President of Indonesia Office of the President Istana Merdeka Jakarta 10110 Indonesia His Excellency Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Your Excellency Since Indonesia’s occupation of West Papua, an estimated 100,000 Papuans have been killed. Killings, torture, rapes and arbitrary arrests are commonplace. Whole villages have been razed in reprisals against real or imagined separatist sympathisers. West Papua contains vast mineral and timber wealth and is therefore seen as vital to the Indonesian economy. A heavy army presence protects projects there, including the American and British owned Grasberg mine. Government officials have spoken of ‘breeding the Papuans out of existence.’ Now, the emergence of an HIV/AIDS epidemic, with infection rates 15 times the national average, make this threat a terrifying possibility. Most Papuans remain completely unaware of this deadly disease and how to protect themselves against it. 2008-08-12T19:21:47+01:00 0 0 +62 21 3860189 or +62 21 345 2685 Please write to Indonesia’s President using this text or your own words: 6 0 en_en 3 Papua, Indonesia 0 papuantribes 0 6 0 I am writing to condemn the appalling human rights abuses in Papua, where killings, torture, rapes and arbitrary arrests are commonplace. I urge you to fulfill the commitment to bringing peace to Papua that you made at the beginning of your presidency. Immediate action must be taken to end the serious human rights violations in the province, and to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice. I also wish to express my alarm at the rapidly rising rates of HIV/AIDS infection in West Papua, and at the fact that treatment and awareness programmes are largely aimed at the non-tribal population. It is essential that HIV/AIDS programmes are run with the support and collaboration of the tribal people themselves. the Papuan tribes papuantribes 3 6 36 2008-08-12T19:22:23+01:00 0