Free Papua from Do or Die!

Benny Wenda from the West Papua Movement

The article below is a golden oldie from 'Do or Die' the people who quite rightly think I am a sell out who isn't tough enough on the essentials of green politics, critical enough of the 'realos', etc, etc.

Do or Die....a very interesting publication indeed, set up by the radicals, the spikies of Earth First! (UK)....all on line for free, you won't regret a look. No right wing Malthusian bullshit from these people, pretty solid support for direct action and against capitalism.


Radicals put pressure on progressives who try to embarrass the friends of the 'military-industrial complex', agree or disagree, the anarchists are a necessary part of the eco-system.

This is back ground on West Papua. To support the free papua movement click here.

lets face it serious politics is about Iraq or West Papua, even letting people know a little bit more is important



Rumble in the Jungle
Fighting for Freedom in West Papua
This interview with a representative of the OPM took place in a mystery location in a well-known South Coast seaside resort (not the one you're thinking of), with an inept interviewer, a cheap tape recorder, and drunks singing a rousing chorus of 'Rawhide' in the background.

West Papua, the western half of the island of New Guinea is home to rich rainforest and a huge range of different tribal groups - accounting for 0.1% of the world's population, but speaking up to 25% of all known languages. In 1963, this former Dutch colony was annexed by Indonesia and became the province of Irian Jaya. In 1969, a fraudulent referendum involving 1025 indigenous people - the 'Act of Free Choice' - ratified the Indonesian occupation. To maintain its control over West Papua's immense natural resources - including some of the world's best mineral deposits - Indonesia has unleashed one of the least-known genocides of the 20th century. Massacres, rape, torture, disappearances, the seizure of land and cultural assimilation policies have been commonplace, with perhaps a sixth of the 1963 population (300,000 people) killed since the occupation began.

Indonesia's policy of 'transmigration' - relocating millions of people from heavily populated Java, Bali and Madura to the outer islands, to consolidate their grip on them - has also done tremendous damage. But almost from the very start, this catalogue of abuses has been met with determined and inspiring resistance, against incredible odds, from the Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) or Free Papua Movement.

Read more here