WEST PAPUA: The human rights violations inflicted on the people of West Papua are the same as those suffered by the people of East Timor, an activist from the western Pacific island has said.
Rev Socratez Sofyan Yoman was visiting Ireland to meet supporters and Government officials.
He said he wanted the Government to urge the EU to call on the Indonesian Government to enter genuine dialogue with the people of West Papua."
A former Dutch colony, just north of Australia, West Papua is about the size of France and has a population of about 4 million.
An estimated 100,000 people have been killed there by the Indonesian military since it invaded the island in 1963. Amnesty International has raised concerns about rape, torture and extra-judicial killings by the military there.
There are also severe restrictions on freedom of assembly and the media. Journalists have not been allowed on to the island.
Rev Yoman, who recently addressed a public meeting in Dublin, said there was "genocide going on every day in my country. The military create disputes and killing to justify their continued presence on the island."
Under a special autonomy arrangement drawn up by Indonesia in 2002, the government said it would move to protect the human rights of the West Papuans and develop their society through investment in the education system and health service.
"This special autonomy is failing. It has only brought great misfortune," Rev Yoman said. Investment was not being made in the areas claimed by the Indonesian government, he added.
"We want to live in peace and justice and respect in our own country. We cannot do this while Indonesia denies us our human rights," he said.
