrations at Indonesian Embassies during the April 5th Parliamentary Elections there will be further solidarity demonstrations in London during the July 5th Indonesian Presidential Elections.

During the April parliamentary elections West Papuans burnt down polling stations, sank a boat carrying ballot papers and the majority refused to vote Despite going almost unreported this represented one of the biggest acts of resistance against Indonesian occupation by the West Papuan people for some time. And contrary to what one would believe there was little retaliation from the police or military. This may have been in part due to a swathe of simultaneous solidarity demonstrations at Indonesian embassies around the world.

It is not unlikely that faced with the prospect of having to vote for the likes of Megawati and Wiranto similar scenes will be played out in West Papua and we believe it important to show the Indonesian authorities that we are watching. Last time in London we successfully disrupted one of the embassies proudest and most public days of the year as every ex-pat Indonesian who turned up to vote was greeted with huge “Free West Papua” banners and leaflets explaining why we were there.

Please try to make it this time. We have already heard demonstrations are planned in the Netherlands and France also.
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3. PLEASE WRITE REQUESTING THAT REFUGEES LIVING IN VANIMO NOT BE FORCIBLY MOVED TO EAST AWIN BUT BE ALLOWED TO LIVE ON LAND BEING OFFERED TO THEM IN BLEKWARA.

We have been told by the West Papuan refugees living in the Transmitter camp near Vanimo, PNG that following the good news that they will be allowed to stay in PNG they have been told they must however be relocated to East Awin. This is a very serious issue as the proposed move goes completely against the wishes of the refugees. Many refugees previously have been forced to move to East Awin and it is well known as an extremely uninhabitable area rife with malaria. Many of the refugees who were previously moved there DIED as a consequence!

The refugees in the Transmitter camp, most of whom arrived in the year 2000, have been given an alternative by John Pun the tribal chief of Blekwara area who is offering some of his land for the refugees to live on. It is the wish of both the refugees and the citizens of Blackwara area that the refugees be allowed to move to the designated area of land and settle there. We have been requested to write letters of support for this position and send them to the PNG government and UNHCR officials. A model letter with addresses is below.

Last year when these same refugees were being threatened with being forcibly returned to PNG many of us protested and later the refugees were allowed to stay so please write to help ensure their safety now, sample letter below.....

Dear…
I am writing to you to voice my concern about the plans of the PNG government to send some 400 West Papuan refugees currently living in the Transmitter camp near Vanimo, Sandaun Province to East Awin. I would like to make it clear that it is not the wish of any of the refugees to be moved to this area. Refugees who have previously been forced to live in East Awin have found it almost uninhabitable, bad for growing crops and rife with malaria. Many who were moved there have died as a result! I therefore think it is inhumane for the government to go ahead with its plans to relocate the refugees to East Awin and it also clearly goes against Article 26 of the UNHCR Convention on Refugees which states that:

“Each Contracting State shall accord to refugees lawfully in its territory the right to choose their place of residence to move freely within its territory, subject to any regulations applicable to aliens generally in the same circumstances.”

At a meeting held on 28th March 2004 between the tribal chief John Pun and other landowners in the Blekwara area and the refugees in question, John Pun and the landowners agreed to give a section of their land for the refugees to live on. It is the wish of the refugees in question and the landowners in Blekwara that the refugees be allowed to move to this land. We strongly urge you to co-operate with this more favourable agreement and not send more people to their deaths in East Awin. The area of land being generously given in Blekwara is the correct solution to this issue and we will be watching to make sure that the refugees are allowed to safely move there.

A letter of consent was drawn up by the refugees and signed by the landowners of which you have been sent a copy.

yours.....

Send copies to:

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, Sir Rabbie Namaliu.
Natioinal Parliament House
PO Parliament House
Waigani
PNG

Head, Regional Bureau of Asia and Oceania,
UNHCR,
Geneva
(or fill out the form on their website at  http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/contact

Office of the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea
Morauta House, Waigani, P.O. BOX 639, WAIGANI, Papua New Guinea
Telephone: (675) 327 6525 Facsimile: (675) 323 3943

Translated text of the agreement between the Blekwara landowners and the refugees (original document to be posted on web soon):

REPORT OF MEETING DECIDING THE STATUS OF REFUGEES LIVING IN TRANSMITA ROAD, WARAKONGKONG, VANIMO, SNDAUN PROVINCE, PNG

To:
Prime Minister Michael Somare ­ Port Moresby, PNG
Powes Parkop, Lawyer, Port Moresby, PNG
Official UNHCR, Port Moresby, PNG
Governor Vanimo, Sandaun Province,PNG
The Bishop of Vanimo, Sandaun Province, PNG
Human Rights Officials, Port Moresby, PNG

According to the report of the meeting and the decision of the 3 tribal leaders (land lords) and representatives of the people on 28th March 2004, in response to the removal of the West Papuan refugees (2000) from Vanimo, Sandaun Province, PNG.

We the tribal leaders (land owners) remind the background and state that:

1. We give land and permission to live in Blekwara area to the refugees who have already lived with us from 2000- 2004.
2. We give permission to live in Blekwara because we are one race ­ Melanesian, one island, one skin, one religion, one ancestor, one tradition and culture.
3. We give permission to build houses, school, hospital, transportation and economy in the land in Blekwara.
4. We give permission, place in Blekwara because this area is already assigned to the first refugees by the PNG government.
5. We want refugees 2000 to stay because the first refugees who were moved to East Awin are already dead.
6. Refugees 2000 are not prisoners of war.
7. Any more Refugees that are moved to East Awin will certainly die.

With the above reasons we the landowners decide that refugees 2000 are truly received in our area in Blekwara.
This is a decision from us. We propose to the national government and council to respond to the above and co-operate with us gratefully.

Signed by:
1. John Pun ­ Land Owner, Blekwara
2. John Wapou ­ Blekwara
3. John Clemen ­ Blekwara
4. Anglem Aiya ­ Blekwara
5. Paul Supa ­ Blekwara
6. Richard Kaso ­ Blekwara

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4. URGENT OPM PRESS RELEASE

WEST PAPUAN PEOPLE’S REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE
P.O. Box 1571, Port Vila, Republic of Vanuatu

Port Vila, Vanuatu, June 29, 2004

OPM denies involvement in Freeport killings

Against strong evidence to the contrary, Jakarta and Washington are now attempting to place direct responsibility on the OPM for the murder of two American civilians and the wounding of eleven others, in 2002, near the US owned Freeport gold and copper mine in the disputed Indonesian province of West Papua. The OPM believes this is a blatant cover-up.

The primary motive behind the indictment is to provide justification for the restoration of military ties between the present US Administration and the new Indonesian Government under the anticipated presidency of General Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, after they were suspended following the TNI's brutal support of militias in East Timor.

The present actions of the US Attorney-General represent the second time that the US has abandoned the West Papuan people, sacrificing them on the altar of international "realpolitik". The first time was under the Kennedy Administration of forty-two years ago when the New York Agreement handed West Papua over to the Indonesians as a way of appeasing the Sukarno regime which was, at that time, flirting with the Soviet bloc.

Even UN personnel have since discredited the so called "Act of Free Choice" in 1969 which the UN supervised to rubber stamp Indonesia's annexation of West Papua.

The OPM have made their position clear that the OPM has not been involved in the killing of innocent civilians, whether Americans or otherwise. Earlier investigations made by the local Police Chief, Brigadier Pastika and the FBI, have shown strong evidence that the Indonesian military were directly involved in the killings. This view is shared by the surviving victims themselves.

We, as representatives of the OPM and of the West Papuan people, have condemned this incident as a crime against humanity. The alleged perpetrator, Mr Antonius Wamang, an ethnic Papuan, has never been an
operational commander of the OPM. He has, however, been a suspected member of Cassowary Force, a Pro Jakarta Papuan Militia, set up by the TNI. Wamang has been observed to fly regularly between Papua and Jakarta for meetings with the Indonesian military. He has also been involved in the sandalwood trade in partnership with TNI. The TNI has a long history of supporting proxy militias in East Timor and West Papua. We vehemently deny any link between the OPM and this person.

Any attempt by the US Government to blame the OPM for the Freeport killings or label it a Terrorist Organization is not only wrong, but counter productive, considering that it is TNI/ Kopasus Forces who are protecting and training Islamic terrorist organisations such as Laskar Jihad.

The OPM is studying it's own intelligence reports suggesting the presence of Al Qaeda cells already operating in West Papua. The OPM has in the past warned Canberra, Port Moresby and Washington about the build up of Islamic terrorist organizations in West Papua.

We call upon the friends of West Papua in the United States, especially in the US Senate, to urge the Attorney-General to carry out further investigations into the incident in order to arrive at the truth.

We agree with the assessment made by Edward Mc Williams, a former senior US diplomat to Jakarta who has said: "If we go after the Free Papua Movement, we are basically conspiring in a cover-up".

For detailed information, please contact Dr. John Ondawame, OPM International Spokesman on: +678 42601


Dateline [SBS TV Australia] broadcast June 30 and July 1 2004 -transcript-

Two years ago three teachers, two American and one Indonesian, were gunned down in the mountains of West
Papua. Suspicion about Indonesian military involvement in the killings has been a constant thorn in the side
of the Indonesian -US relationship.

Anthony Balmain, reporter.........
"Almost two years ago on this mountain road in the remote highlands of West Papua, two car loads of
American schoolteachers were ambushed and mowed down in a hail of gunfire. The teachers were working at the international school servicing the giant US-owned Freeport McMoRan gold and copper mine."

Patsy Spier, injured teacher........
"The first two shots killed Rick and Ted and then the shooting just kept continuing into their vehicle until our vehicle came upon it, which was three minutes later, or so, and then the shooting started coming into our vehicle. After about 45 minutes and the shooting was still continuing, because we didn't know any of
this help was coming, and it was...it was OK if they came and shot me. It was...I felt very at peace, that
it was OK. Immediately, Indonesia lay blame for the killings on local tribes-people fighting Freeport mine for their land and the Indonesians for their independence. But within days of the investigation beginning, suspicions soon shifted to the military. Firstly, Indonesian soldiers stationed at checkpoints close to the ambush site didn't react, even though there was a cacophony of gunfire for 45 minutes. Also West Papua's police chief at the time, Made Pastika, noticed that this Papuan man's body, allegedly found by the military at the ambush site, had actually been dead for some time."

Patsy Spier was shot in the back, shattering a rib. Her husband Rick was killed after being shot in the head. 3 teachers were killed in total and 11 were injured.

Made Pastika, Chief of police West Papua........
"One thing that I showed the police that the body was already stiff. A police autopsy later showed the man had been dead for more than 24 hours before the Indonesian military said they killed him. Questions were also being asked about whether the local tribes-people, armed mainly with bows and arrows, had the military-issued guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition used in the attack. We found 134 shoot marks on the vehicle, mostly in the body of the mini bus - two mini bus. Some are in the trucks and some in the trailer. We showed that this shooting was very brutal. The military did conduct its own internal inquiry, which reported last year, concluding that they were not involved at all. And just last Friday, in a surprising development, the United States FBI charged a West Papuan man, Anthonius Wamang, with the murders and claimed he was working for the Free Papua Movement, or OPM.
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 http://www.westpapua.net/
 http://www.melanesianews.org
 http://www.fpcn-global.org

Become a friend of West Papua
 http://www.freewestpapua.org
Send your contact details - address, phone number and email to:

Free West Papua
PO Box 343
HATFIELD Herts
AL9 7ZN

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