Today five indigenous leaders in West Papua, the half of New Guinea under Indonesian rule, were charged with “treason.” Hours ago they were each sentenced to three years in prison for peacefully protesting the government. Barack Obama raised the issue of human rights in West Papua last November when he met with President Yudhoyono of Indonesia. It is time for the President to once again raise his voice to support human rights in this seemingly remote territory.
Obama’s interest West Papua stems, in part, from personal experiences growing up in Indonesia with his mother, Ann Dunham Soetoro, a cultural anthropologist. In his autobiography, Dreams from My Father, he recalls a conversation with his step-father, Lolo Soetoro, who had just returned home after a tour of duty with the Indonesian military in West Papua. Obama asked his step-father: “Have you ever seen a man killed?” Lolo responded affirmatively, recounting the bloody death of “weak” men. West Papuan intellectuals and political activists, kin of the “weak” men killed by Lolo Soetoro, have read Obama’s autobiography with keen interest. Even as many Americans have lost hope in their President, many West Papuans still embrace the message from the 2008 campaign, “Yes We Can.” READ MORE
