Upcoming events
This year Ai Weiwei’s Studio in Berlin invited Papuans Behind Bars to contribute to their upcoming art exhibition in London by contributing biographies of political prisoners. Ai Weiwei is a well-known artist and advocate for people who have suffered repression by authoritarian governments. Ai Weiwei himself was a political dissident in China whose work and statements led him into exile . PBB is honoured to contribute to the exhibition in order to contribute to raising awareness of the situation in West Papua and in light of the situation regarding freedom of expression, assembly and association in West Papua, which has been deteriorating in the last couple of years.
Stay tuned for more updates!
Write to prisoners
This is a fantastic way to make sure political prisoners know that they are not alone. See the Current Prisoners list for people to write to. You can send letters directly to the prison addresses, or contact Papuans Behind Bars for details of how to send letter to local human rights lawyers who can deliver them by hand and make sure they arrive.
Why not get some cards signed at a meeting or event and send them to the prisoners. If you cannot write Indonesian, do not worry, just send a colourful card and include some of these phrases:
Saya /kami harap anda baik baik
I/we hope you are well
Saya /kami harap anda akan cepat bebas
I/we hope you will be free soon
Salam dari _____ Greetings from _____
Ma’af saya tidak berbahasa Indonesia
Sorry I can’t speak Indonesian
Or you could try to use an online translation tool. If you include a return address, you may even get a reply!
Help change the policy
In the short-term, Papuans Behind Bars aims to support those groups working for the release of Papuan and other political prisoners, by providing accurate, up-to-date and transparent information.
But ultimately, the policies which allow police to arrest those who peacefully express their views and aspirations must change. A number of organisations based in Papua, Jakarta and beyond are working to bring about long-term change. If you are interested in joining us to challenge these policies, please contact Papuans Behind Bars to find out how you can help.
Sign a petition
Read personal stories in ‘prisoners in focus’ section and see if there is a petition going. You can also send us an email at info@papuansbehindbars.org to ask about the information of an ongoing petition.