Category Archives: West Papua

Inner West Council flies Morning Star Flag in support of West Papuan independence

Morning Star Flag flying at Leichhardt Town Hall. Photo: Australia West Papua Association. (Click to enlarge).

Saturday December 1, 2019 marked the 58th anniversary of the first raising of West Papua’s symbol of independence, the Morning Star Flag.

The annual Global Flag Raising for West Papua is an international event where supporters around the world hold solidarity rallies and, on December 1, raise the Morning Star in support of the West Papua people and their right to self-determination.

This legitimate aspiration for self-determination was thwarted when an ‘Act of Free Choice’, popularly known as the ‘Act of NO Choice’, took place on August 2, 1969. This fraudulent vote involved a handpicked group of 1,025 West Papuans who were coerced, under the threat of violence, into voting for integration with Indonesia. Continue reading Inner West Council flies Morning Star Flag in support of West Papuan independence

The truth about the West Papuan independence petition

People at Sentani giving thanks for success of West Papuan petition. (Photo: Free West Papua Campaign)

On 29 September numerous media outlets, including The Guardian and ABC News, reported that the head of the United Nation’s Special Political and Decolonisation Committee, Rafael Ramírez, had denied receiving a petiton which called for a free vote on self-determination in West Papua.

This seemingly contradicted Benny Wenda, the exiled West Papuan independence leader, who had told the media that 1.8 million West Papuans had signed the petition that Indonesian authorities had tried to ban and that it had been presented to the UN’s decolonisation committee on 26 September. Continue reading The truth about the West Papuan independence petition

Petition for West Papuan self-determination delivered to UN

Benny Wenda. (Photo: ABC News)

On 26 September it was reported that the West Papuan People’s Petition, together with the Global Petition for West Papua, had been handed over to the United Nations by Benny Wenda, spokesperson for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP).

Organisations and news services that covered the story included the ULMWP, The Office of Benny WendaFree West Papua Campaign, The Guardian (Australian edition) and the ABC. Continue reading Petition for West Papuan self-determination delivered to UN