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On the 40th anniversary of the Act of Free Choice, a shocking new documentary about the situation in West Papua will premier at the UK’s prestigious Green Man Festival next week.

Filmed undercover without the knowledge or authority of the Indonesian authorities, ‘Forgotten Bird of Paradise’ provides a rare and deeply moving insight into the West Papuan peoples ongoing struggle for freedom from Indonesian rule.

The documentary features interviews with human rights victims of the Indonesian regime, startling footage of OPM rebel fighters, and a moving interview recorded in secret with the Amnesty International recognised ‘prisoner of conscience’ Yusak Pakage. Currently serving a 10 year prison sentence for peacefully raising the West Papuan flag, the interview was recorded in hospital where he was receiving treatment for torture suffered at the hands of prison guards at Abepura Prison. There is also footage and interviews from the launch of International Parliamentarians for West Papua, revealing the developments being made on the international scene towards the goal of West Papuan self-determination.

Speaking on the eve of the film’s launch, exiled independence leader Benny Wenda gave this statement:
“For over 45 years the Indonesian Government have attempted to silence my people. They have raped, tortured, intimidated, and committed genocide against my people and our land. But they will never destroy our Melanesian spirit. ‘Forgotten Bird of Paradise’ is our cry to the outside world that we need their help now. Our cries are also directed at the United Nations to intervene now to help stop the bloodshed, and re-run the Act of Free Choice so that we can finally choose our own future. Our struggle will never stop until we are given that right”

More information on the documentary including background information and photos can be found at www.forgottenbirdofparadise.net

At least 500,000 dead, thousands of others tortured and raped, thousands more ‘disappeared’. Homes burnt, livestock killed, lives ruined.
Written like that you’d think this was a scene from hell. This is the unfortunate reality of life in modern day for the people of West Papua where 40 years of illegal Indonesian occupation has created a hell on earth for those living there. A land where people are put in prison for raising a flag, or tortured if they play traditional music, and killed if they call for their basic human right of self-determination.

The legacy of Indonesian rule is covered in blood. Indonesia may pretend to the world that they are a great democracy and that the evil regime of Suharto is long forgotten, but recent events in West Papua show that Indonesia is up to its old tricks again. It’s hard to forget the level of horror felt around the world ten years ago when Indonesia launched a genocidal sweeping of the East Timorese people. Add to that human rights atrocities committed by them in Aceh, Sumatra and Sulawesi against indigenous people, and it makes you wonder quite why western powers have agreed to do business with Indonesia.

Propped up by Western powers who have helped its weak and ailing economy, it’s hard to know how much longer western powers will turn a blind eye to the atrocities being committed by Indonesia in West Papua remain to be seen. The cover-up in the recent killing of the Australian mining worker at Freeport was another example of how democracy and transparency are as far removed as can be from the Indonesian regime.

What is clear is that the failure of Western powers to come together and act against Indonesia will have major repercussions for the wider region in the long run. The ‘Nazi’ esque genocide of the West Papuan people means that Indonesia simply cannot be trusted not to turn on yet more ethnic groups in the region. Only through foreign intervention will peace and justice ever come to West Papua. Until then it seems likely that the killing fields, the rape, murder, intimidation, brutality and injustice will remain. For the good of humanity, change must come.