Deeply concerned by the on-going famine in West Papua ( Irian Jaya )*, and the urgency of getting relief supplies to those in need, we are particularly concerned at reports that churches in West Papua have been denied access by the Indonesian military to the area around the villages of Bella, Alama, Ngeselama and Mapnduma in the Puncak Jaya and Jayawijaya districts of West Papua.

Thousands of people are reportedly, in this area, suffering from lack of food and drinking water; they are also reportedly suffering from a number of serious diseases such as malaria.

We understand that the army has refused access to the GKII church, many of whose members live in this region, and who have organised, along with the GKI and the Jayapura Catholic Bishopric, a relief program for the people in this region consisting of foodstuffs, medicines and pastoral care; the GKII are thus unable to administer humanitarian aid and bring relief to these people.

We therefore call on the National Commission of Human Rights of Indonesia, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, to pressurise the Indonesian military authorities in West Papua to immediately allow church relief programmes access to the area around the villages of Bella, Alama, Ngeselama and Mapnduma in the Puncak Jaya and Jayawijaya districts of West Papua.

Furthermore, we call on the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to arrange a fact-finding mission to West Papua to investigate on-going and past reports of human rights abuses, and to report on the economic, social and political situation of the indigenous people of West Papua.

Finally we call on Non-Governmental organisations and other concerned individuals worldwide to raise their concerns about the lack of human, land, indigenous and political rights of the people of West Papua New Guinea, the heavy militarisation of the area, coupled with the on-going degradation of their environment.

West Papua Action,

5 Coote Street, Portlaoise, Co. Laois, Ireland.

Tel. *353 502 61035. Fax. *353 502 61590.

E-mail. wpaction@iol.ie

West Papua Peoples Front,

PO Box 75916, 1007 AX Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Tel. *31 30 23 22 809. Fax. *31 30 24 00 839.

E-mail. pavo@worldaccess.nl

FEBRUARY 23RD, 1998.

* Note: West Papua was given the name "Irian Jaya (West Papua)" in 1973 by the Indonesian authorities. The Indonesian military regime control the area since May 1st, 1963. A fraudulent and grossly unrepresentative plebiscite was held in 1969, about which the UN representative, Fernando Ortiz-Sanz, expressed his "reservations regarding the implementation of article XXII of the [ New York ] Agreement relating to the rights, including the rights of free speech, freedom of movement and of assembly, of the inhabitants of the area... the [ Indonesian ] administration exercised at all times a tight political control over the population." The results of this so-called plebiscite, or Act of "Free" Choice, in which only 1, 025 people out of some one million Papuans voted, were presented by the Indonesian regime to the world as a vote for integration with the Jakarta military administration. Opposition, armed and peaceful, to Indonesian rule continues to this day. Tens of thousand of Papuans have died under the Indonesian military regime.

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Addresses:

Mr. Marzuki Darusman

Vice Chairman

National Commission of Human Rights

Ketua Komisi Nasional Hak Azasi Manusia

c/o Ministry of Justice

Jalan Veteran No. 11

Jakarta

Indonesia

Fax: 00 62 21 520 7948.

Mrs. Mary Robinson

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Palais des Nations 1211

Geneva 10

Switzerland

Telephone: (41) 22-734-6011, 731-0211

Fax: (41) 22-733-9879

Fax: (41) 22-917-0022 (HOTLINE-Human Rights)

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