ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author explores the case of West Papua to address slow-motion genocides, or cold genocides, as he has labelled them in his analytical framework. He examines (neo-)colonial cold genocides within the broader phenomenon of genocide, before analysing the case of West Papua. Colonial or neo-colonial genocides targeting indigenous peoples often occur in such a manner. Colonialism is characterised by a regime of foreign domination, the expropriation of land and resources, and the imposition of foreign ideologies and belief systems. The author outlines the implications of the West Papua case, and similar cases, for the understanding of genocide. The Papuans are Melanesians, a cultural and ethnic grouping which includes indigenous peoples living in the Southwest Pacific. Indigenous Papuan journalists are also more closely monitored than their non-indigenous counterparts, with some journalists receiving threatening text messages or being subject to violence.
