Free West Papua! Free Tibet! Solidarity demonstrations in Aotearoa

As repression against independence activists in the Chinese colony of Tibet and the Indonesian province of West Papua escalates, activists have been hitting the streets to show their solidarity with indigenous peoples struggling for self-determination and against colonialism and genocide.

In Auckland on Tuesday, activists and members of the Tibetan community shut down Helen Clark's electorate office in Mt. Eden with a noisy twelve hour blockade. Police were called to the office twice, once to remove a chain that had been used to lock the front entrance. [ Report + Photos] As protests build overseas with the start of the Olympic Torch relay, the Tibetan community will protest at the Chinese consulate in Auckland this Friday. [Details | Online Petition ]

Also on Tuesday, activists in Poneke/Wellington paid a vist to the Indonesian Embassy to protest against the Indonesian government's occupation of West Papua, the killing of its people and the destruction of its land. At least sixteen West Papuan leaders have been rounded up on charges of rebellion and subversion. For some their only crime is raising the banned Morning Star flag of Papuan freedom. One West Papuan student is also in hospital after Indonesian soldiers opened fire on a demonstration. [ Report ] This comes the same week that the Indonesian government has approached the New Zealand police for help in implementing community policing in West Papua. [ Article ] The Wellington protest was organised in solidarity with another held outside the Indonesian embassy in Canberra and in solidarity "with those fighting for their lives and freedoms in West Papua". [ Report + Photos ]