Amid a diplomatic spat between Indonesia and some of its Pacific island neighbors over whether Jakarta has been guilty of violating human rights in its easternmost territories, the United Nations itself has been drawn into a dispute over whether a majority of Papuans have really just declared themselves separatists.

A UN official denied on Thursday a claim that a petition signed by almost 2 million Papuans in support of self-determination had been submitted to the UN’s committee on decolonization.

Venezuela’s permanent representative to the UN, Rafael Ramirez, in his capacity as chairman of the UN Special Committee on Decolonization (C-24), expressed concern about the claim.

“Some people are trying to use me and trying to manipulate or whatever,” he said. “I’m concerned because some people are trying to use me as propaganda.”

Benny Wenda, a spokesman for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) who calls himself a West Papuan independence leader, told the British Guardian newspaper that he had submitted the petition, which according to the ULMWP had been signed by 1,804,421 people, to the UN committee on Aug. 26.

“Today, I delivered the West Papuan People’s Petition, signed by over 70 percent of my people, to the United Nations,” Benny said on his Twitter account.

Nevertheless, Ramirez said he had not had any communication with the Papuan leader, emphasizing that it was not possible for him to officially relate to parties outside the C-24 agenda.

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