The New York Agreement

The October 2012 issue of the West Papua Report had a perspective article on the 50th anniversary of the August 15 signing of the "New York Agreement," a watershed agreement, undertaken without Papuan participation, which sealed the Papuan people's fate as subject to annexation by Indonesia. Read the article here.

Papuans protest at U.S. embassy in Jakarta, August 15,2012 on 50th anniversary of signing New York Agreement. Photo from UCANews.

An excerpt: "The New York Agreement made provision for the Papuans to vote for an independent future or to stay under Indonesian rule. The provision for the Papuans to vote was a crucial aspect of negotiations in the agreement which stipulated the vote should be "the freely expressed will of the population", but it was not. Leading up to the "Act of Free Choice" in 1969, many prominent Papuans were arrested and killed in the process of "culling", and this policy remains unchanged even today."