There are calls for Australia's prime minister Malcolm Turnbull to raise the matter of human rights abuses in West Papua with his Indonesian counterpart. Mr Turnbull is due to meet Joko Widodo for talks tomorrow in Jakarta.
The United Liberation Movement for West Papua has called on Mr Turnbull to discuss violence by security forces aganst West Papuans.
Indonesia has no travel restrictions on foreign journalists in its easternmost province of Papua, the country's security chief said on Wednesday, vowing to dismiss any police officials who blocked such freedom.
Hon Malcolm Turnbull
Prime Minister
House of Representatives
PO Box 6022
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
10 November 2015
Dear Prime Minister,
Robin Williams – A young West Papuan currently in Australia is shooting video rather than bullets in his battle to fight the intimidation, torture and massacres that are regular occurrences in his homeland.
Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) held on Monday the first trial of two military soldiers accused of fatally shooting two civilians and injuring three others during a festival in Mimika, Papua, in August.
Many people, including members of the Kamoro Tribe and several high-ranking military officers, attended the trial on Monday, Antara news agency reported.
The lid is lifting on what has been for so long Asia/Pacific's hidden region.
Since incorporation into Indonesia in 1969, outside access to West Papua – the western half of New Guinea, has been tightly restricted amid a simmering separatist conflict.
National – West Papua National Committee (KNPB) deputy chairman Agus Kossay and two other Papuans, Bano Kalaka and Nodi Hilka, were interrogated on Friday in connection with the arrival of French journalist Marie Dhumieres in Papua on Oct. 1.
Despite a handful of Papuan political prisoners being freed recently by Indonesia's president, there's a lot more still languishing behind bars in West Papua.
Transcript
A West Papuan activist is calling for the Indonesian government to free all Papuan political prisoners. The Indonesian president Joko Widodo in May freed a handful of prisoners from Abepura prison.
Victor Mambor, Jayapura, Jubi – The House of Representatives said the military should expand its base in Biak to anticipate security problems in eastern Indonesia.
Jakarta – The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) expects continued conflict in Papua unless the government takes immediate steps to better coordinate its security forces in the region and hold intensive dialogue with native communities.
Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – While the annual land and forest fires usually occurr in Sumatra and Kalimantan, a large agricultural project in Merauke, Papua, could turn the eastern part of Indonesia into a new hotbed of fires in the archipelago.
The prediction was based on a latest finding by Greenpeace Southeast Asia, which monitored 112,000 hot spots from Aug. 1 to Oct. 26.
Jakarta – An Indonesian documentary maker has withdrawn her film from the government-funded Melanesian Cultural Festival this week, calling it a "political program" that diverts focus from the real issues facing repressed communities in the country's impoverished east.
On Monday, President Obama met Indonesia's new president, Joko Widodo, at the White House to discuss climate change, trade and strengthening US-Indonesian ties.
Muhamad Edy Sofyan, Jakarta – The Indonesian stock exchange authority says it will restrict the market for a highly anticipated initial public offering of shares in mining giant Freeport Indonesia to local investors only.
Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Government leaders and activists in Indonesia's Papua province said talks on extending the contract of the US-based PT Freeport McMoRan mining company ignored input from the local community.
Jayapura, Jubi – Papua Governor Lukas Enembe said the Indonesian Government's proposal to establish the Indonesian Melanesian Brotherhood, which is marked with the signing of declaration in Ambon in the early October, was only a political ploy.
Australia's new Prime Minister has indicated that his government will prioritise economic interests over support to reinscribe West Papua on the UN list of territories to be decolonised.
The sign came via a letter from Malcolm Turnbull in response to correspondence by the United Liberation Movement for West Papua.
The Governor of Indonesia's Papua province has warned that indigenous Papuans could disappear as a people if they remain marginalised in their own land.
Lukas Enembe's warning came as he delivered a stern rebuke for transmigration – Indonesia's state programme of resettling people from over-populated regions into less crowded regions such as Papua.
For the first time, Radio New Zealand International journalists have been able to enter Indonesia's eastern region of Papua.
Papua has long been restricted to outside access, but during a visit to the region in May Indonesia's president Joko Widodo announced that foreign journalists were now free to enter.
The Governor of Indonesia's Papua province Lukas Enembe says moves to form a Melanesian Brotherhood among five Indonesian provinces is mainly about politics.The governor was explaining his reluctance to travel to the recent signing of the Brotherhood agreement in Ambong.
Reverend Dormon Wandikbo is a leading member of the GIDI, or Gereja Injili di Indonesia, a Protestant church which, unlike other leading Protestant churches in Papua, has a presence in other parts of Indonesia.
A note of caution has been sounded about Indonesian government plans to carve up another province out of Papua region. This comes as lawmakers look set to create two more provinces in the Indonesian territory of New Guinea.
Rochelle Jones – West Papuans have struggled for their freedom since they were annexed by Indonesia and robbed of their right to a fair referendum in 1969. While the independence struggle slowly gains more visibility due to a courageous network of civilian journalists on the ground, it is the stories and struggles of West Papuan women that are often silenced.
A Papua church leader says media reports about the recent burning of a small mosque in Tolikara have largely mis-represented relations between different faiths.
Reverend Dormon Wandikbo, is a leading member of GIDI, or Gereja Injili di Indonesia, a Protestant church which, unlike other leading Protestant churches in Papua, has a presence in other parts of Indonesia.
Dozens of students marched on the Indonesian Embassy in the New Zealand capital, Wellington, today to protest over continuing violence from the security forces in West Papua.
The students, many of them from Melanesian countries, had walked from Victoria University and were joined by several MPs, including the Green Party's Catherine Delahunty.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Hundreds of Indonesian Military personnel have been dispatched to extinguish spot fires across southern Papua that have caused thick smoke and disrupted flights at Mosez Kilangin Airport over the last two weeks.
Reporters Without Borders is very disappointed by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's performance as regards freedom of information and media freedom during his first year in office.
Jayapura, Jubi – Native Papuans in seven indigenous territories will welcome the arrival of a fact-finding team from the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) to investigate human rights violations in Papua.
Robert Isidorus, Jayapura, Papua – West Papua has declared itself as the world's "first conservation province" in a signed declaration on Monday, in an bid to formally dedicate its efforts to conservation purposes.
Jayapura, Jubi – The people of Papua, especially the West Papua Liberation Army (TPN) has mourned the death of a charismatic figure in Brigadier General Richard Joweni.
The man whose real name was Uria Hans Joweni, passed away on 16 October at 23:00 Papua time at 72.
Pacific churches say Indonesia must seriously address human rights abuses and extra-judicial killings in Papua.
The call by the Pacific Conference of Churches comes after the killing of a student in Timika and Indonesia's denials at the UN General Assembly of human rights abuses in the territory it annexed in 1961.
Raras Cahyafitri and Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – When it comes to the sanctity of a contract, the devil is always in the detail. With both hands tied by legal constraints, the government had few options other than forging a deal with US mining giant Freeport McMoRan Inc. last week to assure the contract extension of its local unit PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI).
Jayapura, Jubi – Papua legislator Laurenzus Kadepa cast doubts on reports that a commander of West Papua Liberation Army/Papua Free Movement (OPM), Goliath Tabuni, has laid down arms and become a timber businessman.
Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-128-2015
Dear Friends,
Tonga's Government has responded to Indonesia's accusation that claims by Tonga's Prime Minister at the United Nations were misleading.
Pohiva told the UN General Assembly in New York that the UN should investigate allegations of human rights abuses in the provinces of Papua and West Papua.
Jayapura, Jubi – A human rights group condemned Jayapura Municipality Police for mishandling a peace protest to demand justice over the Paniai Case, 8 December 2014.
Agustinus Beo Da Costa, Jakarta – Freeport-McMoRan Inc should significantly increase the amount it pays in royalty payments to the Indonesian government if it wants to extend a contract to operate one of the world's biggest copper mines, a cabinet minister said on Tuesday.
The AWPA has written to Foreign Minister Julie Bishop concerning the crackdown on the peaceful rally on the 8 October and on other incidents of human rights abuses abuses in West Papua
AWPA is urging Julie Bishop to:
Jakarta – Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Rizal Ramli dished out a sharp critique once more, and this time it was directed against foreign companies controlling Indonesia's mineral wealth.
For example, the gold mine controlled by giant gold and copper miner Freeport in Papua. He also lambasted the mentality of the country's state officials in the mineral sector.
It is frustrating that serious human rights abuses in Indonesian-controlled West Papua continue to fly below the radar.
This year there has been some good news but it is also going largely unremarked. This is equally frustrating, especially as the positive developments all stem from initiatives taken by courageous Papuans themselves or by our neighbours in the Pacific.
Jayapura, Jubi – Papua Military Chief Maj General Hinsa Siburian declined to disclose details on proposal to form of a task force on peace in Papua by the State Intelligence Agency (BIN).
"What I heard the word 'peace' it is so obvious that we TNI want to create peace in Papua by inviting all parties to respect indigenous peoples rights," said Siburian said on Tuesday 06/10/2015.
Jayapura, Jubi – Human right activist said the apology conveyed by Cenderawasih XVII Regional Military Commander in the 70th Anniversary of Indonesian Military on Monday (5/10/2015) should be followed up in real action not only the pseudo words.
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has called on the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council to do more in investigating and monitoring allegations of human rights abuse and violations in the Papua and West Papua regions of Indonesia.
Sogavare made the call in New York Thursday in his address at the 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura, Papua – Indonesian Air Force personnel in the early hours of Friday accidentally shot two police officers at Jayapura's Sentani Airport while trying to disband a group of intruders.
Taking centre stage at the United Nations General Assembly, the Tongan Prime Minister has urged the world to take action on the human rights situation in Indonesia's West Papua region.
Jayapura, Jubi – The Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) condemns the shooting of two high school students in Timika on Monday the 28 September by the Indonesian security forces. The incident occurred around 19.30hrs on Monday (28/9/2015)
AWPA condemns the shooting of two high school students in Timika on Monday the 28 September by the Indonesian security forces. The incident occurred around 19.30hrs.
Crowds have reportedly gathered in the Papuan town of Timika to protest the police shooting of two high school students.
An Australia-based West Papuan campaigner, Paula Makabory, says the 17-year-olds were shot, one of them fatally, near a market in Timika on Monday when they were pursued by Indonesian police.
Semarang, Jubi – A Papuan human rights activist, Yones Douw, urged the central government to withdraw troops from Papua.
Jakarta, Jubi – The State Intelligence Agency (BIN) will form a team called the Papua Peace Task Force to resolve the problems in Papua peacefully, its chairman Sutiyoso said.
"BIN will put forward a peaceful settlement, therefore we are forming the Papua Peace Task Force," said Sutiyoso, at Gedung Nusantara II, Jakarta on Monday (28/09/2015).