Rape of Indigenous Women in West Papua

The silence on the genocide is our backyard is shameful and startling, for as we speak another exercise is being carried out by the Indonesian security forces that are intentionally raping and killing women and children civilians at some massacre point inside resource-rich province of Papua. During  1950s, West Papua was under Dutch Colonial rule, but by 1961 were moving towards independence with their own flag, the ‘Morning Star’, and Papuan government officials. In the early sixties, however, “Conflict erupted over West Papua” between The Netherlands and Indonesia, and a United Nations agreement gave control of the colony to Indonesia for six years. This was to be followed by a referendum. These six years of Indonesian control saw well-documented cases of violence and abuse by the military. Then in 1969, Indonesia conducted a referendum called the Act of Free Choice. Only 1025 Papuans, representing a population of one-million were hand-picked to vote…