Showing posts with label Papua. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Papua. Show all posts

Tuesday, 22 November 2011

Green Left Weekly Activist Calendar: 2011-11-23


Green Left Weekly Activist CalendarNovember 23, 2011


Community rally
Support the nurses! Defend safe patient care! Defend nurse-patient ratios!
Thursday, November 24, 12:30pm. Assemble 12:30pm, Bourke St mall, City. Then march to Parliament House, Spring St, City.

Community picnic
Occupy Melbourne's 'Dare to share' teddy bears picnic
Saturday, November 26, 11:30am-2:30pm. Treasury Gardens, cnr Spring & Flinders Sts, City. : . It's about sharing! Kids get it, why doesn't everyone?! Currently, in Victoria funding is being cut to 9000 'take a break' occasional care places, impacting on shift workers, single parents and families in crisis. Meanwhile the 1% continues to grow richer. Join the 99% for a day of fun and kids activities at Occupy Melbourne's picnic! Bring a blanket and some snacks and let's show the 1% how this 'strange concept' called sharing is done. Organised by Occupy Melbourne Kids & Carers Committee. For more info visit Occupy Melbourne.

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This is the regular Melbourne activist calendar compiled by Green Left Weekly. Emailed to subscribers each Wednesday fortnight, it is a one-stop listing of the main left and progressive events in Melbourne and Geelong.
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Other coming events


Wednesday, November 23

Public meeting with Rubén Pereira: For the 99%: Social movements and political change. Speaker: Rubén Pereira from Venezuela, Coordinator of Social Movements for the Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of Our America (ALBA). The rise of the Occupy movement, from Wall Street to Sydney, reflects the mass dissatisfaction and growing anger about the injustices of capitalism. In Latin America, a united organisation that reflects and fights for the needs of the people against the greed and destructiveness of the corporations is changing the shape of politics across the continent. ALBA was launched by Cuba and Venezuela in 2004 and now includes eight Latin American nations. Rubén Pereira is a member of its executive secretariat. 7pm. New International Bookshop, Trades Hall, cnr Victoria & Lygon Sts, Carlton South. Hosted by the Venezuelan Embassy in Australia. Supported by the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network & Latin American Forum. For more info ph 9639 8622 or Sean 0415 122 135.
Public meeting: 50th Anniversary of the pill in Australia. An incomplete revolution. Featuring: Nelly Thomas (comedian), Leslie Cannold (author & Age columnist), Louise Keough (lecturer, Melbourne University) & Mary Crooks (executive director, Victorian Women's Trust). To mark 50 years since the introduction of the pill we will reflect on the promise of the sexual revolution, and the reality of what has been delivered for young women today. 5:45pm. BMW Edge Federation Square. Sponsored by the Victorian Women's Trust. For more info, email Pill.
Public meeting: Choosing between progress & planet. Is the world split between those who want to save the planet and those who want to save themselves? In Quarterly Essay 44, Andrew Charlton exposes the rift that will shape our future: progress versus planet, rich versus poor. Across the globe, economists and environmentalists are locked in a struggle over who has the right response to climate change, population and food security issues. Charlton argues that our descendants will only thank us if we find a way to preserve both the natural world and human progress. 6:15pm. The Wheeler Centre, 176 Little Lonsdale Street. Free entry. Bookings recommended. Bookings at Wheeler Centre.
Thursday, November 24
Rally: Stand up for our services> Action by public sector workers. 10:45am. Cnr St Andrews Place & Macarthur St, City (back of Parliament House).
Community rally: Support the nurses! Defend safe patient care. Defend nurse-patient ratios. Assemble 12:30pm, Bourke St mall; march to Parliament House, Spring St, City.
Protest against Gunns pulp mill. 10:15am. Outside Gunns AGM, Sofitel Hotel, 25 Collins St, City (assemble back entrance Sofitel Hotel, Flinders Lane, near carpark before moving around to the front entrance). Participating groups include TAP, Pulp the Mill, Tasmanian Wilderness Society & Friends of the Tamar Valley. There is a possibility that members from Occupy Melbourne will also attend. For more info ph Lucy Landon-Lane 0417 105 390.
Film screening: Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria. This Emmy Award-winning documentary tells the story of the first-known collective uprising against queer and transgender oppression. A multi-racial rebellion in San Francisco's Tenderloin district, led by drag queens, that took place three years before the Stonewall Riot in New York. The revolt connected to issues of police harassment, housing rights, war resistance, and sexual liberation. 7pm. Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. Dinner from 6pm. $8. For more info ph 9388 0062.
Public meeting: The battle of Chile: Free, quality education for all. Speaker: Cristian Milla Curiñanco (Mapuche student visiting Australia, representative of one of the Chilean grass roots students organisation, Convergencia Estudiantil, fighting for free, quality education in Chile). Organised by Latin American Solidarity Network (LASNET). Supported by Chile Solidarity Melbourne. 7pm. LaTrobe University City Campus, 215 Franklin St, City.
Saturday, November 26
Rally: Defend the Fertility Control Clinic Campaign for Women's reproductive rights stands with Occupy Melbourne against its eviction by Mayor Robert Doyle. 10am. 118 Wellington Parade, East Melbourne. For more info ph 9388 0062.
Community Picnic: Occupy Melbourne's 'Dare to share' teddy bears picnic. It's about sharing! Kids get it, why doesn't everyone?! Currently, in Victoria funding is being cut to 9000 'take a break' occasional care places, impacting on shift workers, single parents and families in crisis. Meanwhile the 1% continues to grow richer. Join the 99% for a day of fun and kids activities at Occupy Melbourne's picnic! Bring a blanket and some snacks and let's show the 1% how this 'strange concept' called sharing is done. 11:30am-2:30pm. Treasury Gardens, cnr Spring & Flinders Sts, City. Organised by Occupy Melbourne Kids & Carers Committee. For more info visit Occupy Melbourne.
Tuesday, November 29
Public meeting: Humphrey McQueen & Kenneth Davidson on the state of the world economy. Humphrey McQueen is a Canberra-based freelance historian and cultural commentator who has written extensively on Australian society, culture and the labour movement. Kenneth Davidson is a Fairfax columnist, a Walkley Award winning journalist and a committed Keynesian, who in his spare time is a co-editor of Dissent magazine. 3CR presenters Bill Deller, Lalitha Cheliah and Diana Beaumont will join Humphrey and Kenneth in a conversation about capitalism's most recent crisis, the role of the banks, and its fallout. 7pm. Meeting Room 1, Trades Hall, cnr Lygon & Victoria Sts, Carlton. Entry by Donation.
Wednesday, November 30
Book launch: We built this country: Builders' Labourers & their unions Speaker: Humphrey McQueen. His new book charts the history of Australian builders' labourers and their unions, from their early beginnings through to the radical days of the green bans and workers' control of the 60s. 6:30pm. New International Bookshop, Trades Hall, 54 Victoria St, Carlton South. $5/$2. Presented by New International Bookshop & Community Radio 3CR.
Thursday, December 1
West Papua national day: Raising of the flag. 10:15am. Trades Hall, cnr Lygon & Victoria Sts, Carlton.
Saturday, December 3
Sydney Rally for marriage equality at ALP Conference. This is a national protest. Equal Love groups from across the country are organising for their supporters to make the trip to Sydney. What better reason to make a trip to Sydney than this! Equality advocates are urged to gather at Hyde Park to march to the Labor Party national conference as they debate their policy on marriage. 12 noon. Hyde Park North at the fountain.
Book launch: Aborigines in the Yarra Valley and Northern Dandenongs. Performances by Gabony Yubupi Yinggabbai (First Children Sing) Choir and the Valley Crew Hip Hop group. 2pm. Mt Evelyn Station House, Wray Crescent, Mt Evelyn. Organised by Mount Evelyn History Group. For more info, ph 9736 2935 or email Mt Evelyn History group. RVSP by November 30.
Sunday, December 4
Sydney Rally for refugees at ALP conference. End mandatory detention. Refugees are welcome. Not in Malaysia, not in Nauru: No offshore processing. 12 noon. Meet Sydney Town hall to march to the ALP conference at Darling harbour. Organised by Refugee Action Coalition Sydney. Initial endorsements: Chilout, Refugee Action Coalition, Labor for Refugees (NSW), National Tertiary Education Union (NSW), Australian Services Union (NSW & ACT (Services)).
Monday, December 5
BZE December discussion. Greens senator Richard Di Natale explains his vision for Australia. Entry by gold coin donation. 6:30pm. Fritz Loewe Theatre (entry via level 2), McCoy Building, University of Melbourne, cnr Elgin & Swanston Sts, Carlton.
Tuesday, December 6
Film screening: The Yes Men fix the world. The second screwball true story about two gonzo political activists who, posing as top executives of giant corporations, lie their way into big business conferences and pull off the world's most outrageous pranks. Who knew fixing the world could be so much fun? Entry by donation. 6pm. Ross House, 247 Flinders Lane, City. For more info ph 9650 1599. Presented by Environment Victoria.
Wednesday, December 7
Public meeting: International Human Rights Day 2011: What does the future hold for Human Rights in Australia?Speakers: Rob Stary & Malcolm McClure. 6:30pm. Preston City Hall, 284 Gower St, Preston. Organised by City of Darebin. For more info ph 8470 8888 or visit City of Darebin.
AAWL workshop: Living wages, not repression. To mark International Human Rights Day, an open workshop with international and local activists. Discussion on how to fight the repression labour movement activists in many countries face where workers can be jailed or killed for demanding improvements in wages and conditions. Genuine labour movement representatives from the Philippines, Korea, Thailand, Pakistan and West Papua have been invited to participate via Skype link. All welcome. 6pm. Trades Hall, cnr Lygon & Victoria Sts, Carlton. Presented by Australia Asia Worker Links.
Thursday, December 8
New International Bookshop Christmas party! 6pm til late. New International Bookshop, Trades Hall, cnr Lygon & Victoria Sts, Carlton.
Sunday, December 11
Public meeting: YGender's 1st birthday and Christmas party Wow what a year it has been! Now it's time to have a big party with the entire family! We have decided to have a joint christmas and birthday party. We would like to invite you and whomever else you wish to bring whether its that special someone, your best friend or even your supportive parents.This is a chance to celebrate the great first year that we have and be thankful to all those people that have supported and encouraged us. 5pm. ALSO Building, Level 10, 225 Bourke St, City.
Saturday, December 17
Rally: Vigil for Bradley Manning on his 24th birthday On this day Bradley Manning will have been incarcerated for 571 days. On this day in Melbourne we will gather at the US Consulate on St Kilda Rd to stand in solidarity with him. 5pm. Forecourt of Consulate General of the United States, 553 St Kilda Road, City.
Sunday, December 18
Fundraiser: Rhythm, rock, reggae, rap, recycle benefit concert. For books for libraries and schools in newly independent South Sudan. With The Mystic Trio ,Quashani Bahd, Culture Crew, Majak & Deng, Black Orchid String Band, West Papuan Dance Group, Ben Jackson Band, Flybz. Speakers from South Sudan and West Papua. 2:30pm. Fitzroy Town Hall, 201 Napier St Fitzroy. Entry fee: Bring a book (new or 2nd hand) to donate to school/university libraries in South Sudan (children's and recent text books welcome) and/or donation to help with rebuilding after years of war. Organised by SSPARC (South Sudanese People in Australia Relief and Care, Auspiced by Multicultural Arts Victoria, with thanks to the City of Yarra.For more information contact Esther 0439 555 291 or Tania 0438 702 528.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Concert: Immortal Technique first Australia & NZ tour. Slingshot is proud to announce the long awaited tour of battle emcee, activist, revolutionary and philanthropist Immortal Technique. After many attempts over the years, Immortal Technique will finally bring his raw political commentary to Australia in January 2012. Born in a military hospital in Peru, Immortal Technique moved to Harlem, New York with his family in the early 80s. Here he became captivated with Hip Hop culture, writing graffiti and discovering his passion for rhyming. After some trouble with the law, he spent a year in prison, where he began to prolifically write down his ideas about what he had lived and seen in the struggle of New York and his visits back to his native land. 8pm. The Espy, 11 The Esplanade, St Kilda.
Friday, January 20
Rally: Freedom fighters Tunnerminnerwait & Maulboyheener. Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner were among five Tasmanian Aborigines who conducted a campaign of resistance to European settlement in 1841 around Western Port and South Gippsland near Melbourne. After three military expeditions they were finally captured and brought back to Melbourne for trial. They were not allowed to give evidence themselves. The two men were found guilty of murder, with the jury saying due to the circumstances mercy should be granted. No mercy was given and Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner were the first judicial executions to take place in Melbourne on January 20, 1842 before a crowd of 5000, a quarter of the population of Melbourne at the time. 12pm. RMIT entrance, cnr Bowen & Franklin Sts, City.
Thursday, January 26
Canberra Rally: Stand up & be counted on Sovereignty Day. Invitation to the 40th anniversary of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy.
Friday, February 17-Sunday, February 19
Festival: Sustainable Living Festival 2012. Federation Square & Birrarung Marr Event Park, near cnr Swanston & Flinders Sts, City. For more info visit SLF.



Tuesday, 8 November 2011

Indonesia shoots down - once again - West Papua's independence movement


Violent Tactics Backfire In Papua

waiting
The tough response of the Indonesian armed forces to the Third Papuan People's congress has strengthened calls for freedom. NM's West Papua correspondent Alex Rayfield reviews the fallout

If the Indonesian police and military thought shooting live ammunition into a mass gathering of unarmed Papuanswould somehow dampen dissent and endear them to Jakarta’s continued rule, they were mistaken. Indiscriminate repression meted out against those gathered at the Third Papuan People’s congress is showing signs of having the opposite effect: widening the circle of dissent inside West Papua and igniting international support outside.

First the Indonesian military and police denied they shot dead peaceful protesters. But that was too difficult to sustain. New Matilda received text messages as soon as the shooting started which were followed by urgent phone calls. Gunfire could be heard in the background.

When it became clear that covering up the shooting would not wash, the Indonesian Chief of Army in West Papua, Erfi Triassunu, admitted opening fire but claimed his troops only fired warning shots. He insisted no one had been hurt. Some of the international media bought the story. With foreign journalists banned from West Papua, some media outlets went to the police and military for confirmation. This is in spite of the fact that West Papua Media, with their extensive network of citizen journalists and local stringers, broke the story, verified it and began filing reports about what happened within a few hours.

A few hours after the shooting, the Indonesian police in West Papua were telling journalists in Jakarta that an attempted coup d’état had taken place and that police had used force to defend the state. The Jayapura Chief of Police, Imam Setiawan, even went as far as saying that members of the Papuan Liberation Army had attacked the Congress.

Setiawan took this line again on Thursday 20 October. In an interview with Bintang Papua, a local Papuan daily, he outlined how he thought police should respond to a gathering of unarmed Papuans expressing their political opinion: "Whoever supports separatism or subversion activity, I will do the same as yesterday. I’ll finish them."

The language used by Setiawan echoed hard-line nationalists in Jakarta. It follows a deadly trajectory. Cast the Papuans in the worst possible light. Label them as "separatists" — which in Indonesia is the worst kind of criminal, someone who is treasonous, dangerous and violent. From here it was only a short step to imply that those at the Third People’s Congress were using violence to try and seize control of the state. This narrative makes it sound like the police and military were taking evasive action to stop the Papuans storming the Bastille of Indonesian rule. This is pure fantasy.

Initially it was reported that police and the military raided the stage after Forkorus Yaboisembut and Edison Waromi (appointed as President and Prime Minister of the Federal State of West Papua respectively) declared independence. We now know that the attack did not happen until well after the three-day gathering had finished.

After the Declaration of Independence was read around 2.00pm local time, the Congress concluded. The leadership — Yaboisembut, Waromi, Dominikus Surabut, Helena Matuan and a few others left the field to rest in the nearby Sang Surya Catholic Friary in the grounds of the Fajar Timur Theological College where the Congress was being held. Those remaining on Taboria oval (Zaccheus Field) danced the Yospan, a traditional Papuan group dance.

The festivities continued for around 60-90 minutes. We don’t know exactly what the police, military and Brimob soldiers were doing between the time the Declaration was read out and the time the shooting started. Presumably they were discussing what to do. Most likely they consulted commanding officers locally and in Jakarta.

According to Yan Christian Waranussy, a prominent Papuan human rights lawyer, members of the security forces under the command of Police Chief Imam Setiawan arrested Edison Waromi as he drove out of the Fajar Timur grounds on Yakonde Street. Waranussy reports that the police pulled people out of the vehicle and started beating them before pushing them into a police van. Following the arrest of Waromi, Waranussy says the security forces starting firing their weapons into the crowd.

This occurred at around 3.30pm. One of the first killed was 25-year-old Daniel Kadepa, a student at UmelMandiri Law School. According to those who knew him, Kapeda did not even attend the Congress. He was passing by when the security forces opened fire. Witnesses said that he died from gunshot wounds to the head and back after soldiers fired on him as he was running away.

Video footage obtained by EngageMedia and published by New Matilda shows people hiding in nearby buildings just after the police and military opened fire. In the background you can hear shooting. This is not automatic gunfire. They are single shots. Then there is a pause, followed by more shots. It is as if the shooter is walking around picking people off. There is very little background noise. No screaming or yelling, just an eerie silence … and gunshots.

According to Catholic clergy who witnessed the event, the police, Indonesian military and the the paramilitary Mobile Police Brigade continued discharging their weapons for approximately 25 minutes.
Eyewitnesses report that when the shooting started, Yaboisembut and Surabut were talking and relaxing in the Sang Surya Friary, a few metres from the oval. Then bullets smashed through the window. According to statements obtained by New Matilda people immediately hit the ground and began crawling to safety as the police indiscriminately fired live ammunition and canisters of tear gas into the buildings surrounding the oval.
According to statements obtained by New Matilda, police, military and Brimob personnel ransacked student dormitories, clergy residences and offices. One witness reported an Indonesian security officer yelling "Where are those idiot priests? Why do priests hide criminals?"

Those present also reported security personal using combat knives or bayonets and beating people with truncheons and rifles. At least 300 people were arrested and taken away in army and police trucks where they were detained overnight in the tennis courts at the police station.

We now know that three people were shot dead that day. They are Daniel Kapeda, Max Asa Yeuw, and Yakobus Samansabra. Two others, Matias Maidepa and Yacop Sabonsaba, were allegedly found dead behind the military headquarters in Abepura. According to the Indonesian military sources quoted in the local Papuan press, the victims had been stabbed. In addition, members of the Organising Committee of the Third Papuan Congress allege four other people died, all from gunshot wounds, two from Sorong and two from Wamena.

Six people are still in detention charged with rebellion. According to family members they have all been badly beaten. According to Human Rights Watch and KONTRAS Indonesia (the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence) those still in detention are:
Forkorus Yaboisembut, chairman of the Papua Customary Council, probably the most prominent pro-independence leader in Papua. When New Matilda interviewed him in West Papua in 2010 and again in 2011 he was regularly receiving death threats. A few people had even come forward and told the local press that they were offered new motorbikes and other inducements if they would help orchestrate a fatal "accident".
Edison Waromi, president of the West Papua National Authority. Edison Waromi’s daughter, Yane, was kidnapped and assaulted by the security forces in 2008.
Dominikus Surabut, secretary of the Papuan Customary Council in La Pago region.
Selpius Bobii, a social media activist, who organised the Papuan Congress. He initially eluded the police crackdown, but surrendered to police on October 20, accompanied by his lawyers and a Papuan journalist.
August M. Sananay of the West Papua National Authority.
Gat Wanda, a member of PETAPA (Defenders of the Land of Papua, an unarmed civilian defence group), charged with possessing a sharp weapon.

It will take some time before the immediate effect of the repression is made clear, but early signs suggest the use of extreme and deadly violence against nonviolent activists has enlarged the circle of dissent inside West Papuaand ignited international support outside.

Certainly Church leaders — both Catholic and Protestant — have expressed their outrage. Neles Tebay, a key Papuan intellectual, defended the role of clergy who provided humanitarian protection for those seeking safety. Tebay, who also gave permission for the Committee to hold the Congress in the Theological College grounds, was quoted as saying that he "rejects the use of all kinds of repression in dealing with the problems. Using violence undermines the dignity of all concerned, above all the dignity of the victims as well as the perpetrators."

Tebay has repeated his call "for all people of goodwill to jointly press for dialogue, for the sake of peace in Papua".

Political representatives of the Papuan Provincial Parliament, a group that until now has sided with the government on matters of national security, expressed their dismay. Bintang Papua reported that Yan Mandenas, chairman of the Pikiran Rakyat Group in the Provincial Parliament said "the actions of the security forces in dispersing the Congress exceeded all bounds and … were in violation of the law".
Similar views were expressed by Ruben Magay, chairman of Commission A on Politics and Law of the Provincial Parliament who reportedly urged the chief of police to withdraw his men because the Congress was already over. Magay said that what happened was clearly "a violation" and that "no one was fighting back".

And while a large group of hard-line nationalists in Jakarta applauded or condoned police and military action, Effendy Choirie and Lily Chadidjah Wahid, both members of House of Representatives Commission I on information, defense and foreign affairs in Jakarta, warned the government that the mounting tension could lead to the province’s separation from Indonesia. In a clear rebuke of Papuan Police Chief Imam Setiawan, the two legislators added "that the government should not blame the Free Papua Movement (OPM) for the shooting but rather the security personnel in Papua".

Internationally, things have gotten much worse for Jakarta.

United States Congressman Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin condemned the actions of the security forces. So too has Senator Richard Di Natale from the Australian Greens who has urged the Australian Government to suspend military ties with IndonesiaMP Catherine Delahunty from New Zealand has also called for the New Zealand Government to withdraw its training support for the Indonesian police. This is more than words. The United States, Australian and New Zealand Government all provide money, training and material aid to the Indonesian police and military. In this sense we are beginning to see the early signs of what could become an international withdrawal of legitimacy for continued Indonesian repression in West Papua.
Papuan calls for UN intervention won’t happen, at least not in the foreseeable future. And the movement internally still faces serious challenges. But the Congress, the Declaration of Independence and the subsequent shooting has realigned the political landscape. There are now three main political groups, the Congress, the Papuan Peace Network led by Neles Tebay who is calling for dialogue, and the West Papua National Committee who want the giant US/Australian Freeport Mine closed and a referendum on West Papua’s political status. At a fundamental level there is not a lot of difference between these positions. They all point to the need for a political solution to the Pacific’s longest running conflict.

The Indonesian political elite and security forces can no longer pretend that the problem in Papua is economic. Papuans want political freedoms. The Congress made that abundantly clear. It opened with raising the banned Morning Star flag and singing the banned West Papuan national anthem, Hai Tanah Ku, and closed with a Declaration of Independence.

And it wasn’t as if the military or police was unaware of this depth of feeling. When an open peace conference organised by the Papua Peace Network was held in Jayapura last July, Erfi Triassunu, the local Army Chief, took the podium. In attendance were 800 respected Papuan civil society leaders. Triassunu tried to get the audience — who were mostly Papuan — to chant "peace!" in response to his "Papua!". But as soon as he called out "Papua!" the crowd responded as one with "Merdeka!" (freedom).
Now the Papuans’ cry for freedom is echoing around the world. And it is the Indonesian police, military and their nationalist political allies in Jakarta who are helping amplify it.

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