Jayapura – In response to the decision of the government of Papua New Guinea to reject a request by the OPM to open an office in Port Moresby, the Director of Baptist Voice-Papua, Mathius Murib, said that OPM offices have been opened in a number of places around the world, including an office in Oxford, the United Kingdom, as well as in Indonesia.

He said that opening such an office is in line with the right to freedom of expression and the basic principles of human rights. It is their intention to explain their political and ideological viewpoint which is quite legitimate and should under no circumstances be banned. The Mayor of Oxford did not refuse to allow the OPM to open an office there because he fully understands that this is in accord with their basic human rights.

There is no reason for any government to refuse to allow the OPM to set up an office, provided that such an the office does not engage in unlawful activities. He said that the following points should be taken into consideration:

Firstly, nothing will shake the Papuan people in their ideology which will remain for as long as the indigenous Papuan people survive, because there is nothing that can force them to change their ideology and no one can do anything to make them change their minds.

Secondly, it is their intention to transform their ideology into something more concrete by consolidating their organisation and no one can deny them the right to do so.

Murib went on to say that the ideology of a free Papua is a fact of history which cannot be denied. "Please remember that for years they waged a guerilla struggle in the jungle and took their struggle overseas as well. They now feel that it will be more effective for them to wage their struggle by setting up offices in a number of places," said Murib.

As has been previously reported, the Chairman of the Diplomatic Commisariat of the KNPB (National Committee for West Papua) recently announced that the OPM plans to open an office in Port Moresby on 18 June but the government of the neighbouring state has refused to allow them to do so. The decision was conveyed by the Consul of the Republic of Indonesia in Vanimo, Jahar Gultom.

Gultom said: with regard to the intention to open an OPM office in PNG, that the government of PNG acknowledges that Papua is an integral part of the the Republic of Indonesia. and the government respects its relationship with Indonesia. Moreover, the Indonesian ambassador in Port Moresby raised the concern of his government if the PNG government were to permit the OPM to open an office there.

In the third place, the Indonesian government raised its concerns with the PNG government concerning such an office and asked the PNG government not to allow this to happen because this might pose an intolerable threat to stability in PNG. Fourthly, the Secretary-General of the Foreign Affairs Department drew attention to the affinity on this matter between PNG and Indonesia.

And finally, bilateral relations between the PNG and Indonesia are now proceeding very well indeed with co-operation between the two sides being strengthened in a number of fields. Moreover, in the very near future, the Prime Minister of PNG, Piter O'Neill plans to visit Indonesia, together with a very large delegation.

[Translated by TAPOL.]