430:, men who were selected for the vote were coerced into voting against independence with threats of violence against their persons and their families. Lunn also claims that outside the assembly, Papuan youths protesting the vote were thrown into army trucks and driven away, and that he, as the only foreign journalist, was threatened at gunpoint for taking photos of the demonstration. The men and women who voted were instructed beforehand by the Indonesian military's Special Operations Section exactly what to say during the plebiscite, and unsurprisingly reproduced nearly the exact same opinions with the exact same wording — that the Papuans had considered themselves Indonesian since 1945, and were to be one people with the Indonesians under the Indonesian flag. Despite this, Ortiz-Sanz's UN team in 1969 estimated that 95% of the Papuans supported independence. A British journalist who visited the region in an early 1968 visit claimed that he spoke to 300-400 West Papuans, and none of them supported a merger with Indonesia, noting that the Papuans seemed to loathe the Indonesians. Contemporary
20:
495:
434:
showed
American diplomats suspecting that Indonesia could not have won a fair vote, and also suspecting that the vote was not implemented freely, but the diplomats saw the event as a "foregone conclusion" and "marginal to U.S. interests". Ortiz-Sanz wrote in his report that "an act of free choice has
272:
d. The eligibility of all adults, male and female, not foreign nationals to participate in the act of self-determination to be carried out in accordance with international practice, who are resident at the time of the signing of the present
Agreement, including those residents who departed after 1945
283:
Under
Article 17 of the New York Agreement, the plebiscite was not to occur until one year after the arrival of U.N. representative Fernando Ortiz-Sanz (the Bolivian ambassador to the United Nations) in the territory on 22 August 1968. Ortiz-Sanz and his team had to rely on the Indonesian government
239:
to appoint a
Representative who" ... "will carry out Secretary-General's responsibilities to advise, assist, and participate in arrangements which are the responsibility of Indonesia for the act of free choice. The Secretary-General will, at the proper time, appoint the United Nations Representative
410:
instead selected 1,022 Melanesian men and women out of an estimated population of 800,000 as the
Western New Guinea representatives for the vote, which was conducted across eight regencies over three weeks. Electors were asked to vote by raising their hands or reading from prepared scripts, in a
240:
in order that he and his staff may assume their duties in the territory one year prior to the self-determination." ... "The United
Nations Representative and his staff will have the same freedom of movement as provided for the personnel referred to in Article XVI".
252:
Indonesia will make arrangements, with the assistance and participation of the United
Nations Representative and his staff, to give the people of the territory, the opportunity to exercise freedom of choice. Such arrangements will include:
219:" as referred to and described in United Nations General Assembly resolutions 1514 and 1541 (XV) respectively. The event is sometimes disparagingly referred to as the "Act of No Choice" because of its controversial process.
284:
for housing, resources and transport around the region, and Ortiz-Sanz noted that they were "followed everywhere" by
Indonesian officials in a way that restrained them from talking with the local Papuans.
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to review the United
Nations' role in the vote and the validity of the Act of Free Choice. The Indonesian government's position is that the United Nations' noting of the results validates it.
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455:
The Act of Free Choice has sometimes been criticized as the "act of no choice", and many independence activists continuously protest for a fresh referendum for every single Papuan. After the
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c. Formulations of the questions in such a way as to permit the inhabitants to decide (a) whether they wish to remain with
Indonesia; or (b) whether they wish to sever ties with Indonesia.
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taken place in accordance with Indonesian practice”, but not confirming that it was in accordance with international practice as the Act of Free Choice had required.
56:
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645:
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The New York Agreement specified that all men and women in Papua who were not foreign nationals had the right to vote in the Act. General
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b. The determination of the actual date of the exercise of free choice within the period established by the present Agreement.
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919:"Sejarah Hari Ini (17 September 1969) - Tugu Pepera di Merauke, Monumen Peringatan Irian Barat Menyatu dengan NKRI"
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Een Daad van Vrije Keuze: De Papoea's van Westelijke Nieuw-Guinea en de grenzen van het zelfbeschikkingsrecht.
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and who returned to the territory to resume residence after the termination of the Netherlands administration.
192:) was a controversial plebiscite held between 14 July and 2 August 1969 in which 1,025 people selected by the
646:"West Papua petition: Australia made a human rights promise that's about to be tested – ABC News (Australia)"
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715:"UN Involvement with the Act of Self Determination in West Irian (Indonesian West New Guinea) 1968 to 1969"
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which work to provide West Papuans with self-determination and full independence from Indonesian rule.
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The United Nations and the Indonesian Takeover of West Papua, 1962–1969: Anatomy of a Betrayal
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resolution 2504 (XXIV) without giving an opinion whether it complied with the authorizing
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A new referendum is supported by many organisations including the indigenous
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Penentuan Pendapat Rakyat, PEPERA, Determination of the People‘s Opinion
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A Pepera monument in Jayapura, in front of Mal Jayapura shopping center
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668:"West Papua and the International History of Decolonization, 1961-69"
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The United Nations took note of the results with General Assembly
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827:"Indonesia's 1969 Takeover of West Papua Not by "Free Choice""
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Monuments commemorating the event are built in Jayapura,
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The referendum and its conduct had been specified in the
893:"Monumen Tugu Pepera, Bergabungnya Papua dalam NKRI"
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419:and unanimously in favour of Indonesian control.
795:"West Papua's 'Act of Free Choice' – 45 years on"
207:The event was mentioned by the United Nations in
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863:"The Act of Free Choice: a retrospective look"
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725:. Cornell Modern Indonesia Project: 71–92.
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625:. Free West Papua Campaign. August 2, 2017
459:in 1998, human rights activist Archbishop
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801:. The Resurgence Trust. March 7, 2014
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623:"48 years since the Act of No Choice"
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16:1969 referendum in Western New Guinea
861:Hidayat, Mochamad S. (Summer 2003).
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558:Uitgeverij Boom, Amsterdam, 2005.
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825:Simpson, Brad, ed. (2004-07-09).
672:The International History Review
917:Indrajaya, Dimas Wahyu (2020).
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200:voted unanimously in favor of
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955:History of Western New Guinea
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592:"Breaking Free From Betrayal"
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891:Guswardhani, Shinta (2019).
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235:"Indonesia will invite the
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980:Controversies in Indonesia
774:West Papua Information Kit
666:Kluge, Emma (2 Dec 2019).
644:Clarke, Tom (2017-10-09).
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134:Operation Nemangkawi, 2018
831:National Security Archive
480:Free Papua Movement (OPM)
465:European parliamentarians
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970:Referendums in Indonesia
923:Good News from Indonesia
880:Free West Papua Campaign
539:by John Saltford (2002)
484:Free West Papua Campaign
84:Act of Free Choice, 1969
965:Sovereignty referendums
554:Drooglever, Pieter J.:
520:West New Guinea dispute
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463:and some American and
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770:"Act of Free Choice"
596:New Internationalist
451:Demands for a revote
426:, a journalist from
296:Number of Electors
194:Indonesian military
598:. November 5, 1999
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229:New York Agreement
217:self-determination
213:New York Agreement
198:Western New Guinea
182:Act of Free Choice
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29:Western New Guinea
432:diplomatic cables
408:Sarwo Edhi Wibowo
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257:a. Consultation (
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648:. Abc.net.au
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159:Timika, 2022
124:Mimika, 2017
119:Paniai, 2014
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960:1969 in law
508:South Papua
169:Nduga, 2023
149:Beoga, 2022
129:Nduga, 2018
79:Arfai, 1965
944:Categories
841:2010-12-28
740:1813/54197
652:2018-04-14
575:References
549:pdf 3.4 MB
482:, and the
473:Kofi Annan
471:Secretary
467:requested
260:musyawarah
223:Background
202:Indonesian
186:Indonesian
104:Biak, 1998
27:including
719:Indonesia
490:Monuments
446:Aftermath
424:Hugh Lunn
396:Djajapura
370:Manokwari
293:Location
204:control.
25:Indonesia
928:29 March
902:29 March
897:antvklik
867:New York
835:Archived
805:April 4,
779:April 4,
745:Archived
629:April 4,
602:April 4,
514:See also
417:publicly
751:4 April
689:4 April
568:Summary
428:Reuters
344:Fak-Fak
305:Merauke
279:Process
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318:Wamena
504:Papua
290:Date
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807:2019
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753:2024
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631:2019
604:2019
560:ISBN
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