Chapter of West Papua lobby group launched in Papua New Guinea parliament

By BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific
Nov 18, 2009, 19:36


BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific

November 17, 2009

Chapter of West Papua lobby group launched in Papua New Guinea
parliament

Text of report by Papua New Guinea Post-Courier website on 17 November
[By Harlyne Joku]

A West Papuan independence leader in the United
Kingdom, Benny Wenda, has described 2009 as a vital year for the
indigenous people of West Papua. Mr Wenda, the chairperson of the
Koteka Tribal Assembly based in UK, said it is 40 years since the
former Indonesian President Suharto announced the result of the "so-
called Act of Free Choice".


"The claim is outrageous and totally false that 100 per cent of West
Papuans wanted to be annexed by Indonesia. Forty years ago all UN
members including UK recognized our right to self-determination, but
until now we have never been allowed to exercise our right freely and
legally.

"We did not want to become Indonesian in 1969 and after so many years
of Indonesian oppression; we certainly do not want to be Indonesia
now. We want to be free," he said.

Mr Wenda said that is why West Papua so desperately needs friends from
around the world. He said as an important step forward in
international solidarity Andrew Smith MP and Lord Harries of the UK
parliament launched the International Parliamentarians for West Papua
(IPWP) in October last year.

"We are immensely grateful for the messages of support we received
from parliamentarians from every corner of the world and political
parties in UK," Mr Wenda said.

Last week in Port Moresby NCD [National Capital District] Governor
Powes Parkop convened and launched the PNG Charter of the IPWP, saying
that West Papua's Melanesian brothers and sisters in PNG cannot remain
silent on the issue any more.

Mr Parkop said although the PNG government policy on West Papua is
that it is an integral issue for Indonesia, PNG leaders like him feel
that it is against their conscience to remain silent any longer.

Another MP who signed the charter at a press conference at parliament
last Thursday [12 November[, Mr Jamie Maxtone Graham, said PNG leaders
including Mr Parkop and himself will "shine the spotlight" in the
international forum on the West Papua issue, especially in relation to
Indonesian's military response with brutal force by killing, torturing
and imprisoning peaceful Papuan activists.

Mr Graham showed photos of these atrocities sent last month on e-mail
to the media.

The Indonesian embassy was contacted for comment last Thursday, but an
officer there said most of the senior officials including the
Indonesian Ambassador Bom Surijantoe were out of Port Moresby,
organizing a repatriation of some hundreds of West Papuans who had
agreed to return back to their home provinces.