News Stories
Category: Human Rights
Interim President: Indonesia is unfit to lead the UN Human Rights Council
January 12, 2026
Indonesia is totally unfit to hold the Presidency of the UN Human Rights Council. How can Indonesia lead on human rights, when they are hiding from the world their sixty-year occupation of West Papua, with five hundred thousand men, women, and children dead? How can Indonesia lead on human rights, when their President is a war criminal who is […]
ULMWP President Benny Wenda’s Christmas Message
December 18, 2025
As 2025 comes to an end, I would like to thank everyone who has supported a Free West Papua this year, whether through practical contributions or through their spirit. 2025 has been a year of even further escalation in West Papua, as Indonesia has stepped up its campaign of repression and ecocidal development. Our people […]
December 1st commemorated across West Papua and the world
December 2, 2025
December 1st marked the 64th anniversary of West Papua’s original Independence Day in 1961. The Morning Star was raised in all seven regencies across West Papua, in a firm rejection of Indonesia’s strict ban on the flag. In Oxford, UK, the Morning Star flag was raised above the Oxford Town Hall while ULMWP President Benny Wenda gave […]
President Wenda: West Papua Independence Day Speech, December 1st 2025
December 2, 2025
Below is the full version of the speech that ULMWP Interim President Benny Wenda gave at Oxford Town Hall on December 1, 2025. Wa wa wa wa wa. In the name of Yahweh, in the name of our West Papuan ancestors, and in the name of the bones of our suffering, I open this December […]
President Wenda: December 1st a celebration of West Papuan unity
November 4, 2025
On behalf of the ULMWP, I declare this December 1st to be a celebration of West Papuan unity. In that spirit, I acknowledge and welcome the statement of support for me as President of West Papua from West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) spokesperson Sebby Sambom and Chief of Staff Terianus Satto. This is a major step forward […]
President Wenda: ULMWP condemns the massacre and bombing in Intan Jaya and Kiwirok
October 20, 2025
On behalf of the ULMWP and the West Papuan people, I condemn the massacre perpetrated by the Indonesian military in Intan Jaya. Fifteen people have been murdered by the occupying forces in a new escalation in the highlands. Four have also been killed during ongoing bombing operations in Kiwirok. At 5am on October 15th, Indonesian military forces entered Soanggama Village […]
President Wenda: Indonesia bombards Star Mountains as situation escalates across West Papua
October 15, 2025
Indonesia is again bombing Kiwirok, the site of a huge massacre in 2021 that killed over 300 West Papuan civilians. While President Prabowo talks about promoting peace in the Middle East, his military is trying to wipe out West Papua. Evidence gathered by villagers in the Star Mountains shows the Indonesian military using Brazilian fighter jets to target houses, gardens, […]
President Wenda: West Papua will never be an internal matter for Indonesia
September 30, 2025
No matter what the Indonesian ambassador to Fiji might say, West Papua is not and will never be an internal matter for Indonesia. West Papua is a colonised country, not a province of Indonesia. In 1961 we celebrated our Independence Day, raised our flag, and sang our national anthem. West Papua was set to become the first free Melanesian state. Even after Indonesia invaded we were promised a […]
President Wenda: If Indonesia can recognise Israel and Palestine, why not West Papua?
September 25, 2025
At UNGA yesterday, Indonesia pledged to recognise Israel if they in turn recognise a Palestinian state. Prabowo’s words are yet another act of Indonesian hypocrisy, playing with self-determination on the world stage while violently denying West Papuans this right at home. I ask again: what is the difference between West Papua and Palestine? Why do one people […]
President Wenda: West Papua included in PIF communique
September 16, 2025
On behalf of the ULMWP, I welcome the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) 2025 Communique reaffirming the 2019 call for a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights visit to West Papua: 16. Recalling Indonesia’s 2018 invitation for a mission led by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Leaders tasked the Secretariat to work constructively with Indonesia […]