My name is Benny Wenda, I am a West Papuan independence leader and chairman of the Koteka Tribal Assembly. My village was bombed by Indonesia when I was a child and many of my family were killed. Later, I began to campaign peacefully to free my people. For this 'crime' I was arrested, tortured and threatened with death.
I managed to escape to Britain, where I now live in exile. Many of my people are still suffering. They have been killed, raped and tortured. Life is hard for them. All we are asking for is the freedoms that you enjoy every day - the freedom to speak your mind, to live without fear and to choose your own government.
Please hear my peoples' cry for help. Please support the Free West Papua Campaign.
The forgotten land of West Papua is under brutal Indonesian military occupation. Its tribal people are being slaughtered, and their unique environment destroyed.
West Papua is the western half of the island of New Guinea. It borders the independent state of Papua New Guinea and lies just 250km north of Australia.
Swathed in tropical rainforest which is second in size only to those of the Amazon, it is home to many unique species of wildlife including tree kangaroos and beautiful birds of paradise. It is also one of the world’s most resource rich areas containing huge reserves of oil, gas, copper, gold and timber.
The indigenous population number about 1 million Melanesian Papuans, many of whom still live subsistence or hunter gatherer tribal lifestyles. The diverse tribes of New Guinea speak some 15% of the world’s known languages, despite having less than 3% of the world's population.
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