By Luke Hunt
Calls are mounting on Australia to use whatever influence it can muster and urge Indonesia to end the violence in its troubled West Papua province. Jakarta’s heavy hand threatened to overshadow a visit by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who is holding talks with his Australian counterpart Julia Gillard in Darwin this week.
About 10 people have been killed, many more injured, including a German tourist, in the past six weeks.
West Papuan activists have been jailed and one shot dead for raising a West Papuan separatist flag while Indonesian soldiers are being branded as trigger-happy and accused of antagonizing relations with pro-independent locals.
Perhaps the worst cases of bullying in recent times happened in Wamena where more than 85 homes were torched when troops opened fire on locals after a soldier was stabbed to death. It was widely believed the soldier had accidentally knocked down a child while riding a motorbike.
Read the full story at The Diplomat