We Have Come to Testify

An important historical and political documentary album, this recording and the accompanying illustrative book are an intertwining of translated spoken-word testimony and contemporary music, chronicling some of the human rights abuses that have taken place in West Papua since the 1960s, when it first came under Indonesian rule, and which still continues today.

The stories focus on the Biak Massacre, a notorious event that occurred in 1998 on a northern West Papuan island, in which over 200 people were killed. The collected testimonies from witnesses and survivors to those killings was brought together for a citizens' tribunal, which took place at Australia's University of Sydney in 2013. Their individual stories contain tragic and heart-wrenching details, confirming many human rights violations and injustices, including assaults, torture, rapes, murder and mass graves. It doesn't make for pleasant listening, but it's the truth. Juxtaposing the horrific subject matter, the accompanying music is surprisingly beautiful. Incorporating traditional percussion, flutes, string bands and choir-like vocals, performed by a combination of exiled Papuan, Australian and Vanuatuan musicians, they speak to the innate resilience and strength of the West Papuan people. These are stories that they want the world to know about. And their independence struggle continues.