Don't forget West Papua

On the 14th November a Green party colleague is organising an event at the Space in Stroud to raise awareness about West Papua for the local Amnesty group - it will include one of the key West Papuan leaders, Benny Wenda.

Last time Benny was in Stroud was in 2005 when a local film maker showed some film of West Papua - it was a good evening - at this November meeting there will also be a film - anyhow Benny is a great green radical - I last heard him speak at the Green party Spring conference - we are very fortunate to have the chance again to hear this extraordinary man talk about his extraordinary fight...

At the moment the situation is bad in West Papua - the Free West Papua campaign are getting messages from inside West Papua every day about ordinary Papuan women, men and children being killed, tortured, intimidated and imprisoned by the forces of the Indonesian military occupation. Think Burma (see previous posts on situation there and actions you can take) and that's West Papua under Indonesian colonial rule.

But whilst the US & UK governments are starting to speak out about Burma, they stay silent about Indonesian oppression in West Papua. Why? The simple answer is that they seek to protect Western multi-nationals like BP and Rio Tinto's commercial interests in Indonesian-occupied West Papua.

For the moment it's impossible for the people inside West Papua to campaign peacefully for independence from Indonesia.....unless they want to sign their own death certificate. That's why they need us to speak out on their behalf - to let the leaders of the US & UK know that you're not prepared to stand by and witness the Indonesian military wipe out the indigenous West Papuans from the face of their own Land.

This week I already mentioned Gordon Brown's speech at the Labour Party Conference in Bournemouth - he said: "There is a golden thread of common humanity that across nations and faiths binds us together and it can light the darkest corners of the world. And the message should go out to anyone facing persecution anywhere from Burma to Zimbabwe: human rights are universal and no injustice can last forever."

Please E-MAIL Gordon Brown a message (including your name & address) so that he will listen to the cry of the West Papuans. Go to:
http://www.number10.gov.uk/output/Page821.asp

And you could also send it to the UK Foreign Secretary, David Miliband MP:
milibandd@parliament.uk

And the Foreign Office Minister, Meg Munn MP:
munnm@parliament.uk

And finally if you're a UK citizen or resident in the UK please sign your name to the Free West Papuan political prisoners PETITION on the 10, Downing Street website:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/FREEWESTPAPUA/