Dear Friend of West Papua, As 2010 draws to a close, I wanted to send through an update on current developments with West Papua and the work of the Free West Papua Campaign. Last week, I travelled to Senegal in Africa, where I met the Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade. I was invited to give a speech to an audience of African delegates, where I informed them of the suffering of the Papuan people - a people whose ancestors came from Africa. The Senegalese President also addressed the audience and stated that the issue of West Papua is now an African issue, and urged those present to give due attention to the situation. I believe support from African nations will be crucial on the road towards bringing justice and change in West Papua, and am very pleased with how this visit went.
In the House of Lords in the UK last week, several peers raised questions regarding human rights abuses in West Papua including Lord Harries and Baron Avebury from International Parliamentarians for West Papua (IPWP). During the parlimentary exchange it was also revealed that the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg raised concerns about human rights abuses and the ban on foreign journalists to West Papua during a meeting with Indonesian Government officials at the Asia-EU Summit in October. There was also confirmation that UK Government officials will be following up these concerns. The Free West Papua Campaign website is online again after coming under a sustained cyber attack from late October onwards. This attack coincided with the release of footage showing Indonesian troops torturing civilians in West Papua. Channel 4 News in the UK ran a report on both the torture footage and the subsequent cyber attacks, which also affected organisations including Survival, Asian Human Rights Commission, FPCN and West Papua Media Alerts. It is strongly suspected that these attacks were carried out by the Indonesian Government as a way of preventing people from seeing the footage showing their soldiers involved in torture We hope that the ongoing investigation will expose the perperators of this attack and their attempts to silence the voice of West Papua's suffering. I want to thank every one of you from the bottom of my heart for your support; whether you have attended a demo, given a donation, or simply told a friend about the situation in West Papua - every action is helping raise the profile of this critically important issue. This year has seen West Papua come into the wider public consciousness, and we are now seeing pressure being placed on Indonesia from the highest levels of Government, as well as support from parts of the world where there was previously no awareness about the situation. Unfortunately the situation in West Papua remains grave. I receive daily reports of atrocities being committed by the Indonesian military - rape, torture and killings against innocent civilians. Just last month 8 people from my home village were arrested on their way to a relatives funeral because they had the West Papua national flag in their possession. My position remains the same. I am a servant to my people who have no voice, and I will endeavour in 2011 to do everything I possibly can to continue to raise the profile of my peoples suffering. Whilst my people continue to suffer and continue to die, nothing will stop my campaign. Thank you for your support, and I wish you all a peaceful and prosperous Christmas and New Year. Wa wa wa Benny Wenda West Papuan independence leader in the United Kingdom& Chair of the Koteka Tribal Assembly P.O Box.656, Oxford,OX3 3AP England UK Mobile:+44(0)7766875009Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken. http://www.freewestpapua.org http://www.bennywenda.org