Indonesian security forces shot and killed one protestor and injured more than a dozen others as they clashed with striking workers at Freeport’s Grasberg mine in Indonesian controlled West Papua this week.
Related: Westpapuamedia.info - Police in Timika kill one union protester and injure others at Freeport -- Everyone profits from West Papua except for Papuans
Workers at the Grasberg mine started striking 27 days ago, demanding that their pay – be increased from a minimum of $2.10 to $12.50 an hour.
US-based company Freeport McMoRan is the operator of the world’s largest copper and gold mine and the largest taxpayer to the Indonesian government.
Freeport will not budge from an offer of an 11 per cent pay rise over two years.
According to Forbes, Freeport Copper CEO Richard Adkerson receives 25.9 million in annual compensation.
The union representing the 11,000 workers on strike says the strike will continue until November 15.
THE WIRE Spoke to Tom Clarke, from the Free West Papua group in Melbourne and
West Papuan activist Henk Rumbewas.
Audio and links: http://www.thewire.org.au/storyDetail.aspx?ID=8543
Comments
Greens call for release of West Papuans in custody
Greens’ spokesperson for West Papua, Richard Di Natale, has expressed concern over the arrests of West Papuan activists and is calling for their immediate release.
“The Greens are concerned for West Papuan human rights defenders, Henok Dori, Noak Kandipi and Melkianus Bleskadit, who were all arrested on their way to a conference last week, and are still in custody in Jayapura and Manokwari,” said Senator Di Natale.
“We understand that some of their colleagues have been released and we call for these West Papuans to be released.”
The conference was a preparatory event for the important Congress being held this weekend. The Congress brings together different human rights, faith and student groups across West Papua to discuss strategies for bringing peace and justice to the troubled Indonesian province.
“West Papuans have a right to meet and discuss their own future. This congress is a peaceful assembly. We ask the Indonesian government to stand by its stated support for the rights of its residents to move freely and assemble peacefully.”
The situation in West Papua remains critical, with a striking worker at the Freeport McMoran copper and gold mine shot dead this week, and further reports today of police shooting at a student dormitory in Jayapura.
Source: http://richard-di-natale.greensmps.org.au/content/media-release/greens-c...
Yogyakarta protesters demand nationalisation of Freeport
KRjogja.com - October 13, 2011
Laskar Tambang Tuntut Nasionalisasi Freeport - KRjogja.com. Kamis, 13 Oktober 2011
Yogyakarta -- Scores of demonstrators from the People's Mining Militia held a free-speech forum in front of the Gedung Agung Presidential Palace in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta on Thursday October 13. They were demanding the return of the nation's sovereignty through the nationalisation of the foreign mining industry, in particular PT Freeport Indonesia, under the control of the people.
The speaker at the action, Kuswanto, revealed that PT Freeport, which mines the largest copper deposit in the world, also mines the largest deposit of gold, silver and other materials in the world, and this has never been declared openly. Freeport not only oppresses the people of West Papua, but has also damages the environment, which is the source of the people's livelihood.
"PT Freeport disposes of its waste in the Ajkwa river, which flows into the Arafura coastal sea and contaminates the waters and threatens living creatures. Not only that, Freeport has also committed an inhuman act resulting in the death of a worker because they were demanding a wage rise", he said.
The People's Mining Militia strongly condemns the brutal actions by security forces, both the police and the military, which resulted in the death of a Freeport worker and injured six others. They also called for the immediate arrest, trial and jailing of the perpetrators and an end to militaristic acts at PT Freeport and in other parts in West Papua.
"We also fully support the strike by PT Freeport workers to demand their rights and a [decent] standard of living. Return the nation's sovereignty through the nationalisation of foreign mining industries under the control of the people. We also call on all Indonesian people to unite, take over and manage for themselves all strategic assets for the sake of the people's welfare", he asserted. (Ran)
Freeport Workers Blockade Mine [+SBY Calls For Justice]
Indonesia Freeport Workers Blockade Mine
TIMIKA, Indonesia, OCt 12 (AFP) — More than 1,000 workers on strike at
a giant Indonesian mine owned by US company Freeport McMoRan blocked
the only road to the facility Wednesday, days after a deadly clash
with police.
It was not immediately clear what impact the blockade was having on
production at the Grasberg complex, one of the world's biggest gold
and copper mines.
Police shot and killed one protester and wounded at least six others
in Timika, in eastern Indonesia's Papua province, Monday in a standoff
with workers demanding higher wages.
Herman Sirakoy, a Freeport worker at the blockade told AFP: "We demand
the company, police and the local government take responsibility for
the shootings, and that Freeport stop operations completely as they
have been instructed to do."
A company representative was trying to negotiate with the workers, who
had felled trees to block the route, he said. "We will not unblock the
road until Freeport stops operations," Sirakoy added.
A Freeport spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Police say violence broke out Monday when workers began pelting stones
at officers, seven of whom were hospitalised. Workers set fire to a
car and three trucks belonging to Freeport during the clash.
The provincial legislative council released a letter of instruction
last Thursday stating that if Freeport and the workers did not agree
on new wages "in the shortest time possible", Freeport must suspend
operations.
More than 8,000 mostly indigenous Melanesian workers are demanding the
minimum wage at the mine go up more than eightfold, from $1.50 an hour
to $12.50 an hour, and the maximum be raised almost ninefold, from
$3.50 to $32.
The strike entered its second month last week.
The trouble at Grasberg, coupled with a spate of strikes at Freeport's
South American mines, had raised concerns of a global copper shortage
but some analysts say any impact could be limited by falling demand
for the metal.
Union representatives say that Freeport's Papuan workers receive the
lowest wages of any Freeport mining facility in the world.
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The Jakarta Post [website]
October 13, 2011
President Calls For Justice Over Police Killing Of Freeport Protester
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono demanded that punishments be handed
down to police and other law enforcers who fired shots that killed one
protester and injured several others in a PT Freeport Indonesia
demonstration in Papua on Tuesday, the presidential spokesman says.
“The President has told police and other authorities that any
[officers] breaching procedures must be punished,” Julian Aldrin Pasha
said Wednesday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.
Earlier, Amnesty International urged the government to investigate the
shooting and use of live ammunition which it said was completely
unnecessary and unacceptable.
During the protest, police fired at demonstrators, killing Petrus
Ayamseba, a 36-year-old employee of PT Pangansari, a firm that
provides food for Freeport workers.
“The police are investigating why there were victims there. We are
waiting for the results of the investigation,” Julian said.
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