Recently, several media reports on the Handover of the West Papuan People’s Petition by Beny Wenda to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Citing media releases from Benny Wenda and his media (freewestpapua.org and ulmwp.org), Reuters and other western media raised the news about the petition submitted by Benny Wenda to the head (commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights or OHCHR), Michelle Bachelet. Benny claimed to have received the millions of signatures from native West Papuans.
The news from the ULMWP titled “Historic Petition for West Papuan self-determination handed over to the UN High Commissioner amidst humanitarian crisis and alleged chemical weapons use” and the modified version on Reuters entitled “Human Rights Chief Petition to UN” stated that Benny Wenda had successfully handed over the West Papuan people’s petition signed by 1.8 million natives to the UN Human Rights Commissioner office, Geneva, Switzerland.
picture source : Daily Post
It is also reported that the hand over was done with ‘official assistance’ from the Vanuatu Government during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) meeting on Friday, 25 of January 2019.
Benny Wenda and Vanuatu believed that thousands of Papuans are being displaced due to military operations in Nduga District and the use of chemical weapons.
Benny Wenda then went on to spread personal statements to various media and his contacts that he had won a victory for the people of West Papua. Claiming to be the leader of the West Papuan people, Benny Wenda said he was happy that he could finally convey the complaints of his people to the world.
Unfortunately, what Benny Wenda claimed seemed to be a complete lie. Even his claim as the leader of West Papua is something very deceiving.
Benny Wenda did not have an official agenda with The OHCHR. He was ‘smuggled’ by the Vanuatu delegation during the Friday meeting. We dare to use the word ‘smuggled’ because indeed Benny Wenda’s name was not in the list of the Vanuatu representatives.
In the end, Benny Wenda did meet Michelle Bachelet, the UN Human Rights Commissioner, in a moment that was ‘accidental’.
Michelle Bachelet, said she met Benny Wenda, who described himself as the leader of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), on the same day of the meeting. But the momentary meeting turned out to be not an official meeting.
Illegally, Vanuatu stopped Michelle Bachelet in a corridor. It seems like Vanuatu had planned to execute the illegal and forceful meeting long ago. Michelle Bachelet was shocked because she knew that Benny Wenda was not a Vanuatuan but was in the Vanuatu delegation in the meeting that discussed the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Pacific island nation.
In the illegal and disappointing meeting, Benny Wenda surprised and shocked Madam Bachelet with the petition claimed as the West Papuan independence referendum signed by 1.8 million people.
Many have doubted the petition. The 1.8 million number is _heard as_ an exaggeration for many reasons. Firstly, Benny Wenda does not have a strong network within West Papua. Secondly, no one admitted that Benny Wenda was the leader of the West Papuan people. Finally, Benny Wenda endorsed the murder of dozens of innocent people in Nduga District in the late 2018. International media and research institutes should be able to carry out rigorous analyzes of these matters.
With those facts, the millions of signatures lead to two possible conclusions. Firstly the amount is a fake number. Thus Benny Wenda’s claim is a complete hoax! Or, secondly, this number could arise from coercion.
Reported from Switzerland, Vanuatu illegally entered Benny Wenda into his delegation without the knowledge of the OHCHR. Benny Wenda’s name was not included in the official list of the Vanuatu delegation for the UPR meeting. Vanuatu deliberately tricked the UN OHCHR with manipulative steps through the infiltration of Benny Wenda into their delegation.
In fact, Benny Wenda has long been ‘detached’ from West Papua for decades. He does not have any formal and non-formal status as West Papuan since. In fact, he is a UK citizen and still claiming to be the leader of the West Papuans. On the other hand, West Papua has been having official structural and cultural leaders, including recognized tribal heads and heads of government such as governors and mayors who are officially elected by the West Papuan people through democratic elections every five years. All of them are native West Papuans and by law non-native can never hold any of those position.
Meanwhile, when Benny Wenda and Vanuatu were busy with their illegal actions, Indonesians from various backgrounds were busy making this that real actions to advance West Papua.
In the field of education and economy, many are now opening free training for young West Papuans to be able to compete in the world of work. Evidently more and more numbers of high skill workers from Native West Papuans continue to rise. They work in various companies both nationally and internationally. Some even choose the entrepreneurial path and become a good example for their colleagues.
Many free schools are established and numerous qualified teachers are available now in West Papua to improve education advancement there.
In the field of health, more and more medical centers are opened that provide free health services for West Papuans. The number of health workers from Native West Papuan and non-West Papuan are increasing.
And yet, Vanuatu and Benny Wenda conduct deceiving activities which continuously downgrade the good name of West Papua and insult the efforts to create more stability in the region.
It is indicated that Benny Wenda and Vanuatu are only seeking an international fame for their personal, political and financial gains.
