British military equipment is being used by the Indonesian authorities against civilians in remote parts of the country.
Despite promises by British Foreign Office ministers that UK arms exported to the country are not used for internal repression photographic evidence exists showing a British-made Tactica water cannon vehicle deployed in the troubled eastern province of West Papua.
Eyewitness reports have claimed that the cannon have been used to control demonstrators protesting against Indonesian rule and widespread human rights abuses in the region, including thousands of extra-judicial killings. It is claimed that the water in the cannon is mixed with chemicals that makes demonstrators' eyes burn. The vehicles were made by Alvis in Coventry, England, and sold to Indonesia in 1998.
Last week Foreign Office Minister Ian Pearson told the House of Commons: "We are not aware of any UK-supplied equipment currently deployed in Papua. We have consistently made clear to the Indonesian authorities that no British-supplied equipment, or indeed any other equipment, should be used in any human rights abuses."
The photographic evidence has provoked outrage among groups campaigning against Indonesian rule in the province.
Benny Wenda, a West Papua tribal and political leader now living in exile in Britain, explained: "When I was in West Papua I saw with my own eyes the Indonesian soldiers using Hawk jets made in the UK to bomb our villages."
"They killed thousands of my people and most of my own family," he said.
"Now they are using British weapons again. So this is my message to the government and people of the UK: please, please, stop selling weapons to Indonesia," he said.
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
A US federal judge on Tuesday ordered US President Donald Trump’s administration to halt efforts to shut down Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks, the news broadcasts of which are funded by the government to export US values to the world. US District Judge Royce Lamberth, who is overseeing six lawsuits from employees and contractors affected by the shutdown of the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), ordered the administration to “take all necessary steps” to restore employees and contractors to their positions and resume radio, television and online news broadcasts. USAGM placed more than 1,000
RSS