R35: Support for West Papuan Indigenous Rights & Biodiversity

Preamble:

West Papuans have experienced over 50 years of human rights abuses at the hands
of the Indonesian Government and are seeing the destruction of one of the
largest and most biodiverse rainforests in the world.

The people of West Papua have been struggling for freedom from Indonesia’s
colonial occupation since 1963.

Hundreds of thousands of West Papuan civilians have been killed by Indonesia’s
military. Thousands more have been raped, tortured or forcibly disappeared.
Racism and discrimination are a daily reality and basic human rights including
freedom of speech are outlawed. There are hundreds of West Papuan political
prisoners serving lengthy terms for the ‘crime’ of peacefully expressing
themselves.

The Indonesian Government have banned international media and human rights
organisations from operating in West Papua, ensuring that news about what is
happening rarely reaches the outside world.

Gold and copper mining, oil and gas extraction, palm oil plantations, highway
development projects, and tourism, promoted and permitted under Indonesian
colonial rule, are destroying West Papua’s natural environment and contributing
to global climate collapse.

West Papuans should have green governance of their land based on environmental
and social protection, indigenous environmental management and respect for the
natural world. This new social order will restore and protect the environment
and maintain balance and harmony in and amongst people and the environment. West
Papuans intend to sustainably manage New Guinea’s rainforests and its
biodiversity for the good of the global community.

Nevertheless, it is ultimately for the West Papuans to decide how to proceed
with any green governance as part of their rights to self-determination, and how
to involve as many West Papuans as possible in every step of the process.

Operative Text:

This Global Greens Congress:

Background Text:

Reference documents: