The Greens are still in shock from allegations by Bob Carr at the Senate estimates hearing on 5 June that people in Australia are playing a cruel deception on the people of West Papua. But what Senator Carr was slipping into the parliament was repetition of his claim that "Australia and the world recognise Indonesian sovereignty over West Papua".
The irrefutable fact is that West Papua is not part of Indonesia because it is a trust territory, a colony which has been subjected to Chapter XII of the UN Charter, the Trusteeship System when the General Assembly including Australia made resolution 1752 (XVII) approving UN occupation and responsibility under article 76 of the Charter for West Papua.
Bob Carr has been unable to answer the question when and how has the world recognised Indonesian sovereignty over West Papua. He has also claimed to be raising matters with Indonesia "in the context of accepting Indonesian sovereignty over the territories as a matter of international law", but again he has proved to be unable to identify any legal expert or argument of law to support his claims.
Even while noting an event which Indonesia called "act of free choice", the UN members in General Assembly resolution 2504 (XXIV) did not give their own opinion about the Dutch and Indonesian claims let alone about sovereignty. What UN officials have explained in a summary of Administrative History is that the "current administrator is Indonesia", http://t.co/vdfLkdM3fQ
Proper use of the UN Trusteeship System involves two parts, take and then give. Chapter XII of the UN Charter allows the United Nations to occupy or seize a colony, in exchange Chapter XIII of the Charter creates a Trusteeship Council tasked with ensuring that the United Nations fulfills article 76 and article 1 of the Charter; thus human rights in the colony are normally protected because the Security Council members like Australia are members of the Trusteeship Council that monitors conditions in trust territories under articles 87 and 88 of the Charter.
In 1962 the Secretary General added the New York Agreement for West New Guinea (West Papua) to the agenda of the General Assembly, where Australia and 88 other nations approved UN occupation and choice of administrators in General Assembly resolution 1752 (XVII). But the Secretary General failed to add resolution 1752 (XVII) to the agenda of the Trusteeship Council. So for fifty years West Papua has been waiting for the Trusteeship Council to be "officially" told that West Papua has become subject to administration by Indonesia on behalf of the rest of the UN members.
Free West Papua Protest Melbourne August 2012
(Image by (From Wikimedia) Nichollas Harrison, Author: Nichollas Harrison) Details Source DMCA
Free West Papua Protest Melbourne August 2012 by Wikipedia
I suspect Bob Carr already knows that Indonesia is administrating the territory for the United Nations, that he may also know of any extra-judicial deaths and mining operations in West Papua. I don't think the Australian Greens are playing a cruel deception.
The Australia news media and people could call on Canberra to add resolution 1752 (XVII) to the agenda of the Trusteeship Council, Australia as a member of the United Nations unlike West Papua has the right to add items to the agenda of the Trusteeship Council. It could be interesting if people in Australia were to debate the pros and cons of the issue of West Papua; the ecological, financial, security, even human rights implications fifty years of Indonesian administration has had for Australia and its Papuan neighbour.
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