Subject: On West Papua’s human rights
60 years ago today, the Moming Star flag was officially raised for the first time in West Papua. After an intriguing process of decolonization from the Netherlands, West Papua was annexed by Indonesia in 1963.
During six decades, all Indonesian govemments have been accused of indulging into policies against the West Papuan population, which could be defined as genocide.
Last year, 418 new West Papuan political prisoners were recorded. As of now, 106 remain under detention awaiting trial, or condemned to long prison sentences, like Victor Yeimo, an independence ‘movement’s symbol, who was charged with treason.
Continuous violations of human rights in West Papua are denounced every year in reports of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Amnesty and HRW.
The EU signed a Framework Agreement with Indonesia in 2014 where “human rights” were mentioned up to 17 times. Since 2016, 10 negotiations’ rounds have taken place for a EU-Indonesía FTA.
1 Wil respect for human rights in West Papua and the release of polítical prisoners such as Victor Yeimo’s release, be a condition for negotiating the FTA with Indonesia in the 11 negotiations round?
2 Willthe Commission ask the Indonesian Government to authorize a visit to West Papua by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights?
3 What amount of funds have been allocated into West Papua by the Commission since 2001 and with which purposes?
