The Morning Star Flag was flying in coastal Taranaki (Aotearoa / New Zealand) today in support of a world-wide call for an end to Indonesian military occupation of West Papua.
West Papua has been occupied by the Indonesian military since it was handed over, against the will of the indigenous population, to Indonesia in 1963. Since then, the people of West Papua have been subjected to gross human rights violations including rape, torture, cultural genocide, murder and massacre – more than 100,000 West Papuans have been killed. Many live in exile because it is not safe for them to go home.
Multi-national corporations have exploited West Papua’s natural resources to an extraordinary degree. This has caused massive social dislocation, devastation of rain forests, pollution of streams and rivers on which the local people depend for their survival, and serious human rights violations in areas where multinationals operate.
1 December is West Papua Independence Day, this year marking the fifty seventh
anniversary of the day the West Papuans first raised their new flag, the Morning Star, as the symbol of their forthcoming independence from Dutch colonial rule. The flag is flown in solidarity at dozens of rallies and gatherings across the globe today.
#GlobalFlagRaising #FreeWestPapua #PapuaMerdeka
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