Papuan Tribal Leaders Demand Closure Of US Mine In Indonesia
Tuesday, 22 December 2009 13:46
Tribal leaders in Indonesia's restive Papua province Tuesday called for the closure of a massive US mine linked to allegations of rights abuses, as they buried a slain rebel leader.
Some 400 people followed the casket of Free Papua Movement (OPM) commander Kelly Kwalik, who was shot in a police raid last week, through the streets of Timika to his grave beside a local church.
Kwalik's death has triggered days of anti-Indonesian protests and calls for independence for the ethnic Melanesian region on the extreme east of the Indonesian archipelago.
Anger has also been directed at US miner Freeport McMoRan, which operates a huge gold and copper mine north of Timika that has long been at the centre of allegations of rights abuses against ordinary Papuans.
Kwalik, who was 60 when he died after spending 30 years fighting for Papuan independence, claimed to have been dispossessed by the mine and was accused of several deadly ambushes against Freeport workers.
Police blame him for a series of attacks this year which killed three people including an Australian mine worker on the road north of Timika. In 2002 he allegedly killed two American Freeport employees in similar circumstances.
Kwalik denied the allegations and some analysts believe the Indonesian security forces launched the attacks as a way of extracting more protection money from Freeport.
"Freeport is responsible for the death of Kelly Kwalik and that is why Freeport must be shut down," Papua Customary Council spokesman Dominicus Serabut told mourners ahead of Kwalik's burial.
"General Kelly Kwalik was not involved in the shootings in the area of Freeport Indonesia," he added.
Poorly-armed OPM guerrillas have waged a war of independence for four decades, often launching hit-and-run attacks against Indonesian troops with traditional bows and arrows and World War II-era rifles.
Kwalik's casket was draped in the outlawed "Morning Star" flag of Papuan independence, a last act of defiance given stiff penalties up to life in prison for anyone waving the separatist standard.
Some 800 people attended a funeral mass on Monday but disagreements among tribal leaders delayed the burial.
Indonesia gained sovereignty over the Papua region in 1969 in a UN- backed vote widely seen as rigged.
Showing posts with label Melanesia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Melanesia. Show all posts
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Masses in New Caledonia strike against French colonizers
By G. Dunkel
Published Sep 10, 2009 11:23 PM
Since the beginning of August, the struggle of oppressed workers and youth in New Caledonia has brought tensions to heights not seen since this South Pacific island had an armed rebellion against France in the late 1980s.
Marches and street sit-ins have brought protesters into direct conflict with the police. At least two cops have been shot, and RFI reported Aug. 6 that 30 had been wounded. The left-wing union leading the struggle is the USTKE, the Union of Kanak Workers and the Exploited (Union syndicale des travailleurs kanaks et des exploités).
Kanak is the official name of the Indigenous people of the island.
New Caledonia is in reality a colony of France, with some special privileges due to a sharp struggle in the 1980s. Its economy, based on the production of nickel, has done very well recently. Growth was 5 percent a year between 2004 and 2008, and Nouméa, its capital, has set a French record for the most luxury cars per person.
The economic stakes for France in New Caledonia are high. It is the world’s fifth largest producer of nickel, a vital ingredient for stainless steel, and has the world’s second largest reserves. Wages in the nickel industry are high. This is why 800 to 1,200 Europeans—mainly from France—move to the island each month.
The Kanaks, especially the youth, leave school early and live on what the French call “small jobs,” or temporary work at low wages, and on what they can grow in their gardens. They are shoved into ghettoes with tiny houses or buildings that need renovation, far from the better neighborhoods, and lack the education and skills needed for better-paying, full-time jobs.
USTKE has community organizers who travel around to these neighborhoods, especially to help families of those arrested in the protests. (Le Monde, Aug. 23) USTKE rejects charges that it has manipulated the youth into protest and points to “colonial police repression” as the cause of the violence New Caledonia has suffered during August.
The spark for the current conflict was the firing of an airline worker, a member of USTKE, for “incompetence.” The union vigorously defended him with marches, protests and runway blockades.
In the course of the struggle, Gérard Jodar, the leader of USTKE, and some of his comrades invaded Nouméa’s airport runway and took refuge in planes where they were attacked by the cops. His swift sentence of a year in prison took into account what the court called his “previous acts of vandalism and blockades.” (Le Figaro, Aug. 25)
Jodar’s sentence was recently confirmed, but he and a number of comrades have an appeal hearing scheduled on Sept. 15. The USTKE called a demonstration Aug. 22 to not only demand their leader’s freedom but also to protest the high cost of living and the “colonialism” the French state is exhibiting in Nouméa.
A demonstration was held in Paris on Aug. 24 where the French left expressed solidarity with USTKE. Corrine Perron, a representative of USTKE in France, told the protest, “We gather together to denounce the colonial justice in Nouméa and the unjustifiable condemnation of union militants in New Caledonia. It is necessary to alert the public that New Caledonia not only faces the threat of swine flu but also the threat of police and judicial repression.” (Libération, Aug. 24)
Published Sep 10, 2009 11:23 PM
Since the beginning of August, the struggle of oppressed workers and youth in New Caledonia has brought tensions to heights not seen since this South Pacific island had an armed rebellion against France in the late 1980s.
Marches and street sit-ins have brought protesters into direct conflict with the police. At least two cops have been shot, and RFI reported Aug. 6 that 30 had been wounded. The left-wing union leading the struggle is the USTKE, the Union of Kanak Workers and the Exploited (Union syndicale des travailleurs kanaks et des exploités).
Kanak is the official name of the Indigenous people of the island.
New Caledonia is in reality a colony of France, with some special privileges due to a sharp struggle in the 1980s. Its economy, based on the production of nickel, has done very well recently. Growth was 5 percent a year between 2004 and 2008, and Nouméa, its capital, has set a French record for the most luxury cars per person.
The economic stakes for France in New Caledonia are high. It is the world’s fifth largest producer of nickel, a vital ingredient for stainless steel, and has the world’s second largest reserves. Wages in the nickel industry are high. This is why 800 to 1,200 Europeans—mainly from France—move to the island each month.
The Kanaks, especially the youth, leave school early and live on what the French call “small jobs,” or temporary work at low wages, and on what they can grow in their gardens. They are shoved into ghettoes with tiny houses or buildings that need renovation, far from the better neighborhoods, and lack the education and skills needed for better-paying, full-time jobs.
USTKE has community organizers who travel around to these neighborhoods, especially to help families of those arrested in the protests. (Le Monde, Aug. 23) USTKE rejects charges that it has manipulated the youth into protest and points to “colonial police repression” as the cause of the violence New Caledonia has suffered during August.
The spark for the current conflict was the firing of an airline worker, a member of USTKE, for “incompetence.” The union vigorously defended him with marches, protests and runway blockades.
In the course of the struggle, Gérard Jodar, the leader of USTKE, and some of his comrades invaded Nouméa’s airport runway and took refuge in planes where they were attacked by the cops. His swift sentence of a year in prison took into account what the court called his “previous acts of vandalism and blockades.” (Le Figaro, Aug. 25)
Jodar’s sentence was recently confirmed, but he and a number of comrades have an appeal hearing scheduled on Sept. 15. The USTKE called a demonstration Aug. 22 to not only demand their leader’s freedom but also to protest the high cost of living and the “colonialism” the French state is exhibiting in Nouméa.
A demonstration was held in Paris on Aug. 24 where the French left expressed solidarity with USTKE. Corrine Perron, a representative of USTKE in France, told the protest, “We gather together to denounce the colonial justice in Nouméa and the unjustifiable condemnation of union militants in New Caledonia. It is necessary to alert the public that New Caledonia not only faces the threat of swine flu but also the threat of police and judicial repression.” (Libération, Aug. 24)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)