Kelly Kwalik (1955 – December 16, 2009) was a senior

separatist Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...

leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...

and

military commander The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

with 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 ...

(OPM), a

organization based in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Papua Province Papua is a province of Indonesia, comprising the northern coast of Western New Guinea together with island groups in Cenderawasih Bay to the west. It roughly follows the borders of Papuan customary region of Tabi Saireri. It is bordered by the ...

Papua conflict

Kwalik, a known separatist, had been on Indonesia's most wanted list for years. Indonesian police had accused Kwalik of being responsible for a series of shooting incidents and attacks targeting the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

company,

Freeport-McMoRan Freeport-McMoRan Inc., often called Freeport, is an American mining company based in the Freeport-McMoRan Center, in Phoenix, Arizona. The company is the world's largest producer of molybdenum, is a major copper producer and operates the world's ...

, which operates large

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

and

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

mines on

. In a 2009 meeting with the police, Kwalik repeatedly denied responsibility for the attacks.

Mapenduma hostage crisis

Kwalik's name gained international attention when on January 8, 1996, he and his militia held 26 members of Lorentz Expedition 95, consisting of both Indonesian and international citizens, which resulted in hostage crisis that lasted 5 months and the deaths of two of the hostages in Operation Mapenduma Hostage Liberation by Indonesian military special forces,

Kopassus The Kopassus ( id, Komando Pasukan Khusus, Special Forces Command) is an Indonesian Army (TNI-AD) special forces group that conducts special operations missions for the Indonesian government, such as direct action, unconventional warfare, sa ...

, led by commander

Prabowo Subianto Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo (born 17 October 1951) is an Indonesian politician, businessman and former army lieutenant general who is the currently-appointed Minister of Defense of the Republic of Indonesia. He is the son of Sumitro Djojoh ...

. This string of events also led to the 1996 Timika shooting incident in 1996 that killed 16 people on

Timika Airport Timika is a chartered city (''kota''), and the capital of Mimika Regency on the southern coast of Central Papua, Indonesia. At the 2020 Census, the district which includes the town (it remains administratively within the Regency, rather than having ...

Death

On December 16, 2009, Kwalik was shot in a police raid on one of his hideouts in the Gorong-Gorong neighborhood of

Timika Timika is a chartered city (''kota''), and the capital of Mimika Regency on the southern coast of Central Papua, Indonesia. At the 2020 Census, the district which includes the town (it remains administratively within the Regency, rather than havin ...

. Police claimed Kwalik was armed when he was shot while trying to flee. Kwalik died at a hospital in Timika. Kwalik's body was laid in state at the Mimika Legislative Council building. His coffin was draped in a

Morning Star flag The Morning Star flag ( id, Bendera Bintang Kejora, nl, Morgenstervlag) was a flag used in a supplemental fashion on Netherlands New Guinea to the flag of the Netherlands. It was first raised on 1 December 1961 prior to the territory coming un ...

but police rejected a request by Kwalik's family and supporters to fly the banned flag at his funeral. Kwalik's

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

funeral

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

was officiated by Bishop

John Philip Saklil John Philip Saklil (20 March 1960 – 3 August 2019) was an Indonesian prelate of the Catholic Church who was Bishop of Timika from 2004 until his death in 2019. Saklil was born in Kokonao, Netherlands New Guinea to Moluccan transmigrant parent ...

of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Timika The Roman Catholic Diocese of Timika ( la, Timikaën(sis)) is a diocese located in the civil districts of Biak-Numfor, Yapen- Waropen, Nabire, Paniai, Puncak Jaya, and Mimika in the ecclesiastical province of Merauke in Indonesia. History * De ...

. He was buried in Timika. Following Kwalik's death, the Free Papua Movement (OPM) in January 2010 appointed Jeck Kemong as the new Supreme Commander of its military wing, 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) and regional commander of Nemangkawi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwalik, Kelly 2009 deaths Indonesian rebels Western New Guinea West Papuan independence activists 1955 births People shot dead by law enforcement officers in Indonesia