Senator the Hon Marise Payne
Minister for Foreign Affairs
PO Box 6100
Senate, Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

12 August 2021

Dear Foreign Minister,

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – UNESCO has urged the Indonesian government to close a stretch of road that runs through the largest protected area in Southeast Asia, citing its negative e

A founding member of the Free West Papua Movement, Tan Sen Thay, has died in the Netherlands.

Jayapura – The West Papua National Committee (KNPB) is urging the Papua regional police and the Papua chief public prosecutor to immediately release Papuan activist Victor F Yeimo becau

Jayapura – Lawyer and human rights activist Veronica Koman has spoken out about the worsening health of Papua activist Victor F Yeimo who has being detained at the Mobile Brigade comman

Theo Kelen, Keerom – For Bertho, David, and Yunitha, going to school takes a lot of struggle, literally.

New Guinea, the world's largest tropical island, is also the most floristically diverse island in the world.

Hengky Yeimo, Jayapura – Local governments in Papua – such as the Yapen Islands and Puncak administrations – say they are continuing to promote the benefits of covid-19 vaccines to indi

It has been reported that the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders are meeting virtually on the 6 August.

A video showing church leaders in Mimika, Papua burning masks and declaring they do not believe in COVID-19 and its vaccines are making national headlines in Indonesia, but a local offi

Jakarta – The director of the Bali Legal Aid Foundation (LBH), Ni Kadek Vany Primaliraning, has been reported to the Bali regional police for treason for allegedly facilitating a mass a

David Robie – It is open season again for Indonesian trolls targeting Asia Pacific Report and other media with fake news and disinformation dispatches in a crude attempt to gloss

Mark Bowling – The Prime Minister is being urged to support action on human rights violations in West Papua when he meets with Pacific Islands Forum leaders this week.

Jakarta – After chairing a Cabinet ministers meeting on July 13, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said the 20th National Games (PON) in Papua would go ahead as scheduled from Oct.

The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has called on the international community to immediately suspend Indonesia from the UN Human Rights Council over a shocking assault

Johnny Blades – As with much of Indonesia, the country's eastern-most provinces of Papua and West Papua are struggling to contain the spread of Covid-19, with the Delta variant on the l

TAPOL strongly condemns the conduct of two airforce personnel who severely beat a disabled man, Steven Yadohamang, in Merauke, West Papua province, on 27 July 2021.

Yamin Kogoya – Shocking video footage showing a brutal and inhumane assault on a deaf Papuan teenager named Steven has emerged from the Merauke region of Papua and sparked outrage.

Egi Adyatama, Maudey K. Setyakusuma (Intern), Jakarta – Violent acts against a Papuan was again caught on camera, on Wednesday, July 28.

Egi Adyatama, Maudey K.

Friski Riana, Jakarta – The Papuan advocacy team member Michael Himan urged President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to apologize for a brutal act committed by the Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU) m

Jakarta – The actions of an air force (TNI-AU) military police officer who stepped on the head of a Papuan civilian has been slammed by human rights organisations.

Victor Mambor, Jayapura – Two air force military police have reportedly racially tortured an 18-year-old Papuan in Merauke on Monday, July 26, 2021.

Ronna Nirmala, Jakarta – The Indonesian Air Force fired two commanders in the troubled Papua region on Wednesday after a widely shared video showing military police roughing up a deaf P

Kate Lamb and Agustinus Costa, Jakarta – The Indonesian government has apologised for the actions of two air force officers it said used "excessive force" to pin down the head of a deaf

Sebastian Strangio – On July 15, Indonesia's parliament voted to revise and extend for 20 years the Special Autonomy Law for the provinces of Papua and West Papua.

Ronna Nirmala, Jakarta – Indonesian police arrested a Papuan separatist leader who was on the run after he escaped from a prison in Papua with several others in 2016, while serving a li

Agustinus Beo Da Costa – Hospitals in Indonesia's easternmost region of Papua are nearing full capacity amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, with health officials bracing for the full impac

Jayapura – Hospitals in Papua are nearing full capacity amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, with health officials bracing for the full impact of the virulent Delta variant on one of the cou

Maghvira Arzaq Karima, Maudey K. Setyakusuma (Intern), Jakarta – The number of Covid-19 positive cases in Indonesia has drastically increased, including in the Papua Province.

Victor Mambor, Jayapura – Civilian Yosep Samogoi (26) has been allegedly shot by an Indonesian soldier named Syarifudin of the 1707-07/Kepi Subdistrict Military Command on Friday, July

A pro-independence movement in West Papua has appealed to several Western countries – including New Zealand – to provide urgent humanitarian help by supplying covid vaccines directly to

Jakarta – The unanimous House of Representatives decision last week to endorse the revised Papuan Special Autonomy Law shows, yet again, the propensity of the Jakarta elite to dictate t

Tabloid Jubi, Jayapura – The West Papuan Council of Churches (WPCC) has condemned the Indonesian government's Special Autonomy (Otsus) law ratified by the Jakarta parliament last week,

Sebastian Strangio – Protests have once again flared in Indonesia's Papua region following last week's renewal and amendment of a Special Autonomy Law that local activists say will incr

Two rights groups have condemned the renewal of the special autonomy law in Papua and say it further erodes critical aspects of decentralization and autonomy in the region.

A New Zealand explorer who trekked in West Papua before Indonesian rule says he's saddened to see what colonisation has done to the region's indigenous people.

Jayapura – A number of demonstrators from the People's Front Against Special Autonomy Chapter II were reportedly arrested and taken to the Sorong city municipal police headquarters when

Jakarta – As many as 714,066 Papuans and 112 organisations which are part of the Papuan People's Petition (PRP) are said to reject the enactment into law of revisions to Law Number 21/2

Jayapura, Jubi – The Indonesia House of Representatives has passed the revised Special Autonomy (Otsus) Bill into law despite continuous protests from the Papuan people rejecting the ex

Jayapura, Jubi – The West Papuan Council of Church (WPCC) has spoken in an online forum organized by the International Coalition for Papua (ICP) on Wednesday, July 14, 2021, asking the

Jakarta – Lawyer and Papua advocate Veronica Koman has criticised the House of Representatives (DPR) and the government for ratifying the Special Autonomy (Otsus) Law on Papua, saying t

Johnny Blades – Indonesia's House of Representatives has passed a bill that is expected to reshape the future administration of West Papua.

Agus Pabika, Jayapura – Earlier this morning on Thursday July 15 Papuan students from the Papua People's and Student Front held a peaceful rally at the House of Representatives (DPR) bu

Agus Pabika, Jayapura – As many as 40 protesters opposing the extension of Papua special autonomy at the House of Representatives (DPR) building in Jakarta were arrested by police and t

Antara, Jakarta – The Social Affairs Ministry explained the controversial remark by Minister Tri Rismaharini, or more known as Risma, about threatening to transfer state civil apparatus

Fresh demonstrations by West Papuans have again been stopped by armed Indonesian police who arrested dozens of people.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – A Catholic priest has found himself in hot water with Papuans seeking independence by speaking out in favor of plans that would keep the restive region under Indon

HA Kapisa and Rahmad Nasution in Manokwari, West Papua – Indonesian police have begun tightening entry controls in Manokwari district and Sorong city as part of the enforcement of an em

Jakarta – Around 23 Cendrawasih University (Uncen) students at several different locations were arrested by police when they held a protest action on Tuesday July 14 opposing the extens