Mass Protest in Manokwari: West Papuans Reject Special Autonomy and Demand Referendum

NOTE: Since this article was first posted, participants in the protest have been arrested or threatened. Names and photos have subsequently been removed for the protection of those involved.

Today, (1 May 2007) between 9.00 and 12.00 a.m., a mass protest was conducted in Manokwari. Protesters rallied from the Manokwari Stadium to Panggung Terbuka.

An estimated 1 000 people participated in the demonstration, not including those who rode motorcycles. They stated that the Papuan people have lost their trust in the Indonesian Government and demanded the following (quoted from their press release):

1. The United Nations must give Observer status to the land and people of Papua and immediately send a Peace Keeping Mission to the territory of Papua.

2. The General Assembly of the UN must immediately review the so-called “Act of Free Choice 1969 in West Papua� and annul Resolution No. 2504 dated 19 November 1969.

3. The government of the Republic of Indonesia and the political elites of Papua must immediately stop their public lies to the international community about the implementation of SPECIAL AUTONOMY (OTSUS) for Papua Province because OTSUS and MRP have totally failed.

4. We demand the Committee 24 or the Decolonization Committee immediately register the political status of Papua as a territory that needs a peaceful solution, i.e. a referendum in Papua.

The above written statement is directed to the international world demanding that further actions have to be taken in accordance with the international mechanisms for settlements of conflicts in the colonized territory.

Points of the above statement are signed by [deleted].