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7/28/2019 BENNY WENDAS STORY
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BENNY WENDAS STORY
Early life
As a young child in the 1970s, Benny Wendas world was his village in the
remote highlands of West Papua. Life consisted of tending gardens with his
mother among the Lani people who, he says, lived at peace with nature in
the mountains. In 1977 that life changed dramatically.
That year, the military appeared in his village. Now, every morning on the
way to their gardens, Benny and his mother and aunties would be stopped
and checked by Indonesian soldiers. Often the soldiers would force thewomen to wash themselves in the river before brutally raping them in front of
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their children. Many young women, including three of Bennys aunties, died in
the jungle from the trauma and injuries inflicted during these attacks, which
often involved genital mutilation. Every day Papuan women had to report to
the military post to provide food from their gardens, and to clean and cook
for the soldiers. Violence, racism and enforced subservience became part of
daily routine.
Later that year, and in response to military violence towards Papuans, 15,000
Lani people rebelled. In retaliation, Indonesian military aircraft bombed many
Lani villages in the highlands, including Bennys village. Benny remembers an
attack where their huts and crops were burned and many of his family were
killed or injured. Benny too suffered in the attack: his leg was badly injured
and left untreated because his family was forced to flee into hiding in the
jungle, leaving him with one leg significantly shorter than the other and an
awkward limp. More than twenty years later the scars, the pain and the
difficulty in walking remain.
Childhood in the jungle
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Between 1977 and 1983 Benny and his family, along with thousands of other
highlanders, lived in hiding in the jungle. Life was hard. Food and shelter were
scarce, and the weak struggled to survive the harsh conditions. Violence
from the military remained a constant threat. In one particularly harrowing
incident, soldiers happened across Bennys family in the jungle. The soldiers
ripped Bennys two year old cousin from his auntys arms and threw her to the
ground with so much force that the childs back was broken. They then
raped his aunty, forcing Benny to watch. His small cousin died two weeks
after the attack; his aunty sometime later from her own injuries. Benny could
not understand why the Indonesian military was doing this and, still, he had
no knowledge of the context in which this violence took place.
After five years in the jungle, everyone else from his village had succumbed
to the conditions and surrendered to the Indonesians. Only his family
remained in the jungle. To surrender, Papuans had to present themselves to
the local military post carrying an Indonesian flag, which signalled theirloyalty to Indonesia and their willingness to live in the community under
Indonesian rule. When Bennys grandmother died, largely due to conditions in
their jungle hideout, their family decided it was time to surrender for the sake
of the children. Having already lost so many, Bennys grandfather insisted that
the children be taken back, telling his mother that Bennys well -being was
important, so that one day he will know what happened to us and why
and one day he will act.
After his family surrendered, Benny went to school. His education was entirely
about Indonesia. He learned about Indonesias independence from theDutch and celebrated it on the anniversary of 17 August 1945. He learned
about buffalos instead of pigs and of rice paddies instead of the Papuan-
style gardens that he had grown up working in with his family. He was told to
eat rice instead of sweet potato, the staple for Papuans. Indonesian teachers
and students alike called Benny and the other Papuan students stupid,
primitive, and dirty because they ate pork and their parents were
indecent, with the men wearing nothing but the traditional koteka (penis
gourd).
Benny still could not understand why Indonesians treated him this way. He
constantly went to his mother with questions:
Why did I grow up in the jungle? Why am I different to the others? Why do
they call me stupid?
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Benny giving a talk to students in Oxford, 2009
He would ask. His mother refused to answer his questions. One day I will tell
you the whole story, was all she would say. In senior high school Benny was
one of only two Papuan students in the class. The others were children of
Javanese and Sulawesi transmigrants. One day, the teacher directed him tosit next to a Javanese girl. He smiled and respectfully greeted her as he sat
down. She turned, scowled, and spat on him. He wiped her spit from his face,
feeling terrible. Maybe I really do smell, he thought. I disgust her. I must not
be clean enough. That must be why she doesnt like me. Assuming the
problem was his, and desperate to please this girl, Benny went to the shop
after school to buy an extra bar of soap. He washed himself three times over.
The following day, he walked confidently into the class and sat down, smiling
and greeting the girl with respect. But this time she stood up, attracted the
attention of the entire class, and spat on him again. The class laughed.
Finally, it dawned on Benny: this had nothing to do with his cleanliness. This
was racism. Benny stood up, enraged:
You think that because I am black, because I am Papuan, that I am dirty!?! I
have eyes, I have hands I am human just like you! We are both human
and we both deserve to be treated the same. With respect.
Events such as these drove Benny to take on a leadership role in the Papuan
community. His motivation sprang not from politics, but from the desire to
assert and celebrate Papuan identity, and to encourage other Papuans to
do the same. Benny went on to complete a degree in sociology and politics
in Jayapura. While at university, he initiated discussion groups for Papuan
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students in Jayapuraof all ages and from all tribes from both the highlands
and coastal regionsso they could come together and talk about what it
was to be Papuan. Above all, Benny wanted to change the mindset of
Papuan children, children who had been brought up being told they were
primitive, dumb and dirty, to teach them that they should be proud of being
Papuan.
Searching for the truth
But for Benny, questions remained. While he could speak of his own terrible
experiences, he still understood very little of the broader conflict and context
in which his personal sufferingand that of his villagehad taken place.
Frustrated with the lack of information he was provided in school, and his
mothers refusal to answer his questions, he sought out information about
Papuan history. He searched the school library, the public library, the
university library. But he found nothing. Why do we only study Indonesian
history? The history of Java, Sumatra and Bali? Where is the history of Papua?
he asked.
During the 1980s, and even into the early 1990s, there was very little written
history or discussion about the circumstances of Papuas incorporation intoIndonesia or the events that followed. Eventually, through story-telling, Benny
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came to learn how the Dutch had retained control of the province after 1945
and
promised independence. He found out about the declaration of Papuan
sovereignty on 1 December 1961, about the West Papuan flag (the Bintang
Kejora), the national anthem (Hai Tanahku Papua), the Indonesian invasion
and the 1969 Act of Free Choice when a small group of hand -picked
Papuans were intimidated into voting for integration with Indonesia.
Finally he understood the root causes of why the Indonesians treated West
Papuans as they did. Yet at that time, Benny recalls that no one was allowed
even to use the word Papua or West Papua, only Irian Jaya, let alone
discuss publicly Papuan history, culture or identity. Books were censored. But
knowing the historical origins of the oppression was enough. Of the decades
of violence, discrimination and oppression, Benny needed no written record:
he had first hand experience.
Demmak and the Papuan Spring
After the fall of Suharto, the relaxation of military control and the
independence of East Timor in 1999, demonstrations and flag raisings
occurred across Papua, with Papuans demanding their own referendum on
independence. In the period between 1999 and 2000, known as the Papuan
Spring, Jakarta held dialogue with Papuan leaders and the Presidium of the
Papuan Council (PDP) was formed to represent the Papuan nationalist
movement and to negotiate Papuas future.
It was during this period that Benny became leader of Demmak (Dewan
Musyawarah Masyarakat Koteka), the Koteka Tribal Assembly. Demmak was
established by tribal elders with the goal of working towards recognition andprotection of the customs, values and beliefs of the tribal people of West
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Papua. It advocates independence from Indonesia, and rejects special
autonomy or any other political compromise offered by the Indonesian
government. As Secretary-General of Demmak, Benny represented the
council of elders. The organisation supported PDP negotiations with Jakarta
to the extent that they represented the aspiration of the Papuan people,
which was independence from Indonesia.
But when Megawati became President in July 2001 policy on Papua
changed. A compromised version of special autonomy was the only
politically viable option. The Papuan Spring was over and the military
crackdown on known separatists began. In November 2001, Theys Eluay,
leader of the PDP, was assassinated by soldiers. But Benny stood firm to
Demmaks aim: full independence.
Political persecution and escape
Benny in prison during his trial
The political freedom to express aspirations for independence quickly
evaporated. Once again, it became dangerous to support independence.Secret documents later discovered by human rights organisations named
specific organisations and individuals that had to be dealt with, including
the PDP and Demmak. On 6 June 2002 Benny was arrested and detained in
Jayapura. His home was ransacked without a warrant and the police refused
to inform him of the charges brought against him.
He was tortured by police and held in solitary confinement for several
months. Sometime later he was charged with inciting an attack on a police
station and burning two shops in the small township of Abepura on 7
December 2000, which left a policeman and a security guard dead.
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For his political views, Benny was being charged with a crime he did not
commit.
These charges related to the infamous, Abepura incident, in which violent
acts of retaliation by Indonesian police were committed against the Papuan
community, resulting in the arrest of over 100 people, police violence and
torture in detention and the death of at least three students in the days
following. Two police officers were prosecuted for crimes against humanity
before the Human Rights Court in 2005 for these events, but were acquitted.
Benny faced criminal prosecution for the initial attack on the police station,
for inciting acts of violence and arson and was likely to receive up to 25 years
in prison. Yet he was not even in the country at the time the alleged planning
and execution of the attacks took place.
Benny presents information about the campaign to David Cameron in 2007
His trial commenced on 24 September 2002 and lasted for several weeks.
Armed policemen surrounded the courtroom each day, as Bennys many
supporters turned out in a show of support for their leader. Facing the judges
he was stoic and resolute in proclaiming his innocence. To his supporters he
was warm and encouraging, smiling and shaking hands with those who lined
his path between the courtroom and police vehicle.
The trial was flawed from the outset. The prosecutor and judge requested
bribes from Bennys defence team, but were refused. The persons named as
key prosecution witnesses could not be identified and failed to attend court
to be cross examined on their statements. Defence counsel for Benny insisted
that the witness statements be thrown out on the basis they were fabricatedby police to implicate Benny in the attack. But the judge, who appeared
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biased and hostile to Benny throughout the proceedings, accepted the
evidence. It was obvious that Benny would not receive a fair trial.
Rumours were rife that military intelligence would kill him in detention before
the judge rendered a decision
Meanwhile, inside the prison, Benny was physically attacked several times byprison guards. On the advice of his lawyers, he did not eat the food provided
in prison because of the risk of poisoning. Because the evidence against him
in court was so weak, rumours were rife that military intelligence would kill him
in detention before the judge rendered a decision.
Benny pictured meeting US Congressman for American Samoa, Eni
Faleomavaega in Washington D.C.
The court was adjourned pending a decision. Convictionor death
seemed certain. Then, in miraculous circumstances that he does not want to
explain for fear of endangering the persons who helped him, Benny escaped
from Abepura prison on 27 October 2002. The Indonesian police allegedlyissued a shoot to kill order. But aided by West Papua independence activists,
Benny was smuggled across the border to PNG and later assisted by a
European NGO group to travel to the UK where he was granted political
asylum. In 2003, Benny and his wife Maria were reunited in England, where
they now live with their children.
Benny holds a deep and enduring belief that justice will eventually prevail,
and he sees his remarkable escape from persecution in Indonesia as
testament to that fact. He recognises that other freedom fighters, like Arnold
Ap, Theys Eluay and Bill Tabuni, have not been so lucky. But this only
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strengthens his resolve. While my people continue to suffer and continue to
die, nothing will stop my campaign, he says.
Benny pictured with his son after discovering that the Interpol red notice
had been removed
For him, there is only one way to stop the killing, and ensure that Papuans
enjoy the same freedoms that people elsewhere in the world already enjoy:
Papua must be independent. And to that end he continues his campaign.
In 2011, the Indonesian Government issued an International Arrest Warrant for
Bennys arrest through Interpol. This move was widely attacked, as a ploy tosilence Benny and prevent him from travelling overseas to campaign for West
Papua self-determination. Fair Trials International led an appeal to have the
Red Notice removed so that Benny could once again travel freely.
In August 2012, in a landmark case Interpol removed the Red Notice against
Benny, after an investigation concluded that the Indonesian Government
had abused the system in a politically motivated attempt to silence Benny.
Benny Wenda has his own website: The Office of Benny Wenda. The above
text is an extract from this site.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RHRO8sp3HuY#t=0s
http://www.bennywenda.org/http://www.bennywenda.org/http://www.bennywenda.org/http://freewestpapua.org/info/bennys-story/benny-wenda-interpol/http://www.bennywenda.org/