Aatai John – The ousted Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare defended his strong stance on the plight of the people of West Papua during the motion of no-confidence on Monday which saw him removed from the top political leadership position.

Richard Chauvel – Unless Indonesia addresses the failure of the social integration of Papua into Indonesia, the issue of Papua will end up at the United Nations.

This was the warning given on 28 September to an audience of senior policy makers and academics by Bambang Dharmono, the former head of the Yudhoyono-era Unit for the Accelerated Development of Papua and West Papua (UP4B).

Jakarta – The Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, or IPAC, called out the Indonesian government's "policy miscalculations" on Papua, pointing to its failures in addressing past human rights violations and dysfunctional local elections.

This is despite the current administration's focus on economic development and conflict resolution in the poorest province in Indonesia.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Indonesian Military (TNI) has deployed two platoons as reinforcements to the police to hunt down armed assailants blamed for a recent series of attacks in the area.

Last week, an exchange of fire with unidentified gunmen on Utikini Bridge in Tembagapura resulted in the death of Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officer First. Brig. Berry Pramana Putra.

West Papuan refugees in Papua New Guinea are being urged by the country's authorities to register for citizenship.

This week PNG's Immigation and Citizenship Service Authority appealed to all West Papuans living in the Niugini islands region to get in contact.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura, Papua – Civilians were reportedly on the receiving end of attacks by armed assailants who set kiosks on fire following attacks against security personnel around a mining area operated by PT Freeport Indonesia in Tembagapura, Mimika regency, Papua.

Nabire, Jubi – International Academics for West Papua (IAWP) is a network that was started in 2016 by a group of academics concerned about the ongoing human rights abuses in West Papua, will launch its European region branch this month.

John McBeth, Jakarta – Locked in protracted negotiations with the Indonesian government over the future of its hugely profitable Grasberg mine, Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold now faces an unsteady share price and deteriorating security around its Papua-based operations to add to its troubles.

Biak, Papua – The Indonesian Air Force plans to deploy a squadron of fighter jets in the Manuhua Airbase in Biak Numfor district, Papua province, next year after its status has been upgraded to type A from type B.

Jakarta – Vice President Jusuf "JK" Kalla insists the separatist movement is not accepted in Papua because the region is part of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).

Reports from Papua province say there have been more shootings aimed at Indonesian security forces in the Mimika area.

Brimob, or mobile brigade, policemen were the target of gunfire on Sunday, days after another spate of shootings in the same area near the Freeport gold and copper mine.

Jakarta – Armed assailants behind the shootings at the Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) station at Mile 66 last Sunday in Tembagapura, Mimika Regency, Papua, are members of the separatist group Free Papua Movement (OPM), Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo has said.

Kiki Siregar – Deep in Indonesia's easternmost province, a group of birdwatchers wait in earnest, hoping to glimpse the renowned bird-of-paradise. Once plentiful in Papua's jungles, rampant poaching and deforestation have devastated populations.

The United Liberation Movement for West Papua says it hopes New Zealand's new prime minister will take up the issue of Papuan self-determination.

The Movement's Secretary-General, Octo Mote, has written a congratulation letter to Jacinda Ardern on forming New Zealand's new government.

Indonesia's foreign minister says it is the right of Pacific Island countries to raise issues about West Papua in international fora.

According to Antara news agency, Retno Marsudi said Indonesia also had the right to explain.

This comes after last month's fiery response by Indonesia to speeches by some Pacific governments at the United Nations General Assembly.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government and Freeport McMoran, a parent company of gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia, have not reached an agreement on several issues, including the valuation of the company's shares.

An indigenous community in Indonesia's Papua region claim a house in the village of Utikini was razed to the ground by Indonesian Military Police.

Community leaders said, last Saturday, police came to the village and set fire to the house, which was destroyed, along with livestock.

The leaders, Tambua Wakerkwa and Yulianus Tabuni, said their people were now living in fear.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura, Papua – Papua has received an additional 400 Mobile Brigade personnel to secure its two regencies, Intan Jaya and Tolikara, as security incidents related to the elections of regional heads held simultaneously in 11 regencies and municipalities across the province on Feb.15 continue.Two hundred Brimob personnel from the South Sulawesi Police will be deployed to Inta

An academic says recent violence near Papua's Grasberg gold mine could be connected to plans to divest half of the American-owned operation to Indonesian entities.

One police officer was killed and two others were injured while hunting for gunmen who shot at mine workers on Saturday.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura, Papua – First. Brig. Berry Pramana Putra, a member of the National Police's Mobile Brigade stationed in Timika, Papua was killed in an exchange of fire with unidentified gunmen on Utikini bridge, Tembagapura, Mimika regency on Sunday.

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-177-2017

Dear Friends,

The islands of Raja Ampat are set to be Indonesia's next tourism hotspot – but locals fear the government is failing both them and the environment in its development push.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura, Papua – Unidentified perpetrators shot at two vehicles in a gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) mining area in Tembagapura, Mimika, Papua, on Saturday.

The driver of one of the vehicles, M. Jamil Lampung, 49, sustained injuries from broken glass.

Jakarta – Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary of US mining giant Feeport-McMoRan, has confirmed that a shooting incident occurred near its mining site in Papua on Saturday (21/10), a company official said. No fatalities were reported.

Tensions remain high in Tolikara in West Papua's Highlands amid ongoing election-related unrest.

Tolikara is one of a number of regencies in Indonesia's Papua province that have conducted local-level elections this month. Discord between supporters of various Tolikara candidates repeatedly boiled over into rioting or fighting in recent weeks.

Zara Amelia and Adam Prireza, Jakarta – Six people were injured with several windows damaged following a violent riot that attacked the Home Affairs Ministry Headquarters on Wednesday, October 11. Instigators of the riot were a group of people from Papua that originally planned to stage a protest.

Prima Wirayani and Viriya P. Singgih, Jakarta – The government has extended the deadline for United States-based mining giant Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) to meet its divestment obligation to the first quarter of 2019 – three months longer than the previous time limit – following a longer-than-expected negotiation between both parties.

Jakarta – The Jakarta Police have arrested 15 people for their alleged involvement in a protest that turned violent initiated by the Tolikara Red-and-White Squad outside the Home Ministry in Gambir, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday afternoon.

Protesters reportedly threw rocks at the building, causing damage to facilities and vehicles.

Jakarta – Finance Minister Sri Mulyani has said that the negotiations between the government and gold and copper mining company PT Freeport Indonesia are now focusing on efforts to increase state revenue and investment certainty for the company.

Zely Ariane, Jayapura – A petition claimed to represent the wishes of Papuan people on a referendum on West Papua's future has been debated since last week among Papuan people and commentators, the government of Indonesia and the United Nations.

Fergus Jensen, Jakarta – Indonesian President Joko Widodo called for faster progress to wrap up a deal with Freeport-McMoRan Inc on rights to the giant Grasberg copper mine, which the U.S. firm owns, officials said on Friday.

A series of concerts around the globe to assist the persecuted people of West Papua is being held on Saturday with the Coronation Hotel in West Ipswich playing its part.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is very disappointed at the Indonesian government's irresponsible denial of human rights violations in Papua and West Papua province.

Danaella Wivell – The plight of West Papua to gain independence from Indonesia is spreading to Cairns.

The Indonesian province, about 250km north of Australia, was handed from the Dutch to the Indonesians in 1969. About 500,000 West Papuans have died at the hands of soldiers since then.

The opposition SODELPA party in Fiji says it's disappointed by the United Nations decision to reject a petition from the people of West Papua calling for an act of self determination.

An international law specialist says it's not a question of if but when West Papuans will be granted a genuine act of self-determination.

The United Nations is being urged to review the process which transferred sovereignty over Papua from the Dutch to Indonesia in the 1960s.

Indonesia has disputed the veracity of a West Papuan petition to the United Nations seeking self-determination.

The Papuan pro-independence leader Benny Wenda emerged in New York last week on the margins of the UN General Assembly, announcing he was delivering the petition.

John McBeth, Jakarta – As much as it will spark development in one of Indonesia's most remote regions, Papuan leaders are growing increasingly concerned over the social impact of the new Trans-Papua Highway that will open highland tribal areas for the first time.

Rafael Ramirez, the chair of the UN decolonisation committee, says it will not accept a petition signed by 1.8 million West Papuans.

The United Nations decolonisation committee says it will not accept a petition signed by 1.8 million West Papuans calling for an independence vote.

The West Papuan people's petition is no hoax: it is the voice of our people – signed by the majority of West Papuans. The real hoax is Indonesia's justification for its occupation of West Papua

Tama Salim, Marguerite Afra Sapiie and Nethy Dharma Somba, United Nations/Jakarta/Jayapura – The United Nations shot down on Thursday rumors that a petition calling for a Papuan referendum had been submitted to its Special Committee on Decolonization, with the committee's chairman saying he had had no contact whatsoever with the Papuan separatist issue.

Pacific Media Centre – West Papua has experienced a "significant aggravation" of the human rights situation in the past two years compared to previous years, says a new report from more than 40 faith-based and civil rights organisations.

"Reports by local human rights defenders describe an alarming shrinking of democratic space," says the report.

Samantha Hawley, Indonesia – The head of the United Nation's decolonisation committee has rejected reports of a secret petition demanding a free vote for independence in West Papua.

Exiled West Papuan independence campaigner Benny Wenda had told the press 1.8 million West Papuans had signed the secret petition that was passed between homes and villages across provinces.

Jakarta – Chairman of the United Nations' special committee on decolonization, Rafael Ramirez, said on Thursday (28/09) that he has not received a petition from exiled Free West Papua leader Benny Wenda demanding independence from Indonesia, despite a report this week in the British newspaper The Guardian saying it had been submitted to the UN.

Wilda Asmarini, Susan Taylor, Jakarta/Toronto – Freeport-McMoRan Inc, the world's second-largest publicly traded copper company, strongly disagrees with a proposed divestment plan by the government of Indonesia, according to a company letter reviewed by Reuters on Friday.

West Papua Action Auckland says the new [New Zealand] Government must respond to the historic West Papuan plea for self-determination support at the UN.

Johnny Blades – It's become an annual stoush in New York. Pacific leaders call for an investigation into killings and various alleged human rights abuses against West Papuans by Indonesian security forces.

The long-running complaint that Papuans were denied a legitimate self-determination process in the 1960s is also raised.

A petition with the signatures of 1.8 million West Papuans in Indonesia has been presented to the United Nations in New York demanding an internationally supervised vote on independence.

The exiled West Papuan independence leader Benny Wenda presented the document to the C24, the special committee on decolonisation on Tuesday.

Timothy Fernandez – A secret petition demanding a new independence referendum for West Papua is presented to the United Nations after being signed by 1.8 million West Papuans.

The Indonesian Government banned the petition in the provinces of West Papua and Papua, threatening that those who signed it will be arrested and face jail.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura, Papua – Thirty eight residents in Semenage district, Yahukimo, Papua, were reported to have died during the May-August period due to sickness and poor access to healthcare services.