“Papua Tribe Targets Mining Giant Freeport in $30 Billion Legal Action”
September 5, 2009
Wes Papuan's in tradtional dress
Based upon an article written by the Jakarta Globe’s Heru Andriyanto the West Papuan Amungme tribe has filed a $30 billion lawsuit against Freeport McMoRan for damages sustained over 40 years of operations on their ancestral lands. The 90 Amungmes are represented by their tribes lawyer Titus Natkime.
Natkime said “from 1969 to 2009, our land has been exploited and we have not had a fair share of the wealth it generates,the tribe holds the traditional rights to own the land and all its resources, but other people took away all the financial benefits from us”.
The tribe claims that it owns 2.6 million hectares of the land on which the mine is located.
A spokesperson for Freeport McMoRan Mindo Pangaribuan responded by email stating that “since 1996, PT Freeport Indonesia has allocated 1 percent of its gross revenue for a society development program, and in 2008 the partnership fund reached some $324 million.” Read the full article
Day of the Broken Promise
August 26, 2009
Free Papua Independence leader Benny Wenda along with a a number of other Papuan’s protested outside the Dutch embassy in the UK on August 14 against the’ day of broken promises’ (15 August 1962).
The ‘Day of Broken promises’ marks the day that the Dutch signed the New York agreement handing over West Papua to Indonesian colony, despite having previously promised West Papua independence.
“The Indonesian army moved in on 1 May 1963 and began a programme of repression and human rights abuse against the people. In 1969 they rounded up and detained just over a thousand West Papuans as representatives of the people and ensured that they voted for rule by Indonesia by threats, including at least in some cases that they and their families would be killed unless they did so…Since then there have been many reports of repression by Indonesia in the country, including murder, political assassinations, torture, rapes, disappearances and bombing. The government also had a programme of resettling migrants from Indonesia in the country, apparently aimed at producing an Indonesian majority population.”
Peter Marshall of Indymedia Uk covered the protests of a number of Papuan’s outside the Dutch embassy in London. Read his Article
INTERNATIONAL LAWYERS FOR WEST PAPUA
August 5, 2009
STATEMENT: INTERNATIONAL LAWYERS FOR WEST PAPUA
The International Lawyers for West Papua are deeply concerned at the
arrests, detention and apparent torture of West Papuans by the
Indonesian Government.
By its actions the Indonesian Government is once more violating
international law, specifically the fundamental human rights guaranteed
by international law.
Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
states that:
1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.
2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right
shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas
of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in
print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.
3. The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this
article carries with it special duties and responsibilities. It may
therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be
such as are provided by law and are necessary:
(a) For respect of the rights or reputations of others;
(b) For the protection of national security or of public order (order
public), or of public health or morals. Read More
the sustainability of people 
