The Indonesian government has denied suggestions that it's not open to communication regarding West Papua.
This follows criticism from the chairman of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, Solomon Islands prime minister Manasseh Sovavare, over Indonesia's failure to respond to requests from the MSG for dialogue over concerns about rights abuses in Papua.
Alin Almanar, Jakarta – The Indonesian government is optimistic about settling at least 12 cases of human rights abuses in the far eastern province of Papua by the end of this year, a senior minister said on Wednesday (18/05).
Granting of full membership status to the United Liberation Movement of West Papua in the Melanesian Spearhead Group is justifiable as Indonesia had sought membership of the regional bloc to only protect its own interest, says Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare of the Solomon Islands.
Indonesia has no desire to engage in dialogue about the serious human rights issues in West Papua.
A West Papuan theologian and activist says Papuan nationalist aspirations are a direct consequence of how the Indonesian state has treated his people.
Reverend Dr Benny Giay said West Papuans have never felt a part of Indonesian society, due to state policy towards them since the former dutch New Guinea was incorporated into the republic in the 1960s.
The Solomon Islands prime minister has reiterated his support for full membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group for the United Liberation Movement of West Papua.
Thompson Marango – Vanuatu Foreign Minister, Bruno Leingkon, has called for unity within countries and people who are in support of West Papua's right to self determination.
Leingkon was one of the two Vanuatu Government Minister's including Minister of Lands, Ralph Regenvanu who attended the International Parliamentarians for West Papua meeting in United Kingdom recently.
Arnold Belau, Jayapura – As many as 101 Mobile Brigade (Brimob, paramilitary police) personnel from the East Java regional police (Polda) were sent to West Papua on Monday May 16. The blue-beret troops were deployed with the primary duty of protecting the Freeport gold mine from all types of disturbances.
An Indonesian government delegation has travelled to Britain to talk about West Papua to local MPs and church leaders. The Coordinating Minister for Politics, Luhut Pandjaitan, led the delegation.
Shail Shah – Almost 2,000 West Papuans were arrested by Indonesian authorities in early May, after demonstrations were held to commemorate the 1963 annexation of the territory and to demand independence.
The Solomon Islands and Vanuatu say they will support the United Liberation Movement for West Papua's bid for full membership to the Melanesian Spearhead Group at the organisation's upcoming summit in Papua New Guinea next month.
The chairman of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, Manasseh Sogavare, says the regional body is pushing for an urgent intervention by the United Nations in West Papua.
Mr Sogavare, who is the prime minister of Solomon Islands, has also declared his country's support for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua's bid to be a full member of the MSG.
A church leader from Indonesia's Papua region who is in New Zealand raising awareness about conditions in his homeland says West Papua is a global humanitarian issue.
The chairman of the Papuan Baptist Church Alliance, Reverend Socratez Yoman says abuses against West Papuans by Indonesian security forces have not abated since his last visit to New Zealand ten years ago.
The United Liberation Movement for West Papua has opened its new office in Wamena, Indonesia.
The chairman of the Papuan Baptist Church Alliance says five decades of Indonesian rule has failed to dilute West Papuan nationalist sentiment.
The International Parliamentarians for West Papua has called for an internationally-supervised vote on independence in West Papua and is preparing to build pressure on Indonesia over the issue.
Transcript
The International Parliamentarians for West Papua has called for an internationally-supervised vote on independence in West Papua
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called on Indonesia's authorities to stop violating the rights of journalists in West Papua, where the Jayapura police prevented reporters from covering a peaceful demonstration in support of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua on May 2 – the eve of World Press Freedom Day.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on Indonesia's authorities to stop violating the rights of journalists in West Papua, where the Jayapura police prevented reporters from covering a peaceful demonstration in support of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua on 2 May, the eve of World Press Freedom Day.
A member of the International Parliamentarians for West Papua has dismissed claims by Indonesia that its deliberations on Papuan self-determination are a 'publicity stunt'.
The Vanuatu government minister Ralph Regenvanu was one of dozens of MPs and leaders from the wider Pacific, Europe and Britain, who attended last week's IPWP summit in London.
More mass demonstrations are expected in Indonesia's Papua region amid growing international interest in West Papuan self-determination aspirations.
Last week's demonstrations in cities across Papua region and other Indonesian cities came three weeks after similar public mobilisations, and resulted in mass arrests.
Marguerite Afra Sapiie – Former president of Timor Leste Jose Ramos-Horta has expressed optimism that the Indonesian government will settle cases of human rights abuses in Papua, saying that officials should prioritize peaceful dialogue.
Jayapura, Jubi – Activists from the West Papuan National Committee said they were tortured and beaten up by police during their detention.
Jakarta – Indonesia's House of Representatives has condemned a meeting by the International Parliamentarians for West Papua, or IPWP, that took place at the British Houses of Parliament in London earlier this week, calling it a "reflection of colonial acts."
Godwin Ligo – Leaders and members of the Vanuatu-Free West Papua Association (VFWPA) presented a Communique to the Deputy Director of the Melanesian Spearhead Group Secretariat (MSG) Mr. Molean Kalpak, requesting him to pass the Communique on to the MSG Chair and Leaders to allow West Papua full membership in the MSG and keep Indonesia out of the MSG.
Jeremy Corbyn has drawn attention to the plight of West Papuans, saying the recognition of human rights and justice should be the "cornerstone" of the UK Labour party's foreign policy.
The Labour leader made the comments in an address to a meeting of international parliamentarians, supporters and activists in London on Tuesday.
Matilda Simmons and Tevita Vuibau – SODELPA says they continue to stand with the people of West Papua in their struggle for self determination, their show of support coming just days after a damning report on Indonesian human rights violations in West Papua was released.
On Monday as many as 1,700 people were arrested in demonstrations across all of the main Papuan cities.
The demonstrations were in support of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua's bid to be a full member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, as well as the International Parliamentarians for West Papua summit held in London this week.
Claims by Canberra that the plight of West Papuans in the Indonesian region is improving are false, according to an Australian Catholic Church fact finding mission's report.
The mission in February by the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission in Brisbane has produced a report called 'We will Lose Everything'
AWPA has written to the Foreign mMnister re recent arrests in West Papua.
Nether Dharma Somba – Rights activists in Papua have slammed the arrest of 1,888 students and activists who were carrying out a peaceful rally on Monday to support the United Liberation Movement for West Papua's campaign to gain full membership of the Melanesia Spearhead Group.
They said the arrests revealed Indonesia's paradoxical democracy and attitude toward human rights.
Len Garae – "This report is an act of solidarity, I make it clear that this struggle is the struggle of the people of Papua. It is not my struggle as an Australian, but I am proud to be in solidarity with them and to support them in whatever they want."
Nearly 2000 people were arrested on Monday, 2 May 2016, in mass unarmed civilian-based uprisings across West Papua, reports We Are Moving Stories.
"The Indonesian police were completely overwhelmed by the size, scale and disciplined defiance of the activists who came from a range of groups organised by the United Liberation Movement for West Papua," says author Jason MacLeod.
Steve Cannane – UK Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn has spoken out about the plight of the West Papuan people and supported a push for democratic reform in the Indonesian province.
Around 1,700 Papuan political activists were arrested by police forces both in Papua region and other Indonesian provinces in the country, simple for exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression.
London (Free West Papua Campaign/Pacific Media Watch) – An historic step on the road to freedom for West Papua was taken in London today. At a meeting of the International Parliamentarians for West Papua in the Houses of Parliament, a new declaration was made calling for an internationally supervised vote on the independence of West Papua.
The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) has urged President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to punish the National Police chief over the arrest of 1,724 activists in Papua for holding rallies in support of a pro-referendum group.
Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Church officials in Indonesia welcomed a report by an Australian archdiocese that criticizes the country for persistent human rights abuses in West Papua, and the church for not doing enough to stop it.
Activists have accused Indonesian police of being heavy handed as they arrested pro-independence protesters in the eastern province of Papua.
Latest reports from Indonesia indicate police arrested almost 1700 West Papuans yesterday for taking part in a series of demonstrations across Papua region.
The demonstrations were held to express support for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, which is vying for full membership in the Melanesian Spearhead Group.
The report of the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission on its "shadow" human rights fact-finding mission to West Papua this year has found no improvement in human rights.
It has called on the United Nations to investigate human rights abuses and for the Indonesian government to negotiate with the United Liberation Movement for West Papua to find a pathway towards self-determination.
West Papua Action Canterbury and West Papua Action Auckland call on the Minister of Foreign Affairs to take action over the latest mass arrests of peaceful demonstrators in West Papua.
The New Zealand government has blocked a motion moved without notice by an opposition Green Party MP Catherine Delahunty on West Papua.
The motion was to have asked New Zealand's parliament to support the call by the International Parliamentarians for West Papua for a referendum on self-determination in Indonesia's Papua region.
Helen Davidson – The United Nations must pass a resolution for an internationally supervised vote for independence in West Papua, global parliamentarians and independence advocates have said.
Jayapura, Jubi – Journalists have been banned from covering the arrest of protesters who support the West Papua Liberation (United Liberation Movement for West Papua) in the square of the Mobile Brigade Command Headquarters in Kotaraja, Papua on Monday (2/5/2016).
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned from national and local sources that on May 2, police officers arrested in total 1,724 indigenous Papuans who took part in a peaceful protest in Jayapura and other cities in Papua.
Jayapura, Jubi – Monday, (02/05/2016), Papua Police arrested protesters including West Papua National Committee (KNPB) members, student activists and Papuan pro-independence supporters.
Indonesian police have made widespread arrests in Papua region as West Papuans prepare to hold demonstrations.
Protests were planned for today in most of the region's urban centres as West Papuans mark the anniversary of transferral of administration in the former Dutch New Guinea to Indonesia in 1963.
A public march in Vanuatu's capital delivered a petition to the Melanesian Spearhead Group secretariat calling for full membership for West Papua.
The President of Vanuatu's council of chiefs says the Melanesian Spearhead Group needs to grant full membership to the United Liberation Movement of West Papua.
Nethy Dharma Somba – Less than three months after his presidential inauguration, Joko "Jokowi" Widodo arrived in the Papua capital of Jayapura in December 2014 to a rock-star welcome.
The Australia West Papua Association is calling on the Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop to condemn the arrests of peaceful demonstrators in West Papua.
As many as 178 activists from the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), the Regional Parliament (PRD) and the students were taken to the City Police Resort (Police) Jayapura today the 2 May.
Jakarta – Police have arrested 500 demonstrators during a rally in support for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, or ULM, and its effort to reach full member status of the regional Melanesian Spearhead Group in Jayapura on Monday (02/05).
Arrests by Indonesian security forces of West Papuan demonstrators have just begun minutes ago in Jayapura, as West Papuan people begin planned mass mobilisations to demand self-determination and referendum on the occupied colony's future.