Defending the honor of the Papuan Nation

General Bernard Mawen (armed) accompanied by his staff John Koknak (in camouflage uniform) @Ben Bohane

A journalist once asked me, "Why does the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), a non-violent struggle organization, often condemn the Indonesian Army but never say the same about the Papuan guerrillas?"

I then explained that to understand a conflict, we must see it as a whole, starting from the trigger and the root cause:

We must know that the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) is one of the oldest liberation armies in history. Their resistance was born as a result of the massacre that occurred in Manokwari in 1965, where Papuan civilians were shot indiscriminately by Indonesian soldiers. So, the actions carried out by TPNPB are purely to protect and defend the dignity of the Papuan people.

Almost all Papuans have witnessed or at least heard from their parents various kinds of violence carried out by the Indonesian army: extrajudicial arrests, rape, killings, looting and destruction of native Papuan culture. TPNPB has strong moral reasons for taking up arms. They received overwhelming support from the local population, despite a smear campaign from the Indonesian government. For sixty years, TPNPB could not be crushed. The Papuan people are aware that the TPNPB is here to protect their lives, land and future.

TPNPB does not kill just anyone. For example, in December 2018 in Nduga, the TPNPB took up arms against workers suspected of being intelligence officers. They also attacked the Indonesian army and police members who built roads and bridges for oligarch interests. Likewise, the TPNPB in Intan Jaya took up arms because of the Wabu block investment.

TPNPB has never carried out terror against civilians in Jakarta, Surabaya, Makassar, Medan, Manado or other cities in Indonesia and abroad. On several occasions Papuan freedom fighters have demanded negotiations, but until now the Indonesian government has never given them the opportunity. In this case, who is to blame?

In short, I emphasize that ULMWP embrace all Papuans who aspire to live free in their own country. It is true that the path we have chosen is non-violent, but we have no reason to discredit our comrades who took up arms to fight the Indonesian colonial regime since 1965. 

Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, "If I had to choose between cowardice and violence, I would choose violence. But if I were given the choice between fighting with violence or non-violence, I would definitely choose non-violence." Without reducing respect for our fellow Papuans who are fighting in the jungles and mountains, we continue to urge the Papuan people to fight with dignity through democratic means.

Since its founding in 2014, ULMWP has sought to mobilize regional and international support for the right to self-determination for the people of West Papua. We raise awareness that together with Indonesia the Papuan people will perish. The process of Genocide to eliminate black people, Ecocide which destroyed the nature of West Papua and Ethnocide against Papuan indigenous tribes were carried out by the Indonesian regime slowly but surely!

Our struggle is to defend our right to exist as a nation. We are threatened with annihilation, thereford we have the right to fight back.

Markus Haluk

Secretary of ULMWP