Escalating Insurgency: An Interview with the Spokesperson of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB)

The decades-long insurgency in the Papuan provinces has been intensifying. The TPNPB has now become a significant security threat for Jakarta. In this interview from late January, Militant Wire speaks (again) to Sebby Sambom, the spokesperson of the TPNPB.

Spokesperson of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), Sebby Sambom

At the end of 2022, you said that the TPNPB will increase its activities and operations in Papua. Looking back at 2023, how would you say that the year was for the TPNPB?

Yes, TPNPB troops have done their best, they have carried out attacks in several areas in Papua, and in 2023 TPNPB troops carried out attacks 204 times. In these 204 attacks, TPNPB troops succeeded and killed 79 Indonesian security forces, including members of the Intelligence Services, and injured 81 Indonesian security forces.

New Zealand citizen Philip Mehrtens is now the longest-serving prisoner in the Free Papua war (The Mapenduma 1996 kidnapping lasted only five months). Has Indonesia or New Zealand talked with you properly to seek his release? What are the current demands by the TPNPB for his release? Would you consider releasing him?

This is a good question, Mr. Uday. And I, as the TPNPB spokesperson, will answer it. Yes, we have faith and good intentions to free the Kiwi pilot. And we carried out this in the initial stages of a high-level meeting with the New Zealand Government delegation on April 5th, 2023 in Port Moresby, but there was no follow-up because the New Zealand Government had no further intention.

We also sent an official letter to the President of Indonesia in Jakarta in May 2023, and it was received by the President of Indonesia Joko Widodo. In this case, after the President of Indonesia received our letter, he agreed to negotiate with us, but then there was no further confirmation.

So we think that the New Zealand Government and the Indonesian Government are both unable to talk with us about freeing the Kiwi Pilot, and they don't understand humanity, because, for the sake of humanity, we have to talk to free the New Zealand pilot.

In this case, we at TPNPB Headquarters Management agreed to release the New Zealand pilot, because he was a pilot from our neighboring country, and most Australians and New Zealanders are supporters of an independent Papua. And we also detained him not as an enemy, but as a friend living with TPNPB troops in the Ndugama region, Papua.

Previously, you mentioned that there was no external or international support for the TPNPB, in terms of funding and weapons. Has that changed in the last year?

This has not changed, we are still fighting in our own way and style, namely seizing weapons from the enemy and also buying limited ones or exchanging them for gold. So we need support, and still hope it will come. We hope that any country can open its eyes and support us.

Last year, Indonesian media said that the TPNPB used village development money for funding. They also claim the TPNPB is extorting these funds. How would you respond? You also mentioned in a Reuters interview that the TPNPB made money from gold and timber.

This is a baseless accusation, we have never received village money, because we are not part of the Indonesian Auxiliary, but we convey the fact that it is the Indonesian Military and Police who use the Papua Special Autonomy money and we also suspect that they use the money afterward. The Indonesian military and police intervened in the villages. And the news on Reuters is true, because we use our natural resources to sell and earn money to buy weapons, and Indonesia's accusations are very untrue.

The TPNPB last year killed indigenous Papuans, like Michelle Kurisi Doga, because she was suspected of being a spy. Will you target more indigenous Papuans who work with Indonesia?

Yes, if they are part of the Indonesian military and police spying. And we did this because the Papuan natives would provide information on the whereabouts of TPNPB troops so that the TNI knew. That is why we had to kill espionage from the Indonesian military and police immediately, and that was natural and valid under the law of the revolution.

The 2024 elections are coming in February. What is the TPNPB’s official stance on these elections?

Yes, we the TPNPB always reject all Indonesian programs in Papua, so we will organize to disrupt the national election of Indonesia.

The TPNPB is getting more weapons, from Indonesian security forces. How would you describe the relationship between Indonesian soldiers who sell weapons to the TPNPB? What other sources of weapons do you have?

The TPNPB buying weapons from individual members of the Indonesian military and police is natural, because they need money and we need weapons, and on the other hand, members of the Indonesian military and police are also human beings who have feelings and feel the suffering of the Papuan people, so indirectly their support for Independent Papua, they sell weapons and ammunition to the TPNPB even though the risks are very high. Therefore, we appreciate and respect the members of the Indonesian military and police who sell weapons to us. And another source is to kill members of the Indonesian Military and Police and then take them away to the TPNPB Headquarters in the forest.

What is your stance towards indigenous Papuans who want independence from Indonesia in a peaceful way? What would you say to them?

We really appreciate all native Papuans who are struggling through peaceful means (non-violent struggle), but we consider this desire to be an empty hope (hopeless). Because Indonesia is ruled by ancient Javanese people, it does not understand the People's Democratic Rights. Therefore, Indonesia will not do it, and the Indonesian government remains stubborn as a rock, so we have to expel Indonesia by force through a massive war. And for indigenous Papuans who want to get Independence in a peaceful way, we consider them to be people who fail to understand, because Papuan independence will not be realized peacefully, but must be through an open war and massive fight.

What are the TPNPB’s aims, goals, and aspirations for 2024?

Our aim is only one, namely to fight with minimal armed force to seize the political rights of independence of the Papuan people which have been seized by the Colonial Government of the Republic of Indonesia through military invasion starting from May 1, 1963. Based on the UN Charter to grant the right to independence to all nations’ colonies throughout the world, then the Dutch Government formed the Government of West Papua, and its State Emdrio was announced on December 1, 1961, but the Colonial Government of the Republic of Indonesia has taken away our rights through military invasion in accordance with the Three People's Commands (Trikora) which were declared by Sukarno in Yogyakarta on December 19th, 1961. Therefore, we will continue to fight until Papua is fully independent.

Do you have any message for whoever is reading this?

We need UN member Countries who are willing to stand with us please support Military logistics and finances, we are serious because we have many resources. We openly ask for war logistics and financial assistance from all UN member countries, so which country will be ready to support us, then that country will be the first friendly country after we gain complete independence from Indonesia's illegal occupation of our ancestral land. Because our country is very rich, and Papua is like a beautiful girl. Therefore, any country that is willing to support us, please immediately come forward to stand with us, so that we can openly start the war and fight against the Indonesian illegal occupation over Papuans’ ancestral lands. And on the war, we will test the capabilities of war between the Indonesian Terrorist Forces, namely the Indonesian military, the police personnel, and the West Papua National Liberation Army.