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| Mr. Benny Wenda |
WARNING: This post
contains graphic images. Although these are understandably very disturbing we
believe it is important for the world to see what is really happening in
West Papua.
Dear friends,
My heart is filled
with grief and sadness to learn that yesterday in West Papua, at least 5 of my
people were brutally
massacred by the Indonesian military and police, just for
protesting against military violence against children. Torturing and killing
children is a crime against humanity and those responsible must be brought to
justice.
Alpius Youw, Alpius Gobai, Saday
Yeimo, Simon Degei and Yulian Yeimo were all boys aged between 17 and 18 and
were all shot dead by the Indonesian military yesterday in Paniai. This
horrific tragedy occurred when the Indonesian military and police mercilessly
opened fire upon a crowd of people, mostly youths and children who were
demonstrating against the torture of another 12 year old boy by Indonesian
soldiers.
There is absolutely no excuse for the
cold blooded massacre of between 5 and 12 innocent boys and I want to say that
I fully condemn this evil human rights atrocity. How can the Indonesian
government ever defend its position in West Papua while it continues to
massacre my people, even children, just for speaking out against military
brutality?
Events such as this
horrible day of bloodshed in Paniai reveal to the world exactly what the
Indonesian government is to this day doing in West Papua. Recently I was interviewed by
BBC Indonesia and I declared that I do not trust the new
Indonesian president Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and do not beleive that he will bring
any positive change for my people. This heinous massacre against the Papuan
youth is exposing Jokowi’s lies to the world and is proof that he is continuing
to murder the next generation of my people just like former Indonesian
presidents have done, with no regard whatsoever, for our human rights.
With so much evidence
coming out of West Papua every day, the world cannot remain blind to my
people’s suffering while my country is under illegal occupation and my people,
including children, are being viciously massacred by Indonesian soldiers. We
will not be silent.
I am calling for a protest to be held
outside the Indonesian Embassy in London to demand justice for the murdered
boys, an end to the killings of my people and that the Indonesian government
gives West Papua back to Papuans. Please join me at this demonstration at 12:00
PM (noon) on Saturday 13th December outside the Indonesian Embassy at 38
Grosvenor Square, London. I urge all other Free West Papua Campaign groups and
other supporters to also hold similar demonstrations around the world to
protest against the cold blooded murder of these boys.
I am also calling upon the
international community to immediately condemn this act of extreme terror
towards my people who were only protesting against military brutality. Please
look at the reality of what is really happening to my people. Men, women,
children; all of us are being killed like flies in our own country by an
occupying Indonesian army.
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| Tragic images of those shot dead in Paniai |
I ask all
supporters and friends including human rights organisations, NGOs and church
groups to also fully condemn this massacre of boys and children in Paniai.
Please share and widely publicise this atrocity so as to increase worldwide
awareness about the genocide in West Papua. Please help to lobby politicians to
support my people in breaking free from the Indonesian military occupation by
supporting us in our struggle for self determination and independence. You can
sendthis letter to
your MP or other political representative and ask them to support media freedom
and self-determination in West Papua. My people are in desperate need of voices
to report the reality of this genocide we are facing every day.
On behalf of the Free West Papua
Campaign I give my full and deepest condolences to the families of all those
ruthlessly murdered in the Paniai massacre. Their loved, their youths and
children died protesting for all our rights, so that freedom and justice will
one day come to our people as a whole. The victims of this terrible day will be
remembered in the history of West Papua forever along with the other hundreds
of thousands of innocent Papuans who have died in our freedom struggle. May
they rest in peace.
Having just returned from Vanuatu
where I have been attending a reunification conference for all West Papuan
independence leaders, I have great hopes for West Papua’s freedom struggle but
such massacres as these cause great pain for all Papuans, showing us the
urgency of our people’s quest for the liberation from this violence and illegal
occupation.
It is for this
reason that I am writing these words as a cry for help. Please see the
suffering of my people and take action to help us. We are
desperately in need of international support to help us find true peace and
freedom in our own country. Please support my people in our peaceful struggle
against these horrors of colonialism and genocide. We want our rights to be
restored and our justice granted. We want a Free West Papua.
Please support us. Thank you very
much
Benny Wenda
Free West Papua Campaign founder
Spokesperson, United Liberation
Movement for West Papua
Source: http://freewestpapua.org
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