Pip Hinman
An Australian coalition of West Papua support groups has asked the UN to list West Papua as a non-governing territory requiring a self-determination plebiscite.
Joe Collins from the Australia-West Papua Association in Sydney said, "It is internationally accepted that the 1969 'Act of Free Choice' was flawed, and not a true act of self-determination. A Dutch government commissioned report by Pieter Drooglever concluded, as have others, that the 'Act of Free Choice' was a sham. It's time that the UN accepted responsibility and looked at its handling of the act of free choice but also at the New York agreement which transferred the administration of West Papua to Indonesia without the West Papuan people's consent."
A number of public figures have joined the Australian initiative to petition the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation to get the International Court of Justice's opinion on irregularities in the administration and annexation of West Papua. Archbishop Desmond Tutu has added his support to this effort, which has already been endorsed by Pieter Drooglever, Noam Chomsky and Bishop Hilton Deakin among others.
The letter asks the International Court of Justice if it agrees that: Indonesia is required to continue its obligations under United Nations charter Article 73 as an administrating power; the New York Agreement violates international law and the United Nations Charter; the agreement violated UN Resolution 1514 by delaying transfer of administration in accordance with the people's will; the Act of Free Choice was invalid in light of multiple violations of the terms of the New York Agreement, the United Nations Charter and UN General Assembly Resolution 1541; and that apart from historical issues, West Papua now qualifies as a non-governing territory as defined by UN General Assembly Resolution 1541.
For the full text of letter go to: <http://www.unpo.org/news_detail.php?arg=56&par=4283>.
From Green Left Weekly, May 3, 2006.
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