{"id":778,"date":"2020-12-02T04:56:10","date_gmt":"2020-12-02T04:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=130463"},"modified":"2020-12-02T04:56:10","modified_gmt":"2020-12-02T04:56:10","slug":"west-papuan-leaders-declare-first-steps-for-worlds-first-green-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2020\/12\/02\/west-papuan-leaders-declare-first-steps-for-worlds-first-green-state\/","title":{"rendered":"West Papuan leaders declare first steps for world\u2019s first \u2018green state\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pf-content\">\n<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pmc.aut.ac.nz\/\">Pacific Media Watch<\/a> Newsdesk<\/em><\/p>\n<p>West Papuan leaders have begun forming a &#8220;provisional government&#8221; in defiance of a crackdown by Indonesian security forces and have pledged that the Melanesian region will establish the world&#8217;s first &#8220;green state&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>West Papuan civil society and political movements have opposed Indonesian colonisation of the region since 1962 and the announcement of this government-in-waiting yesterday &#8211; West Papua&#8217;s independence flag day &#8211; and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2020\/dec\/01\/west-papua-independence-leaders-declare-government-in-waiting\">push for a referendum<\/a> has raised the stakes.<\/p>\n<p>The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) aims to mobilise the people of West Papua to achieve the referendum on independence.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2020\/dec\/01\/west-papua-independence-leaders-declare-government-in-waiting\"><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong> West Papua independence leaders declare &#8216;government-in-waiting&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rnz.co.nz\/international\/pacific-news\/431877\/west-papua-liberation-movement-announces-provisional-govt\">West Papuan liberation movement announces provisional government<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Following this the ULMWP intends to take control of the territory and organise democratic elections.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Indonesian repression currently renders elections impossible,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ulmwp.org\/press-release-provisional-government-of-west-papua-announced-indonesian-rule-rejected\">said the ULMWP in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Today, we honour and recognise all our forefathers who fought and died for us by finally establishing a united government-in-waiting,&#8221; declared Benny Wenda, named interim president of the provisional government.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Embodying the spirit of the people of West Papua, we are ready to run our country. As laid out in our Provisional Constitution, a future republic of West Papua will be the world\u2019s first green state, and a beacon of human rights \u2013 the opposite of decades of bloody Indonesian colonisation.<br \/>\n<strong><br \/>\n&#8220;Another step for &#8216;free West Papua&#8217;<\/strong><br \/>\n&#8220;Today, we take another step towards our dream of a free, independent and liberated West Papua.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The ULMWP statement said the rest of the cabinet would be announced in future months, and an Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) is expected &#8220;at an appropriate time&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>The announcement is a direct rejection of Jakarta\u2019s attempts to extend &#8220;special autonomy&#8221; provisions in West Papua.<\/p>\n<p>First imposed in 2001, the Special Autonomy status will expire at the end of the year, and is the target of a mass petition sponsored by 102 civil society organisations across West Papua.<\/p>\n<p>Thirty-six people were arrested in Manokwari and Sorong on Friday after raising the banned <em>Morning Star<\/em> flag.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_52841\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52841\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-52841\" src=\"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Flag-Raising-West-Papua-1-Dec-2020-680wide-300x216.png\" alt=\"West Papua flag raising\" width=\"400\" height=\"288\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-52841\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">West Papuan flag-raising in Auckland. Image: Jim Marbrook\/PMC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Flag-raising protests were raised <a href=\"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/2020\/12\/01\/academics-journalists-students-raise-papuan-flag-in-nz-solidarity-gesture\/\">yesterday at several locations in New Zealand<\/a> &#8211; including on the steps of Parliament and at a symposium at Auckland University of Technology &#8211; as part of a global protest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-38z03z\">West Papuans worldwide mark independence day on December 1, the anniversary of the region&#8217;s declaration of independence from Dutch colonial rule in 1961 and the raising of its now-banned <em>Morning Star<\/em> flag.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, the UN Office of Human Right spokesperson <a href=\"https:\/\/bangkok.ohchr.org\/papua-statement\/\">Ravina Shamdasani on Papua and West Papua said<\/a>: &#8220;We are disturbed by escalating violence over the past weeks and months in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua and the increased risk of renewed tension and violence.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>She said in a statement that in one incident on November 22, a 17-year-old was shot dead and another 17-year-old injured in an alleged police shootout, with the bodies found at the Limbaga Mountain, Gome District.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier, in September and October 2020 there had been &#8220;a disturbing series of killings&#8221; of at least six individuals, including activists and church workers.<\/p>\n<p>At least two members of the security forces were also killed in clashes.<\/p>\n<p>The UN office has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thejakartapost.com\/news\/2020\/12\/01\/un-rights-office-calls-for-full-investigation-of-papuan-violence.html\">called for an inquiry<\/a> into the violence.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The new provisional constitution centres on environmental protections, social justice, gender equality and religious freedom, and protects the rights of Indonesian migrants living in West Papua,&#8221; said the ULMWP statement.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The constitution establishes a governance structure, including the form<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_20966\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20966\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-20966 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Benny-and-Henry-72px-500wide.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"370\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-20966\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">West Papua&#8217;s Benny Wenda (left) with a former PMC journalist, Henry Yamo, at the Pacific Media Centre on his last visit to New Zealand in 2013. Image: Del Abcede\/PMC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>ation of a Congress, Senate and judicial branch.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The government is supported by all liberation groups inside West Papua, representing the overwhelming majority of the people.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The ULMWP delivered the <a href=\"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/2019\/01\/28\/benny-wenda-west-papuan-peoples-ballot-petition-handed-over-to-un\/\">West Papuan People\u2019s Petition, signed by 70 percent of West Papuans<\/a>, to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2019.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/2020\/12\/01\/musicians-across-pacific-stage-virtual-wan-musik-wan-sing-for-west-papuas-freedom\/\">Musicians across Pacific stage virtual Wan Musik Wan Sing for West Papua\u2019s freedom<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"syndicated-attribution\">This post was originally published on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/2020\/12\/02\/west-papuan-leaders-declare-first-steps-for-worlds-first-green-state\/\">Radio Free<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk West Papuan leaders have begun forming a \u201cprovisional government\u201d in defiance of a crackdown by Indonesian security forces and have pledged that the Melanesian\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[355,5,6,356,7,357,4,358,12,14,359,19,301,21],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=778"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":779,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778\/revisions\/779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}