Papuan people warned to beware of propaganda in run-up to UN General Assembly

Indigenous Papuans have been warned to beware of well-structured propaganda efforts in the run-up to the forthcoming UN General Assembly session by people who have the backing of the Indonesian government.

This warning came from a group of Papuan leaders including the governor of Doberai Region of the Federal Republic of West Papua, (NRFPB) Barnabas Mandacan, the special staff of the presidency Zakaria Horota, and the chairman of  the West Melanesian Council, Melky Bleskadit.

Barnabas urged the Papuan people to fully support the UN assembly meeting and to strive hard to ensure that it includes a reference to  Papua’s history from 1 December 1961 up to the Third Papuan Peoples Congress in October 2011.

‘We have no other option. We want to gain our freedom. Issues that are being blown up by the media and other sources  will not influence the views of the Papuan people. There must be a revision of history,’ said Barnabas.

The presidential staff  called on indigenous  Papuans to avoid any provocations aimed at undermining their unity.

‘The revision of history must begin with negotiations between the NRFPB and Indonesia.While the format is being worked out, the struggle for recognition as a nation will continue.’

He went on to say that Indonesia had come under extraordinary pressure at the meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva because of the human rights abuses continuing in Papua. ‘All the violence in the past as well as the violence that is now happening must be made the focus of Indonesia’s attention in order to ensure that Jakarta is committed to the need to resolve the Papuan problem,’ he said.

According to the plan being worked out by the NRFPB, the pre-negotiation stage will occur from August to September 2012  while on 19 October  three flags will be unfurled  in seven districts of Papua. The three flags are the Morning Star flag, the UN flag and the Red-and-White flag.

The transfer of administrative powers  from NKRI to the UN and from the UN to the NRFPB will take place from October 2012 to May 2013.

A rally will take place on 12 September. Bleskadit went on to say that there were significant differences between the Indonesian and the Papuan people in terms of anthropology, politics and law.

There should be no intervention from authoritarian sources. The format for resolving the problems between the two sides.must be rational.

‘These are serious matters that need to be solved. Papuan freedom is a golden bridge  which could save Indonesia from crisis.’

[Translated by TAPOL]