The history of Indonesian brutality in West Papua over decades must be stopped by the international community, which includes US in its significant roles in the UN and the Asia Pacific region. For half a century, Indonesian continues to violate the rights of West Papuans – including suppression of their cultural heritage, songs, poems, artifacts, artworks, flags etc, in an effort to erase our indigenous identity; something China is accused of doing to its minorities. The question that is we should ask now is – what is America’s United Nations’ role in West Papua today? If the US and UN are extremely concerned about Ukraine, why are they turning a blind on on West Papua?
Mission and Goals
Since 1969, date compiled by highly regarded universities such as Yale and Harvard, found that the number of West Papuans murdered for wanting to be free from foreign rule (colonialism) was about half a million (source). The killing, abduction and incarcerations even for things such as ‘raising’ of the West Papuan infamous ‘Morning Star’ flag, continue to this day. The question is, why? Why is it that so many violence against an ethnic group in their own lands, and so little attention is paid to it?
The answer lies in Indonesian strong-hold policy on West Papua, which includes banning of foreign journalists, foreign government officials, private organizations including church organizations, and even the United Nations Human Rights Council. The Indonesian government apparently doesn’t want any attention to what they are doing in West Papua.