Benny Wenda

Benny Wenda is a West Papuan independence leader and Chairman of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP). He is an international lobbyist for the independence of West Papua from Indonesia. He lives in exile in the United Kingdom. In 2003 he was granted political asylum by the British government following his escape from custody while on trial.

He has acted as special representative of the Papuan people in the British Parliament, United Nations and European Parliament. In 2017 he was appointed as the chairman for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), a new organisation uniting the three main political organisations struggling for the independence of West Papua.

In 2020, the ULMWP announced a new constitution and government-in-waiting for the Republic of West Papua, with Wenda serving as interim president. His presidency was disputed by some elements of the West Papua National Liberation Army (Indonesian: Tentara Pembebasan Nasional Papua Barat), claiming his stay in the United Kingdom making his presidency illegitimate.

Early life

Wenda was born in the Baliem Valley, in the central highlands of Irian Jaya, Indonesia. His date of birth is not exactly known; in his website, he only wrote that he was born in 1970s.

In 1977 there was a rebellion of 15,000 Lani people in response to Indonesian military violence towards Papuans. The Indonesian military retaliated, with aircraft bombing Lani villages in the highlands. Those killed included many of Wenda's family. During the bombing raids, one of Wenda's legs was severely injured leading to impaired growth. Between 1977 and 1983 Benny and his family, along with thousands of other highlanders, lived in hiding in the jungle. He was appointed leader by the elders in his tribe, and later after the Lani people surrendered to the Indonesian military he attended Cenderawasih University in Jayapura, studying Sociology.

Political leadership

Wenda became Secretary-General of Koteka Tribal Assembly (DeMMAK). DeMMAK was established by highland tribal elders with the goal of working towards recognition and protection of the customs, values and beliefs of the tribal people of the West Papuan highlands. It advocates independence from Indonesia, and rejects special autonomy or any other political compromise offered by the Indonesian government. As Secretary-General of Demmak, Wenda represented the council of elders. The organisation supported Papua Presidium Council (PDP) negotiations with Jakarta to the extent that they represented the aspiration of the Papuan peoples, which they claimed was independence from Indonesia.

Imprisonment

Wenda was placed on trial in 2002 for allegedly leading a procession of people in an independence rally. The demonstration turned violent, with Indonesian authorities alleging that those present torched two shops and murdered a policeman. Wenda maintains that his arrest and the charges against him were politically motivated, coming at a time when authorities were clamping down on leaders of the independence movement. This clampdown had led to the assassination a few months earlier of the leading pro-independence figure Theys Eluay. Media reports state that Wenda was facing a 25-year jail sentence if found guilty. He was also allegedly subjected to death threats whilst being held in custody.

Wenda escaped prison while on trial. Helped by West Papua independence activists he fled across the border to neighbouring Papua New Guinea and was later reunited with his wife Maria at a refugee camp. Several months after this he was helped by a European NGO to travel to the UK where he was granted political asylum.

Interpol

In 2011, the Indonesian Government issued an Interpol red notice seeking Mr Wenda's arrest and extradition. However, after a campaign led by Fair Trials International, in 2012 Interpol removed the red notice after an investigation concluded that the allegations against Mr Wenda were "politically motivated and an abuse of the system" by the Indonesian Government.

Speaking after Interpol had announced it had removed the red notice from its database, Jago Russell, Fair Trials International's chief executive stated "Interpol should be used to fight serious crime but Indonesia has been misusing it to threaten a peaceful political activist". In an interview with UK national ''The Daily Telegraph'' newspaper, Mr Wenda stated that he hoped attention would now "shift to the plight of my people in West Papua, who continue to suffer under an Indonesian regime that denies them almost every basic right that people in the West take for granted."

Free West Papua Campaign

After arriving in the United Kingdom, Benny became the leading spokesperson for the Free West Papua Campaign, which was founded in 2004 by a group of pro-Papuan activists in Oxford. The campaign's stated aims are to spread awareness of the human rights situation and independence aspirations of the people of West Papua, through lobbying governments and developing support throughout civil society

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