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  • Wondering who benefited from the war in Afghanistan? They’ll be meeting in London next month.

    As the Taliban take over Kabul’s presidential palace, you’d be forgiven for wondering who it is that two decades of war and foreign occupation has benefited.

    In 2001, the US, UK, and their allies invaded Afghanistan. The invasion certainly hasn’t benefited the people of Afghanistan; since 2001, an estimated 47,245 civilians have been killed.

    Most people in the US haven’t benefited either, with $2.261tn spent on the war, and 2,442 military personnel killed.

    Neither has it helped ordinary people in the UK. More than 450 British soldiers have been killed, and in 2013, the estimated cost of the UK’s war in Afghanistan stood at £37bn. Most UK combat troops withdrew from Afghanistan in 2014, but 750 remained until this summer as part of NATO’s force.

    So who has benefited?

    One of the groups of people who have clearly benefited from two decades of war are the CEOs and directors of international arms companies.

    For example, British weapons company BAE’s profits shot up after the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

    Many of the people who’ve been at the helm of the UK’s Afghanistan policy have also directly had skin in the arms game.

    Defence secretary Ben Wallace cried crocodile tears on LBC recently. But what he didn’t mention is that he used to be a director of QinetiQ, an arms company whose share prices were soaring 11 years ago after it gained contracts to supply weapons for the war in Afghanistan. British rapper Lowkey tweeted:

    The revolving door goes the other way too. Data from Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) shows that 196 ex-public servants are now in arms trade jobs.

    And they’re meeting in London this September

    From 14-17 September, one of the world’s largest arms fairs is coming back to London’s Docklands. At least 1,700 arms companies will be exhibiting, and official delegations and government employees from the UK and abroad will be doing their shopping. No doubt the industry attendees will be counting their profits from two decades of war in Afghanistan and looking for new conflicts to exploit.

    It’s worth remembering that the Defence Security and Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair was underway 20 years ago, on 11 September 2001, when the planes hit the World Trade Center and lit the spark which paved the way for the US’s disastrous ‘War on Terror’.

    One person who was at the demonstration back in 2001 reflected:

    On [September 11] I was among about the hundreds of people taking part in a protest organised by CAAT outside the DSEi arms fair. Many events were cancelled that day and in the following days and weeks. Sports events, cultural events, political events, the UN Special session on Children, which I was had been doing some work around  –  all these we cancelled. The arms fair however, continued.  More deals were signed and more arms contacts were made even in the light of that awful mass killing.

    Whilst the fact that there was a major arms fair taking place in the UK at the very same time as this awful act of terrorism was something of a coincidence I think there are [connections] here. I think there are real connections between for example, our proliferation of weaponry through the arms trade and our real insistence – despite all evidence to the contrary –  that world security is best served by an ever increasing ability to inflict death and destruction on others  – and that  desperate, awful, self-destructive act of mass violence.

    The Canary‘s senior editor, Emily Apple, was also at the protests that week:

    On 12 September, share prices across the world had crashed and many major events were cancelled. But DSEI continued and arms company share prices soared. So we were back on the streets, blockading arms dealers from reaching the fair. We were told by the police that we should be ashamed of ourselves, that we had no respect for the dead because we were out protesting. But they didn’t think to question the fact that DSEI continued, didn’t care that those who’d make obscene profits from the attack, and the inevitable subsequent war, were continuing their business as usual.

    Two decades of resistance

    DSEI has encountered over two decades of mass street resistance. As the US’s ‘War on Terror’ got underway – a smokescreen for neo-colonial foreign policies – thousands took to the streets. Shoal Collective interviewed anti-militarist organiser Sam Hayward in Red Pepper:

    That year, millions of people were involved in the opposition to the invasion of Iraq,’ Sam says. ‘When the war began it wasn’t clear how to oppose it and many anti-militarist activists fell away, not knowing what to do. I started thinking about how imperialist wars couldn’t happen without the weapons being manufactured and sold by the arms companies — beneficiaries of aggressive imperialist wars.’

    One tactic at DSEI 2003 was to stop the arms dealers from getting to the ExCeL Centre. Sam explains how this happened: ‘Activists climbed onto the roofs of DLR trains and locked themselves on, stopping the trains. As a result, the arms dealers were brought in on buses. Protesters stopped the buses, laying down in front of them. Delegates started arriving by taxi and on foot, so people blocked the roads. There were thousands of activists involved. It was successful in delaying the arms dealers getting there, but ultimately the arms fair still took place’.

    In 2011, anti-militarists rowed kayaks into the path of a battleship, which was on the way to be used as a reception area at the DSEI arms fair. One of them told Red Pepper: 

    Four of us launched inflatable kayaks from a hidden spot in the Thames, so we were on our way before the river police spotted us. The ship was equivalent to about three storeys tall.

    “blocking the DSEI arms fair is an obligation”

    In 2019, I joined the resistance against DSEI along with several other writers from The Canary. One of them was Canary journalist Eliza Egret, who wrote at the time:

    For me, blocking the DSEI arms fair is an obligation. My activism and writing has taken me to Palestine, Kurdistan and Syria. I have seen first-hand the devastation caused by this sickening arms industry. I have interviewed families whose children have been murdered with weapons made in Europe. I have met a 10-year-old boy who miraculously survived after an Israeli sniper shot a bullet through his brain. I have had tear gas and sound grenades fired at me in Palestine, and I have been surrounded by armoured vehicles in Kurdistan. I have stood on rubble that was once family homes, and I have seen human blood splattered on the walls of buildings.

    So it is my duty to take action against this disgusting weapons exhibition. As I write this, arms deals are being made, mostly by privileged men who have never had to experience the terror of living in a war zone.

    Two of us from The Canary also launched kayaks on to the water and disrupted a military boat display by BAE Systems at the fair.

    Join us at DSEI 2021

    In 2021, campaign group Stop the Arms Fair is calling for people to take action to disrupt the setting up of the arms fair. The set-up of DSEI is a major operation, as the exhibition itself takes place on 100,000 square metres of land at the ExCeL Centre in London’s Docklands. It set out some of the actions that have happened in previous years:

    As lorries and trucks transporting armoured vehicles, missiles, sniper rifles, tear gas and bullets attempted to get on site, people from around the world were there to put their bodies in the way.

    Dabke-dancing, aerobics, an academic conference, a gig on a flatbed truck, abseilers dangling from a bridge, theatre, military veterans undertaking unofficial vehicle checks for banned weapons, Kurdish dancers, rebel clowns, religious gatherings, hip-hop artists, radical picnics, a critical mass of cyclists, Daleks, political choirs, and lots of people in arm-locks all blocked the entrances to the DSEI arms fair repeatedly over the course of a whole week.

    Thousands more amplified the protests by signing petitions, lobbying decision-makers, speaking out online and in their own communities, and helping in diverse ways to make the protests possible.

    In September, arms dealers, many of whom will have profited from Afghanistan, will be coming together to make more deals that will cause more war and suffering.  It’s important to be there to resist the fair, and to show solidarity with those who are under attack by state militaries armed with weapons bought at DSEI.

    Featured image via The Canary

    By Tom Anderson

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • JERAA calls for urgent action to support Afghan journalists

    Pacific Media Watch newsdesk

    The Journalism Research and Education Association of Australia (JERAA) has urged the Australian government to make a strong commitment to supporting journalists and media personnel in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of international forces.

    JERAA said in a statement today it had endorsed the calls of Australia’s Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) and International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) for urgent action to provide humanitarian visas and other support to those attempting to flee the country.

    In the current upheaval, it is difficult to obtain figures on how many journalists have been attacked, but the Afghan Independent Journalist Association and Afghanistan’s National Journalists Union express grave concerns for the well-being of journalists and media personnel.

    Nai, an Afghan organisation supporting independent media, released figures indicating that by late July, at least 30 media workers had been killed, wounded or tortured in Afghanistan since the beginning of 2021.

    UNESCO has recorded five deaths of journalists in Afghanistan in 2021, making it the country with the world’s greatest number of journalists’ deaths this year. Four have been women, reflecting the higher risk of attacks on female journalists.

    Current figures are likely to be incomplete due to the challenges of obtaining information. They do not include deaths of professionals in related industries, such as the murder of the Head of Afghan government Media and Information Centre on August 6.

    The Taliban has a long-established pattern of striking out against journalists.

    A Human Rights Watch report, released in April 2021, in the lead up to the United States and NATO troop withdrawal, noted that Taliban forces had already established a practice of targeting journalists and other media workers.

    Journalists are intimidated, harassed and attacked routinely by the Taliban, which regularly accuses them of being aligned with the Afghan government or international military forces or being spies.

    Female journalists face a higher level of threats, especially if they have appeared on television and radio.

    International Press Institute figures, released in May 2021 at the start of the troop withdrawals, also showed that Afghanistan had the highest rate of deaths of journalists in the world.

    The IPI expressed concern about an intensification of attacks on journalists and the future of the news media in Afghanistan.


    This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • The UK must open its borders to help Afghan refugees

    The increasingly desperate situation in Afghanistan has led to widespread calls for the UK to welcome Afghan refugees despite Priti Patel’s plans to crack down on immigration.

    Refugee Action summed up the situation:

    When Parliament reconvenes to discuss the crisis, the Government must recognise the cruelty of its current position, and abandon it. Can its message to desperate Afghan people really be that they must go to local embassies for visas and book commercial flights?

    Do they really think people in fear of their lives are going to wait around for a ‘safe route’ to be created by the UK Government, when it currently offers none?

    It also highlighted the need for “concrete action”:

    Thousands of Afghan people are currently trying to escape from Afghanistan. But the Home Office has yet to confirm how many refugees it will welcome.

    Fear in Afghanistan

    The Taliban took control of Kabul early on Sunday 15 August, and Afghanistan’s president has fled the country. The takeover is expected to mark the beginning of a new era of Taliban rule. The UNHCR reported in July that Taliban advances had already displaced 270,000 people in Afghanistan this year. As Taliban control increases across the country, this figure will only grow.

    Afghan women are scared they won’t be able to continue their education, careers, or independence. Writing in the Guardian, one women stated:

    I worked for so many days and nights to become the person I am today, and this morning when I reached home, the very first thing my sisters and I did was hide our IDs, diplomas and certificates. It was devastating. Why should we hide the things that we should be proud of? In Afghanistan now we are not allowed to be known as the people we are.

    International action?

    Despite the dire situation, international action in welcoming refugees has been slow.

    Canada has pledged to accept 20,000 ‘vulnerable’ Afghans who need protecting from the Taliban.

    But EU countries Germany, Greece, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium asked the EU for permission to continue deporting Afghan refugees they had already rejected for asylum. Since then, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands have reversed their position and paused deportations.

    Many are calling on the UK to follow in Canada’s footsteps.

    Labour MP Rebecca Long-Bailey said:

    Gov must provide answers and assurances today about what they will do to help those at grave risk in Afghanistan. They have a moral responsibility along with the international community to urgently evacuate refugees under threat to a safe and welcoming place.

    But these figures are a drop in the ocean when figures from July show that total number of displaced people is 3.5 million.

    The UK and refugees

    Home secretary Priti Patel recently criticised France for ‘failing’ to stop migrants crossing the channel. She further warned that the UK would be seeing more people wanting to enter the country due to them fleeing Afghanistan.

    The Home Office recently abandoned numerical targets for resettling refugees, instead claiming it will strengthen “safe and legal” ways for refugees to enter the country by ensuring:

    resettlement programmes are responsive to emerging international crises – so refugees at immediate risk can be resettled more quickly.

    This has left people in the UK asking where the UK’s response is.

    “Wrong and unsustainable”

    But the Home Office’s hostile environment is likely to only make the situation worse for those trying to flee to the UK. Refugee advocates have warned that the Nationality and Borders Bill, currently at the committee stage, could prevent thousands of people from claiming asylum in the UK.

    Refugee Action said that the bill could leave Afghan refugees unable to claim asylum, left in barracks, or sent elsewhere.

    It further stated:

    The #AntiRefugeeBill and the lack of commitment to resettlement are wrong and unsustainable. Both must now be swept away on the tide of compassion brought by the events in Afghanistan. We are witnessing how quickly people can be left desperately struggling to find safety.

    Welcoming refugees

    The UK must allow, pro-actively help and welcome Afghan refugees fleeing persecution and fear. And it must go further than following the Canadian model of accepting just 20,000 people.

    It is the UK that helped create the current situation and it is down to the UK to urgently take action and help those facing an increasing desperate situation. It must happen quickly and it must mean giving people housing and rights – not condemning people who have already suffered so much to unsafe and appalling conditions in places like Napier Barracks.

    This crisis further highlights the fight we have in ahead of us against the racist Nationality and Borders Bill. This bill, and the hostile environment created by this government, must be stopped.

    Featured image via YouTube/Al Jazeera English

    By Jasmine Norden

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Boris Johnson refuses to meet Gurkhas on hunger strike

    There are no plans for Boris Johnson to meet Gurkha veterans who are on day 10 of a hunger strike over their pensions, the prime minister’s spokesperson has said.

    Equal rights

    The group outside Downing Street is calling for equal pensions for Gurkhas who retired before 1997 but are not eligible for a full UK armed forces pension. On 16 August, the Support Our Gurkhas protesters had reached their 10th day of not eating.

    Gurkha veterans hunger strike
    A Gurkha veterans protest opposite Downing Street (Hollie Adams/PA)

    The prime minister’s spokesperson was asked whether any talks were planned after the protesters said they would end their hunger strike if a meeting was arranged. He said:

    I believe the Defence Secretary said that he would be happy to meet with any Gurkha.

    The spokesperson added there were “no plans” for Johnson to join a meeting.

    On 13 August, defence secretary Ben Wallace said he was happy to meet protesters, but argued no government “of any colour” had ever made retrospective changes to pensions like the ones the demonstrators are calling for.

    “Address the injustices”

    On 14 August, actress and campaigner Joanna Lumley urged the government to meet the “brave and loyal” veterans “to address the injustices highlighted”.

    Joanna Lumley during the Gurkha 200 Pageant
    Joanna Lumley during the Gurkha 200 Pageant (Jonathan Brady/PA)

    The 75-year-old, who in 2009 led a campaign to allow Gurkhas settlement rights in Britain, was born in India and moved to England as a child. Her father was a major in the Gurkha Rifles. The Absolutely Fabulous actress said:

    Only a deep sense of injustice could drive these brave and respectful souls to this point.

    At the heart of this matter is how we value those who have offered, and sometimes given, the ultimate sacrifice to protect our way of life and to keep us safe.

    Service record

    Around 200,000 Gurkhas, recruited from Nepal, fought in both world wars, and they have also served in places such as Hong Kong, Malaysia, Borneo, Cyprus, the Falklands, Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

    Those who served from 1948 to 2007 were members of the Gurkha Pension Scheme until the Labour government of the time eliminated the differences between Gurkhas’ terms and conditions of service and those of their British counterparts.

    Serving Gurkhas, and those with service on or after 1 July 1997, could then opt to transfer into the Armed Forces Pension Scheme. The change was brought in after an amendment to immigration rules in 2007, backdated to July 1997, meant more retired Gurkhas were likely to settle in the UK on discharge.

    Ben Wallace
    Ben Wallace (Ian West/PA)

    Waiting for the organ grinder, not the monkeys

    Wallace told Sky News on 13 August:

    I am very happy to meet any Gurkha. My father fought alongside the Gurkhas in Malaya in the 1950s, it is a pretty remarkable group of people.

    The group of people currently protesting are groups affected by the change by the Labour government in 1997 to 2003. This was about people who are under a 1947 pension, it is a very small group of Gurkha pensioners, they had different advantages in their pension scheme in that old scheme.

    That scheme said that you got it after 15 years when a British soldier got it after 22, but there is a difference and they feel that difference needs to be made up.

    That is not the same as the Gurkhas of today or the Gurkhas after 2003 – they get exactly the same pensions as British serving personnel.

    Leo Docherty, minister for defence people and veterans, has said the group has refused to meet him. He said:

    I was disappointed the Satyagraha protest group declined to meet with me and hope they will engage positively in the Gurkha veterans dialogue the Defence Secretary hosts in early September.

    We greatly value the contribution that Gurkhas make and consider the 1948 Gurkha Pension Scheme to be objectively fair and equitable, but I am always willing to speak with veterans and help resolve any such welfare concerns.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Former PM Helen Clark says Taliban control ‘massive step backwards’

    RNZ News

    Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark says the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan shows “a catastrophic failure of intelligence in Western foreign policy” and to say that she is pessimistic about the country’s future would be an understatement.

    Taliban insurgents have entered Kabul and President Ashraf Ghani has fled Afghanistan, bringing the Islamist militants close to taking over the country two decades after they were overthrown by a US-led invasion.

    Clark has also served as administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for eight years and has advocated globally for Afghan girls and women.

    She sent New Zealand troops to Afghanistan in 2001 during her term as prime minister and said it was surreal to see what had happened.

    Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today after the cabinet meeting this afternoon that the government had offered 53 New Zealand citizens in Afghanistan consular support.

    “We are working through this with the utmost urgency,” she said.

    The government was also aware of 37 individuals who had helped the NZ Defence Force (NZDF).

    Gains for women, girls
    Clark said today: “Twenty years of change there with so many gains for women and girls in society at large and to see what amounts to people motivated by medieval theocracy walk back in and take power and start issuing the same kinds of statements about constraints on women and saying that stonings and amputations are for the courts – I mean this is just such a massive step backwards it’s hard to digest.”

    Clark said to find out what had gone wrong it was necessary to look back a couple of decades and it was not long after the Taliban had left that the US administration started to look away from Afghanistan, turning instead towards its intervention in Iraq.

    “With the gaze off Afghanistan the Taliban started to come back. When I was at UNDP I would meet ambassadors from the region around Afghanistan and they would say ‘look 60 percent of the country is in effect controlled by the Taliban now’ and I’m going back four or five years, six years in saying that.”

    Former NZ Prime Minister Helen Clark
    Former NZ prime minister Helen Clark … extremely dubious that this is “a new reformed Taliban”. Image: RNZ/Anadolu

    Helen Clark is extremely dubious that this is “a new reformed Taliban”. Photo: 2018 Anadolu Agency

    Clark said at that time the Taliban did not have the ability to capture and hold district and provincial capitals, but the Taliban was waiting for an opportunity and that came when former US president Donald Trump indicated they would withdraw troops from Afghanistan and current US President Joe Biden then followed through on that.

    “Looking at it from my perspective I think the thought of negotiating a transition with the Taliban was naive and I think the failure of intelligence as to how strong the Taliban actually were on the ground is, as a number of American commentators are saying, equivalent to the failure of intelligence around the Tet Offensive in 1968 in Vietnam – I mean this is a catastrophic failure of intelligence in Western foreign policy,” she said.

    Clark said the Taliban would be under pressure from Western powers to do anything if it was able to enlist the support of other powers.

    Pessimistic about Afghanistan’s future
    She said to say she was pessimistic about Afghanistan’s future would be an understatement and there were already reports of women being treated very badly in regions where the Taliban has taken over.

    “We’re hearing stories from some of the district and provincial capitals that they’ve captured where women have been beaten for wearing sandals which expose their feet, we’re hearing of one woman who turned up to a university class who was told to go home, this wasn’t for them, women who were told to go away from the workplace because this wasn’t for them.”

    Clark said she very much doubted that this was “a new reformed Taliban”, an idea that was accepted by some negotiators in Doha.

    She said she did not expect that the UN Security Council would be able to do anything to improve the situation.

    Clark said it met about Afghanistan within the last couple of weeks and the Afghanistan permanent representative pleaded on behalf of his elected government for support but there was no support forthcoming.

    Clark said the UN Security Council was unlikely to get any results and the UN would likely then say that it needed humanitarian access.

    Catastrophic hunger
    “Because these developments create catastrophic hunger, flight of people, illness — but you know the UN will be left putting a bandage over the wounds and there will be nothing more constructive that comes out of it.”

    Clark said Afghanistan’s problems were never going to be solved in 20 years.

    “I understand that the Americans are sick of endless wars, we all are. But on the other hand they’ve kept a 50,000 strong garrison in Korea since 1953 in much greater numbers at times, they maintain 30,000 troops in the Gulf. They were in effect being asked to maintain a very small garrison which more or less kept the place stable enough for it to inch ahead, build its institutions and roll out education and health, when that commitment to do that failed then the whole project collapsed.

    “This is not so much a Taliban takeover as simply a surrender by the government and by forces who felt it wasn’t worth fighting for it.”

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • NZ ramps up efforts to get 30 citizens out of Kabul as Taliban take capital

    RNZ News

    Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says work to get New Zealanders out of Afghanistan has ramped up, as commercial options become unavailable.

    Yesterday the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was aware of 17 New Zealanders who were in Afghanistan, but Ardern said that number is now believed to be closer to 30 when citizens and family members were taken into account.

    “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade have been actively trying to contact those that they believe may be in Afghanistan and working to get people out,” she said.

    “Previously there have been commercial options for people to leave on if they’re able to get to the point of departure. That will increasingly, if not already, no longer be an option,”

    She said that was when the government would step up the work it was doing to try to get them out.

    Ardern said that the situation was moving fast and quick decisions would need to be made in terms of those New Zealanders in Afghanistan.

    “That is something we’ve been working on, as you can imagine, in a very changeable environment for the past, wee while and is something we will continue to work on.

    Additional consideration
    “There’s also for us … the additional consideration of those who may have who may have historically worked to support the New Zealand Defence Force or who may have been on the ground over many years in Afghanistan their safety situation, so that’s also something we’re moving as quickly as we can on,” she said.

    Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
    Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern … “There’s also for us … the additional consideration of those who may have who may have historically worked to support the New Zealand Defence Force.” Image: Samuel Rillstone/RNZ

    Ardern said New Zealand had been working with partners to try and determine a safe passage for these New Zealanders, but would not give details about which other countries had been approached.

    “There will be security issues around me giving much more detail than I’ve given now, but I can tell you we are working at the highest level alongside our partners to support those New Zealanders who may be on the ground.”

    Interpreters contact NZ government
    Cabinet is meeting today to consider whether New Zealand can evacuate Afghanistan nationals who supported our military efforts there. The situation is urgent, with civilian lives believed to be in danger.

    A small group of people who were not eligible for the Afghan interpreters package in 2012 have now made contact with the New Zealand government, Ardern said.

    She said fewer than 40 people, have identified themselves as having worked alongside New Zealand forces, but the majority of these cases are historic and they were not eligible under the previous National government’s “interpreter package”.

    Ardern said at that time they were not seen as directly affected or at risk from the Taliban but the current situation has changed dramatically.

    “It was basically interpreters at that time who were brought over as they were considered to have the strongest, or face to strongest risk at that time, there were others who weren’t eligible for that who have subsequently made contact.

    “Cabinet will be discussing today what more needs to be done to ensure the safety of those who are directly connected to them.”

    Ardern said they would need to ensure that these people were in fact working directly alongside the NZ Defence Force and that would be considered by Cabinet today.

    Focused on security
    She said it was too soon to look ahead with the international community to what would be done regarding the Afghanistan situation.

    “We’re quite focused on the security situation on the ground right now, getting those who need to get out out, and doing what we can to support those who supported us, so that’s our immediate consideration I think then we’ll be looking over the horizon to what next with the international community.”

    Ardern said it was devastating to see what was happening in Afghanistan now, but that did not diminish the roles of those New Zealanders who served there.

    “Everyone makes the best decisions they can at the time they’re made … and in the environment in which they’re made and all I would say to our New Zealand troops who were in there, they would have seen for themselves the difference that they made at that time,” she said.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • As the Taliban take over Afghanistan, let’s remember the US’s role in their creation

    The US‘s withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan has gone alongside a stunning recapture of much of the country by the Taliban. This has naturally raised predictable whines from neoconservative elements who believe that withdrawal has “led to a Taliban triumph”.

    However, not only is continuing the occupation of Afghanistan an abject exercise in futility, the US also has partly itself to blame for the rise of the radical Islamist group. A closer examination of history shows that this ascendency traces its roots to US interference in earlier decades.

    Taliban sweeps up control of most of the country

    On 14 August, the Guardian reported that the Taliban had taken control of Mazar-i-Sharif. This is Afghanistan’s fourth-largest city and “the government’s last major stronghold in the north”. On the same day, the New York Times reported:

    President Biden’s top advisers concede they were stunned by the rapid collapse of the Afghan army in the face of an aggressive, well-planned offensive by the Taliban that now threatens Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital.

    President Biden repeated that he wouldn’t reverse his decision. He pointed out that four presidents have presided over the US occupation of Afghanistan. He affirmed that he “would not, and will not, pass this war on to a fifth”. Biden first announced a US withdrawal on 14 April. He had set a deadline of 11 September, 2021 – the 20 year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

    Another attempt at peace?

    Meanwhile, Afghan president Ashraf Ghani said in an address to the nation that he would reorganise the military and begin a process of consultation with Afghan society and international allies. Rumours have been swirling that Ghani might step down as part of some kind of peace deal. In 2018, the Trump administration sent a ‘special envoy’ to begin a peace dialogue with the Taliban. The US then agreed to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners in exchange for a ceasefire in 2020.

    The Taliban eventually agreed to peace talks with the Afghan government in that same year, but the talks didn’t go anywhere. The former didn’t have much incentive to negotiate even then given their military strength throughout the country. The Afghan government, meanwhile, has never had much credibility. It’s largely considered a US puppet that owes its position to the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan, which toppled the then-Taliban-led government.

    A proxy war with each of the world’s superpowers on either side

    There is a stunning irony to this. The US labelled the Taliban an enemy in the wake of the 11 September terrorist attacks (based on arguably dubious allegations that the Taliban had ‘harboured terrorists’ and had links to Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaida). The reality, however, is that the Taliban owe their rise in part to US interference in Afghanistan.

    During the Cold War, Afghanistan became a major focal point of proxy conflict between the world’s then dominant powers, the US and the Soviet Union (USSR). The USSR was allied to Afghanistan’s socialist government of Mohammed Najibullah. So the US intervened on the side of its opponents by launching ‘Operation Cyclone’.

    Most expensive covert action in history

    The operation was hatched by the US’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Its aim was to covertly arm and finance a group of rebel guerrilla fighters called the ‘mujahideen’. It ultimately channeled $2bn to the Islamist group in what became the most expensive covert action in history.

    Hostilities culminated in the Afghan Civil War, which pitted US-backed mujahideen against the Soviet-backed government. The problem was that, having now given this latter group support, the US couldn’t put the genie back in the bottle. When hostilities ended in the early 1990s, the Taliban emerged as a mujahideen splinter group. By 1996, it had taken control of most of the country and was essentially the government of Afghanistan.

    A vicious cycle

    So when the US invaded Afghanistan to remove the Taliban, it was toppling a ruling faction that it had helped create in the first place. And this shines a light onto the vicious cycle that can emerge when Western powers interfere. Initial interference creates unintended consequences that then provide a ruse for further interference.

    Another example is that of Vietnam. The country’s move toward communism was sparked in large part by French colonialism. (The communists were, after all, the most militant and committed of the anti-colonial movement’s factions.) This ‘problem’ was then ‘solved’ by the US first backing a puppet government in South Vietnam. It then invaded when this weak and unpopular government struggled to resist both an invasion from the communist-controlled north and an internal guerrilla insurgency.

    Let Afghans lead the fight against the Taliban

    To be clear, given its poor record on issues like women’s rights, the Taliban’s return to power is nothing to celebrate. But those who actually have credibility when it comes to opposing the Taliban are local Afghan democratic socialist factions like the Progressive Democratic Party of Afghanistan and the Solidarity Party of Afghanistan (SPA). Though these parties unequivocally stand against the Taliban, they stand against the US occupation in the same way. In fact, the SPA boycotted the last election since it claims no one can get elected without US support.

    The US, on the other hand, obviously doesn’t have a shred of credibility when it comes to opposing the Taliban. Because just like the monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the US created a problem that it ultimately couldn’t contain. Worst still, Washington then ended up using that problem to provide bogus justification for its self-serving foreign policies. It’s time to break this vicious cycle of interference begetting further interference.

    Featured image via Wikimedia Commons – isafmedia

    By Peter Bolton

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Rights groups urge Jokowi to revoke ‘betrayal’ medal for Timorese war criminal Eurico Guterres

    Asia Pacific Report newsdesk

    The Civil Society Alliance — which is made up of a number of organisations in Indonesia and Timor-Leste — is urging President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to revoke the Bintang Jasa Utama (1st Class Star of Service) award for “civil bravery and courage” in times of adversity which was given to former East Timorese pro-integration militia leader Eurico Barros Gomes Guterres.

    “[We] urge President Joko Widodo to revoke the decision to give the Bintang Jasa Utama award to Eurico Guterres,” said Alliance representative Fatia Maulidiyanti, reports CNN Indonesia.

    Bestowing this award added futher to the injury felt by victims of gross human rights violations and was like reaffirming impunity, she said.

    “Today President Joko Widodo gave the Bintang Jasa Utama award to Eurico Guterres, which is like rubbing salt into the wounds of [his] victims.

    “Once again, the space is narrowing for efforts to resolve gross human rights violations which continues to suffer pressure and recession.”

    In 2002, Guterres was sentenced to 10 years in prison by the Ad Hoc Human Rights Court for East Timor. The decision was upheld in an appeal with the Supreme Court.

    Guterres was found guilty of crimes against humanity.

    Released early from jail
    However the deputy commander of the pro-Indonesia militia in East Timor was released following a judicial review in 2008.

    Maulidiyanti added that giving the award to Guterres was a serious betrayal of humanitarian values and morality and sidelines justice for the victims.

    The decision showed that the administration of Joko Widodo and Vice-President Ma’ruf Amin had lost any legitimacy as a government with good intentions, she said.

    “To cite the maxim of Immanuel Kant on the morality of the categorical imperative – that ‘actions must be based on moral goals which are objective’.

    “Meanwhile conferring this award clearly places the victims as just tools of power, not the goals let alone the raison d’etre of this government,” she said.

    She said that Widodo’s move clearly showed an authority which denied the experience, aspirations and advocacy efforts by civil society and the victims of human rights violations in realising the values of justice and efforts to prevent a repetition of such violations.

    “Giving an award to Eurico Guterres sets a bad precedent for the democratic process in Indonesia after emerging from the shackles of authoritarianism.

    Rooted in impunity
    “On the contrary, this award in fact proves how deeply rooted the practice of impunity is, especially after more than two decades of reformasi,“, said Maulidiyanti, referring to the political reform process that began in 1998.

    The Civil Society Alliance is made up of number of organisations, including the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial), the Institute for Human Rights Studies and Advocacy (ELSAM), Asian Justice and Rights (AJAR) and the Indonesian Association of the Families of Missing Persons (IKOHI).

    Individual representatives include Roichatul Aswidah, Miryam Nainggolan, Sri Lestari Wahyuningroem and Uchikowati.

    Earlier, Widodo through Presidential Decrees Numbers 76, 77 and 78 TK/TH dated August 4, 2021, gave the Bintang Mahaputera (Star of Mahaputera), the Bintang Jasa Utama and the Bintang Budaya Parama Dharma (Cultural Merit Star) decorations to a number of figures.

    Aside from the Bintang Jasa Utama given to Guterres, who is the general chairperson of the Timor Aswa’in Union Congress (UNTAS) and the East Timor Fighters Communication Forum (FKPTT), Widodo also awarded the late former Supreme Court Justice Artidjo Alkostar and 325 healthcare workers with the Bintang Mahaputera Utama.

    The Palace itself has not yet responded to the accusations against Guterres.

    Australian human rights defender Patrick Walsh writes: “It is unthinkable that the President, once applauded for championing ordinary people, would not have been briefed on Guterres criminal record.

    “Is it also unlikely that Jakarta would not have cleared the award first with the authorities in Dili or ignored their protests?

    “What is this really all about? Why are victims and justice being treated so shabbily by Jokowi’s government for which such high hopes were once held?”

    Background
    Eurico Guterres is a former pro-integration militia leader recruited by the Indonesian military during East Timor’s bid for independence between 1999 and 2000.

    He was involved in several massacres in East Timor and was a chief militia leader during the post-independence killings and destruction of the capital Dili.

    Guterres was tried by the Ad Hoc Human Rights Court for East Timor for crimes against humanity on charges of murder and persecution along with 17 other defendants and subsequently sentenced to ten years imprisonment in November 2002, for which he was imprisoned in 2006 until 2008.

    On December 15, 2020, Guterres also received a National Defence Patriot medal and certificate from Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto.

    Translated by James Balowski for Indoleft News. The original title of the article was “Kasus HAM, Jokowi Didesak Cabut Bintang Jasa Eurico Guterres”.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • International calls grow to free Papuan activist Victor Yeimo’s over health

    Asia Pacific Report newsdesk

    International pressure is mounting on Indonesia to free West Papuan activist Victor Yeimo, the international spokesperson for the peaceful civilian West Papua National Committee (KNPB), as concern grows over his worsening state of health.

    Following the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor’s declaration on twitter two days ago that Yeimo was at risk of being infected with covid-19, the Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) has written to Foreign Minister Marise Payne saying there was concern over his deteriorating health.

    “He is losing weight and has been coughing blood for the past few days,” spokesman Joe Collins said in the letter today.

    Amnesty International Indonesia has also raised concerns about Yeimo and about the arrest of 14 Cendrawasih University (Unicen) students who on Tuesday called for his release from Mako Brimob prison in the Papuan capital Jayapura.

    Suara Papua reports that the KNPB on Monday urged the Papua regional police and the Papua chief public prosecutor to immediately release Yeimo because there was no legal basis for his detention and his health had been deteriorating since his arrest on May 9.

    “For the sake of humanity and the authority of the Indonesian state, immediately release Victor Yeimo and all Papuan independence activists who have been arrested without [legal] grounds, evidence or witnesses,” said KNPB chairperson Agus Kossay in a media statement.

    “The Papuan people are not the perpetrators of racism.”

    ‘Disturbing reports’
    Lawlor’s twitter post the following day said: “I am hearing disturbing reports that human rights defender from #WestPapua, Victor Yeimo, is suffering from deteriorating health in prison. I’m concerned because his pre-existing health conditions put him at grave risk of #COVID-19.”

    Yeimo faces a number of charges, including treason, because of his peaceful role in the anti-racism protests on 19 August 2019.

    He is accused of violating Articles 106 and 110 of the Criminal Code on treason and conspiracy to commit treason.

    Many analysts on West Papuan affairs consider these charges to be trumped up.

    Amnesty International Indonesia deputy director Wirya Adiwena said that the students protesting for Yeimo should be protected — not arrested and treated like criminals.

    “Like Victor, these Uncen students are only using their right to exercise freedom of expression, assembly and association, to peacefully speak their minds,” said Adiwena.

    Against human rights
    The jailing of peaceful activists because they had taken part in a demonstration was against their rights under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states,
    Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek receive and impart information and ideas though any media and regardless of frontiers (Article 19).

    Article 20(1) states that everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

    Lawyer and human rights activist Veronica Koman also called for the release of Yeimo.

    “Victor Yeimo will not be safe if he remains behind [the bars] of a colonial prison. Colonialism will continue to demand political sacrifices,” wrote Koman on her Facebook.

    Collins of AWPA said his movement was greatly concerned that by denying Yeimo proper adequate medical care, the Indonesian authorities were putting his him at “grave risk of death or other irreversible damage to his health”.

    The AWPA called on Minister Payne “to use your good offices with the Indonesian government to call for the immediate and unconditional release of Victor Yeimo and all political prisoners”.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Afghanistan Proves The US Military Needs Its Budget Slashed To Ribbons

    Listen to a reading of this article:

    ❖

    US officials are telling the press that Kabul will fall to the Taliban within 90 days and perhaps within the month as US troops withdraw from the war-torn nation.

    “One official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the issue’s sensitivity, said Tuesday that the U.S. military now assesses a collapse could occur within 90 days. Others said it could happen within a month,” reports The Washington Post. “Some officials said that although they were not authorized to discuss the assessment, they see the situation in Afghanistan as more dire than it was in June, when intelligence officials assessed a fall could come as soon as six months after the withdrawal of the U.S. military.”

    Meanwhile the US is still raining down explosives and murdering Afghan civilians to temporarily slow the inevitable Taliban takeover long enough for the Biden administration to have its ridiculous 9/11 “victory” party. Biden has said the US will continue providing “air support” (imperialist for bombing campaigns) to the Afghan government, for however long that government exists.

    This is an unforgivable outrage that cries out to the heavens for vengeance. Not the Taliban takeover; that was always the inevitable result of letting Afghanistan be controlled by Afghans. I’m talking about the invasion and 20-year occupation of that nation by the US and its allies.

    It is only by the most aggressive narrative management and journalistic malpractice that people around the world are not calling for the heads of the architects of this occupation. For twenty years the world was systematically lied to that the US coalition was building a government and military that could stand on its own, and that this goal was right around the corner and just needs a little more time. Now it’s crunch time, and we learn that what they’ve been building in Afghanistan this entire time was a fake movie set made of cardboard.

    The cost of that fake movie set? More than two trillion dollars, and hundreds of thousands of human lives.

    This should be an international scandal for which scores of people should be sentenced to spend the rest of their lives behind bars. More than this, every military which participated in this unforgivable crime should have its budget slashed to a tiny fraction of what it is.

    A military which can afford to spend trillions of dollars on a devastating 20-year war which accomplished literally nothing besides making war profiteers fabulously rich is a military which needs its budget slashed to ribbons. Clearly if Pentagon officials can waste such unfathomably vast fortunes lining the pockets of the military-industrial complex to the benefit of not one single ordinary American, they do not need anything like the obscenely bloated military budget the United States currently has.

    Just thinking about the things those two trillion dollars could have been spent on instead, like fully ending both homelessness and child poverty in the United States, for example, should make Americans howl with rage. Hell, spending two trillion dollars building a useless brick mountain in the middle of the Mojave Desert would’ve been an infinitely better use of that money than murdering hundreds of thousands of people with US troops dying by the thousands and wounded by the tens of thousands. That last bit alone should have every military family member marching on Washington and Arlington today.

    The US government is the single most tyrannical regime on this planet, without exception. It has killed millions and displaced tens of millions just since the turn of this century, solely in its wars that are still currently happening, all in the name of power and profit and destroying anyone who disobeys its dictates. Anyone who cares about humanity should place the defanging of this horrific monster at the very forefront of their values.

    ________________________

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    This post was originally published on Caitlin Johnstone.

  • ‘My torturers carry a heavy burden in their hearts’, says Fiji coup survivor

    COMMENTARY: By Pita Waqavonovono in Suva

    I thank The Fiji Times for covering this story. I also thank Archbishop Peter Chong for providing a space for men to talk about issues that affect them. My shared experience with thousands of other Fijians, an experience of torture and abuse – we only have our faith to turn to. Here is what happened to me after the 5 December 2006 military coup in Fiji.

    It was Christmas Eve 2006, we had returned from Mass. The sermon, Christmas carols, the nativity play — and the reaffirmation of Christ’s presence among us! It was a beautiful service. I recall meeting [former Minister of Labour] Kenneth Zinck outside church. We wished each other a Merry Christmas!

    I remember helping my late mum prepare for the next day’s cooking [because Mum cooked one day ahead] — I placed the corned beef on the stove and brought the pork out of the fridge to defrost — little did I know, that I wouldn’t eat any of it.

    Around this time, I received a phone call, that the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) were at my gate, it was around 11pm. My late stepfather, Ratu Timoci Vesikula, ran out and told off the men who came to take me.

    I recall him saying that this was too late in the night to be taking anyone to the military camp.

    Eight solders with guns. I asked my stepdad to let me go, as I did not know what these men were capable of — since they were holding guns. When I got in the car, I saw my good friend [activist] Laisa Digitaki in the vehicle. We had a brief chat, before she was dropped off at a very dark QEB [Queen Elizabeth Barracks]. When I say dark, I mean they had turned off all the lights — that was strange to me.

    I was ordered to stay in the vehicle and that I was to go and collect my cousin Jacque. I recall as I and Jacque conversed as we journeyed back to the camp, I realised both her and Laisa had canvas on. I had flip flops.

    Christmas was fast approaching! And I’m not sure whether it was my idea or my cousins, but I started wishing all the officers along the checkpoints a Merry Christmas.

    Friendly, then things changed
    The two officers driving us to the camp, were friendly. When we reached the camp, things changed.

    As we drove into the camp, there was silence in the car. The whole complex was blacked out, I recall the only light was from the vehicle that was carrying us. Weirdly as we exited the vehicle, the soldiers asked for our phone and wallet.

    I didn’t have my phone on me, so I gave over my wallet that had some money in it — my wallet was returned the next day, without the contents.

    The soldiers said “Waqavonovono” and they told me to run up to the Mess Hall. I stared at them, firstly because I didn’t know where the Mess Hall was and secondly, I didn’t understand why they were telling me to run anywhere.

    Than they told us to run to the ground. As I jogged to the ground these same men followed me and they kept hitting me and swearing at me. I stopped and tried to catch a glimpse of their faces and I am sure that I gave one them a left hook, this was when I was violently knocked to the ground and kicked repeatedly.

    The Fiji Times 10 August 2021
    The Fiji Times front page, 10 August 2021. Image: APR screenshot

    I heard the voices of the then commander and the land force commander. I shielded my face as they all had a go at me.

    They dragged me to the cricket pitch. Here I realised that there were other people lying on that pitch. They kept kicking and punching us, but what I didn’t understand was the stomping on our backs and the demand that we kiss their boots.

    Refusal to kiss their boots
    My refusal to kiss their boots, gave me more kicks!

    As they attacked us, they kept referring to the [2006] coup and that they were trying to help Fiji, I was not helping them do their job effectively. I recall them asking someone near me, if she was pregnant — I am certain I heard a yes.

    That’s when I heard her scream! I tried to stand up, but was pinned down and told to stay down.

    A soldier knelt down and told me that I would be killed that night. I was told that my body would be dumped in the sea — no one would care. This same officer put a gun to my head and pressed it hard against my head. He said that I could be easily killed.

    Around this time, was when I realised two things, the smell of alcohol from the officers and the fact that a separate group of officers were singing Christmas Carols.

    I have never heard Christmas Carols sung in a such a circumstances. Disgusting! Shameful!

    As we lay on the cricket pitch, I felt something heavy on my head. It was someone’s boot.

    Standing on my head
    Someone was standing on my head and pressing it to the cement pitch. The officer released their hold, and walked to line of soldiers that stood facing us.

    I was punched in the face, for looking at the gentlemen who lined up in front of us. We were ordered at the count of three, to run to Lami and tear down our Democracy Shrine.

    [What we didn’t know, was that officers had already torn down the signs and ransacked the property in Lami].

    Like a child, I picked myself up and ran at the mention of the number three. There was a drain that we had to jump over, someone feel in, I helped the person out. As we ran I noticed Imraz Iqbal [then a journalist and activist] in front of me, as we jogged out of QEB, I noticed a vehicle and Shamima Ali was standing there trying to tell officers to let us go.

    This is when I realised, that part of group that had just been attacked, was Viri.

    It was around this time where a few soldiers stopped me and tried to pick a fight with me. They continued to hit me as I ran, at one point I stopped and took a boxing pose, the soldiers tackled me and continued to beat me.

    I was placed in the tray of a vehicle and taken back to the camp.

    Dragged into a room
    I accepted that I probably would die, when I was dragged into a room and two soldiers preceded to beat me up, they were interested in right leg and continued to kicked it.

    One of the men then held me down, while the other decided to pull my pants down and sodomise me. This is when I realised that since they were raping me, they could actually kill me. My cries didn’t stop them, as they taunted me.

    Another soldier walked into the room and I recall him being very disappointed with the two. He told them off, and told them to take me home. They instead threw me on the side of the road at Colo-i-Suva.

    A vehicle picked me up, and took me home from there.

    I was told to leave Suva, and the next day [Christmas Day], I flew to Levuka — with my wounds still raw and myself being unable to walk.

    I testify, if it weren’t for my family, I would have done something terribly wrong to myself. I would wake up at odd hours, reliving my ordeal, I had suicidal thoughts, and to see the people that attacked me running the country — that really broke my spirit.

    I recall, a session I had with one of my cousins — he actually was very disappointed that a few days after been taken to the camp, I was still meeting with pro-democracy advocates and speaking out!

    Family critical for recovery
    But in the end family play a critical part in my recovery — they encouraged me to realise that I needed to talk to an expert. I spoke to a Catholic priest and a psychologist – they helped me understand that I had a greater purpose and that I had to release my perpetrators.

    I forgave them, all the soldiers that hurt me and those that abused me — I forgave them. I forgave them, stood up, and continued my work! I wish I could say, it was easy getting over what happened to me — it wasn’t!

    For those of you who were also tortured by the military, please know that not all officers are disgusting and violent. But for that small group of officers that arrested me and tortured me, I hope that they one day have the guts to speak about their actions — they carry a heavy burden in their hearts, they need closure.

    Sadly, I could not take this matter to court because of the immunity provisions in sections 155 to 158 of Fiji’s Constitution, which act as a barrier to any investigation and prosecution of torture cases.

    So family, friends and professional mental health providers stepped up for me!

    Torture is wrong, in any situation, it is wrong!

    I know I am not the only one who has faced this type of brutal force – I understand that there are many others like me who are dealing with our situation, but our scars exist for a reason! And they highlight lessons that should be learnt.

    I still speak up! I still protest! I still pray for them! I still defend my country!

    Pita Waqavonovono, one of the so-called Democracy Six group in 2006, is a youth activist and was president of the opposition Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA) youth wing. The Fiji Times published a front page report about his allegations yesterday and put questions to Republic of Fiji Military Forces Commander Rear Admiral Viliame Naupoto but had received no reply at the time the newspaper went to press. Waqavonovono’s account of the torture allegations circulated on social media is published here with the permission of the author.

     

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Biden Moving Forward With Arms Sale To UAE & US AG Sets New Rules For Surveilling Journalists

    Via America’s Lawyer: Biden’s administration is holding firm on arms deals with the United Arab Emirates. Mike Papantonio and Farron Cousins discuss more. Plus, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland sets new restrictions on the DOJ’s surveillance activities against U.S. journalists. RT correspondent Brigida Santos joins Mike Papantonio to explain more. Transcript: *This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any […]

    The post Biden Moving Forward With Arms Sale To UAE & US AG Sets New Rules For Surveilling Journalists appeared first on The Ring of Fire Network.

    This post was originally published on The Ring of Fire.

  • Lawyer Veronica Koman joins calls to free Papuan activist Victor Yeimo

    Asia Pacific Report newsdesk

    Lawyer and human rights activist Veronica Koman has spoken out about the worsening health of Papuan activist Victor Yeimo who has been detained at the Mobile Brigade command headquarters detention centre (Rutan Mako Brimob) for the last three months, reports Suara Papua.

    “Victor Yeimo will not be safe if he remains behind [the bars] of a colonial prison. Colonialism will continue to demand political sacrifices,” wrote Koman on her Facebook on Monday.

    Koman said that Yeimo’s imprisonment is part of the colonisation of the Papuan people’s dignity which had been going on for decades.

    “The imprisonment of Victor is a problem of trampling on the West Papuan people’s dignity: The West Papuan people aren’t allowed to fight racism, the West Papuan people aren’t allowed to speak about self-determination — even in a peaceful manner,” she wrote.

    Koman believes that moving Yeimo, who is in a weak condition, to Abepura prison is the same as moving him from one “tiger’s den” to another.

    “The Abepura prison is over-capacity, so it’s a nest of covid-19. Because of this, [we must] unite in the demand: Release Victor Yeimo right now!” said Koman.

    Yeimo, who is the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) international spokesperson and spokesperson for the Papua People’s Petition (PRP), was arrested by police in the Tanah Hitam area of Abepura in Jayapura city on May 9.

    He was detained at the Papua regional police headquarters before being transferred to the Brimob detention centre.

    Since his arrest there have been ongoing calls for his release from the charges against him. The charges and lack of access to lawyers and family are considered not to be in accordance with the law.

    Because of this, the government of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is being urged to immediately release Yeimo along with all Papuan students and people from prisons in Indonesia.

    “Victor Yeimo is not the perpetrator of racism. He is in fact a victim of racism. He was not involved in the [August-September 2019] riots in Jayapura city.

    “Why after three months is he still being held at the Papua Brimob? His health is deteriorating. We are asking that he be released immediately from prison,” said Sam Gobay, who is on the management board of the Mee ethnic group traditional council in Mimika regency.

    From information received by Gobay, Yeimo’s health had deteriorated drastically.

    “There is no access to healthcare for Victor Yeimo. He’s ill, he’s not being allowed treatment. He also isn’t being given food. All access is restricted.

    “What is the plan for Victor Yeimo? We’re asking for Victor’s immediate release”, he said.

    The arrest of detention of Yeimo is seen as part of curbing democratic space and even an effort to criminalise Papuan activists.

    “What kind of legal basis is there for the state to discriminate against Victor Yeimo. He is not a perpetrator of racism, let alone labeling him as committing makar [treason, rebellion, sedition].

    “Everyone knows that Victor Yeimo was not involved in the demonstrations which ended in riots in Jayapura city,” said Gobay.

    “The Papuan people are urging Bapak [Mr] Jokowi to immediately urge the Indonesian police chief and the Papuan regional police chief to release Victor Yeimo from the Brimob detention centre,” said Gobay.

    A similar statement was made by KNPB general chairperson Agus Kossay in a press release on Monday.

    The KNPB is urging the Papuan regional police and the Papua chief public prosecutor to immediately release Yeimo. According to Kossay, Yeimo had been detained without legal basis and his health continued to deteriorate.

    “For the sake of humanity and the authority of the Indonesian state, immediately release Victor Yeimo and all Papuan independence activists who have been arrested without [legal] grounds, evidence or witnesses. The Papuan people are not the perpetrators of racism,” said Kossay.

    KNPB spokesperson Ones Suhuniap, meanwhile, said that if Yeimo was not released then the KNPB would call on all Papuan people and all KNPB activists to get themselves arrested by police.

    He also believes that the Papua regional police and the prosecutor’s office have violated Indonesian law.

    “Victor Yeimo must be released for the sake of the law because based on the KUHP [Criminal Code] the 60 day period of detention has already passed, but the addition of 30 more days detention for Victor Yeimo violates the law itself,” said Suhuniap.

    Earlier, Yeimo’s lawyer Emanuel Gobay, who is from the Papua Law Enforcement and Human Rights Coalition (KPHHP), urged the Papuan and Jayapura chief prosecutors to respond to their call to transfer Yeimo from the Brimob detention centre to Abepura prison.

    This call, according to Gobay, is based on the fact that Yeimo had been incarcerated at the Brimob detention centre since May 10 and his rights as a suspect had not been met.

    “When the prosecutor questioned Victor Yeimo in relation to matters that he wished to convey, Victor asked to be transferred from the Rutan Mako Brimob to the Abepura prison in consideration of meeting his rights as a suspect.

    “Victor argued that since the start of his detention at the Papua regional police Mako Brimob he has been neglected because of the Mako Brimob’s standard operating procedures. Also because of his psychological condition as a result of being left alone in a stuffy cell which could endanger his health,” explained Gobay.

    Unfortunately, said the director of the Papua Legal Aid Foundation (LBH), the prosecutor failed to respond professionally to Yeimo’s request.

    “The Papua chief public prosecutor [must] immediately instruct the Papua chief public prosecutor supervising prosecutor acting as the Jayapura chief public prosecutor supervising prosecutor to examine the prosecutor who received the dossier of the suspect in the name of Victor F Yeimo which was not conducted in accordance with the instructions of Article 8 Paragraph (3) b of Law Number 8/1981,” he said.

    Also, the head of the Papua representative office of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia has been asked to supervise the Jayapura district attorney’s office in its implementation of Yeimo’s rights as a suspect which is guaranteed under Law Number 8/1981.

    This call was made after the Papua regional police investigators handed Yeimo’s dossier over to the Jayapura district attorney’s office on August 6.

    Translated by James Balowski for IndoLeft News. Abridged slightly due to repetition and for clarity. The original title of the article was “Ini Pendapat Veronica Koman Terhadap Kondisi Victor Yeimo”.


    This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • The UK Is Embarking on Largest Military Spending Hike Since the Cold War

    Junior Soldiers from the Army Foundation College in Harrogate take part in their graduation parade on August 05, 2021 in Harrogate, England. The graduation parade marked the culmination up to 12 months of military training for over 700 of the British Army's newest future soldiers.

    Late last year, with the pandemic in full, brutal swing, Boris Johnson’s Conservative government in the U.K. announced a nearly 17 billion pound (what was then $21.9 billion) increase in military spending. The increase, spread over four years, represented the largest hike in “defense” investments since the end of the Cold War, and, while it was a tiny fraction of what the U.S. spends annually on defense, made clear Britain’s ambition to be seen as a global military superpower once more. In an era of escalating tensions between a U.S.-led NATO and Russia, and during a period in which economic competition between China and the West is increasingly morphing into a high-stakes arms race, Britain’s move to ramp up military spending made clear that the U.K. won’t be sitting out these new global struggles.

    In fact, the U.K.’s decision to escalate military investments was based on an evolving military doctrine of “constant competition” with adversaries that would keep opponents such as China and Russia off-balance while, hopefully, staying just clear of provocations that could lead to war.

    The U.K. government — heir to a party that, like the Republicans in the United States, has not hesitated to cut social infrastructure spending and to impose austerity budgets on the poor in recent decades — promised to soup up spending on everything from cybersecurity to nuclear weapons. In March, the government announced it would raise the cap on the number of warheads the country possessed by a staggering 40 percent, and that it would no longer make public the number of operational nuclear weapons that it controlled. Critics argued, to no avail, that this would undermine the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, to which Britain is a signatory.

    Folded into the new, more aggressive military posture, were changes that went far beyond the nuclear arsenal. Johnson’s government unveiled plans for advanced new naval systems, set up a new space command and committed to large investments in futuristic artificial intelligence research.

    As a part of this new posture, in which post-Brexit Britain, isolated from its half-century-long relationship to the EU (or what was formerly known as the European Economic Community) and the power-brokers on the continent, takes on increasingly confrontational military policing roles globally and regionally, the U.K. recently sent an aircraft carrier and broader naval strike group into the South China Sea. The vessels, part of an international effort ostensibly designed to preserve freedom of navigation in contested international waters, sailed between Singapore and the Philippines, deliberately coming within a few miles of contested islands claimed by China in the region.

    This follows on the heels of another venture, in which the U.K. sent a navy strike force into the waters off Crimea — territory illegally annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014. In that instance, intended to show Britain’s sympathy for Ukrainian claims to sovereignty over Crimea, the confrontation came horrifyingly close to going hot, after Russia scrambled fighter jets and navy vessels and reportedly fired warning shots at the approaching British ships.

    One can well make the claim that both Russia and China are taking deeply irresponsible actions on the world stage. Yet acceptance of that critique is different from acceptance of the desirability of giving Boris Johnson’s government carte blanche to launch whatever military adventures it chooses to embark upon.

    In fact, Johnson’s government, seeking to shore up its right-wing populist credentials, seems now to want to reach for military solutions even against recent allies. This spring, in one of the stranger post-Brexit moments, the Brits began scrambling up naval vessels against French and other EU fishers in the English Channel. The vessels were rushed off to the island of Jersey and were apparently aimed at breaking a “blockade” of the local waters by fishers from the continent irate that their long-standing right to fish these waters had now been terminated. In the end, both sides stood down, but the very notion that the U.K. and France could come to the edge of a naval confrontation over fishing rights — with the British government egged on by a snarling, far right, flag-worshipping tabloid press — is simply astounding, and shows exactly how far Britain has veered off-course since the Brexit vote of 2016 set in motion the years-long process of divorce between the U.K. and its erstwhile partners within the European Union.

    French fishing vessels haven’t been the only targets of the British military in the seas abutting Britain. For much of the past year, as Johnson’s government has ramped up its rhetorical and legal campaigns against asylum seekers, ultra-sophisticated military drones have patrolled British waters, looking for migrants desperately trying to enter the country’s waters on rafts.

    The arms build-up, and Britain’s growing willingness to needle opponents militarily, is, to say the least, disconcerting. Yet it isn’t exactly a development out of the blue. For while Britain has, for most of its modern history, steered clear of maintaining large standing armies during peacetime, it hasn’t hesitated to use its naval assets to secure global influence.

    In fact, in many ways, the U.K.’s new doctrine of constant competition and ongoing military assertiveness is a souped-up version of a mid-19th century imperial doctrine, “gunboat diplomacy,” perfected by statesmen such as Lord Palmerston as a way to realize British ambitions around the world without actually triggering war with other behemoths on the global stage. Palmerston was a master of the art of military populism; he routinely sent gunboats to potential flashpoints while talking about the military muscle-flexing as simply being a defense of British values of liberty, democracy and freedom. The press and much of the British public relished these shows of force, and for many years, Palmerston bestrode the halls of Westminster, first as foreign secretary, and then as prime minister. He relied on Britain’s raw power to impose his views, but, as importantly, he relied on bluster, in the sense that he was just gung-ho enough, just trigger-happy enough, to follow through on his threats, to convince opponents that ceding to Britain would serve their interests better than forcing an actual fight.

    Today, Johnson is reimagining British diplomacy in a similar way. His government pledged to cut international aid from 0.7 percent of the gross national income to 0.5 percent, and recently won a parliamentary vote on the issue, despite former Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May joining with a group of rebel members of parliament to vote against Johnson’s plan. Yet, even as his government slashes overseas aid in a cruel effort to balance a budget following stimulus measures designed to counter the economic impact of the pandemic, it increases military spending.

    Britain is now the only G7 country cutting rather than increasing its international aid commitments. It is, at the same time, spending more on its military than any other G7 member apart from the United States, making it the fifth-highest military spender on the planet. In 2020, Germany spent 1.4 percent of its GDP on its military, and France, itself in the middle of a significant military build-up, spent 2.1 percent. Britain, by contrast, spent 2.2 percent. The current round of military spending increases will further widen the gulf.

    This combination of withdrawal from non-military international obligations and high-profile military spending speaks volumes for the priorities of post-Brexit Britain. Moreover, it speaks volumes about the values underpinning Johnson’s particularly noxious brand of right-wing, nationalistic populism.

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Palestine Action celebrates its first birthday by occupying Israeli arms firm’s London HQ

    Activists from Palestine Action (PA) have occupied the London HQ of Israel arms firm Elbit Systems. Arriving on the morning of 6 August, the group quickly blocked the entrance to the firm’s offices. They also sprayed red paint around the site to symbolise the oppression of Palestinians by Israel.

    PA was founded one year ago this week. In its press release, PA said that 105 days of that year had been spent occupying Elbit Systems sites or locations where Elbit components were made.

    The group tweeted a video of members on a rooftop above the building entrance.

    Death dealers

    Elbit is Israel’s largest arms firms. Large parts of its infrastructure is based in the UK. In its press release, PA said:

    The action taken today, as with all actions by Palestine Action, has been taken in order to end the supply of UK made arms, drones, munitions and military technology to Israel.

    Elbit technology also sells weapons to other repressive governments around the world, PA said:

    This tech, manufactured at Elbit’s 10 sites across the UK, is sold to Israel for the express purpose of repressing, brutalising, and killing Palestinian people. After being “battle-tested” (in Elbit’s words) on Palestinian civilians, it is then sold on the global market to some of the world’s most repressive regimes.

    But hindering Elbit isn’t all that PA has done. It says it’s forced the firm to increase spending on security to keep PA activists out – a move which doesn’t seem to have worked very well so far.

    Featured image via Palestine Action

    By Joe Glenton

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Indonesia, PNG hold talks over possible reopening of border

    RNZ Pacific

    Papua New Guinea and neighbouring Indonesia have been discussing a potential reopening of their shared border.

    The border was officially closed early last year due to the covid-19 pandemic, but the illegal movement of people back and forth has continued across the porous international boundary.

    PNG Prime Minister James Marape met with Indonesia’s Ambassador in Port Moresby, Andriana Supandy, and agreed that the border must be properly policed to prevent the spread of covid-19.

    Indonesia’s heath system is being stretched with high covid infection rates, and PNG has also struggled to contain the spread of the virus.

    No date has been given for when the border may reopen officially.

    In others areas discussed, Supandy proposed for the two countries to enter into a Free Trade Agreement to boost trade and commerce, citing the potential as demonstrated in the success of vanilla trade between PNG and Indonesia.

    The ambassador also informed Prime Minister Marape that Indonesia has already ratified the Border and Defence Cooperation Agreement and Land Border Transport Agreement and was awaiting PNG to do the same.

    He said these agreements would pave the way for a more robust bilateral tie between the two countries.

    On West Papua, the diplomat said that Indonesia appreciated the consistent position that PNG government has taken in acknowledging that the western half of New Guinea was an integral part of Indonesia.

    He said the West Papuan self-determination demands remained an internal issue for Indonesia to resolve.

    A release from Marape’s office also said both countries had discussed the need for joint cooperation in power connectivity to areas in PNG’s Western and West Sepik provinces.

    Military donation
    The Indonesian military has donated an aircraft engine to the PNG Defence Force Air Transport Squadron for one of its aircraft to be used for operations in the 2022 general election.

    Marape also confirmed yesterday that US$14 million would be ballocated in 2021 and 2022 to ensure all aircraft were ready to be used next year.

    The The National newspaper reports Marape saying the aircraft would also be used in enforce transborder security.

    The head of the Indonesian National Armed Forces Strategic Intelligence Agency, Lieutenant-General Joni Supriyanto, arrived on a Lockheed C-130H Hercules in Port Moresby yesterday with the engine.

    He said transporting the overhauled Casa aircraft engine to PNG “would enhance relationship and cooperation between the armed forces contributing to security and stability in the region”.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • This Tory MP believes we need to invade Afghanistan. Again.

    UK military forces must return to Afghanistan, a Tory MP has said. Tobias Ellwood insisted that only a new deployment could stop a potential civil war. In recent weeks, the Taliban has made massive gains in the territory. This has led to fears the country could end up back under its control.

    Airstrikes against the Taliban were underway on Thursday 5 August. But the same report suggested that more and more territory is falling to the insurgent group regardless.

    Ex-army officer Ellwood also tweeted that a coalition force of 5,000 could prop up the current government. And he warned the other option was a failed state:

    A large-scale deployment so soon after an official withdrawal seems unlikely. And the UK government does not seem to want to rake over the past 20 years in Afghanistan. For instance, Boris Johnson recently rejected calls for a full Iraq War style inquiry into the war.

    Withdrawal

    Ellwood’s call comes just over a month after the US officially withdrew. It did so in an unusual way: by sneaking out in the dead of night on 4th July and without telling Afghan allies.

    Ellwood also attacked the US decision to withdraw at all, saying it was “made for political reasons”.

    Earlier in the week, senior general Nick Carter was asked if Afghanistan could become a failed state again:

    That is one of the scenarios that could occur, but we have to get behind the current Afghan government and support them in what they are trying to do.

    Interpreters

    Meanwhile, the safety of Afghan interpreters who helped UK forces during the war has become a flashpoint as the Taliban has advanced. On 28 July, a group of former military officers demanded that the Afghans be re-homed in the UK more quickly than they are being.

    The UK MOD announced a package of measures to help those affected in June 2021. The former officer’s letter sparked an angry response from defence secretary Ben Wallace, who disputed their claims.

    Endgame

    Ellwood’s call for more troops may not go anywhere. There’s little appetite in the UK to return to Afghanistan – a location of major international embarrassment and defeat. But what he says is telling. Even now in the upper echelons of the UK security and defence establishment, some still believe that military intervention is a cure-all.

    This proves true even in places like Afghanistan, where military occupation is what caused the problems in the first place.

    Featured image via Wikimedia Commons/L/Cpl Jeremy Fasci

     

    By Joe Glenton

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • They’re Normalizing Robot Police By Calling Them “Dogs”

    Listen to a reading of this article:

    ❖

    Hawaii police are defending their use of pandemic relief funds for a robotic “police dog” made by Boston Dynamics which scans homeless people’s eyes to see if they have a fever.

    “If you’re homeless and looking for temporary shelter in Hawaii’s capital, expect a visit from a robotic police dog that will scan your eye to make sure you don’t have a fever,” says a new report from Associated Press. “That’s just one of the ways public safety agencies are starting to use Spot, the best-known of a new commercial category of robots that trot around with animal-like agility.”

    “Acting Lt. Joseph O’Neal of the Honolulu Police Department’s community outreach unit defended the robot’s use in a media demonstration earlier this year,” AP reports. “He said it has protected officers, shelter staff and residents by scanning body temperatures between meal times at a shelter where homeless people could quarantine and get tested for COVID-19. The robot is also used to remotely interview individuals who have tested positive.”

    This has understandably elicited criticism from civil rights advocates.

    “Because these people are houseless it’s considered OK to do that,” Hawaii ACLU legal director Jongwook Kim told AP. “At some point it will come out again for some different use after the pandemic is over.”

    This report comes just days after we learned that police in Winnipeg have also obtained a “Spot” robot which they intend to use in hostage situations.

    Winnipeg Free Press reports:

    The Winnipeg Police Service is set to acquire a pricey dog-shaped robot, to be used in hostage situations, that’s already been ditched by police in New York City.

     

    “Spot” is made by Boston Dynamics, which sells the device for US$74,500. Winnipeg police are spending $257,000 to acquire and use Spot. The 32-kilogram robot “has the ability to navigate obstacles, uneven terrain (and) situations where our traditional robot platforms can’t go into,” said Insp. Brian Miln at a news conference Wednesday.

    Months earlier the New York Police Department cancelled its lease of the same type of robot they obtained last year following public outcry. More from AP:

    The expensive machine arrived with little public notice or explanation, public officials said, and was deployed to already over-policed public housing. Use of the high-tech canine also clashed with Black Lives Matter calls to defund police operations and reinvest in other priorities.

     

    The company that makes the robots, Boston Dynamics, says it’s learned from the New York fiasco and is trying to do a better job of explaining to the public — and its customers — what Spot can and cannot do. That’s become increasingly important as Boston Dynamics becomes part of South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor Company, which in June closed an $880 million deal for a controlling stake in the robotics firm.

    To be absolutely clear, there is not actually any legitimate reason for any normal person to refer to these machines as a “robotic dog”, or a “high-tech canine”, or by a cutesy cliché name for a pet. These are robots. Robots that are being used by police forces on civilian populations. If the robots being used had two legs, or eight, they would not be able to apply such cuddly wuddly labels, and public alarm bells would be going off a lot louder.

    Which is of course the idea. As AP noted above, Boston Dynamics is acutely aware that it has a PR situation on its hands and needs to manage public perception if it wants to mainstream the use of these machines and make a lot of money. Because it’s a known fact that westerners tend to be a lot more sympathetic to dogs than even to other humans, arbitrarily branding a quadrupedal enforcement robot a “dog” helps facilitate this agenda.

    On-the-ground robot policing is becoming normalized today under the justification of Covid-19 precautions in the same way police around the world have normalized the use of drones to police coronavirus restrictions, at the same time police departments are rolling out dystopian systems for predicting future criminality using computer programs and databases.

    This is all happening as the French army is testing these “Spot” robots for use in combat situations, years after the Pentagon requested the development of a “Multi-Robot Pursuit System” which can “search for and detect a non-cooperative human subject” like a pack of dogs. New Scientist’s Paul Marks reported on the latter development back in 2008:

    Steve Wright of Leeds Metropolitan University is an expert on police and military technologies, and last year correctly predicted this pack-hunting mode of operation would happen. “The giveaway here is the phrase ‘a non-cooperative human subject’,” he told me:

     

    “What we have here are the beginnings of something designed to enable robots to hunt down humans like a pack of dogs. Once the software is perfected we can reasonably anticipate that they will become autonomous and become armed.

     

    We can also expect such systems to be equipped with human detection and tracking devices including sensors which detect human breath and the radio waves associated with a human heart beat. These are technologies already developed.”

    These developments always elicit nervous jokes about Terminator movies and the idea of Skynet robots going rogue and enslaving humanity, but the far more realistic and immediate concern is this technology being used on humans by other humans.

    For as long as there have been governments and rulers, there has been an acute awareness in elite circles that the public vastly outnumber those who rule over them and could easily overwhelm and oust them if they ever decided to. Many tools have been implemented to address this problem, from public displays of cruelty to keep the public cowed and obedient, to the circulation of propaganda and power-serving religious doctrines, but at no time has any power structure in history ever produced a guaranteed protection against the possibility of being overthrown by their subjects who vastly outnumber them.

    The powerful have also long been aware that robot and drone technologies can offer such a protection.

    Once the legal and technological infrastructure for robotic security systems has been rolled out, all revolutionary theory that’s ever been written goes right out the window, because the proletariat cannot rise up and overthrow their oppressors if their oppressors control technologies which enable them to quash any revolution using a small security team of operators.

    Or, better yet, fully automated technologies which can fire upon civilians without the risk of human sympathy taking the side of the people. According to a recent UN report, a Turkish-made drone may have been the first ever to attack humans with deadly force without being specifically ordered to.

    Live Science reports:

    At least one autonomous drone operated by artificial intelligence (AI) may have killed people for the first time last year in Libya, without any humans consulted prior to the attack, according to a U.N. report.

    According to a March report from the U.N. Panel of Experts on Libya, lethal autonomous aircraft may have “hunted down and remotely engaged” soldiers and convoys fighting for Libyan general Khalifa Haftar. It’s not clear who exactly deployed these killer robots, though remnants of one such machine found in Libya came from the Kargu-2 drone, which is made by Turkish military contractor STM.

    So at this point we’re essentially looking at a race to see if the oligarchic empire can manufacture the necessary environment to allow the use of robotic security forces to lock their power in place forever before the masses get fed up with the increasing inequalities and abuses of the status quo and decide to force a better system into existence.

    What a time to be alive.

    ________________________

    My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, following me on , , Soundcloud or YouTube, or throwing some money into my tip jar on Ko-fi,  or . If you want to read more you can buy my books. The best way to make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list for at  or on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. Everyone, racist platforms excluded,  to republish, use or translate any part of this work (or anything else I’ve written) in any way they like free of charge. For more info on who I am, where I stand, and what I’m trying to do with this platform, . 

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    This post was originally published on Caitlin Johnstone.

  • Biden Picks Up Where Trump Left Off With Arms Sale To United Arab Emirates

    Via America’s Lawyer: Biden’s administration is holding firm on arms deals with the United Arab Emirates, despite the country’s long track record of assisting Saudi Arabia in its brutal campaign against Yemen. Mike Papantonio and Farron Cousins discuss more. Transcript: *This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos. Mike Papantonio:             The Biden administration is trying […]

    The post Biden Picks Up Where Trump Left Off With Arms Sale To United Arab Emirates appeared first on The Ring of Fire Network.

    This post was originally published on The Ring of Fire.

  • ULMWP calls for suspension of Indonesia from UN rights council over assault on deaf Papuan

    Asia Pacific Report newsdesk

    The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has called on the international community to immediately suspend Indonesia from the UN Human Rights Council over a shocking assault on a young deaf indigenous Papuan that has been likened to the George Floyd tragedy in the United States.

    The treatment of Steven Yadohamang, 18, who was crushed under the boot of two Indonesian military policemen in Merauke on Tuesday was the latest incident “in a long history of systematic racism and discrimination against my people”, said ULMWP interim president Benny Wenda.

    “The reality of everyday life for my people in West Papua is violence and racism at the hands of Indonesian soldiers, police and intelligence officers,” he said in a statement as the assault caught on video sparked angry condemnation by community leaders.

    Screenshot of Indonesian assault on deaf Papuan
    How Asia Pacific Report covered the assault on deaf Papuan Steven Yadohamang on Thursday. Image: Screenshot APR

    In the middle of a pandemic, Indonesia had continued to launch military operations, displacing more than 50,000 people, Wenda said.

    “We have suffered trauma, we have suffered the impunity of the Indonesian colonial regime since the illegal invasion of 1963,” he said.

    “There is no difference between what happens to African Americans in the US and what happens to West Papuans at the hands of the illegal Indonesian occupation.”

    He said the images of Yadohamang being crushed under the foot of an Indonesian police had been compared to the images of George Floyd before he died at the hands of US police in May 2020.

    ‘Papuan Lives Matter’
    “My people rose up against racist treatment in 2019 [the Papuan Uprising], and followed the global BLM [Black Lives Matter] movement with our own cry: Papuan Lives Matter. What we are suffering is the same as the Rohingya, the same as South Africa under apartheid,” Wenda said.

    He said Indonesia’s systematic, institutional racism against West Papuans violated international law.

    The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which Indonesia has ratified, ban racial discrimination.

    “Indonesia’s military operations, racial abuse, ethnic cleansing, and systematic destruction of our health and educational opportunities represent clear violations of these conventions,” Wenda said.

    “The international community must respond by suspending Indonesia from the UN Human Rights Council immediately. If our international human rights protections mean anything, there must be a global response to what is happening to my people.”

    Reuters reports that the Indonesian government had apologised for the actions of the two Air Force military officers it said used “excessive force” to pin down Yadohamang’s head after a video of the incident was widely shared online.

    In a statement on Wednesday, presidential chief of staff Moeldoko said his office condemned what it characterised as “a form of excessive force and unlawful conduct”.

    The statement also said the Papuan man was unarmed, did not resist and had been identified as a person with a disability.

    Indonesian Air Force spokesman Indan Gilang Buldansyah said the two officers would be tried in a military court.

     


    This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Macron says Paris owes ‘debt’ to French Polynesia over nuclear tests

    Pacific Media Watch newsdesk

    French President Emmanuel Macron said this week that Paris owed “a debt” to French Polynesia over nuclear tests conducted in the South Pacific territory between 1966 and 1996, but stopped short of apologising, reports France 24.

    “I want truth and transparency,” Macron said in a speech to Polynesian officials during his first formal trip to the territory, adding that there should be better compensation for victims of the tests.

    “The nation owes a debt to French Polynesia. This debt is from having conducted these tests, in particular those between 1966 and 1974.”

    The legacy of French testing in the territory remains a source of deep resentment and is seen as evidence of racist colonial attitudes that disregarded the lives of locals.

    The 193 tests were conducted from 1966 to 1996 as France developed nuclear weapons.

    Officials denied any cover-up of radiation exposure earlier this month after French investigative website Disclose reported in March that the impact from the fallout was far more extensive than authorities had acknowledged, citing declassified French military documents.

    Macron echoed the sentiments in his remarks on Tuesday.

    “I want to tell you clearly that the military who carried them out did not lie to you. They took the same risks… There were no lies, there were risks that weren’t calculated, including by the military.”

    “I think it’s true that we would not have done the same tests in La Creuse or in Brittany,” he said, referring to regions inside France.

    Macron says France owes “a debt” to French Polynesia

    Calls for apology
    Ahead of Macron’s four-day visit, residents in the sprawling archipelago of more than 100 islands were hoping that Macron would apologise and announce compensation for radiation victims.

    Only 63 Polynesian civilians have been compensated for radiation exposure since the tests ended in 1996, Disclose said, estimating that more than 100,000 people may have been contaminated in total, with leukaemia, lymphoma and other cancers rife.

    “We’re expecting an apology from the president,” Auguste Uebe-Carlson, head of the 193 Association of victims of nuclear tests, said ahead of Macron’s visit.

    “Just as he has recognised as a crime the colonisation that took place in Algeria, we also expect him to declare that it was criminal and that it is a form of colonisation linked to nuclear power here in the Pacific.”

    Meeting Macron on Tuesday on the island of Moorea, Lena Lenormand, the vice-president of the association, renewed the call.

    ‘Urgent demands’
    “There are urgent demands, people who are suffering. We’re asking you to own what the state did to these Polynesian people, for an apology and real support,” she told Macron.

    “We can’t help but think that you are at the end of your term, so words are one thing, but afterwards, what will be done concretely?” she told Macron.

    In response, Macron said he was “committed to changing things” regarding compensation.

    “I’ve heard you, and I’ve heard what you are asking of me, and you will see my response.”

    In his speech, Macron said that since his election in 2017, there had been progress in compensation claims, but he admitted that it was not enough and said the deadline for filing claims would be extended.


    This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by Pacific Media Watch.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Armenian, Cypriot, and Kurdish groups condemn Turkish aggression in Kurdistan

    Armenian, Cypriot, and Kurdish organisations have condemned Turkish aggression in Kurdistan. In a press release, they called for sanctions and diplomatic efforts to stop the Turkish assault on the region.

    Signatories included Elif Sarican, co-chair of the Kurdish People’s Democratic Assembly of Britain; Christos Karaolis, president of the National Federation of Cypriots in the UK; and Annette Moskofian, chair of the Armenian National Committee UK.

    Bombings of refugee camps and border villages have already been carried out, the groups said. And they warned that the Turkish authorities were also trying to cause conflict between Kurdish groups in the region.

    Anniversary

    They said the Turkish government launched its assault on Kurdish land on 24 April, the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The genocide began in 1915, with some estimates putting the number of people murdered or expelled at 1.5 million.

    The letter cited the recent Azerbaijan-Armenian war:

    In light of Turkish support for Azerbaijan in the 44-day war with Armenia last year, the Turkish state’s general stance in its bordering regions can only be described as aggressive. Further, persistent reports show that the Turkish military deploys chemical weapons and uses jihadist mercenaries in conjunction with their own military efforts. 

    Past atrocities

    The groups said they also feared a repeat of Turkey’s past actions in Cyprus:

    Following Turkey’s devastating invasion of Cyprus in 1974, we are worried about the possibility of history repeating itself if the UK doesn’t do more. Turkey is a fellow NATO country to the UK, and therefore these military actions must be of concern to the Government. 

    They called on the UK government to stop the assault through diplomatic pressure.

    We urge the Government to use its diplomatic position to stop the invasion and prevent an intra-Kurdish war. We particularly ask for the Government to put in place sanctions to be lifted only when Turkey ceases its military operations in South Kurdistan.

    The communities speaking out for Kurdistan have all been affected by Turkish aggression in the past. And they fear that history will repeat unless pressure is put on the current Turkish regime.

    Featured image Via Wikimedia Commons/Mahmut Bozarslan

    By Joe Glenton

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Vaccine resistance in West Papua as covid-19 pandemic rages

    By Johnny Blades, RNZ Pacific journalist

    As with much of Indonesia, the country’s easternmost provinces of Papua and West Papua are struggling to contain the spread of covid-19, with the delta variant on the loose.

    In their latest update, health authorities in Papua province reported 33,826 confirmed cases of the virus to date, as well as 794 known deaths. In West Papua province, there were 18,027 confirmed cases and 278 deaths.

    Earlier this week, the Papua provincial health spokesman Silvanus Sumule spoke to media outside a hospital in downtown Jayapura, explaining that hospital capacity had passed 100 percent, while they were short of oxygen tanks for covid patients.

    Patients were being treated in corridors or outside the building, the sort of desperate scenes being experienced across Indonesia, which has become the latest epicentre of the pandemic in Asia, with more than 3.2 million cases and 90,000 deaths from covid.

    Papua provincial health spokesman Silvanus Sumule July 2021
    Papua provincial health spokesman Silvanus Sumule outside a hospital in downtown Jayapura this week as he explains the strain on the health system from covid-19. Image: RNZ

    But the health system in Papua is weaker than most other parts of the republic, adding to fears that the virus is on track to cause devastation in indigenous Papuan communities.

    A human rights adviser to the Papuan People’s Assembly, Wensi Fatubun, said that with the Delta variant rampaging through communities, Papua’s provincial government had sought a full lockdown for the month of August.

    “So the local government announced for the lockdown. But the national government doesn’t want Papua province locked down, and to use different restrictions on community activities.”

    With Jakarta having overruled Papua’s local government on the matter, the onus goes on how people respond to the restrictions on gatherings as well as safety measures. But adherence to these basic measures has been mixed in Papua during the pandemic.

    “We are really worried with covid-19. If it goes to the remote areas, we don’t know, maybe many, many indigenous Papuans will die, because there’s not enough doctors, nurses, and also health facilities,” Fatubun said.

    Across Jayapura, there has been a spate of burials in recent days — another sign of the surge in covid-19 cases, which could be significantly higher than official statistics show.

    ‘Many Papuans are dying’
    To avert the death rate growing more out of control, the national government of President Joko Widodo is focussing on efforts to vaccinate as many people as possible in the coming weeks and months.

    Abepura cemetery, Jayapura, Papua, 25 July, 2021
    Abepura cemetery … a spate of burials in Jayapura in recent days – a sign of the surge in local deaths from covid-19. Image: RNZ

    But so far only around 7 percent of the population of 270 million have had at least a first dose of the vaccine. In Papua region, the take-up is understood to be lower than average.

    The moderator of the Papuan Council of Churches, Reverend Benny Giay said many West Papuans were resisting the vaccine rollout, chiefly because of the role of Indonesian security forces who he said indigenous Papuans deeply mistrusted.

    “In the past few months, in several districts, it’s the military and police who accompanied medical teams who go promoting the vaccines. But people turn them away. It’s very difficult to convince the people,” he said.

    Given the ongoing violent conflict between Indonesian security forces and West Papuan independence fighters, as well as decades of human rights abuses and racism against Papuans, Reverend Giay said the resistance was understandable.

    “The reality here is that they’ve gone through this crisis and violence, and the government is involving military and police to be part of this and we don’t like that.”

    Warning against misinformation
    Reverend Giay wants his people to get vaccinated, and is urging Papuans to not be dissuaded by misinformation propagated on social media. He suggested outside help was required.

    “Many Papuans are dying. We’ve been calling international community for help — maybe the International Red Cross, maybe a humanitarian intervention to convince our people (to get vaccinated).”

    This proposal is highly unlikely to be accepted by the Indonesian government which has long restricted outside access to Papua.

    Jakarta continues with a business-as-usual approach in the remote eastern region, and is sticking to its plans for Papua to host the Indonesia National Games in October which will bring in many people form other parts of the country.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.


    This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Outrage over Indonesian officers for stomping on disabled Papuan teen’s head

    SPECIAL REPORT: By Yamin Kogoya

    Shocking video footage showing brutal and inhumane treatment of a deaf Papuan teenager named Steven has emerged from the Merauke region of Papua and sparked outrage.

    This assault occurred on Monday, July 26, 2021, around Jalan Raya Mandala, Merauke (Jubi, July 27).

    The video shows an altercation between the 18-year-old and a food stall owner. Two security men from the Air Force Military Police (Polisi Militer Angkatan Udara, or POMAU) intervened in the argument.

    One of the officers grabbed the teenager and pulled him from the food stall. The victim was slammed to the pavement and then stomped on by the Air Force officers.

    The two men, Serda Dimas and Prada Vian, trampled on Steven’s head and twisted his arms after knocking him to the ground. The young man was seen screaming in pain, but the two men continued to step on his head and body while the officers casually spoke on the phone.

    In response to this assault, the commander of POMAU in Merauke, Colonel Pnb Herdy Arief Budiyanto, apologised for the actions of the two military policemen.

    Assaukt of deaf Papuan teenager 26 July 2021
    Two Indonesian Air Force military policemen stomping on the head of a deaf Papuan teenager in the Merauke region on 26 July 2021. Image: Screenshot from video

    In a press statement released on Tuesday, July 27, Colonel Herd stated that his men had overreacted and acted as vigilantes. The victim (Steven) and his adoptive mother, along with Merauke Police Chief, Untung Sangaji, and Vice-chairman of the regional People’s representative, Marotus Solokah, attended Tuesday’s press briefing (Jubi, July 27).

    Military policemen detained
    Kadispenau from the Air Force stated that the two men had now been detained under Commander J.A. Merauke’s supervision while POMAU Merauke investigates the incident.

    Kadispenau said: “The Air Force army does not hesitate to punish according to the level of the wrongdoings.”

    Papuan human rights defender Theo Hesegem said the two Air Force officers’ actions were unprofessional and should immediately be dealt with in accordance with the law applicable in the military judiciary in Papua, not outside Papua.

    “They should be dismissed and fired,” Hesegem said.

    Tabloid Jubi report of 'knee' assault
    How Tabloid Jubi reported the assault in an article three days later on 29 July 2021. Image: Tabloid Jubi

    Natalius Pigai, Indonesia’s former human rights commissioner, slammed the incident as “racist”.

    Pigai said on his Twitter account: “Not only members of the security forces, but Indonesia’s high officials who are racist should also be punished.”

    “Unless,” Pigai added, “Indonesia’s president Jokowi nurtures the racism committed by his tribe.” (Warta Mataram, July 27).

    Suitable place for the ‘lazy’
    Recently, Tri Rismaharini, Social Affairs Minister of Jokowi’s government, said that “lazy people” in the state civil service would be moved to Papua. Inferring that Papua was a suitable place for lazy, useless, and low-IQ humans.

    The racism issue will not be solved if people like Tri Rismaharini are not punished for their offensive remarks to Papuans.

    Pigai remarked as such because of countless denigrating comments and statements from Indonesia’s highest office, in which he himself is often the target of racism.

    But still, the country’s justice system fails to deliver justice for Papuan victims and hold the perpetrators accountable.

    These incidents are not isolated incidents – they are just the tip of the iceberg of what Papuans have been facing for 60 years under Indonesian rule. Tragic footage like the one in Merauke attracts public attention only because someone captured it and shared it.

    Most inhumane treatment in Papua’s remote villages rarely get recorded and shared in this way.

    Growing up in a highland village, I witnessed these barbaric behaviours by members of Indonesia’s armed force. They were walking around in uniforms with guns; they did many horrible things to Papuans — just as they wished, without consequence.

    Submerged in dirty fishpond
    One elder from my village was forced to stay underwater in a dirty fishpond. They military tied a heavy log to his legs so that his body remained underwater all day.

    I also remember that my cousin, a young girl aged 13 -14 with whom I went to school, often provided sexual services to a nearby Indonesian military post.

    Many soldiers would have their way with her. Not just her, but many young female children face the same fate throughout the villages.

    The video of the inhumane treatment of deaf Papuan youth Steven a few days ago in Merauke by Indonesia’s Air Force officers reminded me of many horrible things I had witnessed in the highlands of Papua.

    Unfortunately, these crimes hardly get resolved, and perpetrators walk free while victims get punished.

    George Floyd street art
    The killing of 46-year-old black man George Floyd in Minneapolis, USA, on 25 May 2020 triggered massive street protests worldwide – and also street art. Image: Soundcloud

    This inhumane treatment brings to mind the tragic killing of George Floyd after a white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes as he lay face down in the street on 25 May 2020.

    However, in this case, the four officers involved were dismissed from their jobs and prosecuted. Derek Chauvin was sentenced to more than 20 years for the killing on June 25, 2021.

    Rarely face justice
    Tragically, in Papua, the perpetrators of these sorts of crimes rarely face justice and may even get promoted despite their atrocious acts.

    Although Jakarta has already apologised for the Merauke atrocity, Jakarta elites are delusional, thinking that empty apologies alone will solve Papua’s protracted conflicts.

    If anything, this cheap word “sorry” does more damage and rubs even more salt in the Papuans’ wounds.

    Jakarta’s favourite word, “sorry”, has its own value when used appropriately in a specific place and time, like when you accidentally tip over your friend’s coffee cup.

    Papuans and Indonesians protracted wars are not fought over spilling a cup of coffee; these wars are fought are over serious gross human rights violations committed by Indonesia’s state-sponsored security forces, supported by Western powers.

    Hence, neither Papuans’ wounds nor their dignity can be healed or restored with a cheap apology. Papuans need and demand justice.

    Yamin Kogoya is a West Papuan academic who has a Master of Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development from the Australian National University and who contributes to Asia Pacific Report. From the Lani tribe in the Papuan Highlands, he is currently living in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

     

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Fiji’s other crisis – away from the covid emergency, political dissent can still get you arrested

    ANALYSIS: By Dominic O’Sullivan, Charles Sturt University

    The arrest of nine Fijian opposition politicians, including party leaders and two former prime ministers, once again exposes Fijian democracy’s fragility. The intimidation doesn’t bode well for the parliamentary elections due next year (or early 2023).

    The political crisis has been overshadowed by Fiji’s covid-19 crisis, which has seen more than 25,000 infections and more than 100 deaths since April. Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama even used a covid analogy when he called those arrested “super-spreaders of lies”.

    While no charges have been laid, the nine are accused of inciting unrest by opposing a government bill to change the management of iTaukei (indigenous) land rights.

    The original iTaukei Land Trust Act 1940 allows for long-term land leases to private interests. The idea is to maximise the economic return on land, while protecting it against permanent alienation.

    The act aims to protect indigenous interests by prohibiting the sub-lease or raising of mortgages on leased land without the consent of the iTaukei Land Trust Board.

    The proposed amendment would remove the requirement to obtain the board’s consent, and prevent land owners going to court to dispute land use.

    Arresting the opposition
    Bainimarama, who also chairs the board, says the bill’s purpose is to remove bureaucratic obstacles to minor activities such as arranging electricity or water supply. He says the board takes too long to provide consent and this is a constraint on economic development.

    But critics of the bill, including some of those arrested, argue it will weaken iTaukei land rights. Opposition MP Lynda Tabuya was accused of a “malicious act” after she posted a “Say no to iTaukei Land Trust Bill” cover picture on Facebook last week.

     

    In a separate post, demonstrating the low threshold for “malice” in modern Fiji, she asked:

    What protection is left for landowners? This is absolutely illegal and a breach of human rights of landowners. This is not a race issue, this is a human rights issue and breaches Section 29 of the Fijian Constitution.

    Tabuya is not alone. The National Federation Party has said the government has not properly consulted on the bill, and party leader Professor Biman Prasad was among those arrested, along with former prime ministers Mahendra Chaudhry and Sitivini Rabuka.

    Limited media scrutiny
    Media coverage, too, has felt the effects of the arrests. For example, the Fiji Sun’s one story on the issue in its July 28 edition cited only supporters of the bill and offered no insight into why it was controversial.

    This isn’t surprising, given Fijian journalism operates under a constitutional provision limiting its rights and freedoms “in the interests of national security, public safety, public order, public morality, public health or the orderly conduct of elections”.

    The Fiji Times took a risk last week by publishing an opinion column arguing poor drafting and failure to consult meant the bill goes further than its purported aims of administrative simplicity and efficiency.

    Beyond the legal complexities of the land bill, however, the real problem is political. As the article asks, “What’s the issue?”.

    As I discuss in my book Indigeneity: a politics of potential — Australia, Fiji and New Zealand, the issue is that Fiji is a fragile, reluctant and conditional democracy.

    Frank Bainimarama
    A military grip on power … Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama. Image: The Conversation/GettyImages

    Military interference
    Coups in 1987 and 2006, and a putsch in 2000, happened because democracy failed to provide the perpetrators with the “right” answers to complex political questions at the intersection of class, military power and personal interest.

    The rights of indigenous Fijians were always a side issue, as the present conflict shows.

    The 2013 constitution established that “it shall be the overall responsibility of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces to ensure at all times the security, defence and well-being of Fiji and all Fijians”.

    Military oversight of the workings of government is intentional and explicit. When
    Bainimarama (then head of the military forces) led the 2006 coup, he was dismissive of accusations of political interference. If the military did not act against the government, he said, “this country is going to go to the dogs”.

    He also claimed then-prime minister Laisenia Qarase was trying to weaken the army by attempting to remove him: “If he succeeds there will be no one to monitor them, and imagine how corrupt it is going to be.”

    But critics of the bill, including some of those arrested, argue it will weaken iTaukei land rights. Opposition MP Lynda Tabuya was accused of a “malicious act” after she posted a “Say no to iTaukei Land Trust Bill” cover picture on Facebook last week.

    No room to move
    Intimidation is political strategy in Fiji. The proposed amendments to the iTaukei Land Trust Act are not what is at stake — a functioning parliamentary process could identify and resolve any substantive disagreements.

    The bigger issue is that autocratic leadership, and the national constitution itself, leave little room for Fijian citizens to work out for themselves the kind of society they want.

    This also leaves little room for Fijians to demand more effective policy responses to their country’s covid-19 crisis.The Conversation

    Dr Dominic O’Sullivan is adjunct professor in the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • £195m on new killer robots, but a meagre 3% pay offer for nurses

    Just days after NHS workers recoiled at a meagre 3% pay offer from the government, the Tories are set to spend £195m on killer drones. After 18 months of living through a pandemic, with its terrible toll on healthcare and other frontline sectors, this is insult on top of insult.

    UK Defence Journal report that thirteen more war drones will be added to the existing fleet of three. After an unconvincing rebrand in 2016, the aircraft are now known as ‘Protectors’. The truth is they’re built from the same model as the infamous Reaper drone, which have terrorised the Middle East and Central Asia for years

    Milestone?

    The deal was announced by senior RAF air commodore Richard Barrow. As head of the project, Barrow enjoys the comical title “Protector Programme Senior Responsible Owner”.

    He told press:

    The contract for the additional 13 Protector aircraft, taking the total to 16, is a major milestone for the UK.

    Adding that:

    When Protector enters service in 2024, UK defence will take an enormous jump forward in capability, giving us the ability to operate globally with this cutting-edge, highly-adaptable platform.

    Certainly some parties absolutely will benefit. For example, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc, the global arms firm which aims to have the drones in service by 2024.

    And once again, while key workers on the frontlines lose out, British militarism goes on a spending spree.

    Costs of war

    In a vaguely sensible country, the £195m destined for the accounts of arms firms would be spent on something of social value. For example, it could cover training for an estimated 1,176 doctors. It could also cover one year’s salary for 7,583 new teachers outside London, or the annual wages of around 6,138 trained firefighters.

    Yet, at a time when some nurses are still relying on foodbanks, tens of millions are available for the next set of military toys.

    This has to be a question of priorities.

    Priorities

    Military equipment isn’t the only area enjoying massive injections of cash. £195m is a mere drop in the pond of Matt Hancock’s controversial Track and Trace Scheme. Some estimates put the cost for that at £37bn.

    And yet there’s a clear pattern. There’s always money for the next million or even billion pound arms project – be it for drones, tanks, or aircraft carriers. But while arms firms fill their pockets, nurses and teachers have to fight for every last scrap.

    Featured image via Wikimedia Commons/Noah Wulf

    By Joe Glenton

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • UK warships to take up permanent anti-China role in Asia-Pacific

    Two UK warships will permanently deploy to the Asia-Pacific region, the defence secretary Ben Wallace has announced. He said the UK would use the ships to carry out freedom of navigation missions. In practice, the UK wants to compete with China, the major regional power. Elite commandos will also deploy in the near future.

    Wallace announced the decision in Japan. He had recently arrived from the US where he had toured military bases and made a series of speeches about cooperation and military plans.

    Cooperation

    In Tokyo, Wallace said:

    Following on from the strike group’s inaugural deployment, the United Kingdom will permanently assign two ships in the region from later this year

    The HMS Queen Elizabeth strike group Wallace referred to is currently en route to the region. It’s expected to start a series of military exercises with allies in the Indian Ocean on 26 July.

    At the announcement, Japanese defence minister Nobuo Kishi echoed Wallace.

    We reconfirmed our shared position that we firmly oppose attempts to change the status quo by coercion, and the importance of a free and open Indo-Pacific based on the rule of law

    Both countries and the US are keen to limit Chinese power in the region. The three have become increasingly close in recent years.

    More military deals

    Behind the rhetoric and posturing, the UK is also working on military deals with the US and Japan.

    As AP reported on 20 July:

    Wallace and Kishi said they also agreed to accelerate discussions on possible collaboration on Japan’s next-generation FX fighter jet, focusing on engine systems and subsystems.

    At the end of his US tour, Wallace and US counterpart Lloyd Austin extended an existing maritime and aircraft carrier cooperation deal. They also emphasised the “interoperability” of the two militaries. As was reported in April, the Queen Elizabeth carrier has more US than UK fighter aircraft aboard it.

    Free navigation?

    Wallace’s comments on freedom of navigation are important. Only recently a diplomatic row developed over a UK warship sailing close to Crimea. As a result, Russian ships and aircraft buzzed the destroyer, which was in waters Russia considers its own.

    As in the Asia-Pacific, the background was one of military deals. In that case, between the UK and Ukraine. The ship had BBC journalists onboard to record the incident.

    A week later, a trove of secret documents was found at a Kent bus stop. Parts of these were published in the press. And they seemed to show that the UK had intentionally used the ‘freedom of navigation’ exercise to draw a Russian reaction for propaganda purposes.

    Anti-China alliance

    The deployment, and those visits to Japan and the US, come amid what is termed the ‘Asia-Pacific tilt‘. The UK has decided to escalate its military activity in the region in a bid to counter China. While the main aim is to dominate the area, the new mission will turn a tidy profit for defence firms.

    Featured image via Wikimedia Commons/LPhot Phil Bloor

    By Joe Glenton

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Wenda appeals to NZ, West to supply covid vaccines direct to Papuans

    Asia Pacific Report newsdesk

    A pro-independence movement in West Papua has appealed to several Western countries — including New Zealand — to provide urgent humanitarian help by supplying covid vaccines directly to the Papuans to cope with the “double crisis” in the Indonesian-ruled region.

    Benny Wenda, interim president of the Provisional Government of West Papua, said today he had made the appeal by writing to the foreign ministers of Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the US.

    “I have also written to the President of the European Commission, the WHO [World Health Organisation] and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights regarding the escalating covid-19 situation in our land,” he said in a statement.

    “This new crisis is a further existential threat to my people.”

    Indonesia had caused a double crisis for the people of West Papua by launching military operations in the middle of the pandemic, Wenda said, as he had warned.

    “Just yesterday, villagers from the West Moskona district were attacked by troops after attending a peaceful worship session against ‘Special Autonomy’, fleeing to the forests and the city of Bintuni,” he said.

    “Woman and children are afraid to return to their villages in case the military and police arrest or attack them.”

    50,000 plus displaced
    “More than 50,000 people have been displaced in Nduga, Puncak and Intan Jaya over the past two and a half years. Their homes have been destroyed, their churches burned and their schools occupied by soldiers.

    “They are left in internal displacement camps, where the virus will spread rapidly. Already in the cities, patients are being turned away or treated in cars outside the hospital.”

    Western countries and the WHO had an urgent moral obligation to give vaccine doses direct the local Papuan government for distribution, Wenda said.

    “As the 2018 Asmat health crisis showed, Jakarta cannot be trusted with the health of the West Papuan people,” he said.

    “Over nearly 60 years of colonisation we have seen a chronic failure to develop health facilities in West Papua, leaving us dying on top of the natural riches Indonesia is extracting. If Jakarta is allowed to hold the reigns of vaccine development, my people will suffer further.”

    Wenda said the developments were part of a “continued genocide against my people”.

    “Our forests have been torn down, our mountains decapitated, our way of life destroyed. Indonesia restricts healthcare and enforces a colonial education whilst killing anyone who speaks out for self-determination,” Wenda said.

    “Launching military operations in the middle of a pandemic is a policy designed to further wipe out our population. We need urgent international assistance, direct to the local Papuan government, not through the colonial occupier.”

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • The Jakarta Post: New deal, old approach over West Papua

    EDITORIAL: By the editorial board of The Jakarta Post

    The unanimous House of Representatives decision in Indonesia last week to endorse the revised Papuan Special Autonomy Law shows, yet again, the propensity of the Jakarta elite to dictate the future of the territory, despite persistent calls to honor local demands.

    This “new deal” is not likely to end violence in the resource-rich provinces, which stems in large part from Jakarta’s refusal to settle past human rights abuses there.

    On paper, the revision offers some of the substantial changes needed to help Papuans close the gap with the rest of the nation. For example, it extends special autonomy funding for Papua and West Papua to 2041 and increases its amount from 2 percent to 2.25 percent of the general allocation fund, with a particular focus on health and education.

    The Jakarta Post
    THE JAKARTA POST

    The Finance Ministry estimates that over the next 20 years, the two provinces will receive Rp 234.6 trillion (US$16 billion).

    The revisions also strengthen initiatives to empower native Papuans in the policy-making process by allocating one fourth of the Regional Legislative Council to native, nonpartisan Papuans by appointment. They also mandate that 30 percent of those seats go to native Papuan women.

    Under the new law, a new institution will be established to “synchronize, harmonize, evaluate and coordinate” the implementation of special autonomy. Headed by the Vice President, the new body will answer to the President and will have a secretariat in Papua. The previous government formed a presidential unit to accelerate development in Papua and West Papua (UP4B), but President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo dissolved it shortly after taking office in 2014.

    The chairman of the special House committee deliberating the revision, Komarudin Watubun, a Papuan, described the new law as “a breakthrough” as it would require the government to consult the Papuan and West Papuan governments in the drafting of implementing regulations.

    But this is where the core problem of the special autonomy law lies. In democracy, respecting the will of the public, including dissenting views, is vital to the lawmaking process, precisely because the laws will affect that public. Public scrutiny should precede rather than follow a law, but in the case of the special autonomy law, that mechanism was dropped from the House’s deliberation, which lasted seven months, under the pretext of social distancing to contain the spread of covid-19.

    The Jakarta elite have clearly left the Papuan People’s Assembly (MRP) behind as a representation of the customs and will of the provinces’ people, as well as the Papuan Legislative Council (DPRP), not to mention civil society groups, tribes and those who mistrust special autonomy and the government. In the words of MRP chief Timotius Murib, the revisions reveal Jakarta’s lack of good intentions for Papuan development.

    This is not the first time the executive and legislative powers have colluded to bypass public consultation on a highly controversial bill. The tactic worked in the passage of the Job Creation Law last year, as well as the new Mining Law, and the approach is apparently repeating in the ongoing deliberation of the Criminal Code revision.

    As long as the obsolete, Jakarta-centered approach remains intact, Papuan peace and prosperity will remain elusive.

    This Jakarta Post editorial was published on 21 July 2021.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • ‘We’ll be extinct,’ warns West Papuan churches, call for halt to ‘racist’ Otsus

    Tabloid Jubi in Jayapura

    The West Papuan Council of Churches (WPCC) has condemned the Indonesian government’s Special Autonomy (Otsus) law ratified by the Jakarta parliament last week, describing it as racist and warning that Papuans could “become extinct”.

    The WPCC was speaking in an online forum organised by the International Coalition for Papua (ICP) last Wednesday — the day before the draft bill was ratified.

    It appealed to the Pacific and international community to stop the Indonesian government’s racism toward the West Papuans which was being perpetuated by the Otsus Law, widely condemned by Papuans.

    The forum included representatives of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Pacific Islands Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (PIANGO), the United Evangelical Mission (UEM), the West Papua Project, the Franciscans International, and the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC).

    The Evangelical Church in Indonesia (GIDI) president Dorman Wandikbo said the Otsus Law had become an enabler for gross human rights violations in West Papua in the past 20 years, such as the Biak, Abepura, Paniai and Wamena massacres.

    “Therefore, the Papuan people reject the continuation of the Otsus Law,” he said.

    Wandikbo cited the result of a study conducted by the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI), which said the root of the problems in Papua was racism, which had caused Papuans to suffer culturally, politically, and economically despite being given a special autonomy.

    Appeal for international help
    He asked for the international community’s help in underlining the rejection of continuation of the Otsus Law.

    Wandikbo also said that the covid-19 pandemic must not be used as an excuse to obstruct the United Nations special envoy on human rights from entering West Papua.

    “This is an emergency situation. We, the Papuan people, will be extinct in 20 or 30 years if something is not done,” he said.

    “God put us here in the land of Papua not to be killed, enslaved, nor called monkeys.”

    Human rights lawyer Veronica Koman said international organisations such as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were effectively banned from entering the region.

    Rev Socratez Yoman
    Alliance of West Papuan Baptist Churches president Reverend Socratez Yoman … “the Papuan people are left out.” Image: APR File

    Reverend Socratez Yoman of the WPCC, who is also the head of the Aliance of West Papua Baptist Churches, said that Indonesian lawmakers had been debating the Special Autonomy Law while ignoring the law itself, which required the Papuan People’s Assembly (MRP) and the Papuan Legislation Council (DPRP) to be included in the evaluation and amendment of the law.

    “In fact, the MRP and DPRP are not included in the deliberation process. Only Jakarta ha[d] to agree, the Papuan people are left out,” Reverend Yoman said.

    Division into more provinces
    Reverend Yoman also said that under the upcoming Otsus Law, the Indonesian government planned to divide the region — currently two provinces, Papua and West Papua — into more provinces despite the low population in Papua.

    “Who is this [plan] really for? It will only result in more military basis, more migrants coming from the other provinces in Indonesia, and we will be a minority in our own land and eventually be extinct,” he said.

    In the online forum, Sister Rode Wanimbo of the WPCC also gave updates on the situation in West Papua, as she had just returned from Puncak regency’s capital of Ilaga last Tuesday.

    “There are 11 civilians who have been shot dead in Ilaga from April to July this year. There are also nine churches destroyed and bombed by the Indonesian military from the air,” she said.

    Wanimbo said that there were currently 4862 displaced people accommodated in six districts in Puncak, not including the displaced people from Paluga village and Tegelobak village.

    “They don’t build a tent, the community let the displaced people stay in their homes. No health services for these displaced people,” he said.

    Food aid limited
    “They got food aid from the local government once, but mostly it was from the church, parliament members, and the people,” he said.

    Responding to the WPCC updates on the latest conditions in West Papua, WCC director of International Affairs Peter Prove said that the WCC had held a bilateral meeting in Geneva with the Indonesian government and other diplomats in a hope to bring the Papuan issue to light.

    They were especially trying to address the internally displaced people in West Papua and pushing for humanitarian actors to be allowed to enter the region.

    “I have also talked to the UN Special Adviser that West Papua has a high risk for genocide,” he said.

    Republished with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.