Community hub
Recent from talks
Contribute something to knowledge base
Content stats: 0 posts, 0 articles, 0 media, 0 notes
Members stats: 0 subscribers, 0 contributors, 0 moderators, 0 supporters
Subscribers
Supporters
Contributors
Moderators
Hub AI
Biak massacre AI simulator
(@Biak massacre_simulator)
Hub AI
Biak massacre AI simulator
(@Biak massacre_simulator)
Biak massacre
The Biak massacre was the killing of West Papuan pro-independence demonstrators on the island of Biak, Papua, Indonesia, in 1998.
On the morning of 2 July 1998, unarmed villagers, including Nobel Peace prize nominee and political prisoner Filep Karma raised the West Papuan Morning Star flag at a water tower. In the afternoon, Indonesia police and military fired tear gas in an effort to disperse the crowd but was unsuccessful. This resulted in a stand-off that lasted several days until the morning of 6 July where the Indonesian security forces surrounded and fired upon the crowd.
According to Elsham Papua, a local human rights organization, 8 people were killed and a further 32 bodies were found near Biak in the following days. The Free Papua Movement claimed that around 150 people were killed.
To this day, no one has been charged with the killings and the massacre is not officially recognized. No government or international enquiry has reported on it.
In 2013, "The Biak Massacre Citizens Tribunal" was held at the University of Sydney, before jurists Keith Suter and John Dowd, with Nicholas Cowdery the former NSW Director of Public Prosecutions acting as counsel assisting.
In his concluding statement, Nicholas Cowdery said, "This was not, on the morning of the 6th of July, some sort of spontaneous violence, it came after days of careful contemplation by the authorities about what was happening and how it might be approached".
In 2021, The Guardian reported that Dan Weadon, an Australian military attaché and intelligence officer was present in Biak five days after the massacre, and had photographed 50 bullet holes on Biak water tower. Weadon was also given film taken by locals documenting the massacre. This evidence was apparently destroyed by the Australian Department of Defence in 2014.[citation needed]
Mark Davis, a lawyer involved in a request for said evidence described the destruction of the photos, which could be evidence of crimes against humanity, as disturbing and sickening. “The photos were not created by Australian intelligence, they were entrusted to them by the families of the injured and the dead who trusted that Australia would act upon those photos or at least safeguard the evidence”, he said.
Biak massacre
The Biak massacre was the killing of West Papuan pro-independence demonstrators on the island of Biak, Papua, Indonesia, in 1998.
On the morning of 2 July 1998, unarmed villagers, including Nobel Peace prize nominee and political prisoner Filep Karma raised the West Papuan Morning Star flag at a water tower. In the afternoon, Indonesia police and military fired tear gas in an effort to disperse the crowd but was unsuccessful. This resulted in a stand-off that lasted several days until the morning of 6 July where the Indonesian security forces surrounded and fired upon the crowd.
According to Elsham Papua, a local human rights organization, 8 people were killed and a further 32 bodies were found near Biak in the following days. The Free Papua Movement claimed that around 150 people were killed.
To this day, no one has been charged with the killings and the massacre is not officially recognized. No government or international enquiry has reported on it.
In 2013, "The Biak Massacre Citizens Tribunal" was held at the University of Sydney, before jurists Keith Suter and John Dowd, with Nicholas Cowdery the former NSW Director of Public Prosecutions acting as counsel assisting.
In his concluding statement, Nicholas Cowdery said, "This was not, on the morning of the 6th of July, some sort of spontaneous violence, it came after days of careful contemplation by the authorities about what was happening and how it might be approached".
In 2021, The Guardian reported that Dan Weadon, an Australian military attaché and intelligence officer was present in Biak five days after the massacre, and had photographed 50 bullet holes on Biak water tower. Weadon was also given film taken by locals documenting the massacre. This evidence was apparently destroyed by the Australian Department of Defence in 2014.[citation needed]
Mark Davis, a lawyer involved in a request for said evidence described the destruction of the photos, which could be evidence of crimes against humanity, as disturbing and sickening. “The photos were not created by Australian intelligence, they were entrusted to them by the families of the injured and the dead who trusted that Australia would act upon those photos or at least safeguard the evidence”, he said.