On behalf of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) and people of West Papua, I would like to express my profound sorrow and heartfelt condolences on the passing of Lord Richard Harries, a long-time supporter of the Free West Papua Campaign. During this time of mourning, our thoughts and prayers are with Lord Harries’ family and friends.

Lord Harries welcomed me warmly when I first arrived in Oxford in 2005. His character and Christian values shone through in our first meeting: I knew immediately that he understood our cause and heard my people’s cry for freedom.

He helped launch the International Lawyers for West Papua (IPWP) in 2008, along with MPs Andrew Smith and Lembit Opik, and played a vital role in the 2016 Campaign for an Internationally Supervised Vote, which he inaugurated in the UK Parliament together with figures including Jeremy Corbyn and the late Tonga Prime Minister ʻAkilisi Pōhiva. Over the past two decades, he attended nearly every West Papua APPG or International Lawyers for West Papua (IPWP) meeting. In his position as former Bishop of Oxford, he also recently welcomed the West Papuan Reverends Socrates Yoman and Dorman Wandikbo in the Houses of Parliament. He was a true friend of West Papua.

Alongside his activity within the IPWP, Lord Harries also regularly raised the issue of West Papua in the House of Lords. His final intervention on my people’s behalf came in November 2025, when he questioned the UK Government over the Merauke mega-project, the largest deforestation project in human history. I was moved to hear him read the slogan of West Papuan students – “West Papua is not an empty land” – in the House of Lords.

Lord Harries will be remembered by West Papuans as a consistent supporter of our right to self-determination, throughout years of isolation and adversity. His kindness, steadfastness, and commitment are a model for all public figures, whether they are Bishops, Lords, or politicians. He has earned his place in West Papuan history and will be honoured when we are finally free.

I again express my deep sadness and send my condolences to Lord Harries’ family.

Benny Wenda
Interim President
ULMWP