Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura, Papua – Bitter rivalry during this year's simultaneous elections, including in Papua, have forced the Papua Police to partner with the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the Inter-Religious Harmony Forum (FKUB) to campaign for peaceful elections ahead of the Papua gubernatorial election in 2018.

Danny Chivers – Could you swim for 30 hours? Right now, a six-person swimming team is preparing to do exactly that, relay-style, across the 69 kilometres of Lake Geneva. On Monday 28 August, they will set off across the water, carrying a message from more than 160,000 people to the UN's headquarters on the far shore.

Deiyai, Jubi – In a parliamentary plenary session, Wednesday (August 23) the Regent and Deiyai Parliament had agreed to expel PT Dewa Putra Paniai and Brimob (mobile brigade) troops from the region.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura, Papua – Prioritizing only infrastructure will not be enough in developing Papua and must be balanced with the empowerment of its human resources, a Papuan community leader has said.

Jakarta – Last week, Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said the government had agreed to extend PT Freeport Indonesia's contract to 2041 in exchange for the company's agreement to divest 51 percent of its shares and to construct smelter, but on Monday he made different statement.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) condemns the unlawful deprivation of liberty of Papuans which has occurred frequently of late. The AHRC has learned that the Indonesian Security Forces have been using excessive force and flaunting their authority to illegally arrest indigenous Papuans.

Nethy Darma Somba, Jayapura – Thousands of people rallied in Deiyai, Papua on Monday to demand the perpetrator of a recent fatal shooting in the regency be brought to justice.

They also want contractor firm PT Putra Dewa Paniai and the police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob) personnel to be forced out from the Mee Pago indigenous area.

Agustinus Beo Da Costa, Jakarta – Police in the eastern Indonesian province of Papua have named six people as suspects out of 17 arrested on Saturday after a violent demonstration by former mine workers at Freeport McMoRan Inc's Grasberg copper mine, a police spokesman said.

Hundreds of former workers of Freeport Indonesia clashed with security forces near the company's mines in the eastern province of Papua on Saturday and three workers were injured, company and union officials said.

Jakarta – The Mimika Police in Papua are investigating a shooting incident, which affected a long-wheel base (LWB) vehicle at gold and copper miner Freeport Indonesia's mining area in Tembagapura district, on Thursday.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urges the Indonesian Authorities to ensure that cases of human rights violations that occurred in Papua must be investigated properly, under fair trial principles and the Rule of Law.

New Zealand's public broadcaster says a protest in Indonesia won't deter it from covering West Papua.

Last week about twenty people protested about RNZ Pacific's coverage of West Papua in a demonstration outside the New Zealand embassy in Indonesia's capital Jakarta.

Pacific churches have come out in support of West Papuan self-determination while endorsing the referenda planned for New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea's Bougainville.

In a statement, the Pacific Conference of Churches said it supported calls from Pacific Island countries' for a United Nations investigation of Indonesia's human rights abuses in West Papua.

Jakarta – Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has said that the contract of gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia will be extended to 2041 as the company agreed to divest 51 percent of its shares to Indonesia's entities.

An Australian miners' union says 10 people have died in Indonesia's Papua province due to a labour dispute at the Grasberg mine.

Tabloid Jubi reported four thousand workers were laid off by Freeport McMoran after going on strike in May. The strike was in response to the threat of layoffs after mining was disrupted by a dispute between the government and the company.

Jakarta – A march in support of Papuan independence in Central Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon (15/08) ended with the arrest of several protesters and allegations of police brutality.

Protests have been held in several cities in Indonesia to mark the anniversary of the agreement which sealed West Papua's incorporation into the republic.

Today is the 55th anniversary of the New York Agreement, the US-brokered deal under which the Netherlands agreed to transfer control of West Papua to Indonesia, pending a UN-administered plebiscite.

David Sobolim, Jayapura – At least 100 people from the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) and the Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) were arrested in Yogyakarta, Semarang and Jakarta during commemorations to mark the 55th anniversary of the New York Agreement.

Bastian Tebai, Semarang – As many as 100 people were arrested by police when the Papua Student Alliance (AMP) and the Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) held peaceful demonstrations in several cities across Java.

Chanry Andrew Suripatty, Jayapura – A peaceful rally by thousands of protesters from the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) in Waena Abepura, Jayapura, rejecting the August 15, 1962 New York Agreement and demanding the right to self-determination Papua has ended in a clash.

Human Rights Watch in Indonesia is calling for more international scrutiny of the country's Papuan provinces.

The organisation's Jakarta based researcher, Andreas Harsono made the call following an announcement last week that no more than five Papuan political prisoners remained behind bars in Papua and West Papua, down from 37 in 2016.

Hipolitus Yolisandry Ringgi Wangge – Reports about the shooting of an indigenous Papuan by police officers early this month in Deiyai district, Papua, have renewed focus on how human rights abuses by security officials in the region remain unaddressed by the government of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

Indonesia's government is keeping quiet on the progress of negotiations with the global mining giant Freeport, over its gold and copper mine in West Papua.

Operations have been crippled with the two sides quarrelling since January, when Jakarta forced Freeport to stop exporting copper concentrate from the Grasberg mine.

Jessica Damiana, Jakarta – Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua hosted its first independent film festival this week, showing documentaries on social issues such as land rights and grinding poverty, but steering clear of the highly sensitive subject of separatism.

New Zealand's Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee has dismissed a call for the government to make a stand and address the ongoing human rights situation in West Papua.

The Indonesian government has again rejected claims that rights to the freedom of expression and assembly are restricted in Papua region.

Through its embassy in New Zealand, Indonesia has raised issue with reported comments by Vanuatu's government in United Nations forums that basic human rights of West Papuans are being infringed.

Nethy Darma Somba, Jayapura – Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Pol Boy Rafli Amar has stripped First. Insp. HM. Raini of his position as Tigi Police chief following a fatal shooting incident implicating police personnel in Deiyai regency, Papua, on Aug. 1.

Vanuatu has urged the United Nations to take action on Indonesian human rights abuses in West Papua.

Speaking during a debate of the UN general assembly in New York, a Vanuatu representative said his government continued to receive reports of human rights violations in Papua.

Deiyai, Jubi – As police quoted by various mass media saying the bullets that hit some victims in Oneibo village, Tigi district, Deiyai regency, Papua were rubber bullets, the witnesses and doctors in Deiyai hospital argued differently, since the reality proves otherwise.

Jakarta – Indonesia's human rights commission on Thursday (03/08) urged President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to end rights violations in the country's easternmost province of Papua after police were alleged to have killed one person and wounded 16 others while trying to quell a protest.

Egi Adyatama, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has condemned police shooting of unarmed civilians in Deiyai, Papua, on Tuesday, August 1. President Joko Widodo is urged to address the conflict in Papua.

Febriana Firdaus/Enarotali and Jayapura, Papua – When Bardina Degei cooks dinner, she doesn't use a stove. She rarely even uses a pot. In her wooden home in Enarotali, the capital of Paniai regency in the restive Indonesian province of Papua, the housewife usually just places a sweet potato – known locally as "nota" – directly into the fireplace.

Toronto/Jakarta – A trade union said on Wednesday (03/08) that it will press Indonesia's government to reinstate thousands of striking workers at Freeport-McMoRan's Grasberg mine when union officials visit the Southeast Asian country next week.

A relative of villagers in Indonesia's Papua region caught up in a fatal police shooting says they're calling for the police to take responsibility for the incident.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jakarta – A recent shooting incident in Bomou village, Tigi district, Deiyai, Papua, that claimed the life of civilian Yulius Pigai, 28, has attracted the attention of the National Police Commission (Kompolnas), which has promised to monitor the legal process of the case.

A parliamentary committee in New Zealand has turned down a call to push for a UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression to visit West Papua.

A human rights petition, organised by West Papua Action Auckland and supported by other human rights groups and Catholic and Anglican church leaders, had sought for New Zealand to condemn the arrest and intimidation of peaceful protestors.

Helen Davidson – Indonesian paramilitary police have shot and killed one person and wounded a number of others at a protest in a West Papuan village, according to human rights groups and local witnesses.

A 28-year-old man was reportedly killed during the incident in Deiya regency on Tuesday afternoon, and up to seven wounded, including at least two children.

Jayapura – Papuan students from the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) and the solidarity group the Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) have held protests against the 1969 UN sponsored referendum on West Papua's integration with Indonesia (Pepera), which took place on July 14-August 2, 1969.

Ni Komang Erviani, Denpasar, Bali – Around 30 students of the Papua Student Alliance (AMP) Bali held a rally on Wednesday to demand West Papuan independence.

They staged the demonstration at a location near the US Consular Agency office in Denpasar, Bali, as the police did not allow them to hold the rally in front of the office as initially planned.

Reports from West Papua say one man is dead and up to 16 people have been injured in a police shooting.

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-106-2017

Dear Friends,

One person has been killed and a dozen others wounded after a clash during local elections in Indonesia's Papua province.

Antara reported the incident started on Saturday morning between supporters of rival candidates in the election for the head of Puncak Jaya district.

Jayapura, Jubi – Obby Kogoya (22) was convicted of violating Article 212 of the Criminal Code with 4 months of confinement and 1 year probation. The Legal Aid Institute (LBH) of Yogyakarta considered that the verdict was not based on the facts at trials because all of prosecution evidence presented by the prosecutor was not proven.

Jonas Cullwick – Last week's 14th Pacific Regional ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly in Port Vila issued a five-point position of the issue of West Papuan independence.

Jakarta, Jubi – The highest child poverty rates is in the provinces of Papua, West Papua and East Nusa Tenggara, respectively 35.57 percent, 31.03 percent, and 26.42 percent.

While the lowest rates were in the provinces of Bali, DKI Jakarta and South Kalimantan, respectively at 5.39 percent, 5.55 percent, and 6.06 percent.

Jakarta – The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has said that gold and copper mining operator PT Freeport Indonesia had yet to obtain an extension to their operating permit.

Isolated parts of Indonesia's Papua region are to be targetted by accelerated government efforts to improve infrastructure.

Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, or Jokowi, has used a high-level meeting to recommit his administration to the development of airports, ports, roads and bridges in remote Papua.

Nithin Coca – The drama started nearly two years ago, when Setya Novanto, the speaker of the Indonesian Parliament, was forced to resign after being caught trying to extort U.S. mining giant Freeport McMoRan, which was looking to extend its contract in Indonesia. Things heated up again earlier this year, when, alongside nationalist-tinged protests, it looked like Freeport was on its way out.

A campaigner for West Papua says the New Zealand government should be speaking out about the treatment of pro-independence demonstrators by Indonesian police.

James Borrowdale – The independence movement is largely ignored by wider – whiter – New Zealand society.