Webinar: Resisting militarised policing in West Papua
Date: 23rd November 2020
Time: 9:30am UTC (10:30am CET, 17:30pm WITA, 18:30 WIT, 20:30 AEDT)
The webinar will focus on contributions from a number of speakers from Indonesia and West Papua, as well as activists researching the international support that Indonesia receives.
Platform: Zoom (we will also livestream on Facebook)
This webinar, hosted by War Resisters' International as part of the Make West Papua Safe campaign, will discuss militarised policing in West Papua, resistance to militarism, the network of international corporations and governments who actively train and arm the Indonesian National Police, why they do it, and how you can stand with West Papuans. Tune in to find out more, and become active in the largest growing and most powerful nonviolent resistance movement in Oceania, the liquid continent.
Background
West Papuans are facing a slow-motion, militarised genocide, led by the Indonesian government. But the movement for freedom in this Melanesian nation-in-waiting is irrepressible. It is also overwhelmingly nonviolent.
The leading perpetrators of state violence in West Papua, which borders the independent state of Papua New Guinea, are the Indonesian National Police. They are hell bent on maintaining the illegal occupation of West Papua. The Indonesian National Police include the paramilitary unit Brimob, and the heavily militarised counter-insurgency group, Special Detachment 88. Indonesian police regularly conduct lethal operations with the Indonesian military. Unarmed activists clamouring for independence – who are for the most part young, black and indigenous – are the Indonesian police and military's primary targets.
The movement in West Papua has transitioned from an armed struggle in the rugged mountains and remote jungles of West Papua to a nonviolent uprising in the cities and towns. It is led by young people, backed up by growing organised solidarity from Indonesians, Pacific Islanders, people from all over the African continent, and activists from Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the United States of America.
We need to grow the numbers and groups of solidarity activists and wage smarter and more powerful campaigns because the police are not acting alone. The Indonesian police are armed by a host of countries including Korea who supplies armoured vehicles and tear gas, Germany who supplies weapons and over 20 other countries. The Indonesian National Police are also trained by the Australian, US, English, Canadian and New Zealand Governments and police forces. Over 21,000 Indonesian police have been trained at the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation since they opened their doors in 2004.