Help to end the genocide in Westpapua

17.02.2017: Petition an den UN-Generalsekretär

The West Papuan people are crying for their freedom – please sign this petition to show your support.

The world’s longest‐running military occupation and genocide has killed more than 500,000 people, and is destroying the world’s second‐largest rainforest and 50,000 years of civilisation. Why haven't more people heard of West Papua?

Here’s one reason: it’s because the Indonesian government doesn’t want you to know. The country’s authorities are working hard to cover up their brutal occupation of this Pacific island nation, just 250km North of Australia.

Please sign this petition calling for an end to the genocide and a free and fair independence vote for the West Papuan people.

In 2016 alone eight thousand people ‐ including many children ‐ were arrested just for taking part in independence demonstrations or for raising the West Papuan flag. There are frequent reports of kidnapping and torture by the military and police. Journalists and community leaders are routinely detained and tortured simply for speaking out.

One West Papuan mother said; “We gave birth and raised the children, only to see them being killed like animals. In the eyes of the Indonesians, we West Papuans are like animal.”

The Indonesian government strictly controls media and NGO activity, allowing these stories to avoid international attention and continue one of the most brutal “silent genocides” of the 21st century.

Please sign this petition calling for an end to the genocide and a free and fair independence vote for the West Papuan people.

In 1969, the people of West Papua (situated on the same island as Papua New Guinea) were promised a independence referendum which was violated by Indonesia at gunpoint.

Since then, Indonesia has been occupying the area illegally, killing the indigenous population and bringing in the largest mining companies in the world who are stealing & destroying the natural resources. The people of West Papua have one of the highest poverty rates in the world, and continue to be denied basic freedoms. There is a real fear that without intervention they will lose everything.

Add your name to the petition NOW!

secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/SecretaryGeneral_of_the_United_Nations_Antonio_Guterres_End_the_Genocide_in_West_Papua/

In August 2017 six young swimmers will embark on a 69km journey up the length of Lake Geneva. They will carry with them a petition and the voices of thousands of people demanding an internationally supervised vote for the people of West Papua.

Swim for West Papua is the Free West Papua campaign's 2017 grass roots movement to secure a free and fair independence referendum for the West Papuan people who have been the victims of gross human rights violation and slow-motion genocide which began in the 1960s. This 'people-power' petition directly compliments the higher diplomatic efforts of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) and International Parliamentarians for West Papua (IPWP).

Swim for West Papua is your chance to add your voice and demand the United Nations uphold their mandate and put human rights before mineral rights, so the West Papuan people can determine their own future without fear of reprisal. You can make a difference. Sign the petition here.

Add you voice, #BackTheSwim and help #LetWestPapuaVote.