Jayapura – The Mataram Papua Student Association (IMAPA), the Lombok city committee of the Papua Student Alliance (AMP), the Mataram branch of the Revolutionary Youth Front (FMR) and the Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) held a free speech forum in Mataram, Lombok Island, to commemorate Indonesia's annexation of Papua on May 1, 1963.

The free speech action was held on the main road in front of the Gomong Islamic Centre in West Nusa Tenggara on May 1. Today, exactly 62 years ago, Indonesia illegally annexed the Papuan nation and incorporated it into Indonesia.

Indonesia's occupation of the land of Papua is illegal and began on May 1, 1963 following an agreement between the United States, the United Nations, the Netherlands and Indonesia. They did this because they had interests in Papua so they handed West Papua over to Indonesia without the knowledge of Papuan people.

This transfer of power to Indonesia was carried out by the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA) on May 1, 1963. This move by the UN was to legalise Indonesia's activities in preparing for the Determination of the People's Opinion (Pepera) in 1969.

Unfortunately, Pepera was not implemented according to the international principle of the "Act of Free Choice" and instead involved only 1,026 people who were selected out of the population of 800,000 Papuans at that time.

Therefore in rejecting 62 years since the Indonesian annexation of West Papua and to commemorate International Labour Day, the IMAPA, the AMP, the FMR and the FRI-WP demand:

• End National Strategic Projects (PSN) that take the people's land and destroy Papua's nature
• Stop illegal mining exploitation in Papua
• Stop transmigration to Papua
• Provide decent wages for workers in the land of Papua
• Indonesia's 62-year occupation of West Papua is illegal
• Thoroughly investigate the perpetrators of the torture of Tobias Silak in Yahukimo and three civilians in Puncak regency
• Immediately audit the assets of PT Freeport Indonesia and provide severance pay for PT Freeport workers
• Audit PT Freeport's mining reserves and environmental damage
• Withdraw all organic and non-organic Indonesian Military and Indonesian Police (TNI-Polri) personnel from Papua
• Stop engineering conflicts in Papua
• Immediately open access for foreign and national journalists to Papua
• Investigate, arrest, prosecute and imprison human rights violations during Freeport Indonesia's presence in Papua
• Give the right of self-determination as a democratic solution for the Papuan people
• Revoke the TNI Law, reject the draft Polri Law, reject the broadcasting bill, revoke the Omnibus Law on Job Creation, the Mineral and Coal Mining Law (Minerba) and reject the Draft Criminal Code (RUU KUHP)
• Provide free and decent education for all Papuans
• Stop discrimination against women in the workplace
• Free Palestine
• Nationalise 100 corporations in Indonesia under worker's control
• Thoroughly investigate the torture and extra-judicial killing of Abaral Wandikbo in Yuguru and other such cases in Papua
• Abolish outsourcing systems
• Pass the Draft Indigenous Peoples Law

Notes

May 1, 1963 is commemorated as the date Papua was handed over to Indonesia and referred to by the Indonesian government as "Integration Day". West Papuans call the date "Annexation Day". As part of the New York Agreement signed on August 15, 1962, the Dutch agreed to hand over West New Guinea to a provisional United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA) on October 1, 1962, which then ceded the territory to Indonesia on May 1, 1963. As part of the agreement, it was stipulated that a popular plebiscite would be held in 1969 to determine whether the Papuans would choose to remain in Indonesia or seek self-determination.

[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Mahasiswa Papua di Mataram, 62 Tahun Aneksasi Papua Adalah Ilegal".]

Source: https://suarapapua.com/2025/05/03/mahasiswa-papua-di-mataram-62-tahun-aneksasi-papua-adalah-ilegal/