Jakarta – Hundreds of people rallied Friday in West Papua, calling on the United Nations to put pressure on Jakarta to overturn a 1969 referendum that joined the territory to Indonesia, organisers said.

Rallying during a visit by UN envoy Hina Jilani, demonstrators urged the United Nations to reconsider the vote, in which voters opted to join Indonesia rather than become independent. Many here insist the vote was a sham.

"We urge the United Nations to accept the Papuan people's aspiration to review the Act of Free Choice," as the referendum was known, rally organiser Jek Wanggai told AFP by phone.

"The United Nations must register Papuan areas as colonised zones and organise an immediate referendum vote," Wanggai said.

He said about 900 people took part in the rally in Manokwari, 800 kilometres (500 miles) from the provincial capital Jayapura, where Jilani was meeting with officials on Friday. No figure was immediately available from police.

Papuans have also long accused Indonesia's military of violating human rights in the province and complain that the bulk of earnings from its rich natural resources flow to Jakarta.

The Pakistan-born Jilani was named as the UN envoy on human rights defenders in 2000. She has been meeting with Indonesian officials since arriving on Tuesday.

Wanggai called on her to meet representatives of his movement while in West Papua. "We no longer believe in the corrupt Indonesian justice system and hope an international court will deal with human rights violations in Papua," he said.