Interim President: Indonesia using civilian aircraft as weapons of war

July 23, 2026

Following the killing of US pilot Nicholas Gosselin by the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), more evidence has emerged that Indonesia is systematically and consistently using civilian aircraft and humanitarian organisations for military purposes in West Papua.

A number of photos and videos release over the past weeks clearly show Indonesian civilian planes, like the PT AMA plane Mr Gosselin was flying, being loaded with ammunition, weapons, and other military equipment. The evidence also shows Indonesian soldiers entering the planes to be transported to conflict zones like Yahukimo and Nduga. 

PT AMA, along with organisations like Associated Mission Aviation, a so-called Indonesian ‘humanitarian air service’ acting under the Catholic Church, state that they merely transport food and other supplies into villages in the Papuan highlands. In reality, these groups have allowed themselves to become weapons of occupation.

West Papua has never fought with outsiders. Since the first missionaries, Carl Ottow and Johan Geissler, arrived on Mansinam Island in 1855, we have been blessed by God. We are a Christian nation: it is in our DNA. It is not in our DNA to fight outsiders, especially the Americans, who we fought alongside in World War Two. In the history of our struggle, since 1962, our enemy has only ever been the Indonesian coloniser. So we must ask how and why this situation with Mr Gosselin has arisen. The answer is clear: he, and other outsiders like him, are effectively being used as human shields by Indonesia.

When the OPM kidnapped World Wildlife Fund workers in 1996, they negotiated with the Indonesian government to let them go. Instead, the OPM were tricked by the war criminal, current Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and massacred. Despite this, all the hostages were released. The same is true of NZ pilot Phillip Mehrtens in 2024, who was well-treated by the TPNPB and eventually released. This can be contrasted with the killing of two American teachers in Timika in 2002: this was clearly a false-flag attack, orchestrated by Indonesia and blamed on the OPM to further militarise the Grasberg mine. And the shooting of German tourist, Dietmar Helmut in 2012, which was blamed on Mako Tabuni and the KNPB: also a false flag killing to justify repression of the KNPB. Going further back, we must ask ourselves: what happened to the Balibo five? 

Only one side in this fight has a history of attacking foreigners.

False flag attacks on foreigners and using civilian infrastructure for military purposes are both crimes under international law and a violation of the Geneva Convention. Indonesia has been guilty of this crime, which is called perfidy, consistently since 2018, when the current, more intensified phase of the West Papua genocide began.

Along with disguising military planes as civil aircraft, the Indonesian army (TNI) routinely occupies hospitals, schools, and churches and transforms them into military bases, terrorising local Papuans and forcing them to flee. The latest example of this trend occurred last week, when the TNI took control of Benawa Community Health Centre, Yalimo Regency. Many sick and critically ill patients were expelled.

Indonesia’s strategy is to militarise every aspect of West Papuan life. By deliberately blurring the lines between civilian and military, Indonesia justifies the takeover of civilian and municipal infrastructure, expelling local residents and turning them into refugees into their own land. Many murdered civilians are also labelled as ‘OPM’. After clearing the people, Indonesia clears the land, building mines, plantations, and other industrial projects in their place.

The final element of this strategy is the media blackout Indonesia has imposed on West Papua for the past six decades. Only by barring all journalists and NGOs from operating there, Indonesia able to spread their lies about the violence they inflict on Papuans, including in tragic cases such as Mr Gosselin’s.

I therefore call on the UN, the MSG, PIF, and OACPS, to increase the pressure on Indonesia to allow a UN visit to West Papua urgently. Indonesia must also allow journalists to operate in West Papua. If the conflict is to cease, international observers must be allowed to know what is going on. 

Ultimately, Indonesia must come to the table with the ULMWP to discuss a referendum. This is the only long-term path to a peaceful solution in West Papua.

Benny Wenda
Interim President 
ULMWP

Military takeover of Benawa Health Centre