This is a comment on “Australia hopes cooperation can end human trafficking,” (The Jakarta Post), April 2, p. 12).

It is hoped that during their visit to Indonesia this week, both our Foreign Minister Bob Carr and Defense Minister Stephen Smith would raise the human rights situation in West Papua with their counterparts in Jakarta.

In the past month, there were a number of urgent recommendations made by the Asian Human Rights Commission concerning incidents of arrests and torture of Papuans, including of a pregnant woman and an 18-month-old baby.

Although asylum seeker arrivals in Australia will obviously be high on the agenda during the ministerial talks, we hope the
human rights situation in West Papua will not be ignored.

Hopefully, Smith will raise concerns about the actions of the security forces in West Papua and in particular about any members...