Today - Timor Leste's Ramos-Horta to decide on political future in January

by Muhamad Fadhil

04:46 AM Oct 23, 2011

SINGAPORE - Timor Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta said he will decide in January whether to seek re-election in the 2012 Presidential Elections.

The 61-year-old took office in 2007 after serving as Prime Minister for about a year.

"I've been saying a few times that 90 per cent of the decision has been made. I would personally decline to seek a second term ... But, I may change my mind ... I will be making my final decision on my future in early January," the Nobel Peace Laureate said in an interview with MediaCorp during a visit to Singapore.

Whatever his political future holds, Dr Ramos-Horta said he will look back at his term with no regrets. He said he tried his best to adopt a "humanitarian" approach to reach out to the population of 1.2 million.

"The presidential office is open and accessible to the people. The state has to be open to the people. I don't have heavy arms security in the palace."

His "open door" policy is part of efforts at fostering national reconciliation. Timor Leste, formerly known as East Timor, broke away from Indonesia in 1999, gaining independence in 2002. Its pre-independence period was marked by unrest and occasional violence.

But Dr Ramos-Horta said reconciliation efforts in the past few years have proven to be successful.

"In 1999, we had violent strife. Thousands of Timorese voted to stay with Indonesia and many of them engaged in destructive violence. In the past ten years, a vast majority of them had returned ... Since then, there has not been a single case of reprisal by the pro-independence movement against them. Not a single case."

But he said challenges remain ahead of the country's tenth independence anniversary next May.

"Timor has reduced poverty by 9 per cent, infant child mortality rate reduced by 15 per cent, life expectancy went up, unemployment significantly reduced. A lot still to be done. Most of our institutions are still weak, some are dysfunctional like public administration. But, we are 10 years, not 30 years old or 50 years old, so we are very proud of what we have achieved."

YouTube Release Notes: Updated Video End-Screen, WeVideo added to YouTube.com/Create and More...

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2011

It’s been a while since we published our last Release Notes post, sharing the latest changes to YouTube however big or small. Our scrappy engineers have still been hard at work to make your experience on YouTube even better, so we decided to resurrect this series and share a bunch of our recent changes. 

Updated Video End-Screen: We’ve redesigned the end-screen that appears directly after a video finishes playing to make it even easier for you to find the next great video to watch.



Enhanced Playlist Bar: To make the experience of watching videos in a playlist better, we’ve updated the interface for video playlists, making the individual video details more visible from within the playlist and making the next, previous, auto-play and shuffle buttons more distinct.



Updated YouTube.com/Charts page: If you want to keep track of the latest and greatest videos on YouTube or know which videos have had true staying power, check out our updated YouTube Charts page. You can browse through the most viewed (standard and HD), most liked, and top favorited videos of today, this week, this month and of all time. Pulling from our ‘As Seen On’ feature, you’ll also be able to see what videos are being shared and discussed across the web. For those of you with truly niche interests, you can view charts by categories like “How to & Style” and “Pets & Animals,” and also see the most subscribed channels.



WeVideo Now on YouTube: To give you even more options to edit and touch up your videos, we’ve added the cloud-based video editing platform WeVideo as a partner to YouTube.com/Create.

YouTube Localized in More Countries and Languages: We recently added Kenya, the Philippines and Singapore to the list of countries where YouTube is localized, bringing this total number to 35. You can check out what’s popular in these countries by changing your location setting, which you can find by scrolling to the bottom of YouTube.com and clicking on Location. To further support content creators in these countries, we also launched theYouTube Partner Program here as well. Want to practice your Estonian, Icelandic, Basque, Galician, or Udu? We’ve added these new languages, making the YouTube interface available in the vernacular in 51 languages.



Smart Subscribe button: We’ve added a "smart" subscribe button on the video watch page, that will let you know if you’re already subscribed to the channel of the video you’re watching. If you so, it’ll say "Subscribed!". If not, you’ll see the standard “Subscribe” button allowing you to do so.

Nathalie Arbel, Product Marketing Manager, recently watched “K’Naan NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert.”

ICG - Africa without Qaddafi: The Case of Chad

Image via WikipediaImage by شبكة برق | B.R.Q via Flickr

N’Djamena/Nairobi/Brussels  |   21 Oct 2011

The fall of Qaddafi’s regime, followed by his death on 20 October, could pave the way to promises of democracy in Libya but left neighbouring countries facing new potential problems that could threaten stability in the region.

Africa without Qaddafi: The Case of Chad , the latest report from the International Crisis Group, warns that those potential new problems created by the upheavals related to Qaddafi’s demise include a massive flight home of migrants, the possible resurgence of militant Islamism and the proliferation of fighters and weapons. Several uncertainties remain regarding the future of Chad-Libyan relations. Will the Chadian government and the new rulers of Tripoli be able to win each other’s trust and put aside grievances born during the eight months of crisis? How will the volatile situation in Libya’s south impact on these relations? What will be Libya’s new policy on the Chad-Sudan equation? More generally, given Qaddafi’s impact on the continent, what will be Libya’s new relationship with the rest of Africa?

“Chad’s President Déby saw Qaddafi as essential to his own regional policy – he was reluctant to accept the possibility of his fall when the Libyan insurgency broke out and slow to realise its full consequences”, says Saad Adoum, Crisis Group’s Central Africa Senior Analyst. “However, he knows from recent history that hostile relations with Libya’s new authorities could quickly endanger the stability of northern Chad”.

During his 42-year reign, Qaddafi was time and again an actor in and mediator of Chad’s conflicts. After initially playing an active role in destabilising the north, he contributed in recent years to bringing relative peace to that historically rebellious zone by mediating between armed groups. When the crisis in Libya began, Déby initially tried to defend Qaddafi’s political legitimacy by accusing the rebels of colluding with Islamists.

Though Déby’s government denied it was providing any military support, the presence of Chadian fighters among Qaddafi’s troops in Libya stripped his statements of weight. This had serious consequences for the treatment of Chadian nationals in Libya in areas where the insurgents gained control, though at least the overwhelming majority have been in the country for years for purely economic reasons. It was only when NATO intervened and power shifted away from Qaddafi, that the Chadian government took a more strategic and realistic stance, calling for negotiations and establishing preliminary contacts with the transitional insurgent authorities (the NTC). Given the security and economic interests at stake, Chad has now recognised the ex-rebels, and Déby has met with the NTC leader, Mustafa Abdul Jalil. But despite this rapprochement, the future of relations remains uncertain.

N’Djamena is also legitimately concerned for the plight of Chadian nationals in Libya. The new rulers of Libya and Déby should put aside grievances born during the crisis and ensure that economic cooperation and exchanges are maintained and that civilians, including each other’s nationals, are protected in both countries.

“Due to the length of his reign, his influence abroad and strong patronage politics, Qaddafi’s shadow will continue to be felt in Libya and neighbouring countries”, says Central Africa Project Director Thierry Vircoulon. “It is too early to say whether the changes will turn into medium- and long-term factors of instability in the region, but Chad’s uncertainties show what Africa without Qaddafi may look like”.

ICG - Breaking Point? Yemen’s Southern Question

Image via Wikipedia

Sanaa/Brussels  |   20 Oct 2011

Amid uncertainty fuelled by ongoing mass protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen’s political future, as well as its unity - notably the status of the South - hang in the balance.

Breaking Point? Yemen’s Southern Question , the latest report from the International Crisis Group, explores the roots of the Southern issue, its relationship with the 2011 uprising and the prospects of reaching a compromise that would preserve territorial unity while profoundly redefining the relationship between the central government and regional entities. To peacefully resolve the Southern issue, political actors would need to reach agreement on a transition of power in Sanaa followed by an inclusive national dialogue. Yet, there is no indication Yemenis are heading in that direction. Instead, as mass protests continue without result, frustration is growing along with Southerners’ distrust that events in the North will have a positive impact in the South.

“We face an explosive situation”, says April Alley, Crisis Group’s Senior Arabian Peninsula Analyst. “An enduring political impasse could prompt further collapse of security and economic conditions, triggering greater unrest and instability in the South. Alternatively, if a full-fledged civil war breaks out in the North, Southerners might pursue a serious bid for separation. Secession would almost certainly spark another conflict with the North and could lead to in-fighting and additional fragmentation within the South itself”.

The former People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY) merged with its northern neighbour, the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR), in 1990 to form the Republic of Yemen.  Unity was troubled from the start and resulted in a short but bloody civil war in 1994. Afterward, two profoundly different narratives took hold, one declaring that the war had closed the file on separation and solidified unity, the other claiming instead it marked the end of unity and the beginning of the North’s occupation of the South. Southerners’ feelings of marginalisation and injustice eventually gave way to a popular protest movement in 2007, which later shifted to calls for separation.

At its start, the 2011 Yemeni uprising facilitated cooperation between Northern and Southern protesters and opened up fresh opportunities to peacefully resolve the Southern issue. Yet, the early euphoria is giving way to resurgent calls by some for Southern independence. Political activists in the South point to two possible ways forward: immediate separation or a federation consisting of two regions.  A third option, to organise the country along four to seven federal regions, has found wider appeal in the North and potentially could gain traction within the staunchly pro-unity parties, the opposition Islah and the ruling General People’s Congress. Still others advocate for a system of strengthened local governance.

To pave the way for successful dialogue, all major stakeholders, including the ruling party, should officially acknowledge the importance of the Southern issue and commit to its fair resolution through negotiations. At a minimum, Southerners should have a special status in the dialogue to reassure them that their issues will not be lost amid Yemen’s many challenges. Of course, none of this can happen without quick agreement on and implementation of a viable transition plan for the political system as a whole.

“Yemen's upheaval presents a rare opportunity to redefine its flawed and failed political compact”, says Crisis Group’s Middle East & North Africa Program Director, Robert Malley. “At the same time, it has considerably raised the price of inaction. If nothing is done soon to peacefully address both national and Southern deep-seated grievances, a darker and more ominous chapter could yet be written”.

VIVAnews - Freeport-Govt Ties Not Helping End Strike

Freeport still has close ties with a government that keeps tight military control.

KAMIS, 20 OKTOBER 2011, 09:39 WIB

Bonardo Maulana Wahono

(REUTERS/ Muhammad Yamin)

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When Freeport renewed its contract for one of the world's biggest copper and gold mines, some of Indonesia's top officials were on hand at the celebration, cheerfully applauding the CEO's impersonation of Elvis Presley.

Some 20 years, and several Indonesian presidents, later, that cosy relationship with the government in Jakarta is doing little to help resolve one of the resource-rich country's worst industrial disputes.

It may well be a hindrance.

The strike at Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc 's Grasberg mine in the remote eastern province of Papua shut down production in mid-September, though the firm says it is back producing at reduced levels after sabotage to its main pipeline on Monday.

The dispute over pay has also drawn in local tribesmen, with their own grievances over land rights and pollution, armed with spears and arrows to join Freeport workers blocking the mine's supply roads for food and fuel this week.

The company's relationship with the central government stretches back to the 1960s when autocratic President Suharto was in the early years of his long rule.

It was a rule, which ended in 1998 in the wake of the Asian financial crisis, when a major project without involvement of the country's elite was unthinkable.

Freeport still has close ties with a government that keeps tight military control over Grasberg, which holds more gold than any other mine in the world, and the rest of its easternmost and independent-minded Papua province, to safeguard its vast reserves of natural resources.

The snag now for the Phoenix, Arizona-based company is that Jakarta, lord of all the archipelago during the Suharto era, has since handed over political authority to a locally elected governor.

"Things are different now. The central government doesn't have the same power it used to have ... Now the power to deal with the strike and pay dispute is in the hand of the local government but they just don't do that," said Yunarto Wijaya, an analyst from Jakarta-based think tank Charta Politika.

But Wijaya says the local government simply does not have the power to negotiate with Freeport.

And the central government's failure to help despite sending in officials to mediate, has only added to the resentment.

Indonesia's government owns about 9 percent in Freeport Indonesia, which contributes 1.6 percent of GDP in Southeast Asia's top economy, and its inability to broker a deal to resolve the dispute is painful.

Freeport still beat Wall Street estimates in its third quarter results on Wednesday, but said production and sales were adversely affected by the strike, to the tune of 70 million pounds of copper and 100,000 ounces of gold. That's $165 million worth of gold alone at today's prices .


Tarnished Gold

One of Suharto's first laws after rising to power in the mid-1960s was to allow Freeport into Papua, then a new province of Indonesia. In 1991, a new contract was signed to tap the huge riches of Grasberg mountain.

In a sign of how close relations were with the government's upper levels, several of its most powerful officials attended the huge party in Jakarta to celebrate the 1991 deal. The entertainment included an impersonation of Elvis Presley by the now chairman of Freeport, James "Jim Bob" Moffett.

These days, however, politicians regularly sound off against foreign investment and there is a clear split between those who are pro-international capital and those who favour not just subsidies and protectionism, but resource asset expropriation -- a divide that reaches even to the cabinet.

The new energy and mining minister, Jero Wacik, inaugurated on Wednesday, said one of his first priorities was to renegotiate "too unfair" production sharing contracts, though he did not name any company.

"Maybe now, because there is so much criticism with regard to the contract of work, and not just Freeport ... by some of the politicians and NGOs, the government doesn't want to show its close relations with foreign investors, especially the mining industry," said one Indonesia mining consultant.

"I don't think there is a special relationship between Freeport and the government. In the past yes, but that sometimes can be a burden for Freeport rather than a positive. People can be suspicious that a previous contract was based on relations at that time, and too good for Freeport," he said.


Handouts

Security consultants say it is essential for resource firms to get on better with local communities which often demand a share of profits that are kept by the central government.

Freeport says it is trying. Last year alone it spent $155 million on various sustainable development programmes in Papua, including nearly $70 million on community development in one of the country's poorest regions.

But with gold prices at record highs, and Grasberg having the world's biggest gold reserves, workers have demanded more than 10 times their current pay of $1.50 an hour.

The workers union, which has held pay talks with the firm mediated by government, says Freeport's relationship with the government is too close and argues that the local authorities are ineffectual.

"The way they let Freeport do things, such as firing people at will, forcing workers on strike to work, hiring new people to do the work are against the manpower law, but Freeport did not get a strong warning for doing so," said Juli Parorrongan, spokesman for the union.

"The local government is either too spoiled by Freeport's presence or doesn't have the ability to manage these resources."

WSJ - How Will ‘SlutWalk’ Play in Singapore?

OCTOBER 19, 2011, 3:58 PM SGT

By Shibani Mahtani

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Women take part in a ‘SlutWalk’ in Paris on Oct. 1.

A global movement against sexual violence known as SlutWalk has spread from Toronto to Delhi to Johannesburg, and now is set to make its Southeast Asia debut in the notoriously socially restrictive city-state of Singapore.

The grass-roots protest, sparked by a Canadian police officer’s remark in February that women should avoid “dressing like sluts” to prevent sexual assault, aims to challenge attitudes toward gender and sexual violence. That’s likely to be an even greater challenge in Singapore, where conservative attitudes toward gender roles are deeply entrenched, activists say, and where political demonstrations are strictly regulated.

Singapore SlutWalk organizers say the issue of “victim-blaming” in sexual-assault cases is a particularly relevant problem in Singapore, where a rape survivor can be discredited as a witness if shown to have a “generally immoral character.” Additionally, marital rape isn’t illegal in Singapore, which the organizers say is indicative of the city’s systemic problems.

The event, set for Dec. 3-4, follows other recent political movements that face significant hurdles in Singapore, which places tight restrictions on public gatherings.

“The idea of civil disobedience is very new here,” said Cher Tan, 24, one of the seven main organizers of SlutWalk Singapore.

Location is just one reflection of those limitations: Hong Lim Park, where SlutWalk Singapore will be held, is home to a patch of grass known as Speakers’ Corner—the only place where Singaporeans can protest, or even gather for a social cause without applying for a police permit. Even then, the event’s content isn’t allowed to touch on the subjects of race and religion.

Last week, some Singaporeans failed to launch an “occupy” movement in Singapore’s financial district. The planned protest – inspired by the Occupy Wall Street events that have quickly gone global—was deemed unlawful by the police, and organizers failed to identify themselves when the protest was meant to happen on Saturday afternoon.

Despite the relative lack of social progressivism among Singapore’s populace, the organizers of SlutWalk Singapore have been surprised at the reception of the planned event.     The group’sFacebook page now has almost 700 “likes,” and its website is buzzing with commentaries, blogposts and articles.

“This has become much bigger than we imagined it to be,” said Ms. Tan, a freelance graphic designer.

But the SlutWalk has already stirred up opposition and controversy in the Singapore blogosphere. Writing in newnation, one Singaporean argued that a “slut” should “at the very least be sexually attractive.” The writer said that many “SlutWalkers” in previous demonstrations were unattractive and “do not qualify as sluts,” making it pointless for them to join the march – in the author’s words, “like a meat-eating person joining PETA.”

The article received backlash online, including a response from blogger Alex Au, who wrote that “everything” was wrong with opinion of the writer.

“The point is to press home an idea, and if you agree with it, you have a right to be there,” wrote Mr. Au, who believes that it is time for an event like SlutWalk to challenge widely held gender attitudes in Singapore.

“We want people to be clear about the idea behind this, our main goal isn’t to reclaim the word ‘slut,’” said Ms. Tan, who believes the movement is primarily about challenging the culture of victim-blaming in society.

“There are pictures of people who come to SlutWalks dressed provocatively all over the mainstream media, so people think it’s just about that,” said Vanessa Ho, 23, another one of SlutWalk’s organizers. “We are trying to encourage people to come in all sorts of attire.”

In a response to a No To Rape campaign in Singapore, the government issued a statement in May saying that “a balance needs to be struck between various interests, such as that of protecting vulnerable women and preserving the institution of marriage.” Officials further said that “a balanced and calibrated approach” was better than abolishing marital immunity altogether, and stressed that public education was key to dealing with domestic violence.

Unlike most SlutWalks, Singapore’s event will be held over two days, with the first day reserved for workshops and discussions. Instead of a march, the SlutWalk will be a gathering, so as to abide by legal restrictions on such demonstrations in Singapore.

Several events will also be held in the lead-up to the SlutWalk, including a “SlutRide”—a group bike ride in partnership with A Critical Mass, a cycling advocacy group, which plays on the term “village bicycle,” to raise awareness for both causes.

WSJ - Bangkok Awakes To An Uncertain Few Days

OCTOBER 20, 2011, 9:09 AM SGT

By James Hookway

Associated Press

Factory workers in the outskirts of Bangkok join hands in stacking sand bags to make floods barriers Monday. Seemore photos.

Thailand’s capital city woke up Thursday to an uncertain few days in which Bangkok’s anti-flood defenses will be given their toughest test yet.

Local newspapers spelled out the government’s latest plans for diverting the floodwaters away from the heart of the Thai economy, warning that some of the city’s eastern suburbs will be sacrificed to protect the inner core. Bangkok accounts for over 40% of Thailand’s economic output, and the spectacle of a widespread inundation there could also badly damage the country’s substantial tourism industry for months or even years to come.

Many small businesses prepared sandbags to block their doorways. International hotels and office buildings, too, were taking few chances, not knowing when or even whether the flood waters will encroach on central Bangkok.

Some residents took the precaution of acquiring rowing boats which they left propped up in condominium parking bays.

A 10-member team of U.S. Marines arrived in the country at the weekend to help Thai authorities assess the impact of the damage and the likely flow of the flood waters, which have submerged an area 16 times the size of Hong Kong, claimed at least 135 lives, and shut down six major industrial parks, severely disrupting the country’s manufacturing sector.

After submerging much of Pathum Thani province, immediately north of Bangkok, the floodwaters on Wednesday spread to cover much of Nonthaburi, to the city’s north-west. Officials said all six districts in the province were flooded.

Conflicts between the national government led by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and the Bangkok city administration led by her rivals in the Democrat Party continue, despite the crisis.

National leaders hope to drain some of the flood waters through some of the city’s canals. The Bangkok Post newspaper reported that more than 8 billion cubic meters of flood waters are flowing from the northern and central Thailand towards Bangkok, but the Chao Phraya River that flows through the center of the city can only divert around 200 million cubic meters a day. Diverting water through the city’s canals would help ease the burden on Chao Phraya.

Bangkok Metropolitan Administration governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra remains reluctant to follow that plan, while the city is still vulnerable to heavy and often violent rain-storms.

“If we are safe from the rain and don’t need to limit the water levels (in the canals), we will open them. The BMA must manage the risk,” Mr. Sukhumbhand said.

WSJ - Malaysian Muslims Plan Rally Against Alleged Christian Plot

OCTOBER 20, 2011, 8:30 AM SGT

By James Hookway

Malaysia is set for another round of noisy political protest this weekend. This time, it’s conservative Muslims angry over an alleged plot to make Christianity the national religion who are hoping to beat up a storm ahead of national elections due to be held sometime in the next 18 months.

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

There isn’t much evidence that Christians in Malaysia try to convert Muslims.

The supposed plan already has been discredited. A pro-government newspaper reported in May that ethnic-Chinese Christians were scheming to put make Christianity Malaysia’s official religion and place a Christian in the post of prime minister. Police investigated eight pastors, but this month Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussein said in a written answer in Parliament that there was no evidence to support the claims, which were first made by blogger Zakhir Mohamad, better known as “Big Dog.”

Nonetheless, conservative Muslims worried about Christian groups trying to convert Muslims to their faith aim to draw tens of thousands of people to their rather optimistically titled Himpunan Sejuta Umat, or Gathering of a Million Muslims, at a stadium in Shah Alam, near Kuala Lumpur, on Saturday.

Key organizer Azmi Hamid said in a statement Tuesday said the rally was necessary to stop Muslim and Christian Malaysians treading on each other’s toes. “I would like to remind all that the evangelist movement has been on the rise globally, regionally and nationally. The efforts to approach Muslims to get them to change religions cannot be denied.”

There isn’t much evidence that Christians in Malaysia try to convert Muslims. For one thing, persuading Muslims to renounce Islam is illegal in most states in this predominantly Muslim country.

Yet seemingly innocuous events create havoc in the country, where public shows of support for Islam can be politically useful.

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

A Muslim man in Kuala Lumpur.

Several churches were firebombed last year after a court ruled that Malay-speaking Christians could use the term “Allah” for God. Muslim hardliners argued that only followers of Islam can use the term, even though the Arabic word predates Islam and is widely used among Christians in the Middle East and Indonesia.

The Sultan of Selangor state, meanwhile, this month said Islamic authorities would provide counseling to a dozen Muslims after they attended a community dinner at a local church hall in August. Church officials have said no proselytizing occurred at the event.

Still the situation could be worse, at least for Malaysia’s opposition alliance. The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, one of the key players in the opposition alliance lead by Anwar Ibrahim, Tuesday said it would not take part in Saturday’s protest – sparing it another round of disputes with its more secular-leaning partners.

New Matilda - Troops Open Fire On Papuan Gathering

WEST PAPUA

20 Oct 2011

By Alex Rayfield

Participants in the Third Papuan People's Congress are arrested by Indonesian security forces.

The Indonesian military and police opened fire late yesterday on a gathering of West Papuan leaders. At least one person is believed to have been killed and hundreds have fled the capital

The Indonesian military and police started shooting at around 2:37pm West Papua time, yesterday 19 October. Information about what exactly transpired are still sketchy but at least one person was shot (believed dead), scores have been arrested, hundreds have fled to the hills and jungle surrounding the capital, and the capital is in a state of lockdown.

A Papuan priest who was fleeing the shooting contacted New Matilda to report that an army truck passed him carrying Papuan participants who had been present at the Third Papua Congress. According to the witness they were "covered with blood" and had been "beaten and shot".

The violence erupted at the conclusion of the Third Papuan Congress, a three-day gathering held at the Taboria oval (Zaccheus Field) in Abepura, during which Papuan leaders declared their independence from the Indonesian state.

As many as 20,000 West Papuans met, danced and debated how to achieve their civil and political rights. For three days the atmosphere had been tense. The venue was ringed by Armed Personnel Carriers, military trucks and Barracudas — a type of armed jeep favoured by the paramilitary police. Machine guns were trained on the participants and thousands of soldiers and paramilitary police armed with automatic weapons were present.

Papuan activists feared that the military and police would try to forcibly break up the peaceful gathering. But the Papuans were determined to have the congress.

One activist told New Matilda "maybe we will die but the congress will go on". Continue it did. The banned "morning star" flag was flown and the banned national anthem was sung. By lunch time on the third day (19 October) Papuan activists, members of the organising committee and well connected church leaders heard that the police and military were going to use force to break up the congress.

By 2pm Jayapura time the Congress was concluding. Forkorus Yaboisembut, the Chair of the influential Customary Papaun Council was elected President and Edison Waromi was elected Prime Minister of the "West Papua Federal State". The crowd was ecstatic. One senior tribal leader sent New Matilda the following message by SMS: "Kongres has been successful! No reaction from the military. God bless!"

The jubilation was premature.

Immediately after New Matilda received that SMS, Yaboisembut and Waromi read a declaration of independence. The police and military then opened fire and stormed the stage. As Forkorus Yaboisembut was being arrested, his personal bodyguards stepped in to protect him. A witness reports at least one person was then shot. According to an SMSNew Matilda received from Yaboisembut: "hundreds were surrounded, shot, beaten and then arrested".

Prior to being arrested, Yaboisembut spoke to a journalist from Bintang Papua, a local Jayapura daily. Yaboisembut was reported as saying that the objective of the congress was to discuss the basic rights of the indigenous Papuan people and not to destroy the the republic of Indonesia.

"Although we will be discussing political rights, we respect the Indonesian government because our intention is not to destroy [the republic of Indonesia]. This is a matter of principle," he said.

"What we are doing is to struggle for the rights of the indigenous Papuan people. This includes our basic right as a nation."

Yaboisembut knows what he is talking about. He recently wrote a book about international law, self-determination and the right to secession — a right upheld by the international community most recently in South Sudan and before that Kosovo.

Human Rights defenders in West Papua can confirm that in addition to Yaboisembut, Edison Waromi and his wife and child, Selfius Bobi (Chair of the organising committee), Agus Krar, Abraham Kareni, Yudit Kambuaya and Jan Piet Mirino were also arrested.

At the time of writing those arrested were being detained at the local Jayapura police station. Another source reports that Selphius Bobii, chair of the organising committee has not been seen since. Staff from West Papua Media Alerts hold grave fears that he is being tortured.

Extreme violence has been used to break up a peaceful gathering.

This was the third time West Papuans have held a congress. The second congress was in 2000. It culminated in the election of the Papuan Presidium Council which collapsed in late 2001 after the Chair, Theys Hiyo Eluay, was assassinated by Kopassus, Indonesia’s Special Forces.

The first Papua Congress was held on 1 December 1961, a day West Papuans commemorate as their national day, and some 18 months before Indonesia occupied West Papua on 1 May, 1963.

Yesterday was the second time the Papuans declared independence from Indonesia. The first was by Seth Rumkorem on July 1 1976 at Markas Viktoria, a guerrilla base on the Papua New Guinea border.

Yaboisembut’s declaration of independence in front of thousands of Papuan people and thousands of heavily armed police is a clear escalation of the struggle for independence. It also illustrates Yaboisembut’s conviction that the struggle needs to be waged through an unarmed popular civilian uprising.