West Papua clampdown - Currents - Brief Article

New Internationalist, July, 2002

A key member of the West Papuan Koteka Tribal Assembly, Benny Wenda, was arrested 8 June by the Indonesian army. The Indonesian Government which rules the region is attempting to clamp down on pro-independence activists (see West Papua NI 344). In November the political leader Theys Eluay was assassinated. Papuan groups fear that the army is attempting to provoke the local population, in order to be able to crush pro-independence activities by clamping down hard in response.

To call the Indonesian police and army in West Papua over the Benny Wenda case: www.westpapua./net/news/02/05/090502-phones.htm