fPcN interCultural:

defenders of free tribal life

Thu, 12/06/2007 - Dear all friends of West Papua,

I just want to say a big THANK YOU on behalf of my people to all of you for your solidarity and support for Freedom & Justice for West Papua!

On Friday, our West Papua Independence Day demo outside the Indonesian Embassy in London and our March for Justice to BP & Rio Tinto was the biggest ever! Because so many of you were with us you helped show all the world that we Papuans are not alone in our struggle any more.

Also THANK YOU to all of you who sent messages saying you wanted to be with us but were not able. We could feel your spirits with us!

And seeing our Morning Star flag raised on the Oxford Town Hall gives all Papuans inside and outside West Papua strong hope that one day we will be FREE!

Maybe you have already heard that some of our Sisters and Brothers raised our flag on 1st December at a peaceful ceremony in the Catholic church compound at Kwamki Baru village near the Freeport mine in Timika. After that the Indonesian military arrived and opened fire and then arrested. You can see what it was like on Indonesian TV news:

http://www.liputan6.com/mediaplayer/?program=news&id=151583&m_id=677811

http://www.liputan6.com/mediaplayer/?program=news&id=151560&m_id=677705

Also look at these photos which show how many Indonesian police and military they sent to the church compound to break up the flag ceremony:

http://www.freewestpapua.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4... id=2

This TV film and these photos show the truth of life for Papuans under Indonesian occupation. Is this what the Indonesians call "democracy"?! We have heard that the Indonesians are still holding 8 Papuans who raised the flag in Timika police station. Please pass on this news as much as possible and call for the Indonesians to release these peaceful protesters immediately.

URGENT ACTION! -- URGENT ACTION! -- URGENT ACTION! -- URGENT ACTION! -- URGENT ACTION! -- URGENT ACTION! -- URGENT ACTION!

Please e-mail the Indonesian Embassy in London: kbri@btconnect.com &/or phone: 020 74997661 (or from outside UK +44 (0) 20 74997661)

Please phone the Head of Police in Timika, Mr Masnembra: Office: 0062 901301 974 Home: 0062 901 301977 Mobile: 0062 85244 067888

You can see from our demo and March for Justice last Friday, that we Papuans and all our friends in the UK and living in other democracies have freedom to express our political views. BUT under Indonesian colonial rule, our people are not free just to raise our flag in a peaceful ceremony. So that's why we need you to keep telling the world the truth about what's happening to our people in Indonesian occupied West Papua!

THANK YOU!

Papua Merdeka!

Benny Wenda

Region

• West Papua

Topic

• Prisoners