West Papua Exposed: An Abandoned Non-Self-Governing or Trust Territory

Julian McKinlay King, Andrew Johnson

In 1970, the United Nations General Assembly held a special session to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Resolution 1514(XV), Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Countries and Peoples, in order to promote ‘practical action for the speedy liquidation of colonialism in all its forms and manifestations’.

The special session resulted in General Assembly Resolution 2621(XXV), Programme of Action for the Full Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples’, which under Part 2

[r]eaffirms the inherent right of colonial peoples to struggle by all necessary means at their disposal against colonial Powers which suppress their aspiration for freedom and independence.

As recognised by former OPM freedom fighter and scholar, Otto Ondawame, the use of arms and any other available means by the West Papuan people is here stated an ‘inherent right’. The guerrilla warfare, waged by the West Papuan people since 1965, may therefore be considered legitimate under General Assembly Resolution 2621(XXV).
Part 3(2) of Resolution 2621(XXV) states that

‘Member States shall render all necessary moral and material assistance to the peoples of colonial Territories in their struggle to attain freedom and independence’.

Part 3 thus advocates for Members of the United Nations to provide ‘material assistance’ to the people of West Papua — which may include military hardware and intervention — to yet again remove the Indonesian armed forces from an illegally occupied Non-Self-Governing Territory.

Extract from Julian King’s peer reviewed published paper