History

The Free West Papua Campaign was set up in 2004.
Based in Oxford, UK, we are a group of people from human rights, political and environmental backgrounds, a number of whom have spent time in West Papua. We take our leadership from Papuan representatives here in the UK, and in West Papua itself.

Aims

We are a peaceful, public campaign, whose aim is very simple: to give the people of West Papua the freedom to chooose their own destiny - a freedom they have always been denied. We work with politicians of all parties, and also with other NGOs and campaign groups, both national and international, towards this aim.
We have no religious, party-political or corporate affliations, and we are determinedly non-violent. Our funding comes from donations, the sale of merchandise, public fundraising events and occasional small grants from charitable foundations. We are entirely independent, and nobody at the campaign is paid for their work.

Leadership and direction

West Papuan independence leader Benny Wenda provides the political leadership and direction of much of our work. Benny is head of DeMMak, a pan-tribal assembly in West Papua which works peacefully for independence. Benny was forced to flee his homeland after he was arrested, tortured and threatened with death by Indonesian police. He now lives in the UK with his family, representing his people in exile.