The Solomon Islands government says its strong stance on issues relating to West Papua is separate from proposed policing co-operation with Indonesia.
Along with Vanuatu, Solomon Islands has been a strong proponent for indigenous West Papuans' rights to self-determination and an end to human rights abuses in Indonesia's Papuan provinces.
Fedina S. Sundaryani, Jakarta – In a move that is likely to reduce tensions over its future operations, major mining company PT Freeport Indonesia has agreed to convert its contract, paving the way to a resolution in its prolonged dispute with the government.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on Indonesian President Joko Widodo to keep his election promise to allow local and international journalists to operate in West Papua, the Indonesian half of the island of New Guinea, without obstruction or surveillance. RSF's appeal follows the expulsion of French journalists Franck Escudie and Basile Longchamp on visa violation grounds on 17 March.
Jakarta – Police shot dead the suspected leader of a separatist group in Papua during a raid that quickly turned into a gunfight on Tuesday (28/03), a police spokesman said.
The incident on Monday appeared to be the latest in a string of violent clashes in Papua, where decades-old insurgencies showed no signs of abating.
Maya Ayu Puspitasari, Jakarta – A freelance journalist who works for a number of well-known international news outlets, Jack Hewson, has recently been blacklisted by Indonesian immigration office.
Ndre Barahamin – Why have Jokowi's promises to open up Indonesia's "forbidden island" to journalists and rights monitors flunked?
Jakarta – Over 150 members of the separatist group Free Papua Movement (OPM) have agreed to end their resistance and conveyed their pledge of allegiance to the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, said a statement released by the Indonesian Army (TNI AD) on Friday.
Jakarta – Maritime Coordinating Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has said Papua will get 5 percent from the divestment of cooper and gold miner PT Freeport Indonesia, which is required by law to release 51 percent of their shares to the Indonesian entities.
Viriya P Singgih, Jakarta – Gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) employees have urged the government once again to immediately settle its dispute with the company as the number of laid-off workers has kept increasing from one day to another.
Jane Lee – A man is refusing to pay a $500 fine for trespassing at an Indonesian consulate to protest against its presence in West Papua, saying Australia has sold him out.
New Zealand's parliament has been presented with a public petition urging government action on the human rights situation in West Papua.
This petition focuses on continued abuses of the right to freedom of expression and assembly in Indonesian-ruled Papua, citing thousands of arrests of people taking part in peaceful demonstrations last year.
Fedina S. Sundaryani, Jakarta – The Papua administration has requested a 10 percent share of divested shares of copper and gold miner PT Freeport Indonesia if the company abides by a requirement to sell 51 percent of its shares to national entities.
Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – The Yogyakarta District Court on Tuesday began the trial of Obby Kogoya, 22, a Papuan student suspected of committing violence against police personnel before a rally on Jl. Kusumanegara in July last year.
Obby is the first ever Papuan student in Yogyakarta to face trial because of political activities.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura, Papua – Hundreds of people grouped under the United Students Front for Freeport Closure staged a rally in front of the Papua Legislative Council and called for the closure of United States-based giant gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia, which has operated in Papua for 50 years.
Taylor McDonald – The unstable Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua are experiencing interesting times.
While human rights, media coverage and protests are muzzled as the provinces demand independence and closer ties with their Melanesian brothers throughout the South Pacific, Jakarta's dispute with mining giant Freeport has created a common enemy.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to health will visit Papua as part of a two-week trip to Indonesia.
Dainius Puras is to visit Papua's provincial capital Jayapura from March the 31st to April the 1st.
The UN Special Rapporteur will be assessing how Indonesia implements the right to health, including the availability and quality of health services.
Jakarta – Dozens of students grouped under the Papuan Students Alliance (AMP) in Bali protested on Monday in front of the United States Consulate General on Jl. Hayam Wuruk, Denpasar.
They expressed their rejection of the presence of gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia in Papua. Before the protests, they marched from the east parking area of Renon.
Phelim Kine – French journalists Jean Frank Pierre and Basille Marie Longhamp learned firsthand last week the Indonesian authorities' contempt for media freedom in its "Forbidden Island" provinces of Papua and West Papua (commonly referred to as "Papua").
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Papuans have praised National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian for appointing a native to the country's eastern-most region as a police chief in Java.
Tito has appointed Adj. Sr. Comr. Semmy Ronny Thabaa, former Nabire Police chief in Papua, as the new chief of Tegal Police in Central Java.
Ainur Rohmah, Tuban, Indonesia – Papuans across Indonesia held demonstrations Monday against an American mining giant involved in a contract dispute with the government that has halted operations at the world's second biggest copper mine.
Sara Schonhardt – Freeport-McMoRan's standoff with Indonesia over the giant Grasberg copper and gold mine is entering a new phase, as the company scales back operations while trying to force a resolution to the dispute.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura, Papua – The Tembagapura Immigration Office has banned two French journalists, Jean Frank Pierre, 45, and Basille Marie Longhamp, 42, from entering Indonesia for the next six months for allegedly violating the 2011 Immigration Law.
Jakarta, Indonesia (AP) – Indonesia has deported two French journalists for committing visa violations while shooting a documentary film in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua, an official said Sunday.
The journalists, Jean Frank Pierre and Basille Marie Longhamp, were sent home Friday through Mozes Kilangin airport in Timika, said immigration office spokesman Agung Sampurno.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura, Papua – The unresolved friction between the Indonesian government and gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia has had a negative impact on the Persipura Jayapura soccer club, the pride of many Papuan soccer fans.
Timika, Papua – Hundreds of people from Solidaritas Peduli Bangsa (Nation Care Solidarity) took to the street at the Timika Indah Traffic Roundabout, Tuesday, voicing their opposition to Freeport Indonesia and affirming their support to the government.
Viriya P. Singgih, Jakarta – A lawmaker has urged the government to give local mining companies the chance to manage Papua's Grasberg mine, the world's biggest gold mine and second-largest copper mine, if it fails to reach a settlement with PT Freeport Indonesia over a contractual dispute.
An Aboriginal elder and artist says she's upset a mural she created in support of West Papua has been destroyed but it won't stop her, or her community, from advocating for the region's independence cause.Artwork by June Mills supporting the plight of West Papuans.
Hans Nicholas Jong, Sorong – Villagers in West Papua have vowed not to let their forests be encroached by logging and palm oil companies, like what happened on Sumatra and Kalimantan where massive deforestation has posed threats to the natural environment.
Vaidehi Shah – West Papua's government has handed over more than 3,000 hectares of forest to indigenous communities, who say they intend to keep big agribusiness out, and instead harvest forest products that help them prosper without clearing forests.
Mark Bowling – Seven Pacific island nations have called for a United Nations investigation into alleged human rights abuses in Indonesia's West Papua and Papua provinces where a separatist movement has simmered for decades.
Indonesia is hosting this week's meetings of police ministers and commissioners from member countries of the Melanesian Spearhead Group.
The meeting is being chaired by Solomon Islands, as the current holder of the MSG chairmanship. Other full members are Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia's FLNKS Kanaks movement.
Kieran Banks – A final protest to save a mural dedicated to the persecuted women of West Papua failed to prevent the piece of cultural art from being destroyed.
Hans Nicholas Jong, Sorong, Papua – Residents of Manggroholo village and Sira village in South Sorong, West Papua province, rejoiced on Thursday as their villages were the first in Papua to have their rights to manage the island's forests acknowledged by the government.
The East Timor Action Network, or ETAN, has paid tribute to the late Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin's work on West Papua.
The former member of the US House of Representatives, who represented American Samoa as its Delegate in Congress for 13 terms from 1989 to 2015, passed away in late February.
Jakarta – Indonesia has prepared Rp 40 trillion (US$2.96 billion) for acquiring shares in PT Freeport Indonesia, a copper and gold miner in Papua, as the company is required to divest at least 51 percent of its shares as stipulated in the new mining regulation.
Jayapura, Jubi – Opposition leader Ro Teimumu Kepa has invited all men and women of all ages in Fiji to take concrete steps to accelerate the achievement of gender parity.
Katharina R. Lestari, Jakarta – A bishop in Papua has called for government aid for thousands of Papuans made jobless as a result of a bitter contractual dispute between the government and U.S.-based mining giant PT Freeport McMoran Inc.
Hendrina Dian Kandipi, Jayapura – The government of Papua Province is committed to halt violence based on gender discrimination by issuing a Special Regional Regulation No. 1/2011 and Province Regulation No. 8/2013, Governor Lukas Enembe said here on Tuesday.
The United Liberation Movement for West Papua has cautiously welcomed news that Australia's Foreign Minister is to visit Indonesian-ruled Papua region this year.
Julie Bishop gave an undertaking to visit later this year, during talks in Jakarta this week with Indonesia's government which has been touting a policy of openness about Papua.
Viriya P. Singgih, Jakarta – The cases against gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia (FI) are piling as the national rights body has stated that the firm has violated the rights of indigenous people during its 50-year operation in Papua.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura, Papua – The prolonged contractual dispute between the government and PT Freeport Indonesia, which has prompted the giant miner to temporarily suspend production, has resulted in weakening economic growth in Papua, especially in the mining sector.
Safrin La Batu, Jakarta – Because it is all about the world's largest gold mine sitting on their land for 44 years, Papuans refuse to be left out from the ongoing saga involving the government and United States-based mining company Freeport McMoRan.
Indonesia's scathing attack on Vanuatu at the 34th UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session is an attempt to divert the international community's attention away from the ongoing human rights violations taking place in West Papua.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull heads off to Indonesia to attend the Indian Ocean Rim Association leadership summit in Jakarta (5-7 March).
The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) is celebrating its 20th Anniversary and Indonesia is the current Chair. The theme of the Summit is "Strengthening Maritime Cooperation for a Peaceful, Stable, and Prosperous Indian Ocean".
There is rising concern among business sources in Jakarta that tension between the Indonesian government and the US-based mining giant Freeport-McMoRan, Indonesia's oldest foreign investor, which has been in a months-long deadlock over future mining, could affect relations between Washington and Jakarta.
Ade Irmansyah, Jakarta – The Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) and the Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI West Papua) are supporting efforts by seven Pacific countries to take the Papuan problem before the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Protesters from the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) and religious pupils from an Islamic boarding school (pesantren) faced off against each other at the Malan city hall in East Java. Both groups held the protests under tight police security.
A church-backed coalition has called on Indonesia to open greater access to West Papua for international journalists, independent observers, human rights organizations and the International Red Cross.
The call came at an international consultation hosted by the World Council of Churches with the International Coalition on Papua in Geneva.
Vanuatu has addressed a high level United Nations meeting over Pacific regional concerns about human rights abuses in Indonesia's Papua region, or West Papua.
The 34th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, was told that Indonesia has not curtailed or halted various widespread violations.
Jakarta – An official has said the Indonesian government has enough funding to buy shares in copper and gold miner PT Freeport Indonesia as it has started to prepare a holding company to manage the mining site in Papua.