The exhibition ‘Forensic mapping of ecocide in West Papua’ was designed and produced by INTERPRT for the 17th Assembly of State Parties (ASP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in collaboration with Polly Higgins and Ecological Defense Integrity (now Stop Ecocide International). It aimed to present spatial evidence gathered on the West Papua conflict using satellite imagery analysis, video, field photographs, victim testimonies, and archival research conducted, collected and compiled by INTERPRT in collaboration with activists, and advocacy groups such as AWAS MIFEE and TAPOL.

The exhibition and side event, sponsored by the Vanuatu government, and supported by the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) to be held at the United Nations building, was an opportunity to discuss the dire human rights and environmental justice situation in West Papua at the UN, which is implicated in the Papuan’s losing their right of self-determination during the 1969 Act of Free choice. This received pushback from the Indonesian government – which opposes the right of self-determination of West Papuans – resulting in the cancellation of both the exhibition and the side event in the UN building. It was temporarily displayed in The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Vanuatu to the United Nations. Afterwards we handed over part of the exhibition panels to the Free West Papua Campaign, and these were displayed as part of the campaign’s program during the 2018 Labour Party Conference festival ‘The World Transformed’ in Liverpool. To this day, there has not been an exhibition held on West Papua at the United Nations. 

Partners: Ecological Defence Integrity, Government of Vanuatu, Institute for Environmental Security, ILWP, AwasMifee.