New Zealand pilot targeted for New Zealand’s complicity in Genocide
Australia 9 February 2023
As detailed in reports by academics, legal scholars, and human rights organisations – including the United Nations – the people of West Papua are being subjected to a systematic programme of annihilation described as meeting the legal definition of Crimes Against Humanity,[1] if not Genocide.[2]
More recently the United Nations ‘Joint Communication from Special Procedures’ by the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions and the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons dispatched to the Indonesian Ambassador dated 27 December 2021,[3] the follow-up United Nations statement of 1 March 2022 titled ‘Indonesia: UN experts sound alarm on serious Papua abuses, call for urgent aid’,[4] and the UN News article titled ‘Indonesia: Shocking abuses against indigenous Papuans, rights experts report’ further highlights the ongoing oppression.[5]
However, without the military equipment and training provided to Indonesia by Western nations including the US, Germany, Israel, Switzerland, Belgium, the UK, Australia and New Zealand, this programme of annihilation simply could not occur.[6] The Free Papua Movement thus regards these UN members as complicit in genocide under Article 4 of the Genocide Convention and thus demands the immediate cessation of military support to the rogue state of Indonesia.
As detailed by numerous legal scholars, the transfer of West Papua to the United Nations in 1962 and then to Indonesia in 1963 was in breach of international law governing decolonisation.[7] Similarly, the sham “act of free choice” in 1969 when under UN supervision Indonesia hand-picked 0.1 percent of the Papuan population to vote for integration was in clear breach of universal suffrage.[8]
The arrest of New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens operating in the Ndugama war zone by OPM’s freedom fighters under the command of Brigadier General Egianus Kogoya was carried out in order to bring the ongoing state of human suffering and war in West Papua to the attention of the international media and world community. All passengers have been released however the New Zealand pilot will remain hostage until the following conditions have been met:
- New Zealand and other governments cease providing military training and weapons to Indonesia;
- New Zealand bring this armed conflict matter to the United Nations Security Council for a lasting resolution;
- The United Nations Security Council recognises a state of international conflict in West Papua and demands Indonesia’s withdrawal;
- The United Nations Organisation recognises and corrects its covert misconduct in the transfer of this Territory to itself and then Indonesia;
- The International Criminal Court commences investigations into Indonesia’s human rights abuses in West Papua; and,
- Indonesia withdraws all military personnel from the Territory and recognises West Papua’s independence.
The Free Papua Movement welcomes dialogue with Member States and the United Nations Security Council in order to resolve this international conflict as enshrined in the UN Charter.
The Free Papua Movement reminds member states of their obligation under UN resolution 2621 ‘Programme of action for the full implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples’ to provide “both moral and material assistance” to the people of West Papua in their struggle for independence.[9]
The Free Papua Movement again advises all Javanese and other foreigners residing in West Papua to immediately return to your homeland if you do not wish to be targeted by our TPNPB-OPM freedom fighters.
Akouboo Amatus Douw
Head of Foreign Affairs & Diplomatic Council
TPNPB-OPM / Free Papua Movement
[1] V. Toki, ‘Study on Decolonisation in the Pacific region’, Permanent Forum on Indigenous issues, Twelfth Session, UN Doc E/C.19/2013/12, 20 February 2013, https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N13/238/49/PDF/N1323849.pdf?OpenElement
[2] Elizabeth Brundige, Winter King, Priyneha Vahali, Stephen Vladeck, & Xiang Yuan, 2004, ‘Indonesian Human Rights Abuses in West Papua: Application of the Law of Genocide to the History of Indonesian Control,’ Yale Law School, https://law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/documents/pdf/Intellectual_Life/West_Papua_final_report.pdf ;Jim Elmslie, & Cammi Webb-Gannon, ‘A Slow-Motion Genocide: Indonesian Rule in West Papua,’ Griffith Journal of Law & Human Dignity, vol. 1, no. 2:142–166, (2013), https://griffithlawjournal.org/index.php/gjlhd/article/view/578/539; John Wing with Peter King, ‘Genocide in West Papua? The Role of the Indonesian State Apparatus and a Current Needs Assessment of the Papuan People,’ Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies and ELSHAM Jayapura, August, 2005, https://www.worldcat.org/title/genocide-in-west-papua-the-role-of-the-indonesian-state-apparatus-and-a-current-needs-assessment-of-the-papuan-people/oclc/65526525
[3]https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=26909
[4]https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=28180&LangID=E
[5] https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/03/1113062
[6] Louis Dillon, ‘Bilateral exercise to strengthen ties with Indonesia’, Defence Connect, November 19, 2019, https://www.defenceconnect.com.au/key-enablers/5167-bilateral-exercise-to-strengthen-ties-with-indonesia
Paul Bensemann, ‘Kiwis accused of providing ‘aid that kills’’, NZ Herald, January 25, 2014, https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/kiwis-accused-of-providing-aid-that-kills/ADS3RWYMKAOF6QZSUU7C5OYHWA/?c_id=1&objectid=11191626
Aaron Mehta, ‘US approves $7.5 billion in foreign weapons sales in one day’, Defence News, July 6, 2020, https://www.defensenews.com/global/the-americas/2020/07/06/us-approves-75-billion-in-foreign-weapon-sales-in-one-day/
Franz-Stefan Gady, ‘Indonesia Receives First Batch of New German-made Main Battle Tanks’, The Diplomat, May 24, 2016, https://thediplomat.com/2016/05/indonesia-receives-first-batch-of-new-german-made-main-battle-tanks/
Theodora Peter, ‘Arms industry in the crossfire’, Swiss Community, September 16, 2020, https://www.swisscommunity.org/en/news-media/swiss-review/article/arms-industry-in-the-crossfire/
‘Indonesians paying 20 million pounds for weapons used in repression’, Jubilee Debt Campaign, November 30, 2012, https://jubileedebt.org.uk/news/indonesians-paying-20-million-for-weapons-used-in-repression
[7] Julian McKinlay King with Andrew Johnson, ‘West Papua Exposed: An Abandoned Non-Self-Governing or Trust Territory,’ Griffith Journal of Law & Human Dignity, vol. 6, no. 2 (2018) https://griffithlawjournal.org/index.php/gjlhd/article/view/1078
John Saltford, 2003, The United Nations and the Indonesian Takeover of West Papua, 1962-1969: The Anatomy of Betrayal, 1st ed., Routledge, London.
Jennifer Robinson, ‘The UN’s chequered record in West Papua’, 21 March 2012, Aljazeera. <http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/03/201232172539145809.html>
Greg Poulgrain, ‘JFK vs Allan Dulles: Battleground Indonesia’, 2020, Simon & Schuster, https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/JFK-vs-Allen-Dulles/Greg-Poulgrain/9781510744790
Julian McKinlay King, 2019, ‘A Soul Divided: The UN’s Misconduct over West Papua’ PORTAL Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies, vol. 16, no. 1/2. https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/portal/issue/view/449
Melinda Janki, ‘A violation of international law’ https://www.insideindonesia.org/a-violation-of-international-law
[8] United Nations resolution 1541, Doc A/Res/1541 (15 December 1960)
[9] ‘Programme of action for the full implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples’, GA Res 2621 (XXV), UN GAOR, 25th sess, 1862nd plen mtg, UN Doc A/8086, (12 October 1970), https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/348/86/IMG/NR034886.pdf?OpenElement
Australia 9 February 2023 As detailed in reports by academics, legal scholars, and human rights organisations – including the United Nations – the people of West Papua are being subjected…