Media Release – Catholic Justice & Peace Commission, Brisbane
The Australian Government must continue pressuring the Indonesian Government to make arrangements to enable a UN human rights mission to West Papua to take place without further delay.
This call was made by Brisbane’s Catholic Justice & Peace Commission on the 7th anniversary of the killing by Indonesian soldiers of 4 teenage boys in the Paniai District in the Highlands of West Papua.
The Commission’s Executive Officer, Peter Arndt, said that Indonesia’s President, Joko Widodo, agreed to a request from the UN for this mission in February 2018, but it is yet to happen.
“The UN mission needs to go ahead without further delay,” Mr. Arndt said.
“The Australian Government has expressed its support for the UN mission both in correspondence to our Commission and in answers to questions at recent Estimates hearings in the Senate,” he said.
“We hope the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister will continue to pressure the Indonesian Government so that an independent investigation into the Paniai massacre and many other human rights violations in West Papua can happen,” he said.
“We have met with the families of the boys killed in Paniai and they have waited far too long for justice,” he said.
“Many other victims’ families and survivors have waited too long for justice too,” he added.
Mr. Arndt said that the Commission has been engaging this year with MPs and Senators to maintain Australian support for the UN mission and to build pressure on the Indonesian Government.
“We are encouraged to see good support for action on West Papua among MPs and Senators from the Government, the Opposition and from the cross benches,” Mr. Arndt said.
“A number of questions on West Papua were asked at Senate Estimates hearings this year,” he said.
“A motion on West Papua was also put on the House of Representatives notice paper by Government MP, George Christensen, and Tasmanian Independent MP, Andrew Wilkie in November and we hope this will be debated in the House when it returns in February 2022,” Mr. Arndt said.
“Our Commission continues to keep in touch with Catholic priests and leaders from other churches in West Papua and also with victims’ families,” he said.
“They have waited far too long for justice and we will continue to offer them our support and solidarity,” he said.
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In this comment, I take a stand against; the tortures and the beatings and finally the genocidal slaughter by Indonesia’s (Australian-trained special forces) that continue as I write this comment.
During the Howard era of governance, Australia’s slovenly contribution had failed to make matters right; he did not do so.
Yet this has seen the indigenous people in Papua/West Papua continue to suffer from Indonesia’s cruel injustice and failure to acknowledge, let alone institute, the Human Rights of these people.
As its nearest neighbouring country, Australia had demonstrated its cruel indifference to the constant inhumane acts and abuses extant on our closest neighbouring country’s people.
Ever since John Howard had introduced the Lombok Treaty, Howard had proffered the signed coward’s document. was also signed by whichever Indonesian ruler yet the ongoing destruction of the traditional tribal construct that had served the Papua/West Papua in all times past has as good as been outlawed or renamed as an act of treason toward the Papua/West Papua indigenous occupants of that bordered landmass. (Between New Guinea and Papua/West Papua.)
Please mark well that all the Western-influenced national governments worldwide are just as guilty as Australia’s government in shutting their eyes to the torpedoed Human Rights of that apportioned landmass due to the Papua/West Papua indigenous people.
We are dealing with a world-scale repugnance adopted by and demonstrated by all the many countries in our world of today.
Forget about this worlds international military alliances and the many USA hegemonic confected free-trade agreements not one single country will be brave to commence an action to halt the barbaric and inhumane abuses that continue unchecked by each and all of the countries around our world that have signed the charter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Why is this so?
I say to you all, Australia as a unique sovereign nation, is best positioned to intervene and set in place or install the universal declaration of human rights in the realm of the Papua/West Papua indigenous people.
In its unique sovereign capacity, Australia will not transgress against the international political spectrums in place in any other country by initiating its intervention.
Now is the singular moment in time that delivers its rare opportunity to Australia’s Liberal/National coalition party government to stand tall and proudly apart from the legion of all the many corrupted and militarily aligned governments worldwide.
See the URL below link to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
https://www.un.org/en/udhrbook/pdf/udhr_booklet_en_web.pdf (Some degree of page magnification may be necessary.)