West Papua is the western half of the island of New Guinea. As part of the Indonesian Archipelago, West Papua was colonized by the Netherlands in 1898. But when Indonesia announced its independence, West Papua remained under Dutch control. Throughout the 1950s the Dutch prepared West-Papua to become an independent state, acknowledging great ethnic, geographic, and cultural differences to Indonesia. At a congress held in 1961 West Papua declared to be an independent state with their own national flag, the Morning Star. Unfortunately, not soon after, Indonesia claimed all the territories that were formerly under colonial rule to be part of the newly independent Indonesia. This was the beginning of a military invasion in West Papua. In the midst of the Cold War, the conflict garnered international awareness as Indonesia sought help from the Soviet Union in support of their invasion of West Papua. This led to the New York Agreement, a meeting between the Indonesian and Dutch governments, organized by the United States, who had great concerns that Indonesia’s cooperation with the Soviet Union would further the spread of communism throughout the southeast Asian region. The Agreement of 1962 shifted control over West Papua to the United Nations, who one year later passed it to the Indonesian government. Throughout this entire process, West Papua was not once consulted.

The UN did however promise them the right to self determination. The so-called Act of Free Choice was held in a supposedly fair and free election in 1969, but it is considered by many to have been rigged by the Indonesian government. Indonesian military hand-picked 1,026 representatives, who were then bribed or threatened with death if they voted the ‘wrong way’. Although resistance to Indonesian rule was wide-spread, in the following seven years after the New York Agreement the Indonesian military had imprisoned and killed thousands of West Papuans. Nevertheless, West Papua was declared Indonesian territory as a result of the election. This incident was later renamed the Act of no Choice by West Papuans, who at that time seemed to have lost the last chance to become an independent state.

The Indonesian occupation wasted no time in leaving their mark on the population as well as the environment of West Papua. Reports of systematic murder, rapes, and torture constitute evidence of genocide. Extreme methods were especially notable in terms of resource exploitation, such as the displacement and killing of thousands of Papuans in order to make way for the Freeport mine - now one of the world’s largest gold mines. Beside the innumerable human rights violations, the consequences also included destroying a sacred mountain and poisoning surrounding rivers and waters.

1970 saw the formation of OPM (Free Papua Movement) - an armed guerrilla group fighting against the Indonesian occupation. Nearly forty years later, in 1998 a turning point for Indonesia suddenly represented a new possibility for West Papua’s independence. The fall of the Indonesian military dictator, General Suharto, opened up a new space for review of the political situation. In a public congress held in 2000, the results of the “Act of Free Choice” of 1969 were revoked and West Papua was once again granted independence. The newly formed Papuan Presidium Council (PDP) was given power. West Papua’s new-found freedom did not last long. The Indonesian military moved in swiftly, killing and arresting hundreds for flag raising and independence rallies. In November 2001 the president of the PDP was assassinated by Indonesian soldiers.

For half a century and still to this very day, West Papuans suffer continuously under Indonesian military forces and constant human rights violations such as imprisonment, murder, public beatings, daily discrimination, land grabbing, and displacement.