“The biggest human rights disaster in the Pacific is happening [just north-west of New Zealand] and we West Papuans are worried that if this genocide and illegal occupation continues to be ignored, in the next few decades we will be completely wiped out from our own country.” – Benny Wenda
The Papua New Guinea police opened fire yesterday on a group of students at the University of Papua New Guinea who were peacefully protesting against the alleged corruption of Prime Minister Peter O’Neill. Several eye-witnesses have come forward to say they saw students beaten and shot at, including one case where a student was shot in the head. Why the muted attention from much of our media?
From the voices we do not hear in the New Zealand media about West Papua. Hundreds of peaceful Papuan protesters were arrested and detained this week. Visit Asia Pacific Report for comprehensive reports and read West Papuan Reverend Benny Giay’s measured analysis in this guest blog.
Peter Willcox was captain of the bombed Rainbow Warrior in Auckland in 1985. Now he has a new book out next week that tells his agenda-setting story over three decades from the Rainbow Warrior sabotage to being thrown into Russian jails for two months and charged with piracy as skipper of the Arctic Sunrise in an oil drilling rig protest.
The new website Asia Pacific Report – just one week old – provided extensive coverage of the democracy protest in Auckland. Asia Pacific, published by AUT’s Pacific Media Centre, has a range of stories, pictures, video and comment.
New Zealand’s Bunny McDiarmid has been named as one of two women to head the global environmental group Greenpeace International as co-executive directors in an innovative agenda setting move. Report from Pacific Media Watch
