Indonesia denies white phosphorus use in West Papua

<p>The Indonesian government has denied its military used white phosphorus in West Papua, following a report published in an Australian paper detailing the unverified use of the chemical weapon against civilians this month.&nbsp;</p> <p>According to the paper the attack occurred in the region of Nduga in West Papua. Photographic evidence published shows a villager with severe burns and a wounded leg, which has been attributed to use of white phosphorus.&nbsp;</p> <p>Reporters, John Martinkus and Mark Davis assert that they had solid evidence of the attack and accuse the government of dissembling and avoiding accountability.</p> <p>Read more <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/24/indonesia-denies-using-wh…">here</a>.&nbsp;</p> <p>White phosphorous is a highly toxic chemical which burns when in contact with oxygen, causing deep burns which reach to the bone.&nbsp;Under international law, the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, it is prohibited against civilian populations but it also creates a useful smokescreen hence it is not fully banned.</p> <p>A spokesperson for the Free West Papua movement asserted a need for an independent investigation into the incident.&nbsp;“There needs to be a UN Fact-Finding Mission to immediately visit West Papua to assess first-hand what is happening on the ground," the spokesperson tweeted.&nbsp;</p> <p>The Indonesian government has denied the allegations, with the foreign affairs ministry stating on twitter that the allegation is “totally baseless, non-factual, and gravely misleading”.&nbsp;The ministry denies possessing chemical weapons and asserts that this report distracted from “the murder of 19 innocent civilians on 2 December 2018 by armed separatist groups in Nduga, Papua”.&nbsp;They further claimed the military had been working in the region to recover bodies after construction workers were killed in Nduga.</p> <p>The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's spokesperson stated that it condemns “affecting civilians and authorities alike”.&nbsp;Australia would “continue to monitor the situation, including through our diplomatic missions in Indonesia," he added.&nbsp;</p> <p>In 1969 Indonesia formalised its control over West Papua as its military directly chose 1,026 West Papuans and forced them into voting in favour of Indonesian annexation under a UN-supervised, but undemocratic, process known as the Act of Free Choice.&nbsp;Since then political control of the region has been contested and Indonesia has been often criticised of human rights violations against separatists.&nbsp;</p>