Goliath Namaan Tabuni (born 1959 or 1960) is a Papuan guerilla leader who is commander of the

West Papua National Liberation Army The West Papua National Liberation Army ( id, Tentara Pembebasan Nasional Papua Barat; abbreviated TPNPB), commonly known in Indonesia as Armed Criminal Group ( id, Kelompok Kriminal Bersenjata; abbreviated as KKB), is a Western New Guinean ins ...

(TPNPB). Mostly based around

Puncak Jaya Regency Puncak Jaya Regency is one of the regencies (''kabupaten'') in the Indonesian province of Central Papua. It is an inland highland regency,McGibbon, RoddPlural Society in Peril: Migration, Economic Change, and the Papua Conflict ''East–West Cente ...

, his unit is known for launching attacks and ambushes against Indonesian government units.

Biography

Tabuni was born in either 1959 or 1960, originating from the district of Gurage in what is today

. He reportedly joined the

Free Papua Movement "Free Papua Movement" ( id, Organisasi Papua Merdeka, OPM, tpi, Fri Wes Papua Grup) is an umbrella term for the independence movement established during 1965 in the West Papuan or West New Guinea territory which is currently being administrat ...

in the 1980s, after he was beaten up by Indonesian soldiers for a wrongful accusation. In the 1990s, he joined Kelly Kwalik's unit near the

Grasberg mine The Grasberg mine has one of the largest reserves of gold and copper in the world. It is located in Mimika Regency, Central Papua, Indonesia near Puncak Jaya. It is operated by PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI, ''see below''), a joint venture be ...

, before splitting off and returning to Puncak Jaya in 2004, establishing his base in the district of Tingginambut. Since then, Puncak Jaya has been considered "the most violent" region in Papua. Between 2009 and 2015, at least 29 Indonesian police and military members have been killed in Puncak Jaya, due to ambushes by guerilla fighters led by Tabuni. Other TPNPB units in the regencies of

Puncak Puncak or Puncak Pass (Indonesian for "top" or "peak") is a mountain pass in West Java, Indonesia. The pass connects the city of Bogor and Bandung, and is spread within the regencies of Bogor, Cianjur, and Sukabumi. Puncak Pass is located betwee ...

Paniai Paniai Regency is one of the regencies (''kabupaten'') in Central Papua Province of Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists ...

, and

Mimika Mimika Regency is one of the regencies (''kabupaten'') in the Indonesian province of Central Papua. It covers an area of 21,693.51 km2, and had a population of 182,001 at the 2010 Census, but grew to 311,969 at the 2020 Census. The official e ...

operate under Tabuni's command to an extent, although Tabuni's units have also come into conflict with a breakaway faction under Purom Wenda. Partly due to his actions, he was appointed as the Supreme Commander of the

(TPNPB) in 2012 during a

National Committee for West Papua The National Committee for West Papua ( id, Komite Nasional Papua Barat, abbreviated as KNPB) was established on 19 November 2008 by a number of Papuan non-governmental organizations (NGOs). It campaigns peacefully for a self-determination referendu ...

conference in

Biak Biak is an island located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua (province), Papua, an Indonesian province, and is just northwest of New Guinea. Biak is the largest island in its small archipelago, and has many atolls, reefs, and c ...

. Due to his prominence as a guerilla leader, he also became involved in local politics – in 2006, a local politician approached him for support in a regional election against later Papua governor

Lukas Enembe Lukas Enembe (born 27 July 1967) is an Indonesian politician who serves as Governor of Papua Province since April 2013. He had previously served as Regent of Puncak Jaya Regency between 2007 and 2012, and Vice Regent of the same regency from 2 ...

, and in 2009 Tabuni supported

Golkar ) , foundation = , youth = AMPG (Golkar Party Young Force) , women = KPPG (Golkar Party Women's Corps) , newspaper = '' Suara Karya'' (1971–2016) , headquarters = Jakarta , ideology ...

in exchange for his cousin Deerd Tabuni becoming a provincial legislator – and Deerd later even became the legislature's chairman. In March 2015, there were media reports that Tabuni had surrendered to the Indonesian government, retracted shortly afterwards. Later reports claimed that he had retired from guerilla fighting and ran a wood business, a claim denied by a TPNPB spokesperson. Tabuni has publicly announced that he would not support the

United Liberation Movement for West Papua The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) unites the three main political independence movements seeking independence for Western New Guinea (West Papua) from Indonesia under a single umbrella organisation. The ULMWP was formed on 7 ...

(ULMWP). He has also rejected regional autonomy for Papua, calling for full independence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabuni, Goliath 1959 births Living people People from Central Papua Papuan people West Papuan independence activists Indonesian rebels