IPWP PRESS RELEASE
International parliamentarians speak out for West Papua’s right to self- determination and freedom from violence and persecution
London (October 23nd, 2012)--- A week after Indonesia’s president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s visit to the UK, parliamentarians from around the world and local civil society organizations will gather at Westminster to discuss the ongoing struggle for the liberation of West Papua from Indonesia.
For close to fifty years, West Papua has been under a vicious Indonesian occupation. In the past year alone, dozens of peaceful protestors have been imprisoned and a prominent West Papuan independence leader was assassinated.
Towards the goal of achieving self-determination for West Papua, the International Parliamentarians for West Papua conference aims to reignite discussion on the 1969 “Act of Free Choice” and the New York Agreement of 1962.
This year also marks the fourth anniversary of the launch of the International Parliamentarians for West Papua. Since its inception, the organisation has grown to almost 100 parliamentarians from around the world who advocate for the rights of West Papuans.
This International Parliamentarians for West Papua conference features West Papua’s exiled independence leader Benny Wenda, Caroline Lucas (Green Party MP for Brighton Pavillion), Andrew Smith (Labour Party MP for Oxford East) and Lord Harries from the United Kingdom and civil society leaders from Tapol, Down to Earth, the London Mining Network, and Oxford University’s Lawyers without Borders. There will also be a video conference session with parliamentarians from Australia and New Zealand.
These parliamentarians and organizations will call upon their governments through the United Nations to put in place arrangements for the free exercise of West Papua’s right to self-determination, so that the indigenous people of West Papua can decide democratically their own future in accordance with international standards of human rights, the principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations.
The 2012 International Parliamentarians for West Papua
conference will be streamed live and in its entirety online. Updates can be
found on Twitter @IPWP and on fwpcFacebook. For more information, please
contact. Press inquiries can be sent to: [
Benny Wenda
Free West Papua Campaign