By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Oceania

MANOKWARI, West Papua – A dance troop from West Papua performed at Stonehenge in Britain to draw attention to the human rights violations in the Papua region.

The British Council of Druids invited the Mambesak troupe and a West Papuan activist, Benny Wenda, to partake in the Summer Solstice celebrations. The celebration attracted a record breaking 36,500 people.

The Mambesak troupe consists of four semi-nude dancers, who according to the Times Online, danced through the night and ended with a performance at sunrise. The West Papuan dancers came to Britain to highlight what they believe is the Indonesian government’s history of persecuting people from the Papua region and denying them their independance.

Rollo Maughfling, head of the British Council of Druids Archdruid, spoke to the crowds at Stonehenge, informing them of Papua’s history of human rights violations and encouraging listeners to actively support West Papuan efforts in gaining independence from Indonesia.

Separatist protests and demonstrations for independence have long marked Papua’s history. Once a Dutch colony on New Guinea’s western end, Papua became Indonesia’s largest province in 1969. Violence erupted in 2003 after President Megawati Sukarnoputri separated Papua into three provinces: Central Irian Jaya (Irian Jaya Tengah), Papua (or East Irian Jaya, Irian Jaya Timur), and West Irian Jaya (Irian Jaya Barat).

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International – West Papuans push their cause at Stonehenge event–  22 June 2009

Radio New Zealand International – 11 Papuans jailed in Indonesia for separatist activities – 09 January 2009