The Boycott Indonesia campaign officially launched in London on the 20th March. Speaking at the event were Benny Wenda (ULMWP Interim President), activist Peter Tatchell, Tim Hansen (ULMWP Legal Advisor), David Whyte (Queen Mary University), with music from the Lani Singers.
More than ninety West Papuan tribes, political organisations, religious and political groups have called for a boycott of products implicated in the Indonesian occupation, in the first major West Papuan boycott campaign ever announced.
The boycott campaign has identified a number of target brands that are provably complicit in ecocide in West Papua. The first set of campaign targets, associated with West Papuan palm oil, are Hershey’s, KitKat, Smarties, Aero, Oreo, Ritz, Pantene, and Herbal Essences. All contain palm oil and are made by parent companies who source palm oil directly from West Papua.
The call to boycott Indonesia was initially made in December 2022 by the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC), who urged a targeted boycott until Indonesia allows the long-awaited UN High Commissioner for Human Rights visit to West Papua. Building on this demand, West Papuans have endorsed a boycott until West Papuans are allowed to exercise their right to self-determination.
Twelve West Papuan activists from the West Papua People’s Liberation Movement (GR-PWP) were arrested on the morning of the March 18th for handing out leaflets supporting the boycott campaign. After being arrested in Sentani they were taken to Jayapura police station, before being released thanks to a statement from the International Lawyers for West Papua (ILWP).
Boycott Website: https://greenstatevision.info/boycott-indonesia-background/
Boycott Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/boycottforwestpapua/
Contact: [email protected]
