Benny Wenda

Benny Wenda
Speaking at the launch of IPWP in the Houses of Parliament, London, October 2008
Leader of the Koteka Tribal Assembly, DeMMak, Free West Papua Campaign
Personal details
Born	1975 (age 41–42) Baliem Valley, Papua
Alma mater	Jayapura
Website	www.bennywenda.org

Benny Wenda is a West Papuan independence leader and an international lobbyist for the independence of West Papua from Indonesia. He lives in exile in the United Kingdom. In 2003 he was granted political asylum by the British government following his escape from custody while on trial.

He has acted as special representative of the Papuan people in the British Parliament, United Nations and European Parliament. In 2014 he was appointed as the spokesman for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), a new organisation uniting the three main political organisations struggling for the independence of West Papua.

Wenda was born in 1975 in Pyramid Village in the Baliem Valley, in the central highlands of West Papua. In 1977 there was a rebellion of 15,000 Lani people in response to Indonesian military violence towards Papuans. The Indonesian military retaliated, with aircraft bombing Lani villages in the highlands. Those killed included many of Wenda's family. During the bombing raids, one of Wenda's leg was severely injured leading to impaired growth. Between 1977 and 1983 Benny and his family, along with thousands of other highlanders, lived in hiding in the jungle. He was appointed leader by the elders in his tribe, and later after the Lani people surrendered to the Indonesian military he attended a state university, in Jayapura, studying Sociology.

Wenda became Secretary-General of Demmak (Dewan Musyawarah Masyarakat Koteka), the Koteka Tribal Assembly. Demmak was established by highland tribal elders with the goal of working towards recognition and protection of the customs, values and beliefs of the tribal people of the West Papuan Highlands. It advocates independence from Indonesia, and rejects special autonomy or any other political compromise offered by the Indonesian government. As Secretary-General of Demmak, Wenda represented the council of elders. The organisation supported PDP negotiations with Jakarta to the extent that they represented the aspiration of the Papuan peoples, which they claimed was independence from Indonesia.