On October 6th 2013 three Papuans broke into a summit for the
Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation in order to deliver a letter to the leaders.
The three Papuans only wanted the APEC leaders to convince the Indonesian
government to allow the media to enter Papua.
Unfortunately, the Australian government
is unwilling to speak out on behalf of human rights violations. The Australian
leader refused to act on the desperate and harmless attempt to raise awareness
of the current conditions in Papua.
I personally believe that people who will
refuse to listen or act upon some to the human rights violations taking place
in certain areas are just as bad as the people who are violating human rights.
How can an entire country refuse to act when there are desperate requests for
help?
The region in which these three Papuans
represent has military placed throughout. The government has sent militia to
this area to help control it, but unfortunately the military is abusing its
power. It has tortured people, killed innocent people and even enforced the
disappearance of some.
The people of Australia may not be
advocating for some kind of intervention because they do not understand what is
taking place in Papua. The problem is outside media is not allowed to enter in
order to inform the Australian people. I believe, now that the leader of
Australia has been exposed to the desperation he could do the right thing and
inform his own people. Just this act alone could help the Indonesian government
realize they need to change how they handle their military.
Fortunately, the governor of Papua, Lukas
Enembe, said that outside media is allowed into Papua with the approval of the
department of foreign affairs. I for one credit the three individuals who
sacrificed so much just to inform others and request help from other countries.
The mistreatment of people is a horrible
crime. People should not be killed by their own people. There is no reason to
torture or arrest peaceful protesters. These are basic rights that everyone
should be granted and hopefully the people of Papua will continue to hear good
news and the people of Australia will do all that they can to help the Papuan
people.
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