At that ceremony, as the Morning Star flag was
raised, Dutch and Papuan military and police saluted and accompanied by
a marine band playing the national anthem, ?My Land Papua?. The
Dutch were finally about to give the West Papuan people their freedom.
However it is one of the great tragedies that at their moment of
freedom it was cruelly crushed and West Papua was basically handed over
to Indonesia in 1963. After 6 years administration of the province,
Indonesia held a sham referendum called the "Act of Free Choice"
under UN supervision. Only 1022 handpicked voters, one representative
for approximately every 700 West Papuans were allowed vote, and under
coercion, voted to "remain with Indonesia. The Papuans call this the "act of no choice"?.
In
West Papua (where the security forces were out in a show of force)
celebrations and rallies took place in Jayapura, Manokwari, Nabire ,
Sorong and the Mimika district to celebrate the 1st December.
In Nabire up to 2500 held a rally and prayer meeting in the heroes cemetery watched by up to 1000 military and police.
In
Manokwari 2000 people marched through the centre of town carrying
banners and calling for independence from Indonesia. The Media reported
that one man was arrested and struck repeatedly by police after being
caught carrying the banned Morning Star flag. The police also
questioned protesters who were carrying bags or wearing T shirts with
the Morning Star symbol on them.
In
the highlands outside Wamena the OPM raised the Morning Star flag
in celebration and in the town of Wamena itself, West Papuans dressed
in their best clothes or covered themselves in mud as a symbol of
mourning and walked about town.
In
Jakarta West Papuans also protested demanding independence for Papua
The Demonstration in Jakarta was led by students some dressed in
traditional attire. They gathered in Central Jakarta, then
marched on to the State Palace. They chanted, "Free West Papua," "independent West Papua," "red and white (Indonesian flag) no, Morning Star ,yes," In their speeches they stated that they wanted
independence and accused Indonesia of colonizing West Papua and of
committing serious human right abuses against the Papuan people. (Other actions are reported to have taken place in major centers in Java, Bali and Sulawesi).
In
Sentani outside Jayapura nearly 10,000 people held a prayer session in
a field near the burial site of Chief Theys Eluay, who was abducted and
killed by security personnel in 2001. Thousands gathered near the grave
of Theys Eluay where they prayed to thank God for his protection and
blessings.
The Secretary General of PDP, Thaha Al Hamid then read out West Papuan peoples declaration.
Translanted by Rex Rumakiek. (Abridged in translation).
God
had created the land the environment and the Papuan people and granted
them the natural right to use and work together. The same was the wish
of our forefathers that the Papuan people from Sorong to Merauke, those
in the jungle and overseas must work together.
He further stressed that these natural rights were also acknowledged in many international instruments such as the
UN Declaration on Universal Human Rights.
the Preamble of the Indonesian Constitution.
UNGA Resolution 1514 on decolonization, 14 December 1960.
manifesto of the West Papua National Committee, 19 October 1961.
and the acknowledgment of Papuan state by Sukarno, 19 December 1961.
He also quoted the letter from some members of the US Congress, 22 May 1998.
statement of the delegation of 100 to the President of Indonesia and Cabinet, 26 February 1999.
resolutions of the Second Papuan Congress in June 2000 where the people stressed their desire to break away from Indonesia.
the Declaration on the right of Indigenous Peoples, 13 September 2007.
He
concluded by stating that the time has come for the truth to be
revealed. Papuan people have made sacrifices in the defence of their
rights and thus must claim what is rightfully theirs
DECLARATION
We are a people, Papuan people, ethnically Melanesian of the Negroid race in the Pacific and not Indonesian of the Malay race )
We
call on the government of Indonesia, the United States, the
Netherlands, Great Britain, members of the UN, other international
institutions and the international community to recognize the existence
of the West Papuan state and its sovereignty declared on December 1,
1961. We further reiterate our stand that the so called act of free
choice of 1969 is illegal and immoral
Today we also would like to state West Papua is in a state of emergency; the Papuan people are facing threat of annihilation
We
firmly state that all investors who exploit our resources but cannot
recognize the rights of the Papuan people including the ecosystem for
example, British Petroleum , especially PT Freeport who have committed human rights abuses and genocide in Papua must ceased operation
On
this special occasion on behalf of the people of West Papua I wish to
sincerely and humbly acknowledge the solidarity and recognition of our
right of self determination by Non Governmental Institutions, the
international community, academia, diplomatic corps, many states most
specifically the government of Vanuatu, the other states of the
Pacific, members of Parliament in Australia and New Zealand, members of
Parliament and the government of Great Britain, members of Parliament
of the European Union and the United States of America
We
call on all West Papuans to be vigilant and not to be provoked by
violence and other tricks to promote instability by pro government
Papuan or non Papuans and the military. All Papuans must maintain
solidarity and unity
(This
statement was made on behalf of the Papuan people, Papuan national
leaders, Tom Beanal and Forkorus Yaboisembut and Yunus Paelo/Dminggus
A. Mampioper, leaders of the Tribal Council and sent to overseas
governments and Institutions.