West Papua Genocide Explained

In this episode of Decolonial Dispatch, host Mohammed speaks with Benny Wenda, leader of the ULMWP and the Provisional Government of West Papua, to discuss the West Papuan struggle against Indonesian occupation. The conversation begins by contextualising the recent Indonesian protests against the ruling elite as a parallel decolonial struggle against a "dying empire". Benny recounts his harrowing personal history, from witnessing the 1977 massacres and surviving in the bush as a child to the deep-seated racism he faced in the Indonesian education system. They explore the "Papuan Spring" following Suharto's collapse, the assassination of independence leaders like Theys Eluay, and how the new generation has utilised technology to bypass censorship and lose their fear. The episode concludes with Benny's "Green State Vision," the intersection of slow genocide with corporate ecocide, and a direct call for a global boycott of products fuelling the destruction of West Papuan land. Contribute to and/or Explore our Encyclopedia: www.decolonialcentre.org/encyclopedia Follow us for more stories Instagram: @thedecolonialcentre Twitter/X: @decolonialcntr Website: www.decolonialcentre.org Chapters: 00:00 - 01:12 Indonesia’s Dying Empire and the Decolonial Struggle From Below 01:12 - 04:18 A Childhood in the Bush: Witnessing the 1977 Massacres 04:18 - 07:57 Awakening to Racism: The Spitting Incident and Reclaiming Identity 07:57 - 11:57 The Erasure of History and the Educational Apartheid in West Papua 11:57 - 16:01 The 1998 Student Movement and Organizing Under State Terror 16:01 - 19:23 Technology, Global Black Solidarity, and the Fearless Youth 19:23 - 23:28 The Papuan Spring, the 2000 Congress, and the Assassination of Theys Eluay 23:28 - 28:11 Imprisonment, Escape, and the Struggle from Exile 28:11 - 34:31 The "Monkey" Slur and the 2019 Anti-Racist Uprising 34:31 - 37:39 The Green State Vision: Indigenous Sovereignty and Environmental Harmony 37:39 - 42:52 Modern Massacres, Drone Warfare, and the Media Blackout 42:52 - 49:30 Ecocide, Western Corporate Complicity, and the Call for Boycott