The National Committee for West Papua's regional chapter in the troubled Highland Papua province is hoping the United Nations head's recent visit to Indonesia has addressed the root causes behind ongoing cultural conflicts which allegedly disrespect the rights of the Indigenous Papuan people.
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres raised the global intergovernmental body's widespread campaign for decolonisation with Jakarta government officials which has hindered political stability in the occupied Papuan ancestral territory for more than six decades.
Multiple West Papuan political advocacy and grassroots organisations — which includes the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, the Free West Papua Campaign and the West Papua National Liberation Army — have unsuccessfully demanded Indonesia permits the UN to scrutinise alleged abuses of human rights on Papuans since 2018.
Awani Wanimbo, head of the West Papua National Committee chapter in Highland Papua, said Mr Guterres's three-day working visit last week should not be viewed merely as a "bilateral engagement" between the UN and Indonesia's government.
"Efforts to protect and uphold human rights do not, in themselves, resolve the question of West Papua's political status or its right to self-determination," he said.
Mr Wanimbo also said efforts to address root causes of the reverberating West Papua conflict through development assistance, security dialogue, or improved bilateral relations without addressing the underlying political issues extending to sovereignty, would risk allowing such conflicts to escalate.
The committee asked for West Papuan decolonisation and self-determination to be addressed more comprehensively for the protection of Indigenous people and international human rights obligations, and for the UN secretary-general not to rely on explanations from the Indonesian government under President Prabowo Subianto's reign.
They argued the list of Indigenous Papuan communities should include the survivors of violence, internally-displaced people, victims' families, human rights defenders, church leaders and representatives of Papuan civil society to share their experiences, aspirations and perspectives with UN observers.
"We also urge the UN Human Rights Council and the UN secretary-general to establish credible channels of communication with diverse representatives of the people of West Papua, provide opportunities for victims to share their own testimonies, and support humanitarian access and independent monitoring of human rights violations in Papua," Mr Wanimbo said.
The principle of self-determination is fundamental to international law, reflected in the UN's own charter, article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and an UN general assembly resolution on the granting of independence in this case to the six provinces that form the Western New Guinea side of the Papuan archipelago.
The committee also called on the UN for open international research and dialogue largely based on historical evidence, legal documents and the UN's own relevant principles.
"Development and human rights protection must not be used to close off the discussion of the political aspirations of our Papuan people," Mr Wanimbo said.
Mr Wanimbo also stressed international attention should go beyond acknowledging problems exist in West Papua, to creating a path towards respecting Indigenous rights of the Papuan people from Indonesia.
"The United Nations must listen to the voices of the people of West Papua - and human rights must be protected," he said.
"The root causes of the conflict must be discussed in international forums, and the right to self-determination must be given meaningful space in a peaceful and democratic political process."
He added voting in self-determination processes should belong to Indigenous Papuans, rather than non-Papuans living in the territory.
