Benny Wenda was the leader of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua and the creator of the Free West Papua Campaign creator. He refuted reports that protests had subsided over the weekend and asserted that the Papuan people would not stop until Indonesia granted them a West Papua Referendum. However, the authorities have ruled out the possibility of such a move.
Did Benny Wenda’s Exile Affect the West Papua Referendum?
From his home in Britain, the exiled Wenda spoke about the subject of police, military, and militia violence in Indonesia that has caused him and other West Papuans to desire independence.
Wenda said that systematic discrimination in Indonesia is rooted in the country’s military and police. He claimed they continued to call us monkeys and kick and harass us. Both the military and the police share this mentality. Others copy it, but nobody ever talks about it.
Benny Wenda’s Press Release
“For 50 years, Indonesia has continued to promise ‘autonomy’ for West Papua, and during that time, ‘autonomy’ has been carried out with lies and is based on bullets and the killing of the people of West Papua. In the wake of the expiration of the 2001 Law on Special Autonomy for Papua, the ULMWP and all West Papuans united against the Indonesian government’s ‘autonomy.’ There is only one solution to our problems, namely a West Papua Referendum to determine the independence of West Papua,” said Benny Wenda’s press release.
West Papua Referendum According to Indonesia Law
Law Number 21 of 2001 concerning Special Autonomy for Papua (UU Otsus Papua) regulates various specialties of Otsus Papua. These specifics include the formation of representatives of the National Human Rights Commission (HAM), the Human Rights Court, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), conducting historical clarification or rectification, and the disbursement of the Special Autonomy Fund.
The Papua Special Autonomy Law does not specify the period of validity of the Papua Special Autonomy, but it regulates the period of disbursement of the Papua Special Autonomy Fund. The regulation on the amount of the Special Autonomy Fund, equivalent to 2 percent of the National General Allocation Fund, will expire in 2021, giving rise to a discourse on evaluating and revising the Papua Special Autonomy Law. It was the discourse on the evaluation of the Special Autonomy for Papua and the revision of the Law on Special Autonomy for Papua that Benny Wenda rejected.
Benny Wenda in Addressing The Indonesia Law
In his press release, Benny Wenda stated that the Indonesian government’s control over the West Papua region was based on the 1969 People’s Opinion. The Indonesian government promised West Papuans the status of an autonomous region.
It was not until 2000 that the people of West Papua peacefully demanded their right to self-determination to end 30 years of Indonesian oppression. Indonesia responded to that demand by enacting the Papua Special Autonomy Law.
“The Indonesian government promises the people of West Papua and the international community that they will facilitate development and democracy in West Papua and then review developments in West Papua after 20 years,” said Wenda in her press release.
The West Papua Referendum Is Not The Only Solution After All
After 19 years, various parties in Papua have declared West Papua Referendum a failure because the Indonesian government does not carry out the most important mandates of the Papua Special Autonomy Law.
From 2001 to 2020, the Indonesian government has not established a Human Rights Court to resolve a pile of violation cases. It has not established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to clarify or rectify Papua’s history.
Benny Wenda emphasized that “under this ‘Otsus,’ the people of West Papua continue to be killed, marginalized, and excluded. The environment and the traditional way of life of the West Papuan people continue to be destroyed in an ecocide process.
West Papua’s mountains, rivers, and forests are being eaten by mines, clouded by pollution, and cleared. We, the people of West Papua, wholeheartedly reject the ‘autonomy’ and ‘development’ granted by a colonial government that occupied Papuan land illegally,” Wenda said in a press release.