International Parliamentarians for West Papua
Encyclopedia
Self-determination
Self-determination is the principle in international law that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference...
for the people of West Papua.
History
IPWP were launched at the Houses of Parliament, LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 15 October 2008. Speakers at the launch included Melinda Janki (International Human Rights Lawyer), Hon. Andrew Smith MP (UK), Lord Harries (UK), Hon Lembit Öpik
Lembit Öpik
Lembit Öpik is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Montgomeryshire in Wales from 1997 until he lost his seat in the 2010 General Election...
MP (UK), Lord Avebury (UK), Benny Wenda
Benny Wenda
Benny Wenda is a West Papuan tribal leader and an international lobbyist for the independence of West Papua from Indonesia. He lives in exile in the United Kingdom...
(West Papua), Hon. Powes Parkop MP (Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
), Hon. Carcasses Moana Kalosil MP (Vanuatu
Vanuatu
Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...
) and Carmel Budiarjo
Carmel Budiarjo
Carmel Budiardjo is a British human rights activist, founder of the organisation Tapol and a recipient of the Right Livelihood Award.Carmel was born in London in 1925. She received a Bachelors degree in Economics in 1946 from the University of London...
(TAPOL
Tapol Bulletin
The Tapol Bulletin is a British-based bulletin that monitored the "New Order" government of Suharto's measures against alleged members of the Communist Party of Indonesia after the 1965-1966 crisis in Indonesia...
).
There have been further launches of IPWP held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea hosted by Powes Parkop in September 2009, and in the European Parliament in Brussels hosted by Caroline Lucas MEP in January 2010.
IPWP were set up by exiled West Papuan independence advocate Benny Wenda
Benny Wenda
Benny Wenda is a West Papuan tribal leader and an international lobbyist for the independence of West Papua from Indonesia. He lives in exile in the United Kingdom...
, and is chaired by the British Labour Party MP Andrew Smith and Lord Harries. Some of the founding members of IPWP were involved in a similar group that was set up for East Timor
East Timor
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
prior to it gaining independence from Indonesia. Andrew Smith is also the Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for West Papua. The main goal of International Parliamentarians for West Papua is to develop international parliamentary support and awareness for the situation in West Papua, and to bring about the means whereby the people of West Papua can exercise their basic human right of self-determination, which was violated in the 1969 “Act of Free Choice
Act of Free Choice
Act of Free Choice was an event in July to August 1969 by which Indonesia asserts that the Western New Guinea population decided to relinquish their sovereignty in favor of Indonesian citizenship...
”.
At the launch of IPWP in London, other areas that were discussed were ways of developing support amongst politicians from other countries, the possibility of sending a United Nations peacekeeping force to West Papua, and sending a delegation to West Papua on a fact finding mission.
Support
So far IPWP have registered the support of politicians from countries including the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Vanuatu
Vanuatu
Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
.
In March 2009, it was announced that there would be a launch for IPWP in the European Parliament, to be held in September 2009, with the aim of getting membership from this sector.