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According to Benny, the president must meet with other presidents.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, by Ronggo Astungkoro, Puti Almas, Sapto Andika Candra
The tough stance of the Indonesian government on Benny Wenda’s claims received a response. The President of the United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP), Benny Wenda, said he was ready to meet with President Joko Widodo. The man who declared himself interim president of West Papua felt that there should be talks between presidents about the sustainability of West Papua.
“I am ready to sit down with President Widodo,” Benny said in a written statement quoted on ULMWP’s official website on Friday (12/4).
Benny said the meeting was held as a form of discussion between countries. He wants all parties to agree to a process to end the conflict that has been occurring in Cenderawasih Land. That process, namely through an international mediation mechanism.
In addition, he said, the people of West Papua must also decide so that there is no more conflict in Papua. According to him, the referendum on the independence of Papua must be discussed again and it is no longer the time to carry out military operations and assassinations in Papua.
“The UN High Commissioner must be allowed in, according to calls from 82 countries. The president must put an end to martial law in West Papua and sit down and talk,” he explained.
Benny’s declaration of the interim government of West Papua was carried out on Tuesday (1/12). Benny declared that the interim government of West Papua had been formed and was ready to seize its territory. He also claimed that he would no longer be subject to Jakarta or Indonesian government regulations.
Benny refused to extend the special autonomy of Papua (Otsus). “Starting today, December 1, 2020, we will begin to implement our own constitution and reclaim our sovereign land,” Benny said in his official statement.
The declaration of formation of the interim government for West Papua also immediately received a response from the Directorate of the National Commission of the West Papua National Liberation Army, the Free Papua Organization (TPNPB OPM). They stated that they did not recognize Benny’s claim and made a vote of no confidence.
“TPNPB does not recognize Benny Wenda’s claim, because Benny Wenda has declared and announced his rule in a foreign country that does not have the legitimacy of the majority of the Papuan people, and is also outside the jurisdiction of the revolution,” said the spokesman of TPNPB OPM, Sebby Sambom, to the Republic. Wednesday (02/12).
Sebby also said that Benny’s claim to be the interim president of West Papua was a form of failure of ULMWP and of Benny himself. The TPNPB OPM cannot support Benny’s claim because he is a British citizen. According to Sebby, foreign nationals cannot become president of West Papua.
“Under international law, Benny Wenda has declared and announced a country and its claims in a foreign country, specifically in the UK, which is very false and cannot be accepted by human common sense,” he explained.
For all that, the TPNPB OPM stated that it rejected Benny’s claim. OPM believes that Benny will not benefit the Papuan people’s desire for total independence. Sebby also stated, TPNPB OPM announced a no-confidence motion on Benny because Benny was judged to have damaged unity in the struggle of the people of Papua.
“It is also known that Benny Wenda works in the interests of foreign capitalists in the European Union, the United States and Australia. And this goes against the principles of the revolution for the independence of the Papuan people,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Mahfud MD, considered that Benny Wenda would create an illusory state with the declaration of an interim government in West Papua that he himself headed as president. Mahfud explained that there are at least three conditions for the establishment of a country, namely the people, the region and the government, in addition to the recognition of other countries.
“In our opinion, Benny Wenda is creating an illusory state, a country that does not actually exist. What is West Papua?” said Mahfud, in Kemenko Polhukam’s office, Jakarta, on Thursday (3/12).
He explained that there are conditions for the establishment of a country, that is, that there are controlled people, controlled areas and then the government. The country Benny claimed to judge does not exist. “Whose people are they? They rebelled. We control their territory. The government, who recognizes that he is the government? The Papuans themselves don’t admit it,” he said.
So, another condition according to Mahfud is the recognition of other countries and the entry into international organizations. Mahfud said that no one recognized Benny’s declared status. According to him, there is only political support from a small Pacific country called Vanuatu.
“But it is smaller than the hundreds of large countries, Vanuatu is small and it does not belong to international organizations, it only expresses itself politically,” Mahfud said.
Furthermore, Mahfud recalled that Papua through a referendum in 1969 was finally and legally part of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI). He explained that the referendum that took place in November 1969 was approved by the UN General Assembly to the effect that Papua was legally part of the sovereignty of Indonesia.
“Because there will be no more (referendum), it is impossible for the UN to make decisions twice about the same or the same thing,” he said.
The Papua issue doesn’t just revolve around Benny Wenda’s statement. At the Indonesian Consulate General (KJRI) in Melbourne, Australia, five people stormed and waved the flag with the Morning Star, which has been synonymous with the Organization of Free Papua (OPM). The action was caught on camera and went viral on social media.
Due to this incident, the Indonesian government has voiced a strong protest against the Australian government. The Indonesian Consulate General in Melbourne reported this incident to the police and sent a protest note to the local government, while the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra sent a protest note to the federal government through the Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. (DFAT).
“Australians have expressed regret and promised to carry out an investigation,” said Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah.
The incident was reported to have occurred on December 1 at 0800 local time. In the video, the perpetrator comes and climbs to the roof and then raises an identical flag to the OPM, as well as a banner that reads ‘TNI OUT, STOP KILLING PAPUA.’
The condition of the Indonesian Consulate General office in Melbourne at that time was not yet open, work activities only started at 09:00. The security guards immediately climbed to the roof and asked the perpetrators to come down. However, the five people committed violence against the security officers of the Indonesian Consulate General in Melbourne.
Then the security guard informed the authorities. This action lasts about 12 minutes. Melbourne police officers arrived at 8:18 a.m. local time.
The Presidential Personnel Office (KSP) reminded Australia of its commitment to maintaining security in the Indonesian Consulate General area in Melbourne. KSP Deputy V for Politics, Law and Human Rights, Jaleswari Pramodhawardhani, said that referring to the provisions of the Vienna Convention on consular relations and international customary law, the area of the consulate general must be respected and inviolable.
“In addition, they were raped and infiltrated without permission. So the incident at the Indonesian Consulate in Melbourne cannot be justified and is contrary to international law,” said Dani, greeting from Jaleswari, on Friday (12/4). Dani also recalled that the host country, Australia, has an obligation under international law to maintain the security of the KJRI area.
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