our work

The religious leaders in West Papua are committed to making Papua a 'land of peace'. They have issued a call for others to support this work towards this goal:

• By speaking out about injustice and all forms of oppression experienced by the community, particularly by the indigenous Papuans;
• Through efforts to prevent all plans and actions that contravene with the underlying values of the concept of 'Papua, land of peace'.

We do this work in response to a request from Papuan religious leaders and faith-based organisations to support them in making Papua 'a land of peace'.

The central focus of the network is a concern for the human rights situation in West papua, dignity of the people and anxiety that prevailing conditions are not providing adequate protection for the human rights of the Papuan peoples. Members of the network are alarmed by ongoing human rights violations, which include violations of civil and political rights as well as of economic, social and cultural rights. Although a law on special autonomy has been adopted by the Indonesian Parliament in 2001, there remains much to be achieved in the implementation of the reforms proposed in this law. Unfortunately, the central government lacks the political will to seriously dialogue with the Papuans.

For this reason, the participants of the network call upon the Indonesian Government to enter into a genuine dialogue with Papuan leaders in order to seek peaceful redress of grievances in this region. We also urge the government of Indonesia to fully implement the Special Autonomy Law.

The network appeals to the international community and international investors to contribute to this process by ensuring that their policies and politics help facilitate dialogue between the Papuans and the Indonesian Government. We also call upon the international community to urge the Indonesian government to ensure that it acts in line with its international obligations and puts an end to human rights violations and impunity in West Papua.