West Papua and the Country Strategy Paper for Indonesia

2.4.2009

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2713/09
by Ana Maria Gomes (PSE)
to the Commission

Papuan and international NGOs and the UNDP report gross violations of rights in West Papua, be it economic and social or political and civil rights, with extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, discrimination and restricted access to health and education (see, for example, ‘State of Human Rights in West Papua, Indonesia’, Franciscans International and Justice and Peace Netherlands, 2008 and ‘Let’s speak out for MDGs. Achieving the millennium development goals in Indonesia 2007/2008’, Bappenas and UNDP). These reports state that human rights defenders are increasingly under threat, there is no freedom of press and foreign journalists, researchers and human rights groups are scarcely granted access. Furthermore, enrolment in primary and secondary education in the provinces in Papua is the lowest in Indonesia.

The EU’s Country Strategy Paper for Indonesia reserves 80 % of the DCI budget for education. Recent verbal information provided by the European Commission indicates that these funds are not fully spent.

1. Can the EC inform the European Parliament on progress on the implementation of the CSP for Indonesia, especially with regard to education in West Papua?

2. Are there any obstacles to spending funds allocated to education in West Papua?

3. If so, is the European Commission prepared to find alternative means of spending funds allocated to Indonesia, especially in West Papua, where education of the indigenous population is desperately needed, according to Papuan and international NGOs and the UNDP?

4. Papuan civil society emphasises the specific need for capacity building for Papuans involved in local administration and natural resource management. Would the European Commission be willing to investigate the possibilities of supporting a program to prepare Papuans to participate in local governance?

5. Can the EC delegation in Jakarta send the reports of the past four years on the situation as regards human rights and torture in West Papua to the Subcommission on Human Rights of the EP?

OJ C 189, 13/07/2010