Groups Urge Justice on 15th Anniversary of Biak,
West Papua Massacre
 |
| Papuan |
Saturday,
July 6, is the 15th anniversary of one of the worst
massacres in Indonesia's post-Suharto history. On that day
in 1998, members of the Indonesian military ruthlessly
gunned down peaceful pro-independence demonstrators on the
island Biak in West Papua. Like so many massacres in
Indonesia, the exact number of those killed is unknown.
The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN)
and the West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) today urge the U.S.
government to publicly press the Indonesian government to
acknowledge the Biak massacre and take the necessary steps
to bring those responsible to justice. We regard it as
unconscionable that the U.S. is proceeding to expand its
ties with an Indonesian military that continues to violate
human rights and remains unaccountable for massacres in
Biak, East Timor, Aceh and elsewhere.
At the time, the new, nominally democratic
government of Indonesia disingenuously denied the massacre
had taken place, contending the bodies washing ashore were
victims of a tsunami that had struck Papua New Guinea more
than hundreds of miles to the east.
No government of
Indonesia has acknowledged the massacre or held the
perpetrators accountable. The government continues to
discourage investigation of this and other human rights
crimes in West Papua by limiting access to the territory by
foreign journalists, independent researchers, as well as UN
and other international officials.
ETAN and WPAT extend
our sympathy to the families of this victims of the Biak
Massacre and to the West Papuan people in general who have
suffered under Indonesian military repression for decades.
ETAN, formed in 1991, advocates for democracy, justice
and human rights for Timor-Leste, West Papua and Indonesia.
ETAN on the web: http://www.etan.org.
Twitter: etan009.
The West Papua Advocacy Team is a U.S.-based NGO composed of
academics, human rights defenders and a retired U.S.
diplomat.
Three WPAT members - U.S. embassy official Ed
McWilliams, anthropologist Eben Kirksey, and journalist Octo
Mote - were in Biak in July 1998 and witnessed the aftermath
of the massacre. The two groups also oppose continued and
expanded military-to-military cooperation with the
Indonesia, including with the Indonesian Navy. McWilliams
account of the Biak Massacre is
here. Mote's recent video testimony is here. Kirksey's
account is excerpted
here.
Both organizations co-publish the monthly
West Papua Report.
For additional background on the
Biak Massacre see http://www.biak-tribunal.org/.
This is the website of The Citizens Tribunal for the 15th
Anniversary of the Biak Massacre to be held on Saturday,
July 6 at the University of
Sydney.
