fPcN interCultural:

friends of Peoples close to Nature

The Lani Singers interview and music that went out on BBC Radio 3, in September 2008

This is the 54th in a series of monthly reports that focus on developments affecting Papuans This series is produced by the non-profit West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) drawing on media accounts, other NGO assessments and analysis and reporting from sources within West Papua. This report is co-published by the East Timor and Indonesian Action Network (ETAN) Back issues are posted online at http://etan.org/issues/wpapua/default.htm Questions regarding this report can be addressed to Edmund McWilliams at edmcw@msn.com.

Summary:
* International Parliamentarian Group (IPWP) Concerned about West Papua Convenes in London
* Peaceful Papuans Beaten, Detained for Welcoming Launch of IPWP; Indonesian Parliamentarians Protest Launch
* Papuan Religious Leaders Call for Dialogue between Papuans and Jakarta over Fraudulent 1969 "Act of Free Choice"
* Greenpeace Calls for Moratorium on Logging in West Papua*
* The Failure of TNI "Reform"
* U.S. Academic Testimony to US Congress Regarding Impact of Freeport Operations on The Papuan People

Indonesia's renowned military show again and again how brutally oppressive they are on the small island of Biak, just off the coast of West Papua. In the 1998 Massacre.

ress Release: for immediate release & circulation
INTERNATIONAL PARLIAMENTARIANS FOR WEST PAPUA

At the Houses of Commons, London on 15th October 2008 at 3pm, will be the launch event for a historical international gathering of Parliamentarians, in support of self determination for the native people of West Papua.

Exiled West Papuan independence leader Benny Wenda will be joined by Melanesians & Parliamentarians from across the world for the launch of 'International Parliamentarians for West Papua'.

Please assemble in Parliament Square for 2pm.

The Lani Singers will be special guests on BBC Radio 3 this Saturday 27th September, when they make an appearance on the World Routes show.
Deeply emotive and compelling, their songs are rooted in the sacred rituals of the Lani tribe – a tribe whose way of living has remained largely unchanged since the Stone Age. But their music has also come to embody a powerful modern day message - the struggle that their fellow people endure under a brutal and illegal Indonesian occupation.

Two hundred and ninety one Papuan tribal people have died from cholera since April this year in West Papua, Indonesia, according to local church officials, sparking fears of a major epidemic.

In 1961, a global cholera pandemic began in Indonesia. It spread rapidly to other countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and finally, in 1991, to Latin America. There were nearly 400,000 cases and over 4,000 deaths from cholera in the Americas that year.

A cut together compilation from a number of films with voice commentary by a Papua activist. This is a good introduction to this border conflict between tribal culture and civilisation. Ripped from the DVD "Indigenous Resistance in New Guinea"

made by Solidarity South Pacific: www.eco-action.org/ssp - respect!

Indonesian Military & Police’s alcohol business kills Papuans

* Illegal alcohol business run by Indonesian Military & Police
* Alcohol smuggled in on Indonesian military transports
* Hundreds of Papuans are victims of alcohol poisoning
* Regent’s wife is one of main illegal alcohol traders

(Tanah Merah [red earth], Boven Digoel is in the south of West Papua, near the PNG border)

http://maroke.wordpress.com/2008/06/05/bisnis-miras-tni-polri-di-boven-d...

This is the story of the Dani, capturing a glimpse of their daily lives. Content with their basic life in the mountains, strong western influences are now severely changing the way they live. The film is made by Clara Collins, new member of fPcN South Africa.

Benny Wenda, the leader of the Koteka Tribal Assembly and founder of the Free West Papua Campaign UK (partner organisation of fPcN), speaks at the UN Human Right Commission in 2005. Benny Wenda came with the help of fPcN to Geneva. The film is made by fPcN UK.