Amnesty International has voiced concern about ongoing deadly conflict in West Papua.

In recent weeks, conflict between the pro-independence West Papua Liberation Army and Indonesia's security forces has intensified in Intan Jaya regency.

Evarukdijati, Rahmad Nasution, Jayapura, Papua – The Indonesian army will secure the 575-kilometer Transpapua section of the Jayapura-Wamena highway in Papua province to halt the flow of illegal goods, including drugs and liquor, a top military officer said.

Hendrina DK, Rahmad Nasution, Jayapura – Papua's provincial administration is making efforts to restore normalcy in Intan Jaya district, which has been witness to a spate of violence targeting civilians and security personnel over the past two years.

Hans Kapisa, Manokwari – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) had evaluated the governance of licensing and permits related to West Papua forests and palm oil plantation companies in the province in Papua Land for the last two years and reported that 24 companies held a permit to turn 576,090 hectares of forests into palm plantations.

The indigenous people of West Papua have rejected the extension of special autonomy and the planned expansion of new provinces announced by the central government of Indonesia.

The rejection comes from grassroots communities across West Papua and Papuan students who are studying in Indonesia and overseas.

Jakarta – Scores of Papuan students held a protest action in front of the Home Affairs Ministry office in Jakarta on Wednesday February 24 expressing their opposition to the extension of Special Autonomy (Otsus) in the land of the Cenderawasih as Papua is known.

Jakarta – Police asked participants at a protest action against Special Autonomy (Otsus) in Papua to take Covid-19 rapid tests at the site of the demonstration in front of the Home Affairs Ministry office in Jakarta on Wednesday February 24. The protesters however refused saying it was an attempt to silence them.

Yance Wenda, Sentani – West Papua Church Council expressed their concerns with the recurring situation in Papua Land, emphasizing the sufferings Papuan people have to endure during the 60 years of "conflict and militarism" especially the latest situation in Nduga, Intan Jaya, and Mimika regencies.

Evarukdijati, Rahmad Nasution, Jayapura, Papua – The Papua provincial government's COVID-19 Task Force disclosed that novel coronavirus disease keeps posing serious threats to residents in 22 of 29 districts and cities across this eastern Indonesian province.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – The head of a prominent Catholic rights advocacy group in Papua has told police and the military to put their own houses in order after the arrest of two policemen accused of selling arms to separatist rebels.

Arjuna Pardemme, Jayapura – A Papua Legislative councilor from Intan Jaya electoral district, Thomas Sondegau, said the new deployment of security personnel to Intan Jaya would make residents in the regency more scared and worried about their safety.

The West Papua Liberation Army says three young men killed by Indonesia's military last week were civilians and died after being tortured and not shot while escaping.

The deaths occurred at a health centre in Sugapa in Papua province.A spokesman for Indonesia's military says the three men were members of an armed group, a euphemism for the West Papua Liberation Army.

Intan Jaya has started Lent with bitter sorrow after losing three young Papuan men alleged to have been shot and brutally tortured to death by the Indonesian military in a local health centre.

Sources said that the armed conflict has caused more than 1000 indigenous West Papuans in Intan Jaya evacuate to the church complex of the Catholic Church of Santo Mikael Bilogai.

Abeth You, Dogiyai – Thousands of people in Dogiyai Regency in Papua, united under Papuan People Solidarity, took to the streets on Monday, Feb. 22, to protest against the government's plan to create a new province and to establish a new police precinct at the regency level.

Ryan DagurRyan Dagur, Jakarta – Papua recently saw a resurgence of bloody incidents, part of a series of small-scale but continuing conflicts between rebels and the Indonesian military.

Jayapura – National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) Chairperson Ahmad Taufan Damanik says that the withdrawal of Indonesian military (TNI) and police from Papua does not make sense because the threat by armed groups still exists.

Hengky Yeimo, Nabire – The spokesperson of West Papua National Committee (KNPB) in Timika area, Emanuel Dogopia, was taken from his parents' house in Timika, the center of Mimika regency in Papua, by the police.

Tempo.Co, Rini Kustiani, Jakarta – Tourists visiting Papua must pay extra attention to look out for pigs – which can be spotted roaming village streets. The local custom suggests that this animal is highly valued by the society in the province.

Hengky Yeimo, Nabire – Visual artist from West Papua, Ellya Alexander Tebay, has taken inspiration from Papuan local food, sweet potatoes or "ubi" in Indonesian, to express his lament for the declining existence of the food in the realm of native Papuans' live.

Ryan Dagur – Activists stage protest against Archbishop of Merauke signing deal with palm oil firm "at expense of environment"

Together with several colleagues, Papuan Catholic activist Melvin Waine stood in front of Good Shepherd Parish Church in Abepura, Papua province, on Jan. 31.

Victor Mambor, Jayapura, Jubi – Papuan Humanity Team on Case of Violence against Religious Figures in Intan Jaya regency, or Humanity Team, has completed the documentation of alleged extrajudicial killings against Protestant pastor Yeremia Zanambani on Sept. 19, 2020. This report documents facts surrounding the killing of Pastor Yeremia.

Ian Lloyd Neubauer – Xanana Gusmao, independence hero and East Timor's former president, has drawn rare condemnation after being accused of whitewashing the crimes of a disgraced American priest who is due to stand trial next week in a landmark child-sex abuse case in the Catholic-majority Southeast Asian nation.

A wave of rejections against Jakarta's plan to establish new provinces in West Papua has emerged in Papua Land. Papuan students outside their home have also risen to the occasion and rejected the plan.

Imam Budilaksono/Suharto, Jakarta – A lawmaker urged Indonesia's government to improve its strategy to handle armed criminal groups in Papua Province following the death of a military soldier in a gunfight with rebels in Intan Jaya on Feb 15.

Stuart Rees – West Papuans are Indigenous people, easily ignored, their natural resources exploited, their homes and cultures destroyed, hundreds tortured, hundreds of thousands killed. Our media reports endlessly about genocide in remote Xinjiang but not about genocide in neighbouring West Papua. Why?

Achmad Nasrudin Yahya, Jakarta – Indonesian military (TNI) Commander Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto has revealed that Papuan separatists are using social media (medsos) as a propaganda tool.

Tjahjanto explained that there are at least three elements exploiting social media as a propaganda tool, namely elements from political, clandestine and armed fronts.

Zuhdiar L, Rahmad Nasution, Jakarta – The Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) has appealed to the Defence Ministry, National Defence Forces, and Police to seek effective measures to crush armed Papuan groups responsible for acts of terror in the province.

Jayapura, Jubi – Another armed conflict between the Indonesian Military (TNI) and West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) occurred in Intan Jaya Regency in Papua, this time killing an Indonesian soldier.

The armed altercation was the second reported incident since Feb. 12, when an armed civilian shot and injured a TNI soldier.

Konradus EpaKonradus Epa, Jakarta – More than 5,000 people including 3,000 Catholics have fled their homes in Indonesia's Papua region following clashes between security forces and a separatist group, according to a church official.

Devina Halim, Jakarta – The family of Pastor Yeremia Zanambani who was killed in Intan Jaya, Papua, on September 19 last year, has agreed to an autopsy being conducted with certain conditions.

Laurens Ikinia, Auckland – Indigenous Papuan students who are currently studying in New Zealand and Australia have formed an educational association, choosing Waitangi Day to mark the occasion of their inaugural virtual conference.

Victor Mambor, Jayapura – On Aug. 1, 2019, the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) held a large meeting, called "Reunification and Declaration of Unity of TPNPB-Free Papua Organization" in Ilaga, Puncak Regency. The meeting in the neighboring regency ushered in a new period of conflict in Intan Jaya.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Environmental organizations including church groups have warned that deforestation in Indonesia's natural forests is reaching a critical level, especially in Papua where the clearance rate has increased significantly in the last two decades.

Benny Mawel, Jayapura – Papua Legal Aid Institute (LBH Papua) Director Emanuel Gobay, said that Merauke Police had denied 13 activists from the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) their right to health after the institute received a report that one of the detainees was critically ill.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Monitoring Coalition says that deforestation in Papua has increased under the administration of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. The Coalition is made up of 11 non-government organisations (NGOs).

Benny Mawel, Jayapura – Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) announced they rejected the central government and the House of Representatives plan to revise special autonomy (otsus) law without consulting MRP. The decision was made after MRP held a plenary meeting on Feb. 9 in Jayapura.

Abigail Rose McCall, Brisbane, Australia – The struggles of Indonesia's Papuan communities have surfaced in various shows of solidarity, with indigenous Australians during the divisive Australia Day celebrations that took place across the "land down under" last month.

Indonesia is trying again to "divide and rule my people" by further carving Papua into three new provinces, warns interim president Benny Wenda of the United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP).

And he says that Jakarta is bringing in another 450 troops in to "violently enforce" its policies.

Yance Wenda, Jayapura – Hundreds of university students from Lapago Customary Territory gathered on Monday in Jayapura, the capital of Papua province, to reject the central government and local administration plan to establish new provinces in Papua Land or West Papua.

Hengky Yeimo, Nabire – People in West Papua called hip hop music "musik bicara-bicara", which can be loosely translated into conversational music or talks music, because it has spoken words.

Dr Socratez Yoman – The Indonesian coloniser has become an ignorant ruler with deaf ears and with evil intention in fighting for the addition of new Papuan provinces without the population numbers to justify this.

Provincial division is a serious problem because the population of Papua and West Papua does not meet the requirements to establish new provinces.

Yance Wenda, Jayapura – Flood victims and an environmental activist in Sentani in Jayapura Regency, West Papua, have identified that poor water management in the area and environmental damage in the regency's water retention area, the Cycloop Hill.

Victor Mambor, Jayapura – Papuan Humanity Team on Case of Violence against Religious Figures in Intan Jaya regency, or Humanity Team, has completed the documentation of alleged extrajudicial killings against Protestant pastor Yeremia Zanambani on Sept. 19, 2020. This report documents facts surrounding the killing of Pastor Yeremia.

Jakarta, Jubi – Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Stef Blok told the Dutch parliament recently that the country considered a visit by United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights to Papua "important".

The head of the Papuan People's Assembly says it has rejected Indonesia's plans on special autonomy for his region.

Indonesia's government is seeking to extend the Papuan provinces' Special Autonomy Law which expires this year after two decades.

Benny Mawel, Jayapura – Human rights activist Ambrosius Mulait plans to report five powerful politicians to the police for alleged racism in their statements.

Jeff Armstrong – The Indonesian-occupied nation of West Papua has called for urgent international intervention against Indonesia's intensification of what a 2016 report called "slow motion genocide."

Medan – Scores of students from the Papuan Student Association (IMP) in Medan, North Sumatra, held a protest action in front of the North Sumatra University (USU) Rectorate Bureau Building on Tuesday February 2 protesting racism allegedly committed by USU Professor Yusuf Leonard Henuk.

Nabiha Shahab – Indonesia's easternmost region of Papua arguably has the richest biodiversity in the country, offering potential for sustainable eco-tourism, eco-education and conservation opportunities.

Muhsidin, Rahmad Nasution, Jayapura, Papua – Population in the Indonesian province of Papua currently reached 4.30 million, or rose by some 1.47 million, from that in 2010, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS).