Benny Wenda

Wenda was born in the Baliem Valley, in the central highlands of Irian Jaya, Indonesia. His date of birth is not exactly known; in his website, he only wrote that he was born in the 1970s.{{Cite web|last=Damarjati|first=Danu|title=Jejak Benny Wenda: Kabur dari Penjara, Diburu Interpol, Hidup di Inggris|url=https://news.detik.com/berita/d-4630184/jejak-benny-wenda-kabur-dari-penjara-diburu-interpol-hidup-di-inggris|access-date=2021-02-26|website=detiknews|language=id-ID}}

In 1977 there was a rebellion of 15,000 Lani people in response to Indonesian military violence towards Papuans. The Indonesian military retaliated, with aircraft bombing Lani villages in the highlands. Those killed included many of Wenda's family. During the bombing raids, one of Wenda's legs was severely injured leading to impaired growth. Between 1977 and 1983 Benny and his family, along with thousands of other highlanders, lived in hiding in the jungle.{{cite web|url=http://www.insideindonesia.org/weekly-articles/a-man-on-a-mission|title=A man on a mission|author=Thushara Dibley|publisher=Insideindonesia.org|access-date=13 December 2014}} He was appointed leader by the elders in his tribe, and later after the Lani people surrendered to the Indonesian military he attended Cenderawasih University in Jayapura, studying Sociology.

Wenda became Secretary-General of Koteka Tribal Assembly (DeMMAK). DeMMAK was established by highland tribal elders with the goal of working towards recognition and protection of the customs, values and beliefs of the tribal people of the West Papuan highlands. It advocates independence from Indonesia, and rejects special autonomy or any other political compromise offered by the Indonesian government. As Secretary-General of Demmak, Wenda represented the council of elders. The organisation supported Papua Presidium Council (PDP) negotiations with Jakarta to the extent that they represented the aspiration of the Papuan peoples, which they claimed was independence from Indonesia.{{cite web|url=http://insideindonesia.org/content/view/1206/47/|title=Inside Indonesia article|date=1 June 2009|publisher=Inside Indonesia|access-date=1 June 2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090607115841/http://insideindonesia.org/content/view/1206/47|archivedate=7 June 2009}}

Wenda was placed on trial in 2002 for allegedly leading a procession of people in an independence rally. The demonstration turned violent, with Indonesian authorities alleging that those present torched two shops and murdered a policeman.{{cite web|url=http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2002/10/31/papuan-separatist-leader-breaks-out-jail.html|title=Papuan separatist leader breaks out of jail|work=The Jakarta Post|access-date=13 December 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141215023432/http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2002/10/31/papuan-separatist-leader-breaks-out-jail.html|archivedate=15 December 2014}} Wenda maintains that his arrest and the charges against him were politically motivated, coming at a time when authorities were clamping down on leaders of the independence movement. This clampdown had led to the assassination a few months earlier of the leading pro-independence figure Theys Eluay.{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1649927.stm | work=BBC News | title=Separatist leader killed in Indonesia | date=11 November 2001}} Media reports state that Wenda was facing a 25-year jail sentence if found guilty. He was also allegedly subjected to death threats whilst being held in custody.

Wenda escaped prison while on trial. Helped by West Papua independence activists he fled across the border to neighbouring Papua New Guinea and was later reunited with his wife Maria at a refugee camp. Several months after this he was helped by a European NGO to travel to the UK where he was granted political asylum.{{cite web|url=http://www.amnestycirencester.org.uk/ainews_files/index.htm|title=Amnestycirencester.org.uk|publisher=Amnestycirencester.org.uk|access-date=13 December 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213215933/http://www.amnestycirencester.org.uk/ainews_files/index.htm|archivedate=13 December 2014}}[http://www.for.org.uk/node/441] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100923032501/http://www.for.org.uk/node/441|date=23 September 2010}}{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/nov/29/worlddispatch.indonesia | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=Masters mind | first=John | last=Aglionby | date=29 November 2005 | access-date=26 April 2010}}

In 2011, the Indonesian Government issued an Interpol red notice seeking Mr Wenda's arrest and extradition. However, after a campaign led by Fair Trials International, in 2012 Interpol removed the red notice after an investigation concluded that the allegations against Mr Wenda were "politically motivated and an abuse of the system" by the Indonesian Government.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19149678|title=UK West Papuan tribal leader removed from Interpol list|work=BBC News|date=6 August 2012|access-date=13 December 2014}}{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatnews/9458223/Benny-Wenda-removed-from-Interpol-wanted-list.html|title=Benny Wenda removed from Interpol 'wanted' list|date=7 August 2012|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=13 December 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.fairtrials.net/press/article/benny-wenda-has-abusive-red-notice-removed|title=Benny Wenda has Abusive Red Notice Removed|publisher=FairTrials.org|access-date=13 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002185323/http://www.fairtrials.net/press/article/benny-wenda-has-abusive-red-notice-removed|archive-date=2 October 2012|url-status=dead}}

Speaking after Interpol had announced it had removed the red notice from its database, Jago Russell, Fair Trials International's chief executive stated "Interpol should be used to fight serious crime but Indonesia has been misusing it to threaten a peaceful political activist". In an interview with UK national The Daily Telegraph newspaper, Mr Wenda stated that he hoped attention would now "shift to the plight of my people in West Papua, who continue to suffer under an Indonesian regime that denies them almost every basic right that people in the West take for granted."

After arriving in the United Kingdom, Benny became the leading spokesperson for the Free West Papua Campaign, which was founded in 2004 by a group of pro-Papuan activists in Oxford. The campaign's stated aims are to spread awareness of the human rights situation and independence aspirations of the people of West Papua, through lobbying governments and developing support throughout civil society. The Free West Papua Campaign movement in the UK has grown to include permanent student groups at British universities and regional groups, as well as permanent offices in Oxford, the Hague and Port Moresby.

In February 2013 Wenda undertook a 'Freedom Tour' to the US, New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu, with the aim of raising awareness of the self-determination issue.{{cite web|url=http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/10295313.West_Papua_campaigner_vows_not_to_be_silenced/|date=1 June 2009|work=Oxford Mail|access-date=1 June 2009|title=West Papua campaigner vows not to be silenced}} He was blocked from holding a speech at New Zealand national parliament. Opposition parties accused the government of not wanting to upset the Indonesian Government, an important trading partner. Politicians of the Greens, Labour and Mana said the decision went "against the spirit of Parliament".{{cite web | url=https://www.3news.co.nz/West-Papuan-freedom-fighter-blocked-from-Parliament---Greens/tabid/1607/articleID/286131/Default.aspx | title=West Papuan freedom fighter blocked from Parliament | publisher=3news.co.nz | date=8 February 2013 | access-date=8 February 2013 | author=Brook Sabin | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130223094409/http://www.3news.co.nz/West-Papuan-freedom-fighter-blocked-from-Parliament---Greens/tabid/1607/articleID/286131/Default.aspx | archive-date=23 February 2013 | url-status=dead }}

In April 2013, Wenda was joined by Mohammed Abassi, the Lord Mayor of Oxford and local MP Andrew Smith for the opening of a new headquarters for the Free West Papua Campaign.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-22431636|title=BBC News |date=8 May 2013|access-date=8 May 2013}} The opening provoked an angry response from the Indonesian Government, with the British Ambassador to Indonesia being summoned to explain why the UK had allowed the office to open.{{cite web|url=http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/349004/indonesian-government-condemns-uk-counterpart-for-allowing-free-west-papua-campaign-to-set-up-english-office|title= Bangkok Post - Breaking News, Thailand News, World News and Videos|date=1 May 2013|work=Bangkok Post|access-date=1 June 2009}}

In May 2013, Wenda spoke at the Sydney Opera House as part of the TEDx series, getting a standing ovation in front of the audience of 2,500 people.{{cite web|url=http://tedxsydney.com/site/item.cfm?item=C4E1C91AC290F6C97BDFBC82FA3865DE|title=TEDx|date=8 May 2013|publisher=TEDx|access-date=8 May 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130811005523/http://tedxsydney.com/site/item.cfm?item=C4E1C91AC290F6C97BDFBC82FA3865DE|archivedate=11 August 2013}} His appearance again provoked an angry response from the Indonesian authorities, with them launching an official complaint with the Australian government within hours of him taking the stage.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/indonesia/10116964/A-one-man-campaign-against-Indonesia-from-a-small-attic-office-could-cost-Britain-billions.html|title=A one-man campaign against Indonesia from a small attic office could cost Britain billions|date=8 May 2013|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=8 May 2013}}

File:International Parliamentarians for West Papua launch.png, 2008]]

With British MP Andrew Smith and Lords peer Richard Harries, Benny Wenda is a founding member of the International Parliamentarians for West Papua. This cross-parliamentary group was launched at the Houses of Parliament in London in October 2008, and was attended by British parliamentarians including Lembit Öpik and Baron Avebury, as well as politicians from Papua New Guinea, Australia and Vanuatu.{{cite web|url=http://www.ipwp.org|title=IPWP press release|date=5 January 2009|publisher=IPWP|access-date=18 January 2009}}

The group is actively developing support from politicians around the world, and its overall aim is to assert enough political pressure on the United Nations to implement a re-run of the Act of Free Choice. As well as the UK launch, IPWP has also had launch events in the European Parliament, Scottish Parliament and also Papua New Guinea.

In April 2009, Benny Wenda launched the International Lawyers for West Papua. The launch saw a series of high level meetings held by international lawyers in Guyana in South America. The aim of this group is to develop a framework within the international legal community towards outlining the legal basis for West Papuan self-determination, and the "illegality" of the Indonesian "occupation of West Papua".{{cite web|url=http://ilwp.org/pages/documents.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120711082704/http://ilwp.org/pages/documents.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 July 2012|title=ILWP supporting documents|date=1 April 2009|publisher=ILWP|access-date=4 April 2009}}

The launch of International Lawyers for West Papua coincided with Guyana stating their support for West Papuan independence.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/caribbean/news/story/2009/04/090403_nib2115.shtml |title=BBC Caribbean news article|date=4 April 2009|publisher=BBC|access-date=4 April 2009}}

Benny Wenda has been nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize.{{cite web|url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/256312/w-papua%27s-wenda-up-for-nobel-peace-prize |title=West Papua's Wenda up for Nobel Peace Prize |publisher=Radio New Zealand |date=October 2014|access-date=1 October 2014}}

In 2019 he was awarded the Freedom of Oxford by Oxford City Council in the UK. Lord Mayor of Oxford Craig Simmons said the accolade was "well-deserved" and Mr Wenda was "contributing so much both locally and on the international stage".{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-49009326 |title=West Papua leader receives Freedom of Oxford |work=BBC News |date=17 July 2019|access-date=17 July 2019}}

Benny and his wife Maria perform traditional West Papuan music as The Lani Singers. In 2008 they released their debut album. Entitled Ninalik Ndawi (Freedom Song), it received reviews in national newspapers including The Guardian and The Observer, and music magazines fRoots, Songlines and The Wire. The group undertook interviews and live sessions on World Routes on BBC Radio 3 and A World in London on BBC Radio London.{{cite web|url=http://bbc.co.uk/radio3|title=BBC Radio 3 World Routes article|date=5 January 2009|publisher=BBC Radio 3|access-date=18 January 2009}} They have also performed at Musicport Festival, Glastonbury Festival and the Thames Festival in London.

Benny and Maria met while studying in West Papua, and have been married since 1999. Since being granted political asylum by the British Government they have lived in Oxford with their children.

A feature-length documentary about Benny Wenda, The Road to Home, was released in 2015. It was awarded the 'Best Documentary' award at the 2016 Amsterdam Film Festival.

A feature-length documentary called Please Pray for West Papua, featuring an interview with Benny Wenda, was released in 2020 and was official selection at the Lift Off Global Network film festivals in Toronto 2021 and Manchester 2022.

• List of people granted political asylum
• Papua conflict

{{Reflist}}

{{sisterlinks|d=Q2562259|b=no|s=no|v=no|voy=no|species=no|mw=no|m=no|n=no|commons=Category:Benny Wenda|wikt=no}}

• [http://www.bennywenda.org Benny Wenda's website]
• [https://www.twitter.com/bennywenda Benny Wenda's Twitter]
• [http://www.freewestpapua.org Free West Papua Campaign]
• [https://www.youtube.com/user/BennyWenda?feature=watch Benny Wenda's Youtube Channel]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wenda, Benny}}

Category:1975 births

Category:Living people

Category:People from Highland Papua

Category:Papuan people

Category:West Papuan independence activists

Category:Indonesian exiles

Category:Indonesian expatriates in the United Kingdom