BENNY WENDA’S STORY

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
http://freewestpapua.org/info/bennys-story/benny-wenda-2/


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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/

Documents

BENNY WENDA’S STORY