WPNCL CALLS ON THE GOVERNMENT OF INDONESIAN TO DIALOGUE WITH THE PAPUAN PEOPLE

West Papua National Coalition for Liberation (WPNCL) had written twice
to the President of the Republic of Indonesian Dr. Haji Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono, in 2007 and again in 2008 requesting him to dialogue with the
Papuan people. But until now there is still no response from him or his
government.

Since its’ establishment WPNCL was committed to the use of peaceful
means as the dominant principle to resolve the conflict between the
Papuan people and the government of Indonesia. WPNCL considers a
mutually beneficial Summit/dialogue with Indonesia the first priority in
the process of resolving the issue of West Papua. Such dialogue or
Summit must be facilitated by a Third Party or Mediator, endorsed by
both parties, the Papuan people and the government of Indonesia.
WPNCL viewed the recent incident involving the arrest and detention of
Mr. Jonah Wenda, Spokesman of the Military Council of the West Papuan
National Liberation Army (TPN PB) and peace Activist of WPNCL on 6
September 2009 in Klamono/Sorong as a provocative act that could
undermine the on going efforts to maintain peace and tolerance in the
land of Papua. Mr. Jonah Wenda was transferred to Jayapura for further
interrogation then released in September and placed under house arrest.
It is important to keep in mind that peace and tolerance in the land of
Papua could be maintained because of the hard work of peace activists of
the land including Mr. Jonah Wenda. He had worked tirelessly together
with members of WPNCL to make sure that TPN remain committed to peace.
WPNCL considers this as confidence boosting effort to pave the way for
peace negotiation with the government of Indonesia. After all there must
be genuine good will efforts shown by both parties before any negotiation.
Mr. Jonah Wenda and the other peace activists are conducting themselves
in the open and known to members of the public. They cannot be
considered as a threat to any one. All their activities are
manifestations of the undertaking in 2002 where POLDA PAPUA (Regional
Police Force of Papua) had agreed to work together with the Papuan
Peoples Representative Council (DPRP) and Stakeholder in the Society to
maintain peace in the land of Papua. The details of commitment of
Stakeholders in the form of Recommendations could be ascertained in the
Report of the Peace Conference of the Papuan people held in Jayapura
from 15-16 October 2002.

Since that Conference, a Task Force for Peace was established by members
of the Civil Society. The main task was to disseminate information and
engage Civil Society about the recommendations. The Task Force had also
facilitated consultations and reconciliation with groups that
potentially could hinder or endangered the peace efforts. It facilitated
parallel meetings with different stakeholders in the Society including
the different regional commands of TPN.

The Task Force for Peace in Papua had also facilitated combined meetings
with Papuans in the country and those in Diaspora. From 16-20 June 2003
a Think Tank Group meeting was held in Utrecht, Netherlands. Some 23
Papuan intellectuals participated. The 3 main agenda items of the
meetings were Human Rights and Justice, Development, and Politics.
Because of the absence of some important Stakeholders including the TPN
it was recommended that another meeting be organized some where closer
to West Papua. Such meeting must be inclusive to allow for full
participation of Stakeholders of the whole resistance movement.
All these meetings realized the need for workshops tor the purpose of
dissemination of the basic recommendations and more importantly to allow
for wider participation and input by all sectors who want the
realization of peace in West Papua. Two Workshops were facilitated in
the country. The first Workshop held in Jayapura on 27 October 2004
recommended that a high level meeting of National leaders must be
convened to seriously consider all the criteria and options in the
process to resolve the conflict in West Papua. The second workshop held
on 20 November 2004 agreed to organize a meeting for the leaders of all
the Papuan organizations in the Civil Society. The workshop also
discussed technical matters involved including, agenda, venue,
participants and cost involved in convening such a meeting.
Considering the recommendations from the workshops many diverse groups
in the Civil Society decided to go ahead to convene the proposed
National meeting/Summit involving Stakeholders in the country and also
in Diaspora. This meeting/Summit was held in Papua New Guinea from 28
November to 1st December 2005. This Summit was able to make a number of
interim decisions: The establishment of a National Coordinating body
called, West Papua National Coalition for Liberation (WPNCL). The Summit
decided that the Secretariat of WPNCL be based in Port Vila, the Capital
of the Republic of Vanuatu. The Summit also decided that concerted
efforts must be made to consult widely on unity and maximize
consolidation between different factions of the Resistance movement in
West Papua. From the invited 28 Resistance organizations only 18 were
able to attend. The remaining 10 organizations sent their apologies and
endorsed the purpose of the Summit.

Based on the recommendations from the above Summit an important meeting
was convened for the Commanders of the West Papuan National Liberation
Army, the TPN PB. PNG was also the venue for this meeting which was held
from 22-24 July 2006 and was attended by all the regional Commands of
TPN. A number of important agreements were made in the meeting
including, the duty and function of TPN as a Revolutionary Army that
must protect all West Papuans; separation of TPN from the OPM structure,
further more the role and responsibility of TPN during the revolution;
the formation of TPN Military Council as the highest Coordinating body
of TPN; during the same meeting a declaration of commitment by all the
Commanders to work together in the efforts to liberate Papuan people and
the land of West Papua; urging all the Commanders within the TPN Command
to unify their perceptions whether in programming, strategy and action
to accomplish the objective of the revolution; acknowledge and respect
the universal principles of humanity; endorse the efforts to establish
West Papua as land of peace; urging unity between all the resistance
groups in West Papua; urging all West Papuans to work together to
maintain National unity.

Another follow up meeting by TPN was held at Victoria HQ from 5-7 April
2007. This meeting had reached a number of agreements to merge, Arfai
1965 Command, Marvic Command and Pemka Command into one Command to be
known as West Papua National Liberation Army Command. This new Command
comes under the responsibility and direct Command of the Military
Council of the West Papua National Liberation Army; Henceforth, the
Military Council of TPN PB becomes the highest decision making body or
Command of TPN PB; confirming a new Command structure and designation of
regional Commands for each HQ; the appointment of ranking officers in
the Military Council of TPN PB including the other rankings further down
the structure of Command. A communiqué was issued at the end of the
meeting to declare or affirm the above decisions: a unity process within
the rank and file of TPN PB, the merging of Arfai ’65 Command, Marvic
Command and Pemka Command into one Command structure. Commitment by all
parties within TPN PB to foster bilateral and international cooperation
to combat the traffic of narcotics, to stem terrorist networks and above
all the creation of a National Command of TPN PB encompassing all
regions of West Papua which was divided into 6 Regional Commands.
Next WPNCL convened its Second Summit in Malaysia from 22-25 September
2007. A number of decisions were made here: WPNCL will establish its
Secretariat in Port Vila, Vanuatnu; the adoption of Bylaws of WPNCL that
also cover rules on the TPN PB and other functions of the Coalition. The
Summit established a negotiating team and agreed on the strategy for
negotiation with Indonesia through a Third Party. The Summit had also
approved the existence and the on going work of the West Papua Peace
Working Group that had networks in 4 major regions, Asia, Pacific,
America and Europe. Because of the absence of some stakeholders
including TPN PB it was decided to have the final Leaders Summit in
Vanuatu.

The third and final West Papuan leaders Summit was held in Vanuatu from 2-10 April 2008. This Summit was endorsed by the Government of Vanuatu. The Summit issued a major resolution calling on Indonesia to agree to resolve the West Papuan conflict peacefully through International negotiation facilitated by a Third Party. The Summit also called on the International community to encourage Indonesia to open West Papua for International access by Journalists and other International agencies. TPN PB has been one of the important supporting pillars of WPNCL. But since its Commander was elected as Chairman of the Coalition during the Summit in Vanuatu the position of Commander became vacant. Unfortunately it is a technical matter and was referred to the Military Council of TPN PB to decide. This matter was resolved when all the Commanders met near the PNG border from 29-31 October 2008. This was also the first National Planning meeting of the new Military Council of TPN PB. WPNCL had also held its first National Planning meeting near the PNG border from 4-8 April 2009 to finalize its programs with clear directions and targets including one of the options of negotiating with Indonesia through a Third Party facilitation.

To conclude, WPNCL believes the new government of Dr. Haji Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono has the commitment to resolve the West Papuan issue.
We encourage SBY’s government to establish communication with us as we
previously requested in order to commence the process for negotiation.
We hope, God willing this will lead to a mutually beneficial result for
both our two peoples, Papuans and Indonesians of this generation and
those yet to come.

For more details contact, Rex Rumakiek, the Secretary General on +61414247468
or the Vice Chairman Dr. John Ondawame on +678 439759026 or the Vanuatu
Mission Mr. Andy Ayamiseba on + 678 40808 or 60651.

For general information on Human Rights issues contact Ms. Paula
Makabory, the International Representative of Papua Institute of Human
Rights Study and Advocacy, on: +61 402547517