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IPWP and ILWP plan campaigm calling for a referendum and rejecting the Act of Free Choice |
Bintang Papua, 19 July 2010
[Abridged in translation.]
IPWP and ILWP plan to challenge Act of Free Choice (pepera)
The chairman of the KNPB, the National Committee of West Papua, Buchtar
Tabuni has told the press that his organisation is preparing to
consolidate and mobilise large numbers of people to occupy town centres,
making the following demands:
Pepera, the Act of Free Choice is unlawful and must be handed back. A
referendum should be held as soon as possible. International
Parliamentarians for West Papua, the IPWP, and International Lawyers for
West Papua, the ILWP, together with the Vanuatu government should
facilitate efforts to challenge the legal and political status of West
Papua at the UN. And the KNPB wants to mediate the referendum by the people.
'This is the most democratic way forward,' he said, 'as the way leading
to independence. The idea to hold a referendum came from the Majelis
Rakyat Papua, the Papuan People's Council.'
He said that the referendum is the middle way towards resolving the West
Papua conflict. The pepera occurred in the 1960s, with a huge amount of
manipulation, violating basic international standards.
At the present moment, this matter is before the international
community, a move to convince the UN to understand the illegality of
Papua's status as part of the Indonesian republic, NKRI. The IPWP and
the ILWP were set up to press for these issues to be taken to the UN,
and its members have been lobbying governments in their respective
countries.
The process has been promoted by the Vanuatu parliament and government
which have agreed to take the issue to the UN, namely to the
International Court of Justice, and seek an opinion about the political
status of West Papua. Similar pressure is under way by the governments
of the PNG and the UK. [Comment: There is little evidence at the moment
that this statement is true.]
The process needs to be supported by the mass of the Papuan people,
solidly demanding a referendum. The international community is beginning
to underrstand what the Papuan people want while Jakarta is closing its
eyes and doing nothing to seek a solution, even though thousands of
people have demonstrated in support of the decisions of the MRP.
Papuans need to recognise that Indonesia is a colonial power which
cannot be expected to find a solution by means of a referendum.
On 2 August, a campaign will begin to point out that the pepera took
place at a time of brutal military repression in Papua. This will be the
moment when the Papaun people's rejection of pepera will become part of
a national campaign throughout the territory of West Papua.
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