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"The people of West Papua have been
denied their basic human rights including the
right to self-determination" - Desmond Tutu
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ILWP is committed to assisting the people of
West Papua to exercise their legal right to self-determination
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"The international community has abandanoned West Papua to
over 50 years of illegal occupation by Indonesia" - Jennifer Robinson, co-founder ILWP
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"there were 1,000 handpicked representatives and they were largely coerced into declaring for inclusion
in Indonesia” - Baroness, Lady Symons, speaking about the Act of free choice
on behalf of the british government, House of Lords, Westminster 2004.
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"It was just a whitewash. The mood at the United Nations was to get rid of this problem as quickly as
possible, Nobody gave a thought to the fact that there were a million people there who had their
fundamental human rights trampled. Suharto was a terrible dictator. How could anyone have seriously
believed that all voters unanimously decided to join his regime? Unanimity like that is unknown in democracies."
Chakravarthi Narasimhan - Under Secretary-General of the United Nations 1969
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"I was in West Papua in 1969 for the supposed act of free choice.
It wasnt free and there was no choice" - Hugh Lunn
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Ghana and Sierra Leone were among members that expressed reservations and considered
that the people of West Papua had not exercised their right to self-determination at the UN
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"I would not rule out that in the future, the population of West Papua should again have the opportunity to decide
their own fate. I told them: be patient. The moment
will come, do not fear. Go to school, learn everything there is to
know about the principles of democracy and the road will be open to you" - Fernando Ortiz-Sanz, December 1999
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"In the long term however, the United Nations cannot shy away from the root causes of these violations."
Manaseh Sogavare, Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, UN General Assembly 2015
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"West Papua is not legally a part of Indonesia’s territory but a non-self-governing territory under occupation.
Independence for West Papua would be the restoration of Papuan sovereignty and not a
violation of
Indonesia’s territorial integrity" - Melinda Janki, co-founder ILWP
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"In the opinion of the Western observers and the Papuans who have
spoken out about this, the Act of Free Choice ended up as a sham,
where a press-ganged electorate acting under a great deal of
pressure appeared to have unanimously declared itself in favour of Indonesia"
Prof. Pieter Drooglever
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"The United Nations has a duty to closely follow up this West Papua case and necessary action be taken to stop
these brutal and inhumane activities.” - ‘Akilisi Pohiva, Prime Minister of Tonga, UN General Assembly 2015
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"As the Mandela royal family and the Mvezo traditional council, you have our undying support.
We will ensure that your voice doesn’t become isolated and forgotten" - Chief Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela
