West Papua's Saralana Declaration most vital unity development for 52 years

Newly elected spokesman for the West Papuan unified movement Benny Wenda is treated to a chiefly welcome
at the opening ceremony of the "unity" meeting in Port Vila.
Photo: © Ben Bohane/wakaphotos.com

A unified movement represents a new hope for West Papuans to continue building momentum for their self-determination struggle in spite of allegations of a new atrocity in Paniai by Indonesian security forces this week, writes Ben Bohane from Port Vila.

COMMENTARY: IN A gathering of West Papuan leaders in Vanuatu earlier this month, different factions of the independence movement united to form a new body called the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP).

In kastom ceremonies that included pig-killing and gifts of calico, kava and woven mats, West Papuan leaders embraced each other in reconciliation and unity while the Prime Minister of Vanuatu, church groups and chiefs looked on. The unification meeting was facilitated by the Pacific Council of Churches.

The new organisation unites the three main organisations and several smaller ones who have long struggled for independence. By coming together to present a united front, they hope to re-submit a fresh application for membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) as well as countering Indonesian claims that the West Papuan groups are divided.

The divisions have tended to be more about personalities than any real policy differences since all the groups have been pushing for the same thing: independence from Indonesia. But the apparent differences had sown some confusion and gave cover to Fiji and others in the region to say the movement was not united and therefore undeserving of a seat at the MSG so far.

'Melanesia isn't free until West Papua is free'

In the face of state repression and international indifference by Indonesian authorities, West Papuan
activists have been locked in a life or death struggle for independence.

Al Jazeera's People & Power reports on one of the most forgotten conflicts in the world.

Airi Ingram and Jason MacLeod trace the upsurge in regional Pacific support for the free West Papua movement. They conclude that even if politicians have traditionally been slow to respond, "ordinary people in this part of the Pacific are painfully aware that the West Papuan people continue to live under the gun". And the good news is that even politicians are now starting to wake up and support the cause, especially in neighbouring Papua New Guinea.

MELANESIAN support for a free West Papua has always been high. Travel throughout Papua New Guinea and you will often hear people say that West Papua and Papua New Guinea is "wanpela graun" – one land – and that West Papuans on the other side of the border are family and kin.

In the Solomon Islands, Kanaky, Fiji and especially Vanuatu, people will tell you that “Melanesia is not free until West Papua is free”. This was the promise that the late Father Walter Lini, Vanuatu’s first prime minister, made.

Ordinary people in this part of the Pacific are painfully aware that the West Papuan people continue to live under the gun. It is the politicians in Melanesia who have been slow to take up the cause.

But that may be changing.

West Papua's Benny Wenda takes a hit from NZ Speaker, but fights on

West Papuan campaigner Benny Wenda (centre) talks to Café Pacific publisher
David Robie (left) and PNG journalist Henry Yamo at the
Pacific Media Centre yesterday. Photo: Del Abcede/PMC

By Henry Yamo, a Papua New Guinean journalist in New Zealand

WEST PAPUAN independence advocate Benny Wenda is stunned to find New Zealand  “ignoring human rights issues on its doorstep” after Speaker David Carter denied him the opportunity to speak about his cause in Parliament.

“The Australian Parliament gave support last November and I was looking forward to the same [backing] in New Zealand, but my entry to Parliament has been blocked,” he says.

But he says the plight of his people is far too serious for him to give in.

Wenda has witnessed his people being beaten, tortured, imprisoned and killed and has been motivated to fight in this struggle to free his people.

Benny Wenda, a tribal chief of West Papua and founder of International Parliamentarians for West Papua, visited Auckland's Pacific Media Centre yesterday as part of his world tour visiting governments and parliamentarians.