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| Dr. John Otto Ondowame kanan, Benny Wenda di Tengah dan Andi Ayamiseba Kiri |
Free
West Papua Campaign about an hour ago A letter of Condolence from Free West Papua Campaign founder Benny Wenda after
the death of John Otto Ondawame.
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Dear all,
He was always an incredibly strong and charismatic leader, putting his people
before his own life.
I will forever greatly miss John and his incredible spirit and passion for our
country.
I am fully confident that this spirit will never die and that it will continue
to enlighten and inspire my people, especially the youth, for continuing to
peacefully campaign to finally liberate our nation from colonial rule.
May you Rest in Peace Dr John Otto Ondawame, you have contributed your entire
life to the freedom of our people.
Chairman of Demmak (the Koteka Tribal Assembly)
Today the fourth of September 2014 is a very sad day for my
people as we received the news of the passing of a true West Papuan leader and
freedom fighter, Dr John Otto Ondawame, the Vice Chairman of the West Papua
National Coalition for Liberation (WPNCL).
I would like to pass on my deepest and sincerest condolences to
the family of Mr. Ondawame on this day of such grief and mourning for all us
Papuans and Melanesians around the world.
I myself knew John and we met several times to share sentiment
for a Free West Papua and help to bring together a united voice for the West
Papuan people.
Forever an outspoken Papuan leader, John was persecuted by the
Indonesian military and forced to spend about half his life in exile in Sweden,
Australia and finally Vanuatu where he died today. His incredible Free West
Papua sentiment was undying and until his death, he firmly believed that one
day our people will be free.
It has brought me such great sadness to learn of his death and
today and I feel a strong sense of grief and sorrow for the passing of a true
friend and fellow Papuan who gave inspiration to us all.
Throughout my life, I have learned a lot from John’s teachings
and as my elder, he is someone I have always looked up to as a figure of wisdom
for West Papuans.
John reminded us all that no matter which tribe we come from,
what group we belong to or what our name is, we are all Papuans and we all
share the same dream and ideal of a Free and Independent West Papua, uniting us
all in one voice for our struggle.
John’s contribution towards a Free West Papua was both truly
ground breaking and inspiring.
He has been an important part of our struggle from its
beginnings, devoting his entire life to the liberation of our people.
West Papua had been waiting to be acknowledged as a part of the
Melanesian family of nations for over 50 years and this year John help to make
history by leading WPNCL into an application to join the Regional Melanesian
Spearhead Group (MSG).
This year, for the first time, the application was warmly
welcomed by all the fellow Melanesian nations and we Papuans were finally
greeted back into our ancestral Melanesian family with our fundamental rights
to self-determination also acknowledged by the MSG.
Among John’s other incredible achievements in the struggle, by
helping us to finally cross the bridge and be accepted by our family as fellow
Melanesians; John made one of the greatest contributions towards a Free West
Papua.
I would like to give my dearest thanks and tribute to John for
his outstanding commitment and courage in helping our people to be free.
We mourn the loss of your life, but we will remain confident and
assured that with such strong support from around the world as you gave and the
unity you preached, one day we will all sing and smile together in a Free West
Papua
Benny Wenda
Photo: Benny meeting with John Ondawame and Andy Ayamiseba from
WPNCL, in Vanuatu, 2013
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