Oxford MP Andrew Smith has met a West Papuan tribal leader who fled torture to highlight the oppression of Papuans by Indonesia.

Benny Wenda, 29, was held and tortured in 2002 by Indonesian forces -- which are occupying the territory -- until he escaped with his wife Maria and two young daughters and fled to England.

Since resigning from his Cabinet post as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions earlier this year, Mr Smith has agreed to put his political weight behind the Oxford Papuan Rights Campaign.

He has challenged Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on the issue in Parliament and has written to Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, pressing for West Papuans to have the opportunity to decide democratically whether to stay part of Indonesia.

West Papuans were given a vote in 1969 on whether to choose independence or become part of Indonesia.

But amid accusations of widespread intimidation and threats of violence by the Indonesians, UN observers sent to oversee the election reported serious violations of an agreement between Indonesia and the former colonial rulers, the Netherlands, for a democratic process to settle the territory's future.

As a young boy in 1977, Mr Wenda saw his entire family, apart from his mother, killed in a bombing raid by the Indonesian Air Force.

He spent his life campaigning, at great personal risk, for West Papuan independence, until his arrest in 2002.

Indonesian police locked him in a cell too small to sit down in for a month and repeatedly beat him.

When campaigners from England put pressure on Indonesia, his treatment improved slightly and he eventually escaped from captivity with the help of Papuan guards.

He was recently granted political asylum in the UK.

Mr Wenda said: "The meeting with Andrew Smith went very well -- he really supports the people of West Papua.

"The situation is bad and is getting worse -- thousands of people are becoming refugees, dying and suffering.

"I will continue campaigning for independence and when we get it, I would like to go home. I want people to write to the Government and help the campaign."

Mr Smith said: "The people of West Papua have been denied their right to determine their own future.

"I strongly support initiatives to peacefully resolve the current conflict, to act on the plight of people suffering its consequences and to uphold human rights."

Oxford Papuan Rights Campaign member Richard Samuelson, who organised the meeting, said: "It was a very moving day for Benny.

"Andrew Smith is now one of the most senior politicians in the world supporting the West Papuans.

"We want Britain to take a leading role in putting these wrongs to right."