Elisa Sekenyap, Jayapura – Australian Green Party Senator Janet Rice has expressed her concerns about the situation faced by the people in the land of Papua.
"On the situation developing in #WestPapua; I am very concerned over reports of military actions by the Indonesian government in West Papua", tweeted Rice on April 27 on her Twitter account followed by a link to a shooting in Beoga district in Puncak, Papua.
"[I feel] very sad hearing statements by Indonesian government figures who ignore the human rights problems", she said.
Because of this, she said that the Green Party is calling on the Indonesian government to immediately withdraw all troops from West Papua.
The Indonesian government must also provide unrestricted access to the United Nations and independent human rights observers as quickly as possible.
In addition to this, Rice urged the Australian government not to stay silent with all that is happening.
"The Green Party calls on our government (Australia) to speak out about our neighbours in West Papua, and advocate human rights in order to prevent violence and the loss of life in West Papua", she said.
A statement was also made by Vanuatu opposition leader Ralph Regenvanu who quoted from a remark by the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Bambang Soesatyo, "Annihilate them first. We'll discuss human rights later".
This statement, said Regenvanu, was made despite the fact that more than 80 countries have asked that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights be allowed to visit Papua and conduct an independent assessment.
"Thank you Australian Greens for your consistent stand @janet_rice."
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Partai Hijau Australia Desak Pemerintah Indonesia Tarik Militer dari Papua".]
