Statement on the 55th Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic of West Papua

More than five decades since the Proclamation of the Republic of West Papua, the aspiration for national liberation proclaimed in 1971 continues to live on through the struggle of the West Papuan people against Indonesia’s colonial occupation.

The humanitarian crisis in West Papua continues to worsen as Indonesia expands its military presence and accelerates projects that dispossess Indigenous communities of their lands. Extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, torture, drone and aerial strikes on civilian areas, attacks on civilians, restrictions on journalists, and the criminalization of peaceful political expression continue to worsen.

More than 105,000 Indigenous West Papuans remain internally displaced due to military operations in Nduga, Intan Jaya, Maybrat, Yahukimo, Puncak, and other regions. In just the past two months, Indonesian security forces have killed civilians in a series of mass-casualty incidents in Dogiyai and Puncak, including an April 2026 massacre in Puncak Regency that left fifteen West Papuans dead and a subsequent wave of killings across Dogiyai including elders, women, and children.

Indonesia's own National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) is investigating the shooting of a dozen of Papuan in Kembru, Puncak, where a pregnant woman and a five-year-old child were shot dead. Eyewitnesses alleging bodies were burned to cover up the killings, according to reports. Indonesia’s military has increasingly turned to drone and aerial strikes, a tactic that has grown nearly threefold in frequency and lethality since President Prabowo took office, further terrorizing highland communities already living under military occupation.

Recent crackdowns on students and Indigenous Peoples activists opposing militarization and extractive projects further demonstrate the dwindling democratic space in West Papua. At the same time, the expansion of National Strategic Projects (PSN), particularly the Merauke food estate and agribusiness project, has intensified deforestation, land grabbing, and the destruction of Indigenous lands, threatening the livelihoods, culture, and survival of the Marind and other Papuan peoples.

The case of Marind land defender Yasinta Moiwend or Mama Yasinta illustrates the price Indigenous defenders pay for speaking out. After appearing in the documentary Pesta Babi (Pig Feast), which exposed the ecological and human cost of the Merauke project, her family lost contact with her on 24 May 2026 following her alleged removal by military personnel securing the project. She later appeared in videos publicly recanting her testimony and filing a police complaint against the legal aid organization involved in producing the film, which civil society believe was coerced.

Her case follows a broader military campaign against the film itself, with more than thirty reported incidents of security forces shutting down public screenings across Indonesia. These attacks on the Papuan people and their lands serve Indonesia’s colonial occupation while advancing the interests of multinational corporations and imperialist capital.

The Indonesian government’s colonial occupation of West Papua has never stood alone. It has been sustained by imperialist powers, the United States, rich investors, and complicit colluders through decades of military cooperation and strategic alliances that have strengthened Indonesia’s security apparatus while safeguarding foreign access to extract and exploit West Papua’s natural wealth.

On this anniversary, let us continue to amplify and support the living proclamation of Papuans 55 years ago: that the land and people of Papua are free and independent, with their own Morning Star Flag and “Hai Tanahku Papua” as an anthem as peoples.

We enjoin the world to never forget those who have dedicated their lives to the struggle for genuine freedom, national liberation, and self-determination.

And to further strengthen our voice, solidarity, and advocacy for the communities, families, human rights defenders, and brave Papuans carrying on the task to sustain their identity, culture, lands, and self-determination everyday.

Stand and proclaim: Papua Merdeka! Free West Papua!

Reference:

Merdeka West Papua Support Network

merdeka.sec@gmail.com