Please Pray for West Papua
In the 1960's the people of West Papua were given the Vote of Free Choice by the UN. The West Papuan people call it the "Vote of no choice!" The Indonesian Military were allowed to assemble approximately 1000 representatives of the 800,000 West Papuan adults and inter them in a concentration camp for weeks prior to the UN officials turning up to take a vote by raising hands. Over half of the people present did not speak Indonesian but this did not affect the outcome of the vote because what was understood was that nay person not raising their hand would cause the military to execute their entire clan. West Papua then became a state of Indonesia. Since then over 500,000 West Papuans have been killed or disappeared for asserting their human rights. Now 5 decades of colonization have taken their toll. Please Pray for West Papua is told through the eyes of a First Nations Canadian. One colonized person looking at another colonized population from across the Pacific.
- Runtime
- 1h 16m
- Released
- 2019
Details
Release year: 2019
Storyline
In the 1960's the people of West Papua were given the Vote of Free Choice by the UN. The West Papuan people call it the "Vote of no choice!" The Indonesian Military were allowed to assemble approximately 1000 representatives of the 800,000 West Papuan adults and inter them in a concentration camp for weeks prior to the UN officials turning up to take a vote by raising hands. Over half of the people present did not speak Indonesian but this did not affect the outcome of the vote because what was understood was that nay person not raising their hand would cause the military to execute their entire clan. West Papua then became a state of Indonesia. Since then over 500,000 West Papuans have been killed or disappeared for asserting their human rights. Now 5 decades of colonization have taken their toll. Please Pray for West Papua is told through the eyes of a First Nations Canadian. One colonized person looking at another colonized population from across the Pacific.