KK-AMP-JOGYA NEWS RELEASE: FRONT-PEPERA-PB

KK-AMP-JOGYA NEWS RELEASE: FRONT-PEPERA-PB

The Congressmen’s request comes in response to a petition letter they sent to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on March 14, 2005 in which they requested his support in conducting a review of the 1969 Act of No Choice in which 1,025 Papuan elders were coerced and manipulated into voting unanimously on behalf of 80,000 Papuans to become a part of Indonesia rather than an independent nation. Although the UN sanctioned the 1969 Act of No Choice, the Act is generally regarded in the international community as a fraudulent tactic that was used by former President Suharto and his military regime to claim control of West Papua, a territory rich in natural resources including gold, silver, copper, oil and gas. In fact, recently declassified US documents show that the Indonesia government knew that allowing an open referendum would lead to West Papuan independence.