{"id":2304,"date":"2026-02-20T17:44:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T17:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/?p=2304"},"modified":"2026-02-20T17:44:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T17:44:07","slug":"papuan-activist-leader-wenda-accuses-jakarta-of-lying-over-shot-down-plane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/?p=2304","title":{"rendered":"Papuan activist leader Wenda accuses Jakarta of \u2018lying\u2019 over shot down plane"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>By <a href=\"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/author\/pmc-editor\/\">APR editor<\/a>  February 20, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a class=\"td-modal-image\" href=\"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Indon-troops-1-ULMWP-680wide.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Indon-troops-1-ULMWP-680wide.png\" alt=\"Indonesian soldiers and equipment next to a civilian aircraft in West Papua. Image: ULMWP\" title=\"Indon troops 1 ULMWP 680wide\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Indonesian soldiers and military equipment stacked next to a civilian aircraft in West Papua. Image: ULMWP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Asia Pacific Report<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A West Papuan leader has accused the Indonesian government of lying over its operations and \u201cmasking\u201d the military role of some civilian aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Disputing an <a href=\"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/2026\/02\/17\/confusion-over-west-papua-bombing-displacement-claims\/\">Indonesian government statement<\/a> about reported that TPNPB fired upon an aircraft in Boven Digoel, killing both the pilot and copilot, United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) interim president Benny Wenda said the aircraft was \u201cnot civilian\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wenda added that the Indonesian government was \u201ctricking the world\u201d about its military operations in West Papua.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/2026\/02\/17\/confusion-over-west-papua-bombing-displacement-claims\/\"><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong> Confusion over West Papua bombing, displacement claims<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/2026\/02\/17\/confusion-over-west-papua-bombing-displacement-claims\/\">Indonesia bombing refugee camps in West Papua, says Wenda<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/?s=West+Papua\">More West Papua reports<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Cessna plane the TPNPB [West Papua National Liberation Army] fired upon in Boven Digoel was not a civilian plane, as the police spokesman misleadingly stated, but part of a security operation,\u201d Wenda said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIndonesia is again disguising their military activity as [civilian] activity. They are also willfully breaching the no-fly zones established by the TPNPB.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The occupied conflict areas in which the Indonesian military TNI were \u201cnot permitted to fly\u201d had been \u201cclearly marked out by the TPNPB\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is the same pattern Indonesia used in 1977, when Indonesia used a disguised civilian plane to bomb villages across the highlands and massacre thousands, including many members of my own family,\u201d Wenda said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Clear strategy<\/strong><br>He added there was a clear strategy behind this \u2014 \u201cIndonesia wants to avoid the attention that would be drawn by a large scale military buildup, so they mask their introduction of weapons and other military equipment and personnel\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wenda said they were effectively \u201cusing their own people as human shields\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Indonesian soldiers and equipment next to a civilian aircraft. Image: ULMWP<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"attachment_123970\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Indon-troops-2-ULMWP-400tall.png\" alt=\"Indonesian troops boarding a civilian aircraft in West Papua\" class=\"wp-image-123970\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Indonesian troops boarding a civilian aircraft in the West Papua Highlands. Image: ULMWP video screenshot APR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The TPNPB attacks took place on February 11, with the plane being downed and the pilot and co-pilot being killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A second attack took place in Mimika, near the Grasberg gold and copper mine, which has been the cause of so much West Papuan deaths over the past 40 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIndonesia then immediately began operating their propaganda machine, claiming that the planes were simply engaged in civilian and medical supply distribution,\u201d Wenda said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe truth is that these aircraft were involved in intelligence and security operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Media blackout<\/strong><br>\u201cIndonesia is only able to spread these lies and mislead the international community because of their six-decades long media blackout in West Papua.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNo journalists or NGOs are allowed to operate in our land. West Papua is a closed society, just like North Korea. I thank God we have civilian journalists to document their lies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By breaching these rules the military were inviting further attacks, Wenda said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe must always remember that the Indonesian military uses any armed action by West Papuans for their own gain, as a pretext for more militarisation, more displacement, and more deforestation and ecocide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wenda said their aim was always to escalate the situation as a way of ethnically cleansing Papuans, forcing them to become refugees in their own land, and strengthening their colonial hold over West Papua.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt isn\u2019t a coincidence that in the week since this incident we have seen an escalation in Yahukimo, an Indonesia-occupied community health centre, and transformed it into a military post, displacing and traumatising local residents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using hospitals and other health infrastructure for military means was a clear breach of international humanitarian law, Wenda said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Normal for military<\/strong><br>In West Papua such behaviour was normal for the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn the same week in Puncak regency, Indonesian military personnel seized a school, preventing students from learning and putting ordinary people at risk of harm. Soldiers are posted in classrooms with guns.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wenda called on the Indonesian government to withdraw their troops from occupied West Papua, allow civilians to return home, cease using civilian vehicles as a cover for military action, and immediately facilitate a UN Human Rights visit to West Papua \u2014 as has been demanded by more than 110 UN Member states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cUltimately, Indonesia must come to the table to discuss a referendum,\u201d Wenda said. \u201cThis is the only path to a peaceful solution in West Papua.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An Indonesian Embassy spokesperson <a href=\"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/2026\/02\/17\/confusion-over-west-papua-bombing-displacement-claims\/\">blamed the \u201carmed criminal group\u201d<\/a>, an expression it&nbsp; uses to describe resistance movement fighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Source : <a href=\"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/2026\/02\/20\/papuan-activist-wenda-accuses-jakarta-of-lying-over-shot-down-plane\/\">https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/2026\/02\/20\/papuan-activist-wenda-accuses-jakarta-of-lying-over-shot-down-plane\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By APR editor February 20, 2026 Asia Pacific Report A West Papuan leader has accused the Indonesian government of lying over its operations and \u201cmasking\u201d the military role of some civilian aircraft. Disputing an Indonesian government statement about reported that TPNPB fired upon an aircraft in Boven Digoel, killing both the pilot and copilot, United [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2305,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[89,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headline-news","category-papuan-human-rights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2304"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2306,"href":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2304\/revisions\/2306"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infopapua.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}