Benny Wenda, a spokesperson of West Papua insurgent Movement, conducted another black campaign towards Indonesia in international media. He tries to gain international support by spreading lies, a disgraceful act to seek international society attention.
In international media, Benny Wenda wrote an article with a title “Indonesia Supports Palestinian Independence-What About West Papua,” in that article he expressed that what happened between Israel and Palestina is exactly the same situation that exists between Indonesia and West Papua, that Indonesia has occupied West Papua illegally and inhumanly. “If the Indonesian Government is committed to helping Palestine to achieve their independence and sovereignty, the question is what about West Papua that lost its right to independence and sovereignty?”
The first thing we should know is that Indonesia has never colonized Papua. If we look back to the Kingdom-State, The Majapahit Kingdom dominate the whole Indonesian Archipelago, which known now as the Republic of Indonesia, from west to east. The eastern part including Djanggi now is known as Papua. Next, based on Uti Posidetis Juris, Papua Province and West Papua Province is the legal territory of Indonesia and it is confirmed by the Act of Free Choice or referendum on 1969 accepted by the United Nation in Resolution 2504. Second, Papuan always been treated as a citizen of Indonesia, have the same rights based on the Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. Third, unlike Israel’s inhumane occupation of Palestine, whereby social institutions such as schools are frequently ambushed, the government in Jakarta exerts efforts to develop infrastructure and human resources in Papua. (Muhammad Rakhmat, 2015).
In an article with a title “West Papua: Things are not getting ‘better’ for us,” Benny Wenda spread his black campaign towards Indonesia. He questioned why Indonesian government imposed a ban on the international media and human rights group from entering the Papua. He also accused Indonesian Government of hiding the Papua real situation from international society. He also mentioned that there was no political freedom there and blaming Indonesian Government for the lack of development in Papua.
As a matter of fact, in 2013, there are 354 journalist visa requests to Indonesia, 28 aim to visit Papua and West Papua. In 2014 there were 27 requests for Papua and only five were declined because of administration problem (Ministry for Foreign Affairs Indonesia, 2016). In 2015 according to the President Joko Widodo, the entire journalists were permitted to freely visiting Papua. (CNN, 2015).
