Open Letter to Benny Wenda

Dear sir,

For all these years you claimed your struggle is freedom of people of West Papua. You claimed that Papuans are still under colonial power, oppressed, and ruthlessly controlled by Indonesian government. You expressed your anger seeing and witnessing the genocide conducted by Indonesian toward Papuans. Therefore, you will continue your struggle and fight to get rid Indonesian from the land belong to Papuans.

By then, as part of your struggle, you and your group called OPM engaged Indonesian in any way that may serve your goal. The group ambushed and killed fellow Papuans and burning their houses. Even not long ago they butchered innocent civilian workers of road and construction projects and were rationalized as a necessity.

With the help of your supporters, you claimed that Indonesian is illegally colonized Papua. You spread your movement internationally and expecting sympathy from international community for your struggle. And lately you asked all Papuans to boycott the Indonesian election because it’s an election for Indonesian not for Papuans. And you also claimed that appeal to boycott the election has succeeded.

Let check all your claimed one by one, whether your argument that your interest is the welfare of people of Papua is valid or not and can be supported by facts. 

1. You said that Papuan people have been subjected to human rights violations yet there are 191 officials and 56 civilians fell victims to OPM’s crimes since 2009
2. You claimed that Papuan boycotted the 2019 General Election yet Papua has more than 80% turnout voters in 2019 General Election. One of the highest number when compared to other provinces in Indonesia.
3. You said that you’ve handed petition by 1,8 million Papuans to the UN Decolonisation Commission but again it’s confirmed as another lie.

And now let see what the government of Indonesia have been done in Papua

1. 854 schools with more than 157.000 students in 2016
2. At least 30 hospitals and 394 clinics
3. At least 4.330 km of Trans-Papua road has been connected

To compare all these number, objectively, anyone can see that whatever the argument you and OPM try to convey to the world, will fail since almost all of them are baseless and are not supported by facts. It is that your interest is hunger and lust for power just like ant thugs anywhere in the world.

But still, among all arguments that rally interest me most is your keen focus on Papua as a race. Personally, I cannot believe anyone still continue to believe in racism. It is an ideology that is invalid and morally wrong. No one can give any excuse for believing that humanity can be divided into certain category without destroying and degrading humanity themselves.  History has proven that racism only creating hatred, misery in the ugliest and dirtiest form of cruelty and yet you still cling on to it. 

You, Mr. Benny Wenda, as Papuan have experienced how degrading it was being treated the way the European colonial treated people in Papua. And there you are, now you use the same stands as what the European has thought you. Shame on you Mr. Benny Wenda. For your personal gain, you are willing to sacrifice the innocent, whether they are Papuan or fellow human being.