Press Statement
NEGOTIATION INITIATIVE
The Free Papua Organisation/West Papua National Liberation Force (OPM TPNPB) calls on the international community to mediate negotiations with the Government of Indonesia to end conflict in West Papua. The OPM TPN PB will ONLY negotiate with the government of Indonesia through an internationally mediated process.
The OPM TPNPB has been and remains the sole legitimate representative of all of the people of West Papua over its more than five decades of armed conflict. This conflict is a war of national liberation and conforms to the standards of international humanitarian law.
This expression of support for negotiations reflects the OPM TPNPB’s respectful commitment to U.N’s preference for the ‘peaceful settlement of disputes’ via negotiation.
The OPM TPNPB rejects other forms of internal ‘dialogue’ or ‘consultation’, as with that held by Indonesia in 1969. In that ‘consultation’, 1025 men and women selected by the Indonesian military were threatened to accept incorporation into Indonesia.
That process, orchestrated by Indonesia with the support of the United States and the Netherlands via the UN, violated all internationally recognized principles of self-determination and was hence illegitimate. The OPM TPNPB is prepared to negotiate, but to never again allow the people of West Papua to be involved in a sham ‘vote’.
In seeking negotiations, the OPM TPNPB asks interested groups to support our international
negotiation initiatives. The OPM TPNPB also calls on other West Papuan groups to support it in it call for negotiations as the legitimate representative organization of the people of West Papua.
The OPM TPNPB supports the U.N. Human Rights Commissioner’s current attempts to enter West Papua to undertake independent investigations and asks her to promote the proposal for negotiations towards a final peace agreement. The OPM TPNPB says the U.N. Higher Commissioner is obliged to recommend the best method for addressing this, one of the longest running security and political issues. The OPM TPNPB therefore expresses their gratitude to the UN, noting that world is watching their actions on how they make this process a reality.
The OPM TPNPB says United Nations Security Council must also hold an urgent session to discuss the critical matter of armed conflict in West Papua. The OPM TPNPB leaders said in their statement on the 31 of January in PNG, in front of the United States Ambassador representing one of the UN Security Council Permanent Five members, that the United States must bring this matter to the negotiations table and require Indonesia as a UNSC member to be open to this peace negotiation initiative. The OPM TPNPB also calls on the Netherlands, as the former colonial power, to accept moral responsibility and support the call for internationally mediated negotiations.
OPM TPNPB NEGOTIATION TEAM
Coordinator
Akouboo Amatus Douw