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| Kegiatan Aparat di papua (foto AFP) |
Prime Minister Gillard should use today’s meeting with Indonesian
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to advocate for an end to the
effective ban that prevents the international media reporting from West
Papua, a leading human rights group has said.
A spokesperson for the Human Rights Law Centre, Tom Clarke, said
Prime Minister Gillard should make the most of Australia’s special
relationship with Indonesia to suggest tangible steps that Indonesian
authorities could take to end the escalating human rights abuses
occurring in its eastern most province.
“The situation in Papua is a tinderbox. Last month’s fatal police
shooting of a political activist along with yet more reports of military
violence in remote villages reveal how on edge Papua is. Australia can
and should play a proactive role in standing up for human rights and
encouraging our closest neighbour to halt the violence,” Mr Clarke said.
Mr Clarke said there is no good reason why the PM should not directly
ask President Yudhoyono to allow international journalists into West
Papua.
“Media access is such a simple and reasonable request, yet its impact
would be profound. Having independent journalists on the ground in West
Papua would help the world get a better picture of the human rights
crisis unfolding there,” Mr Clarke said.
In addition to calling on the Australian Government to push for free
media access, the Human Rights Law Centre continues to urge the
Government to request Indonesia to release all persons detained in Papua
for the peaceful expression of their political views, and not conflate
the fundamental rights of freedom of expression and dissent with
criminal activity.
“The default policy of successive Australian Governments has been to
simply turn a blind eye, but today’s meeting presents an opportunity for
Prime Minister Gillard to change this. It’s not in our interests to
have a festering human rights problem on our doorstep and it’s certainly
not in the interests of the people of West Papua,” Mr Clarke said.
For further information or comments, contact Tom Clarke on 0422 545 763 http://www.hrlc.org.au/ or tom.clarke@hrlc.org.au
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