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Benny Wenda in Durban

Benny Wenda in Durban

Date: 2015-02-20

West Papuan independence leader Benny Wenda will be in Durban to address a seminar at the Centre for Civil Society on UKZN campus on Thursday 19 Feb CCS from 12h30 until 2pm - to which the public is invited.

Benny Wenda is representing The Free West Papua Campaign - a lobby group launched in 2004 in Oxford, UK. Wenda is giving public lectures in Cape Town, the Eastern Cape, Gauteng and Durban in February.

Together with West Papuan political prisoner Filep Karma, Wenda was nominated for the2013 Nobel Peace Prize. This is the second year in a row that Wenda has been nominated.

"When I was a child my village was bombed by the Indonesian militaryand many of my family were killed. Later, I began to campaign peacefully to free my country from Indonesian occupation. For this 'crime' I was arrested, tortured and threatened with death. I managed to escape to the UK, where I now live in exile. My people are still suffering. Hundreds of thousands have been killed, raped and tortured. All we want is to live without fear and for West Papua to become a free and independent country," explains Benny Wenda.

His leg was injured by an Indonesian aircraft attack on his village which left him with pain and difficulty walking for the rest of his life. Later, he became leader of the 'Koteka Assembly' and assumed a central role as leader of the peaceful campaign for Papuan independence. In 2002 he was unlawfully arrested and detained in solitary confinement by Indonesian police. During his time detention he was tortured and threatened with death. He managed to escape and sought asylum in the UK, where he now lives with his wife and children. In 2004 Benny Wenda founded the Free West Papua Campaign.

The aim of the campaign is to give the people of West Papua the freedom to choose their own destiny through a fair and transparent referendum. They work with politicians of all parties, and also with other NGOs and campaign groups, both national and international, towards this aim. They have no religious, party-political or corporate affiliations, and are determinedly non-violent. Their funding comes from donations, the sale of merchandise, public fundraising events and occasional grants from charitable foundations.

"The people of West Papua have been denied their basic human rights including the right to self-determination. Their cry for justice has fallen largely on deaf ears. I will keep them in my prayers in their hour of need," says Archbishop Desmond Tutu.