In 2020 the West Papua Womens' Office in Docklands coordinated the planting of sixty living memorial (trees) around the world to honour the work of UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld on West Papua, and to increase awareness of the facts and the fictions behind Indonesia's claim of sovereignty. Plantings in 2021 include George Ivan Smith (so the 'Hammarskjöld-WestPapua-Ivan Smith Living Memorial'). George Ivan Smith was a remarkable Australian who was a trusted associate and close confident of the Sec-General. In 1982 he revealed to the veteran academic, Greg Poulgrain, the Decolonisation Program which the Sec-General had prepared for West Papua and planned to raise in the 1961 General Assembly. This post includes a 14-page photo-essay about the program and Greg Poulgrain's ground-breaking book ('JFK vs Allen Dulles: Battleground Indonesia') where this important development, which may have precluded the Indonesian occupation, is documented.
Department of Foreign Affairs Immigration and Trade
Jessie’s House of Needles, and West Papua’s Green State
The FRWP Open Day on 14 March 2021 featured journalist John Algate talking about writing 'Jessie's House of Needles', Jessie being a missionary-nurse from Melbourne who worked in the highlands of West Papua for thirty-five years, from 1966 to 2001. The event also included Jacob Rumbiak's introduction of West Papua's Green State; Fiji-Australian author Bernie Goldstein's campaign for one of the contributors to her book (Children of the 12 Tribes) to be released from prison in Jakarta; and Dr Joe Toscano explaining how the West Papua Rent Collective is vital for the ongoing work of the office in Docklands.
Pig, symbol of justice and peace in West Papua
An engaging photograph, a short story, and two fascinating ABC-Radio interviews about the importance of pigs in the religious and social life of the highlanders of West Papua.
Courageous ULMWP upgrades to WP Transitional Government
FRWP Open Day on 6 December 2020 featured interviews with the President and the Prime Minister of the new West Papua Transitional Government, with Australian federal Greens Senator Janet Rice, and with Dr Joe Toscano (West Papua Rent Collective). It included a candle ceremony for Natalie Adadikam (founding member of WP Womens Office in Docklands) and a memorial for recent political martyrs in West Papua; conducted by Rev. Robert Stringer, with presentations by ULMWP Executive Jacob Rumbiak, Catholic Bishop Hilton Deakin, and Mr Clovis Mwamba from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The day concluded with the planting of a Kurrajong Bottle Tree on Melbourne City Council land at 838 Collins Street in remembrance of UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld (1953-61) and his 1961 Decolonisation Program for West Papua.
ULMWP to AUS Foreign Affairs Minister Payne, October 2020
Letter from Jacob Rumbiak (Spokesperson, United Liberation Movement for West Papua) to Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne, which outlines the current situation in West Papua, includes some [devastating] Special Autonomy data, and outlines the rationale for Australia to encourage Indonesia to commence talks with the ULMWP under the auspice of a third party.
Exhibition of WW2 in West Papua, ACU Art Gallery, Dec 2017
On 10 December 2017, the West Papua Womens Office in Docklands launched its exhibition 'World War II in West Papua' at the Australian Catholic University Art Gallery in Brunswick St Fitzroy. The exhibition was part of the Sampari Art Exhibition for West Papua. Former ABC journalist Margaret Coffey compèred an impressive lineup of speakers that included Jacob Rumbiak from the Federal Republic of West Papua, Ross Himona (ret.) from the New Zealand Army, and Lance Collins (ret.) from the Australian Defence Force.
West Papua overview (1940-2020) An activist’s took-kit
This fully referenced photo-essay, of thirty-six (A4) pages in PDF downloadable form, provides an overview of the West Papuan people and their unique environment, their Dutch colonial history-including the devastating impact of World War II and their industrious twelve-year period as a Non-Self-Governing Territory as they worked with Dutch personnel preparing for independence that had been legislated in Holland for 1971. The second half of the presentation documents the deleterious effect of the Indonesian occupation. The final pages outline what West Papuans are doing to liberate themselves from Indonesia, and how the non-Papuans of the world can help.
Natalie Adadikam, a life well lived (26 Dec 1963-28 Sep 2020)
On 5 October 2020, the West Papua Womens Office shared stories and memories of founding-member Natalie Adadikam who died, in her home, on 28 September 2020. Natalie was the heart and soul of the office; a warm and generous muma who made people feel comfortable and cared deeply for those who sought her assistance. Her faith and trust in Jesus, and her commitment to the freedom of West Papua moved and influenced everyone who came in contact with her.
ULMWP begs UN to warn Indonesia against war in Papua; Jokowi warns UNGA about ‘territorial integrity’
The United Liberation Movement for West Papua begs UN to discipline Indonesia against waging more war against Papuans, as Jokowi lectures General Assembly about ‘territorial integrity’
West Papua’s return to the UN: fulfilling Hammarskjöld’s legacy
This webinar is a memorial for UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld and the Decolonisation Program that he prepared for West Papua in 1961. It also explores the UN's 1961 military operation in the new Democratic Republic of Congo. The program for West Papua was designed to prevent Indonesia from taking over the Non-Self-Governing Territory of Netherlands New Guinea and to deliver the West Papuans their right of self-determination. The mission in the Congo was designed to de-escalate the brutal bloody conflict over the new state’s mineral resources. Both were overwhelmed by the extraordinary competition between capitalism and communism commonly known as the Cold War. What was the outcome of the two UN missions? The Secretary-General was killed. The Democratic Republic of Congo nose-dived into an authoritarian state. West Papua, a Melanesian nation and a UN Non-Self-Governing Territory, was illegally transferred to Indonesia, a state on the verge of political and economic collapse.
West Papua honours UN leader at international summit
An international online summit on Sunday 13 September 2020 commemorates the work of Dag Hammarskjöld, UN Secretary-General, 1953-1961—a global champion for the fair treatment of colonised and emerging states. Academics and political leaders based in Europe, the United States, West Papua, the Pacific and Africa will honour Mr Hammarskjöld’s inspiring leadership and work on decolonisation, in particular his work for the emerging state of West Papua, and his principle of ‘a peoples right of sovereignty over their land’.
What is the United Liberation Movement for West Papua?
"United Liberation Movement for West Papua ~ its mission, activities, achievements" was presented by Jacob Rumbiak to the International League of Peoples Struggle Webinar on 28 July 2020.
Tree-memorials for West Papua & UN Sec-General Hammarskjöld
During the Covid 19 lockdowns, the West Papua Womens Office in Docklands launched the Dag Hammarskjöld-West Papua Living Memorial project to recall the Decolonisation Program prepared by UN Secretary-General Hammarskjöld for the Non-Self-Governing Territory of Netherlands-New Guinea (West Papua). The Secretary-General planned to introduce the program to the 1961 UN General Assembly, but was assassinated on 18 September 1961 near the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo where he was mediating post-independence conflict. Without his authoritative and influential presence, members of the General Assembly succumbed to Indonesia's machiavellian advances to incorporate the Non-Self-Governing Territory, and didn't pass the Decolonisation motion. Instead a so-called 'peace treaty' between Indonesia and the Netherlands was drawn up and implemented, which ultimately created an Indonesian colony out of a Melanesian nation.
Dag Hammarskjöld, West Papua, and the United Nations
Since the 2015 publication of Greg Poulgrain's 'The Incubus of Intervention: conflicting Indonesia strategies of John F. Kennedy and Allen Dulles' we have known that UN Sec-General Dag Hammarskjöld was about to introduce a Decolonisation Program in Netherlands New Guinea whereby the West Papuan people would be recognised as the sovereign owners of their land, and UN officers would assist an independent West Papuan government for five years. Hammarskjöld intended to present the program to the 1961 General Assembly. His assassination three days before the Assembly meant the motion was debated without his authoritative and influential presence, and didn't garner two-thirds majority support. The UN’s failure to adopt a policy of self-determination for West Papua opened the way for an American diplomat—appointed by Acting Sec-General U Thant—to mediate an agreement that facilitated Indonesia’s incorporation of West Papua.
What’s going on in West Papua behind COVID-19?
ULMWP Spokesperson Jacob Rumbiak reports on Jakarta's refusal to listen to its governor's COVID warning to halt flights from Jakarta to West Papua, and Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto exacts his appointment-promise to exterminate and extinguish the Papuan independence movement.
- Live Blog: 2023 December 1 West Papua Independence Day protests and commemorations
- Indonesian Police arrest 4, beat & shoot rubber bullets to disperse Mako Tabuni’s assassination commemoration in Jayapura
- HRD Analysis on Oksibil-West Papua Armed Conflict
- HRD Report: Information on Internally Displaced People in West Papua – Oksibil
- Extension of Special Autonomy Law Number 21 of 2001 for West Papua by Indonesian Parliament: A One-sided Policy implementation
- Permintaan mendesak kepada saksi garis depan dan sumber dari WestPapuaMedia untuk memaksimalkan liputan internasional tentang Darurat Kemanusiaan di Ilaga, Intan Jaya dan Nduga
- Families of TNI victims in Ilaga, Puncak call on Indonesia to stop killing them in open video plea