New website: War on West Papua (and launch event!)

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A composite image of hundreds of West Papuans marching

We are excited to share news of a new website, called War on West Papua. The website identifies a wide-range of weapons and military equipment used by the Indonesian security forces in their ongoing occupation of West Papua.

We hope you will go and take a look at the website, and join us for an online launch event on July 6th at 9am UTC (10am in London, 11am in Brussels, 4pm in Jakarta, 6pm in Jayapura, 7am in Melbourne) - you can register for this webinar here.

During the launch webinar we will hear directly from friends in West Papua who are experiencing the impact of these weapons sales. We will connect with international solidarity activists who are already targeting the war profiteers profiled on our site. There will be plenty of time for your input and discussion about how we can up the ante in our anti-militarist work.

The website:

  • Identifies dozens of companies profiting from the supply of weapons and equipment to the Indonesian military, with a clear profile of the company
  • Profiles various branches of the Indonesian security apparatus and identifies which weapons they use
  • Provides a snapshot of West Papuans’ experience of and resistance to militarism
  • Allows users to submit their own evidence of equipment being used in a particular incident

International solidarity

The project has been a collaboration between War Resisters’ International, Wage Peace, based in Australia, Make West Papua Safe and a coalition of other peace and human rights organisations. We are also grateful to the many other organisations who have helped us to identify equipment or provided information on their own country’s exports. Together we have identified some of the vast arsenal of weapons available to the Indonesian police and military which are used to quell popular protest, attack isolated communities, and maintain a hold on key economic resources. The Indonesian police and military are routinely responsible for human rights abuses of West Papuans.

We want this website to serve as a small act of solidarity with those struggling for peace and dignity in West Papua. We also hope activists taking action against the arms trade around the world will use this resource to further their campaigns against arms companies in their own context, increase their understanding of the impact of the arms trade to Indonesian in West Papua, and include West Papua in their narratives and campaigns. We invite you all to join the campaign that accompanies War on West Papua, by using the hashtag #PeaceInPapua when you take action at the companies and institutions that supply Indonesian militarism.

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Theme
Police militarisation theme