Context & History

Papua's women and children have been under relentless attack since Indonesia first invaded, leaving immense psychological scars. Reports of raids on villages usually contain references to sexual violations, and often describe women and children forced to watch family members being raped or tortured to death. Early reports document Indonesian soldiers picking up children by the feet and smashing their heads against rocks as mothers pleaded for mercy. These raids are designed to terrorize and demoralize as well as to destroy.

In its 2003 annual human rights report on Indonesia, the U.S. government stated without any ambiguity that rape and other brutalities against women have been made a weapon of war by the Indonesian military.

(Image: Freeport McMoran's Grasburg mine near Timika is the largest gold and copper mine in the world)

West Papua is a land of astounding ecological diversity. Its ecosystems range from mangroves in the lowland swamps to mountain glaciers 5,000 meters above the coral reefs. Teeming with wildlife and vegetation, it is home to at least 100,000 species of plants and animals found nowhere else on earth. Most have never been studied, including a vast array of medicinal plants used for centuries by the indigenous people.

Twenty thousand Papuans came (by foot) to witness the burial of Theys Hiyo Eluay, first leader of the Inter-tribal Council and the Papua Presidium Council (PPC), assassinated in 2001 by an elite group of the Indonesian military.

Some reports claim that Theys was kidnapped and tortured prior to his death. During the trial for his murder, Indonesian soldiers admitted killing Theys to prevent him from declaring Papuan independence. The Indonesian court sentenced the seven men to between two and three and a half years in jail (reports vary).

General Ryamizard Ryacudu, Army Chief of Staff had this to say about the convicted soldiers:

Many of the last remaining tribal cultures on our planet can be found in West Papua. Some tribes are hunter-gatherers; others follow agrarian traditions that pre-date Mesopotamia. At least 250 distinct languages and hundreds more dialects are spoken in West Papua - an astounding 15% of the world's languages spoken by just 0.01% of the global population.

In addition to language, each tribe is autonomous, with its own leaders, traditions and belief systems. Each time even a small number of people are displaced, a unique cultural heritage may be lost forever.

Papuans have co-existed sustainably for more than ten thousand years, but many tribes appear unlikely to survive beyond this decade. Through the ages Papuans have been happier and far better nourished than many of us in the modern world. In the lowlands, a single day's work (some tribes have no word for "work") harvesting a sago palm will feed an extended family for weeks. Leisure time is more abundant than most in the "developed world" could imagine. Yet Papuans are seen by the Indonesians as backward and lazy, since they tend not to strive for economic gain.

(Image: Indonesian Soldiers hold up the body of the local OPM leader they just killed)

Papuans have endured horrific violence since Indonesia first invaded in 1963, and West Papua continues to be a modern example of genocide.

Amnesty International and most other human rights organizations agree that at least 100,000 Papuans (one sixth of the total population) have been killed during the occupation. Many more have been "disappeared" or starved to death from forced relocation to inhospitable areas. It's almost impossible to document the exact number of victims, since academics, human-rights defenders and journalists are targets themselves of intimidation, torture and murder.