Oro Province Governor Garry Juffa has publicly declared his support for West Papuan independence, calling on the government of Papua New Guinea and other Pacific island nations to stand alongside the Papuan people in their struggle for self-determination.
Speaking on the issue, Juffa acknowledged that the crisis in West Papua is decades old. Since Indonesia’s occupation of the territory in 1962, more than 500,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed by Indonesian security forces. Foreign media and human rights organisations remain banned from the region — a ban enforced with increasing severity. In September, two French journalists were jailed by Indonesian authorities after being caught attempting to report from inside West Papua.
Juffa placed part of the responsibility at the feet of the United Nations, citing the deeply contested 1969 Act of Free Choice — the referendum in which fewer than 1,100 hand-picked representatives, under duress, voted to transfer West Papua to Indonesian control — as a failure the UN must now reckon with. He has prepared a petition to the UN Secretary General calling for the issue to be properly examined. He was clear that his position is not one of aggression towards Indonesia, but a principled stand in support of a people who have been denied their basic right to self-determination.
The announcement comes days after it was confirmed that West Papuan leaders will resubmit a bid to join the Melanesian Spearhead Group. Benny Wenda, spokesman for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, expressed confidence that the bid would succeed and called on Melanesian and Pacific nations to show their solidarity.
The situation in West Papua is documented in Dancing Turtle’s undercover documentary Forgotten Bird of Paradise, available to watch now via the Dancing Turtle shop.
