Act of Free Choice or Papua's Fair and Just Referendum
The Act of Free Choice in Indonesian language is also know as Penentuan Pendapat Rakyat (Pepera). As a fair and just referendum for Papuan people, it was an important post-independence event for Papua and generally Indonesia where the inhabitants of West Papua was given freedom to choose whether they wanted to return to Indonesia or not. The result of the Act of Free Choice possesses a very significant meaning for Indonesia because the voters unanimously chose to return to Indonesia. One of Papuan leaders Mr. Freddy Numbery said: Papua from the beginning is part of Indonesia . Events Leading to the Act of Free Choice After several futile negotiation and confrontational attempts, the Netherlands finally agreed to transfer West Papua to Indonesia by signing New York Agreement on August 15 th 1962. Even though Indonesia would not assume authority for West Papua right away and a special UN body (UNTEA) was in charge of the territory temporarily, New York Agreement was still a huge