In 1992, a young University graduate, John Koknak, frustrated by the lack of leadership direction returned to the jungle and declared himself the new leader of what he called the "new order OPM".
In January 1996, OPM leader of the Central Highlands, Kelly Kwalik and his men took six Europeans and four Indonesian researchers    hostage    and demanded freedom for West Papua. The Indonesian armed forces, while ignoring the OPM's warning and mediation efforts by the International Red Cross, proceeded with rescue attempts that freed most of the hostages but resulted  in  two  Indonesian hostages being killed.
On the 14th August 1996 a group of about 40 members of the OPM raided a timber camp 60 kilometres north of Timika, and took sixteen people hostage. The hostages worked for the logging company PT Kamundan Raya.Although at first the authorities tried to claim the work was that of local bandits, they finally admitted it was the OPM. The captors demanded an end to logging in the area, and recognition of their indigenous rights. All but two  of the  hostages  were released or escaped unharmed.
Regardless   of   factional infighting and leadership conflicts. West Papuans are united in their demand for independence, as indicated by their national motto "One people one soul".This is evident in the numerous gatherings organised by exiled West Papuans. However, their national  leadership  problem remains. In a country of over 250 tribal identities,  national interests are frequently damaged by tribal interests;.
United Nations and International Humanitarian Law Under the Declaration on the Protection of Women and Children in Emergency and Armed Conflict proclaimed by the General Assembly in 1974: "All forms of repression and cruel and inhuman treatment of women and children, including torture, shooting, mass arrests, collective punishment and destruction of dwellings and forcible eviction, committed by belligerents in the course of military operations or in occupied territories are to be considered criminal".
The legal status of combatants struggling against colonial and racist regimes for the right to self-determination was defined by the UN General Assembly in 1973. The principles agreed were as follows: "Such struggles are legitimate and in full accord with the principles of international law.
Attempts to suppress struggles against colonial and racist regimes are  incompatible  with  the  UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples as well  as  with  the  Principles  of International    Law    concerning Friendly Co-operation Among States.Such attempts constitute a threat to peace and security." Participants in resistance movements and freedom fighters if arrested are to be accorded the status of prisoners of war under the Third Geneva Convention.
Political prisoners According to  Amnesty  International's 1994 report, there are over 140 political prisoners from West Papua currently serving sentences of between two years and life imprisonment for subversion. Many of these are prisoners of conscience, jailed for their non-violent political activities or beliefs. While not permitted to enter the territory, Amnesty has received many reports of ill treatment and torture of political detainees. Prisoners are said to be beaten, submerged in water tanks, burned with lighted cigarettes and given electric shocks.Lawyers who have visited some of the detainees report that they do not receive adequate medical attention.Many political prisoners have been transferred to Java without notice to the prisoners, their relatives or their lawyers. It is not only the psychological effect of such separation that can cause problems. In Indonesia prisoners often rely on food, clothing and medicine brought by visitors to supplement that which is received through the prison system so this separation raises a humanitarian concern, particularly for those who are elderly or in poor health.