Unfinished UN business in SW Sahara,Kashmir and Occupied Palestine,also WP...
WEST PAPUA Feb 19 2003
Week of West Papua
Beginning next Monday, Melbourne will play host to a celebration and week
of information about the long struggle for West Papuan self-determination.
In 1969 the UN presided over the farcical "Act of Free Choice" in which a
handful of West Papuan representatives were pressured to accept the former
Dutch colony's integration into Indonesia. Since then US mining company
Freeport McMoran, Western governments and big business have colluded with
the Indonesian regime to ensure that West Papuan self-determination remains
off the agenda.
The week has been surrounded in controversy after RMIT surrendered to
pressure from Indonesia to withdraw their support for the upcoming West
Papua Futures forum. The forum, planned for the 25th and 26th of February,
was to be held in RMIT's Storey Hall, but has been moved at late notice to
Victorian Trades Hall after complaints from the Indonesian Embassy in
Canberra.
The week will feature a screening by access news of Raising West Papua on
Monday at Trades Hall. [ Watch the video] On Friday the Morning Star
Concert for West Papua will raise funds for the non-government
organisation, Elsham, which plays an important role in documenting human
rights abuses in the Indonesian-controlled territory. [More details and
background]
Video - Remember West Papua
[ free west papua ]
http://www.melbourne.indymedia.org/
