West Papuan Leaders Reported To Have Declaration Of Government Establishment

Photo illustration (Twitter / @ bennywenda)

JAKARTA - The leaders of West Papua are reported to have declared a government. The declaration comes as the United Nations (UN) says West Papua is being plagued by increased violence, including the murder of a child allegedly carried out by security forces.

Quoting The Guardian, Wednesday, December 2, leaders in West Papua declared their independence on December 1. The day coincided with the commemoration of the declaration of West Papua's independence from Dutch colonial rule in 1961 and the raising of the now prohibited Morning Star flag.

The Indonesian military took over the province in 1962 and since then it has been the target of a bitter separatist struggle. West Papua's independence movement organization, the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has drafted a new constitution and nominated exiled leader Benny Wenda as interim president.

"Today, we honor and acknowledge all of our ancestors who fought and died for us by finally forming the awaiting united government," said Wenda, who is now in Britain.

"Embodying the spirit of the people of West Papua, we are ready to run our country."

“As stipulated in our interim constitution, the Republic of West Papua will in the future become the world's first green country and a beacon of human rights, the opposite of Indonesia's bloody decades of colonialism. Today, we are taking another step towards our dream of an independent, independent and independent West Papua. "

FACT: The people of # West Papua have a right to self-determination under international law, enshrined by the UN. pic.twitter.com/eE1Q13zx0h

- Free West Papua (@FreeWestPapua) December 2, 2020

In the lead-up to 1 December, there was often significant rioting and violence. As stated by the spokesperson for the UN human rights office, Ravina Shamdasani, “We are disturbed by the escalation of violence over the past weeks and months in the provinces of Papua and West Papua in Indonesia. and an increased risk of new tensions and violence. "

Shamdasani said in one incident on November 22, a 17-year-old was shot dead and another was injured in a police gun battle. The boy's body was found on Mount Limbaga in Gome district, West Papua.

He also cited the murder of church pastor Yeremia Zanambani, whose body was found near his home in Hitadipa district covered in bullets and stab wounds. Zanambani is thought to have been killed by members of the security forces, Shamdasani said.

“Previously, in September and October 2020 there were a series of killings that troubled at least six individuals, including church activists and workers, as well as non-indigenous people. At least two members of the security forces also died in the clashes. "

A total of 36 protesters were arrested in Manokwari and Sorong in pro-independence protests at the weekend. Papua, which is under the rule of Indonesia and West Papua, forms the western part of the island of Papua New Guinea.

The indigenous people of Papua and West Papua provinces are Melanesian, ethnically different from other parts of Indonesia and more closely related to the people of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia.

The Dutch colony in Papua was until 1961. Then West Papua was militarily annexed by Indonesia in 1962. West Papua was officially incorporated into the Republic of Indonesia after a 1969 UN-backed referendum called the Determination of People's Opinions or Act of Free Choice.

But the vote was widely condemned as a fraud, with more than 1,000 West Papuans selected, forced and some threatened with violence, to vote in support of Indonesian rule.