25/05/2026
NIEUW GUINEA RAAD
PRESS RELEASE
THE PAPUAN PEOPLE DEMAND UN SECURITY COUNCIL INTERVENTION TO END THE HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCY AND INDONESIA'S ILLEGAL OCCUPATION OF WEST PAPUA
The Papuan people are a Melanesian nation that has inhabited the Land of Papua for tens of thousands of years, with an identity, culture, language, and customary system entirely distinct from the Malay peoples of the Nusantara archipelago. Historically, the territory of Western New Guinea (West Papua) was administered by the Netherlands as a separate entity from the Dutch East Indies and never formed part of the territory proclaimed by the Republic of Indonesia on 17 August 1945. Indonesia's proclamation covered only those territories of the former Dutch East Indies that had been transferred, and West Papua was explicitly excluded from that process.
On 1 December 1961, the Nieuw Guinea Raad a legislative body established lawfully under Dutch and United Nations supervision proclaimed the independence of West Papua. The Morning Star flag was raised, the national anthem *Hai Tanahku Papua* was sung, and the name of the West Papuan nation was formally announced to the world. This Declaration rests on firm foundations in international law and fulfills the principle of self-determination as enshrined in the UN Charter, UN General Assembly Resolution 1514(XV) on the granting of independence to colonial peoples, and Resolution 1541(XV) governing mechanisms of self-determination.
Through the New York Agreement of 1962, signed between the Netherlands and Indonesia under pressure from the United States in the context of the Cold War, the administration of West Papua was transferred to UNTEA (United Nations Temporary Executive Authority) and subsequently handed to Indonesia on 1 May 1963. The Papuan people were not party to this agreement and never gave their consent. This constitutes a manifest violation of the international legal principle pacta tertiis nec nocent nec prosunt, that a treaty cannot bind a third party that was not present.
The height of this betrayal came with the so-called Act of Free Choice (Penentuan Pendapat Rakyat / PEPERA) of 1969, which the international community itself acknowledged to be fundamentally flawed. Only 1,025 individuals hand-picked by the Indonesian government from a pop**ation of more than 800,000 were made to vote for integration with Indonesia. The process was conducted under military threat, without adequate independent oversight, and in violation of UN Resolution 2504 (XXIV), which required a genuine 'one man one vote' process. Bolivia's former Ambassador to the United Nations, Ortiz Sanz, serving as the UN Secretary-General's representative during the process, formally recorded in his report that the process 'did not reflect the free will of the Papuan people.'
Since 1963 to this day, the Papuan people have endured systematically documented suffering. According to reports from international human rights organizations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and United Nations bodies, West Papua has witnessed:
(1). Mass killings — it is estimated that more than 500,000 Papuan lives have been lost as a result of military violence since 1963, making this one of the most severe humanitarian tragedies ignored by the world.
(2). Forced displacement and the destruction of indigenous villages by military operations that continue to this day, including in the Central Highlands, Meepago, and Lapago regions.
(3). Criminalization of expressions of Papuan identity, including the raising of the Morning Star flag, which is subject to heavy imprisonment under Indonesian law.
(4). Massive exploitation of natural resources without the free, prior, and informed consent of indigenous Papuan peoples and without equitable benefit to them, including the world's largest mining operation on Papuan soil.
(5). Restrictions on access for foreign journalists and international humanitarian organizations, making West Papua one of the most closed territories in the world.
(6). Excessive militarism in civilian areas continuing to the present, with the deployment of military and security forces wholly disproportionate to civilian communities.
The situation in the Land of Papua continues to deteriorate systematically. The massive Indonesian military operations, the use of excessive weaponry in civilian residential areas, and the recurring patterns of human rights violations have compelled the Nieuw Guinea Raad, as the political representative body of the Papuan people, to convene its National Leadership Meeting (Rapat Pimpinan Nasional) on 22–23 May 2026 in Numbay (Jayapura), West Papua. The meeting issued important strategic decisions and reaffirmed the legal, historical, and political position of the Papuan people before the international community. Through intensive deliberation, the NGR National Leadership Meeting formulated the following decisions:
1. Affirms that the Declaration of West Papuan Independence of 1 December 1961 is VALID, FINAL, AND PERMANENT. That Declaration stands upon firm principles of international law and cannot be challenged in perpetuity. The historical, constitutional, and legal legitimacy of the State of West Papua, declared on 1 December 1961, is an inextinguishable reality that cannot be erased by any agreement or unilateral act.
2. Affirms that Indonesia's presence in West Papua is ILLEGAL under international law. The NGR demands that Indonesia immediately acknowledge this historical wrong and withdraw from the Land of West Papua, as all of Indonesia's sovereignty claims over West Papua have no lawful basis and constitute a manifest violation of the Papuan people's right to self-determination.
3. The Papuan people must immediately consolidate together with the Nieuw Guinea Raad to end Indonesia's illegal occupation of West Papua through international legal mechanisms. The NGR, as a legitimate legislative body, is a structured, constitutionally legitimate, and dignified vehicle of struggle.
4. All components of the Papuan nation must immediately convene a National Evaluation of the Papuan Struggle in order to unite their steps in ending Papuan suffering, which has reached a state of extreme emergency. Fragmentation of the struggle can no longer be tolerated — national unity is a historical imperative.
5. The NGR affirms that the Papuan people's struggle does not aim to provoke prolonged conflict or regional destabilization. On the contrary, the NGR proposes a dignified, legal, and universally acceptable framework for resolution, based on proven international legal mechanisms and internationally recognized precedents.
6. The NGR accepts and supports the KNPB decision designating the entire territory of West Papua as a Military and Humanitarian Emergency Zone.
7. Condemns Indonesia's militarism in Papua and demands that Indonesia immediately cease the use of excessive military equipment in civilian residential areas throughout the territory of West Papua.
8. Affirms that the National Liberation War carried out by the National Command of the West Papua National Liberation Army (KOMNAS TPNPB) constitutes a law enforcement measure to protect the dignity, honor, and sovereignty of the people and the Homeland of West Papua.
9. Calls upon all West Papuan diplomats abroad to immediately unite within a single system of international diplomatic struggle, given the increasingly massive military and humanitarian emergency situation in Papua.
10. The NGR firmly calls upon:
a. The United Nations (UN) and the UN Security Council to immediately respond to the designation of West Papua as a Military and Humanitarian Emergency Zone.
b. The Governments of Israel, Australia, Senegal, Ghana, and Timor-Leste to immediately form a Coalition to urge the UN Security Council to act without delay to end the systematic killing of the Papuan people by Indonesia in West Papua.
c. The member states of MSG, PIF, and the African Union to become co-sponsors of an ICJ resolution for justice for the West Papuan people.
d. The leaders of Melanesia, the Pacific, Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and the United States to open their eyes to the political and humanitarian tragedy that has continued for 64 years under Indonesian occupation, and to take concrete action.
e. International media to report objectively and comprehensively on the deteriorating humanitarian situation in West Papua.
This press release is hereby proclaimed to all creatures of God throughout the World.
Port Numbay, West Papua, 25 May 2026
NIEUW GUINEA RAAD
AMINUS BALINGGA
Chairman