Freedom Flotilla fulfils aim

Just off the coast of West Papua, away from the suspicious glare of the Indonesian Navy, two small boats met on 12 September to complete the delivery of ceremonial items – water from Lake Eyre in South Australia and ash from the fires of Aboriginal tent embassies across Australia.

This was the end of long journey for participants in the West Papua Freedom Flotilla.

The territory has been occupied by Indonesia since 1962. Up to 100,000 West Papuans have been killed in that time. This slow burning genocide has been obscured from view in Australia due to a nearly total ban on foreign journalists and NGOs.

The Freedom Flotilla aimed to reconnect the ancient ties between the people of West Papua and the Indigenous people of Australia, ties which have been severed under the combined weight of colonial oppression and military occupation.

Beginning at Lake Eyre, a convoy of artists, musicians, activists and Indigenous ambassadors made its way to Cairns before boarding a flotilla of boats bound for West Papua.

Indonesia recognised early the threat this peaceful and largely symbolic action would be.

Intimidation began well before the scheduled arrival of the Flotilla, with the Indonesian military massing troops and arms on the streets of Manokwari, the West Papuan capital.

In scenes reminiscent of the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla (which aimed to break the economic blockade of Gaza by Israel), the boats were met by threats of violence from the Indonesian Navy.

Rather than attempt a direct confrontation, the Freedom Flotilla activists ran a decoy manoeuvre, which they pulled off brilliantly.

While the main vessel, the Pog, continued to sail along the maritime boundary, attracting all the attention of the Indonesian Navy, the ceremonial cargo was loaded onto a much smaller boat, which slipped through the defences to make the delivery.

On the following day hundreds of people took to the streets of Manokwari for a welcoming ceremony, which took place without the usual police intimidation.

Subsequently, however, those West Papuans who received the ceremonial offerings went into hiding after receiving threatening phone calls and visits from the Indonesian military and police intelligence officers.

Four community leaders on Biak Island (off the north coast of West Papua) have been arrested after sending a letter to the Biak police informing them of a procession planned to welcome the sacred water and ashes.

The four men remain in custody and may be charged with treason, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.