Hengky Yeimo, Nabire – A number of Papuan pro-independence organisations commemorated the 53rd anniversary of the proclamation of West Papuan independence at several locations inside and outside of Papua on Monday July 1.
From information gathered by Jubi.id, commemorations were held in at least six different locations, from morning through to the evening.
In the land of Papua, West Papua independence proclamation commemorations were held by a number of West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Movement (TPNPB-OPM) groups.
They included the Odiyai-Dogiyai TPNPB-OPM Defense Command Area (Kodap) IX, the Kempa Nipouda Paniai TPNPB-OPM Kodap XI, the Pemka 4 Paniai TPNPB-OPM Division II, the Uwaiyepa Ugapuga Battalion III and the Eastern Star Highlands TPNPB-OPM Kodap XIII.
Papua
Aside from the TPNPB-OPM, other organisations commemorating the proclamation of West Papuan independence included the Vanuatu sector West Papua National Committee (KNPB) in Nabire and the West Papua Independent Student Forum (FIM-WIP) city leadership committee in Nabire.
Outside the land of Papua meanwhile, commemorations were held in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta by the Papua Student Alliance (AMP) and the Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI-WP).
In a public statement received by Jubi on July 1, Odiyai-Dogiyai Kodap IX commander Brigadier General Yonatan Makituma Pigai said that his unit held a commemoration at the Kodap headquarters on Monday.
"We feel grateful that the commemoration the 53rd anniversary [Birthday] of the July 1 proclamation proceeded according to our expectations ... running safely and smoothly", he said.
Pigai explained that the commemoration was organised together with Kodap staff, three regional defense commands (Kowip) and six other battalions including the Maakewapa Battalion I, the Bintang Fajar Timur Battalion II, the Degeianouda Battalion III, the Rimba Ribut Egaidimi Battalion IV, the Maagotadi Battalion V and the Idii Bou Battalion VI.
Pigai said that the West Papua nation is already independent in terms of international law.
"We, the TPNPB Kodap XI National Committee declare that [Indonesia must] give [us] political freedom immediately, otherwise we will wage a revolution in stages this year so that the Papuan people and non-Papuan people [should] prepare themselves immediately", he said.
Pigai also conveyed a message to the TNI (Indonesian military) and the Polri (Indonesian police) not to arrest indigenous Papuans arbitrarily. "But look for the TPNPB-OPM when the pre-revolutionary stage occurs", he said.
During the commemoration, KNPB Chairperson Warpo Sampari Wetipo urged the people of the West Papuan nation not to lose the spirit to fight for the liberation of West Papua.
"We hope that the ordinary people can organise this holiday of the Papuan nation, because it is part of the way we respect the Papuan nation", he said.
Wetipo said he appreciates the Papuan people who had been struggling to win independence and justice from the system that shackles them. "Because the sovereignty of the people is determined by the people, so it's the people that fight for it", he said.
Commemorations in Yogyakarta
In Yogyakarta, the AMP and the FRI-WP commemorated the proclamation of West Papuan independence with a march through the Jalan Malioboro shopping district in the centre of the city.
Scores of indigenous Papuan youths were involved in the action, including two men who wore traditional Papuan clothing, namely the koteka (penis gourd), and their face pained with the Morning Star independence flag.
The protesters also paraded two banners through the streets, one of which was a white banner reading "Commemorating 53 years of the West Papuan proclamation of the Papuan nation, take back the sovereignty of the Papuan people from the hands of colonial Indonesia".
Some of those involved in the action also brought posters with messages such as "Independence is the right of all nations, including West Papua", "Withdraw the TNI/Polri from the Land of Papua" and 'Stop violence against Papuan women!".
Action coordinator Paul Tekege said the history of the West Papuan people's struggle is inseparable from the West Papua guerrilla movement which was the foundation of the West Papuan nation's declaration of independence on December 1, 1961.
"The declaration of the West Papua state was a democratic revolution for the West Papuan people and is [part of] the history of struggle. The people of Papua will [continue] making demands of the Indonesian state until there is a recognition of Papuan independence", he said.
Tekege said that in commemorating 53 years since the proclamation of the Papuan nation, the Yogyakarta AMP and the FRI-WP took up the theme "Rewinning the Sovereignty of the Papuan People from the Hands of Colonial Indonesian"
"This theme is a reading of the long history of the Papuan people", he said.
History records, said Tekege, that July 1 is a historic day for the West Papuan people that began in Victoria (now Jayapura) in 1971. At that time President Brigadier General Seth Jafeth Rumkorem along with his members in Victoria at the Waris Village near the Papua New Guinea border on 1 July, 1971, read out the text of the West Papuan People's Proclamation of Independence.
The West Papua proclamation of independence
The West Papua proclamation of independence was signed by Rumkorem on behalf of the people and the government of West Papua in Victoria on July 1, 1971. Titled Proclamation, the full text reads:
"To all the Papuan people, from Numbay to Merauke, from Sorong to Baliem (Star Mountains) and from Biak to the isle of Adi.
With God's help and blessing, we take this opportunity today to announce to you all that, today, July 1st, 1971, the land and people of Papua have been declared to be free and independent (de facto and de jure).
"May Go be with us, and let it be known to the world, that the sincere wish of the Papuan people to be free and independent in their own country is hereby fulfilled.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Peringatan 53 Tahun Proklamasi Kemerdekaan Papua Barat Digelar Di Papua Dan Yogya".]
