Prime Minister Peter O'Neill
PO Box 472
Port Moresby, NCD 121
Papua New Guinea
5 October 2012
Dear Prime Minister,
Excellency, I am writing from Abepura Prison in Jayapura on the other side of the
Excellency, security for all my people has been so much worse since our congress in
Excellency, during the 3rd Papuan Congress in October 2011, five thousand registered
Yours sincerely,
Forkorus Yaboisembut, SPd
President, Federated Republic of West Papua
PO Box 472
Port Moresby, NCD 121
Papua New Guinea
5 October 2012
Dear Prime Minister,
Excellency, I am writing from Abepura Prison in Jayapura on the other side of the
border, to wish you well during your term as Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea.
I am writing also to thank you for your demonstration of Melanesian leadership last
week in speaking out about human rights violations in West Papua.
We West Papuans have been intimidated, tortured, raped, killed and incarcerated for
decades, since 1962 to be precise, and our suffering has been ignored by the world,
including by the Melanesian Spearhead Group and Pacific Island Forum. Your words
last week, committing to some responsibility for your brothers and sisters in West
Papua, filled our hearts and we hope will relieve us somewhat of our burden.
October 2011, and safety levels are now so low that I feel obliged to ask you if not
beg you to initiate a United Nations’ fact-finding mission as soon as possible.
As you would know, West Papua was a colony of the Netherlands for sixty-four
years, but was transferred to Indonesia in 1962 by way of a duplicitous treaty
engineered by Australia and the United States. (The New York Agreement was in
fact a Cold War transaction that rode over the intentions of the South Pacific
Commission to develop our independence program). As a consequence of Indonesian
governance, which has been deplorable across all measurable sectors, we Melanesian
West Papuans now constitute 48.73% of the population, down from 96.09% fifty year
ago, with more than half-a-million (546,126) missing.
participants mandated the Federated Republic of West Papua to deliver independence,
and as part of our liberation win back the western border of Melanesia.
I believe Papua New Guinea under your leadership is in a strong position to help
deliver the political change we need if we are to survive. Your voice, as kin and as
neighbour, will be listened to in the Melanesian Spearhead Group, in the Pacific
Islands Forum, the Africa Caribbean Pacific Committee, and also the United Nations.
I sincerely hope Prime Minister that you are willing to take some responsibility for
ending this occupation so that we in West Papua can take our rightful position
alongside the other Melanesia nation-states.
Forkorus Yaboisembut, SPd
President, Federated Republic of West Papua