A petition has been circulated at the World Council of Churches (WCC) 10th Assembly calling for West Papua to be included on the United Nations list of territories to be decolonised.
Pacific church leaders from 12 countries have signed the petition which also calls on the WCC to send a fact-finding mission to the Indonesian-controlled territory and establish a specific commission to address the issue.
The petition contains a further two demands:
- The end to arbitrary arrests, detention, brutality, torture and abuse by Indonesian security forces of West Papuan people.
- The right of West Papuans to self-determination and their rights to exercise political freedom.
The petition follows an announcement by West Papua churches of their intention to join the Pacific Conference of Churches as a full member after the assembly.
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