The New York Agreement - 'Our time will come'
1) Make the pulpit free to protest the New York Agreement, 5 people were arrested by the police 2) Interim President: Mourning the 60th anniversary of the New York Agreement
1) Make the pulpit free to protest the New York Agreement, 5 people were arrested by the police
Director of LBH Papua, Emanuel Gobay (far left) while accompanying five participants from the pulpit freely protesting the New York Agreement during a police questioning at the Jayapura Police Headquarters, Monday (15/8/2022). - Doc. LBH Papua
Jayapura, Jubi – Five activists from Kunume Numbay who held a free pulpit in Jayapura City to protest the signing of the 1962 New York Agreement were arrested by police, Monday (15/8/2022). Until this news was revealed, the five people were still being questioned by the police at the Jayapura City Police Headquarters.
The Director of the Legal Aid Institute or LBH Papua, Emanuel Gobay, stated that the five people arrested by the police held a free pulpit on Jalan Lembah Bahari, Dok V Atas, Jayapura City. The five people are Kunume Numbay Deputy Chairman Jimmy Boroway, Kunume Numbay Secretary Regina Wenda, Brus Sangkek, Roy Haluk and Mina Tabuni.
Kunume Numbay plans to hold a free pulpit at the location at around 10.00 WP, to protest the signing of the 1962 New York Agreement. The New York Agreement is an agreement to transfer power over the Land of Papua from the Netherlands to Indonesia. The agreement, which was signed on August 15, 1962, was made without involving the Indigenous Papuans.
Gobay stated that when 14 Kunume Numbay activists arrived at the free pulpit location at 10.00 WP, the location was already guarded by the police. At around 10.25 WP, the police dispersed the free pulpit, and arrested five Kunume Numbay activists.
“The crowd gathered and played Mambesak songs. When they were about to open the pamphlet for display, [the pamphlet] was immediately seized by the police. Subsequently, the police arrested five people and took them to the Jayapura Police Headquarters," Gobay told Jubi via the WhatsApp messaging service, Monday.
Until this news was revealed, the five people were still being questioned by the police. "[We] hope that the Jayapura Police Chief and his staff can release the 5 people [who organized] the free pulpit," he said.
Gobay questioned the police's move to disband the free pulpit, because the free pulpit is a form of expression guaranteed by Law Number 9 of 1998 concerning Freedom to Express Opinions in Public. Moreover, according to Gobay, the free pulpit activity has no impact on traffic jams. (*)
Freedom of Expression in Papua - News Desk
A google translate. Original Bahasa link
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FROM FB posting on AWPA page
#URGEN Numbay, 15th Aug 2022 In order to reject the New York Agreement 1962. Kunume Numbay held a story-breaking action followed by a period of 14 people in front of the Bahari Valley road Dok V upper.
There has been an arrest and arrest of 5 members of Kunume Numbay by the Indonesian Republic Police. (Jayapura City Police) on Monday, August 15, 2022 at 10:30 am wpb.
The names of those arrested are:
1. Mr.Jimmy Boroway (Deputy Chief Kunume Numbay)
2. Mrs. Reaggy Wenda (Secretary)
3. brus sangkek (Member)
4. Boy Wenda (Member)
5. Mina Tabuni (Member)
Presently 5 detained Kunume Numbay members are at Jayapura City Police Station.
Advocate please...
Thank you..
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2) Interim President: Mourning the 60th anniversary of the New York Agreement
August 15, 2022 in News, Statement
Today, August 15th, marks sixty years since West Papua was betrayed. On this day in 1962, my people’s future was snatched from us by men in New York, without a single West Papuan present.
The New York Agreement was a secret deal signed by three colonial powers, the United States, Indonesia, and the Netherlands. It produced the Indonesian invasion of 1963, the start of our occupation and the beginning of our anguish. But the deal also contained a stipulation for a UN referendum, in which the people of West Papua would decide our own destiny. A fair referendum never arrived: the 1969 Act of No Choice was a sham, with just over 1000 people intimidated into staying with Indonesia. West Papuans are still waiting to fulfill our right to self-determination, six decades later.
Today we mourn our betrayal, and the hundreds of thousands of West Papuans killed, tortured, and imprisoned under Indonesian occupation. But we must also commit ourselves to strengthening our struggle for liberation. On behalf of the Provisional Government, I am calling on all West Papuans – in the cities, in exile, in the refugee camps, or fighting in the bush – to refuse to celebrate Indonesian Independence day on August 17th. Do not raise their flag. We have our own flag, our own Independence Day, which we are ready to celebrate when our sovereignty is finally delivered.
To the world, I say: help us right the great wrong of 1962 and achieve our independence. With our Provisional Government, our Cabinet offices, our Ministers and our army, we are ready to take charge of our own affairs. To Indonesia, I say: you must allow the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights into West Papua, to show the world what you are doing to my people.
August 15th, 1962, will always be a day of sorrow for us West Papuans. It is very painful to think of all the indigenous Melanesian people who lost their lives under Indonesian rule. But we will never accept occupation: I am calling on my people not to take part in Indonesia’s independence celebrations. We are instead mourning the killing and displacement of West Papuans in Nduga, Oksibil, Maybrat and elsewhere.
We will keep fighting until there is self-determination, a fair and internationally mediated referendum, until we win independence. Our time will come
Benny Wenda
Interim President
ULMWP Provisional Government