Australia East Timor Friendship Association South Australia Inc AETFA-SA, PO BOX 240, GOODWOOD South Australia 5034 Australia www.aetfa.org.au PHONE: 61 8 8344 3511 MEDIA STATEMENT: DR JOSE RAMOS HORTA’S VIEW ON WEST PAPUAN INDEPENDENCE IS INCORRECT The Australia East Timor Friendship Association SA issued the following statement today regarding the comments made about West Papuan independence during an interview with ABC News on 23 July 2015: “In July 2015, Dr Jose Ramos Horta, a former PM and President of Timor-Leste, in an interview on ABC News, expressed his opposition to the movement for independence of West Papua. The Australia East Timor Friendship Association SA respectfully disagrees with Dr Horta’s statement. His comments have disappointed many in the movements for human rights and the Timor-Leste, West Papuan and Indonesian solidarity movements. These comments will also be disappointing to many East Timorese who know that the West Papuans have suffered like they did at the hands of the TNI, but for a much longer period. The TNI occupied East Timor for 24 years, but it has now occupied West Papua for about 53 years. The US forced Holland to cease its decolonisation process in West Papua because it was interested in exploiting West Papua’s gold and copper deposits. In 1969, the UN carried out a very dubious process that allowed the TNI to brutally force the West Papuans to accept Indonesian sovereignty. Human rights abusers know that some of the worst human rights abuses in history have been carried out by TNI. It wiped out a third of the East Timorese population and many believe that well over 100,000 West Papuans have died as a result of the TNI’s activities during the occupation.. Dr Horta was for many years a very effective international spokesperson for the East Timor resistance movement. His tireless efforts to promote the rights of the East Timorese to be independent of the brutal Indonesian military (TNI) that invaded and occupied their country for 24 years will never be forgotten. Because of his personal efforts, he earned the 1996 Nobel Prize with Bishop Carlos Belo, which was thoroughly deserved. He then went on to be a respected president and PM of an independent Timor-Leste. AETFA SA understands that the leaders of Timor-Leste need to be be very cautious in their relations towards Indonesia given that the TNI still wields a great deal of power in Indonesian politics and that it still commits many human rights abuses in parts of Indonesia, Acheh and West Papua. In addition, many East Timorese are fearful that they could again be invaded in the future by the TNI. However, Dr Horta’s statement gives comfort to the Indonesian, US and western politicians who want to cover up the state of affairs in West Papua. Years ago, he effectively countered the arguments of the Indonesian leaders who invaded his country that East Timor should be part of Indonesia – despite the fact that the East Timorese are mostly Asian. They are, in fact, a racial mix of Asian, Melanesian and Australoid descent. The West Papuans are ethnically Melanesians and are not Asians. The only basis for the Indonesian claim that West Papua should be part of Indonesia is the historical accident that the Dutch colonised both countries. During his interview, Dr Horta argued that the West Papuan independence movement is unlikely to be successful. This is rather ironic in that it is the same argument that the opponents of the East Timorese independence movement used against him and supporters of its struggle. The Indonesian dictatorship kept East Timor and West Papua closed off from the world for a long time. The fact is that the world is hearing more about West Papua far more than it did some time ago and that the struggle could well be eventually successful. Currently, the brutality and sickening human rights abuses that have continued in West Papua ever since the TNI occupied it in 1962 still continue. Torture, rape, evisceration and mass murders of West Papuans continue. Massive crimes against humanity continue unabated on the doorsteps of both Australia and Timor-Leste. These crimes will only cease when the world leaders decide to pressure the TNI to leave West Papua and bring those responsible for the crimes against humanity to justice. The genocide and human rights abuses only ceased in East Timor when UN peacekeepers entered the country and forced the TNI out in 1999. Sadly, the victims of all the TNI crimes are still awaiting justice. It is time for the UN to show firm leadership to protect the people of West Papua just as it did for the East Timorese. In the meantime, it is very disappointing when we hear a Nobel Peace laureate argue against the freedoms of the West Papuans who are suffering like his own people did. Andrew (Andy) Alcock Information Officer Australia East Timor Friendship Association SA Inc (PO Box 240 GoodwoodSA 5034) Phone: 61 8 83710480 0457 827 014 Email: andyalcock@internode.on AETFA SA – 40 YEARS OF SOLIDARITY WITH TIMOR-LESTE FOR INDEPENDENCE & JUSTICE ( AETFA SA was originally the Campaign for an Independent East Timor SA until Timor-Leste’s independence in 2002