Jakarta – Indonesian Military Chief General Moeldoko said his institution was considering implementing a policy of having security personnel accompany foreign journalists in Papua to avoid untoward incidents.
"I am considering appointing guards to accompany foreign journalists so we can guide and protect them in case any dangerous situation arises," Moeldoko stated here on Monday.
Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The House of Representatives has rejected a government proposal to pardon political prisoners in Papua, citing fears that they would go on to inflame separatism in the resource-rich region.
The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) leaders must realise by now that the umbrella organisation, The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has the support of the West Papuan people in its bid for membership of the MSG.
Dylan Amirio, Jakarta – Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi revealed that her ministry had approved eight applications for foreign journalistic visits to resource-rich Papua in the past six months.
In 2014, similar approval was given to 22 requests and only five were turned down.
The West Papuan independence leader, Benny Wenda, says he has still not heard why he was blocked from travelling to the United States a month ago.
In May Mr Wenda was checking in at London's Heathrow Airport when he was taken in for questioning by an official from the US Homeland Security Department, who then revoked his 10-year business visa.
One sunny November school day at a school in Tagime, hundreds of primary and secondary students are outside having a whale of a time. They're playing soccer – a game that ranges over acres and lasts for hours because there's nothing else to do.
Dylan Amirio, Jakarta – Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said the Jokowi government never restricted foreign visitors or journalists from visiting Papua, with 22 foreign applications granted in 2014 alone.
Nic Maclellan, Honiara – Indonesian officials are lobbying for an upgrade to associate membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), while a renewed membership application by a united West Papuan coalition will be discussed at this week's MSG leaders' summit in Solomon Islands.
Jonas Cullwick – The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP)'s Ambassador to the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Secretariat, Amatus Douw, is in Port Vila with a petition containing the signatures of 150,000 people of West Papua to present to the Vanuatu Prime Minister, Sato Kilman.
Gaad Piranid Tabuni grew up in a village in the Papuan highlands of Indonesia too remote for any government – colonial Dutch or Indonesian – to maintain a presence. But missionaries lived there, and Tabuni, now one of the most senior public servants in the region, say they made him the man he is.
A Solomon Islands MP has questioned the government's announcement about exploring greater representation of Indonesia in the Melanesian Spearhead Group.
About 200 people gathered at a rally in the Solomon Islands capital, Honiara, this afternoon calling on the government to support full membership for West Papua in the Melanesian Spearhead Group.
The Solomon Islands will next week host the MSG leaders' summit, where a decision will be made on whether to accept West Papua into the subregional group.
Contact: Patrick Griffith
pgriffith@freedom-now.org
+1 (202) 423-7925
Washington, D.C.: Today, six members of the US House of Representatives sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry raising the continued detention of peaceful activists in Indonesia.
Jayapura, Jubi – Exports from Papua nearly doubled in May, compared to the previous month, the head of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) of Papua Province Didiek Koesbianto said.
"In May, Papua exports increased by 95.99 percent compared to the previous month's total exports, from 106.44 million dollar to 208.61 dollar rupiah," he said in Jayapura on Wednesday (17/6/2015).
The Solomon Islands Government says it will not back the United Liberation Movement for West Papua as a full member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group. But it says it will back observer status to one united group.
A Dutch journalist who has been travelling in Indonesia's Papua region says the depth of local support for a West Papuan application to join the Melanesian Spearhead Group is huge.
Robert Isidorus, Jayapura – A military court in Papua on Wednesday discharged two soldiers and ordered them imprisoned after they were found to have sold ammunition to a separatist militia.
Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says Fiji will stand with Indonesia on the West Papua issue. "My stance on West Papua has never changed," he said.
He said that West Papua was under the sovereignty of Indonesia. "We feel for the sovereignty of the people of West Papua but we must also remember that it is under the sovereignty of Indonesia."
Samoa says it will be looking into supporting a West Papua request for membership in the Pacific Islands Forum.
The Samoa Observer reports that Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi made the assurances to the general secretary of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, Octovianus Mote last week.
Michael Bachelard – Thanks to a brutal history, an Indonesian Government that restricts journalistic access, and a group of committed activists in Australia and New Zealand, most people only ever hear one story about Indonesia's Papua and West Papua provinces.
Roberth Isidorus, Jayapura – An evangelical church in Yambi, in Papua's Puncak Jaya district, was burned down by group of unknown attackers on Monday.
The local military commander, Lt. Col. Bayu Sudarmanto, confirmed the incident.
Residents heard gunshots and then saw smoke coming from the GIDI church building, after which they tried to extinguish the flames, Bayu said.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Around 100 volunteers and social workers have been deployed to distribute free condoms in 180 known areas for sex transactions such as hotels, dormitories, rental rooms and on the streets in their efforts to slow down the rapid spreading of HIV/AIDS in the provincial capital and surrounding areas.
There are further signs from Indonesia's government that it is willing to open up access to the Papua region.
The Minister for Women's Empowerment and Child Protection, who is Indonesia's first Papuan minister, says by reporting on Papua, journalists can help address the region's main problems, such as violence.
The 3rd Congress of the Asia Pacific Greens Federation has adopted a resolution on the West Papuan self-determination struggle.
The congress was held at the weekend in Silverstream, near New Zealand's capital, and featured delegates from a range of countries including Iraq, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
Indonesia says it's quietly hopeful the change of government in Vanuatu will signal the defeat of West Papua's bid to join the Melanesian Spearhead Group.
Sato Kilman is known to have a softer stance regarding Vanuatu's long-held support for West Papua, and as foreign minister recently indicated his country could open an embassy in Jakarta.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The military in Papua arrested a drunk soldier for injuring a civilian in Central Memberamo Thursday. The victim is still undergoing medical treatment at the Marthen Indey Hospital on Friday.
Indonesia is quietly hopeful a change of government in Vanuatu will contribute to the defeat of province West Papua's bid to join a special club of Melanesian states.
However, the southeast Asian giant is not getting too far ahead of itself.
Erwida Maulia & Rangga Prakoso, Jakarta – As the government continues its negotiations with Freeport Indonesia, the local unit of US mining giant Freeport-McMoRan, and there are reports that the company will likely have its operating permit in Papua extended for another 20 years, observers are urging caution.
Index: ASA 21/1851/2015
Raras Cahyafitri, Jakarta – Copper-mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia has, in principle, agreed to change the company's contract of work (CoW) into a special mining license (IUPK) as required by the government, a deal that will enable it to renew its concession rights earlier than expected, a senior official at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has said.
In defiance of a 1963 law forbidding foreign journalists entry to West Papua, Dutch journalist Rohan Radheya has over the past years travelled into the region several times, and is one of very few foreign journalists able to do so.
Vanuatu's new foreign minister says the government will continue to fight for the rights of West Papuans in international fora.
Kalfau Moli was appointed last week after the prime minister Joe Natuman sacked Sato Kilman from the foreign minister's role. Mr Kilman had been accused of misrepresenting Vanuatu's long-running support for West Papuan rights in his dealings with Indonesia.
From 30 April to 01 June, police have arrested protesters expressing support for ULMWP and West Papua campaign of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), KNPB said in a statement to Jubi, Monday (8/6/2015).
Jayapura, Jubi – The arrest of about 200 West Papua National Committee activists in May is disconcerting and shows that authorities are increasingly resorting to heavy-handed tactics to discourage dissent, a human rights observer said.
Jayapura, Jubi – Leaflets calling on Papuans to support Indonesia were circulated in Merauke and Jayapura on 4 June 2015.
Katharina R. Lestari, Jakarta – The governor of Indonesia's Papua province has slammed a central government minister's comments suggesting that Indonesia's controversial transmigration program should be expanded in the tense region.
The Pacific islands sub-regional organisation is considering a membership bid by West Papuans of Indonesia.
MSG member governments are struggling to balance their growing ties to Jakarta with regional grassroots support for the indigenous people of West Papua where a separatist conflict has simmered for decades.
Ben Hillier – More than 500 activists have been arrested over the past month across West Papua as protests, demonstrations and meetings build in the lead up to the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Summit in Honiara, the Solomon Islands.
Jakarta – An Indonesian minister has countered President Joko Widodo's declaration that the controversial transmigration program to Papua province will be stopped, saying instead that, if anything, it will be expanded.
A number of rallies have been held in recent days in Indonesia's Papua region in support of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua's application to become a member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group.
Indonesia's President Joko Widodo has signalled an end to the country's transmigration programme to Papua region.
Transmigration programmes have been operating in Indonesia for decades, involving the relocation of landless people from densely populated areas to less populous parts of the country.
Vanuatu's new foreign minister, Kalvau Moli, says one of his main focuses in government will be the issue of West Papua.
He replaced Sato Kilman, who was sacked yesterday amid opposition plans to lodge a motion of no confidence against the prime minister Joe Natuman.
Civil Society Groups in Fiji say Frank Bainimarama's support for Indonesia's bid to become an associate member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group is a concern.
A Solomon Islands MP is calling on the Melanesian Spearhead Group to ignore Indonesia and accept the application to join the group by the United Liberation Movement for West Papua.
The MP for West Makira says he is disappointed in his own country's lack of conviction on the issue despite what he describes as overwhelming support from the Solomon Islands public for West Papua.
The Solomon Islands says it hasn't made a decision yet on the West Papua bid for membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group.
While the Fiji Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama, recently said that any dealings with West Papua needed to go through Indonesia, whose sovereignty over the provinces should be respected, other leaders have been less forthright.
Repeka Nasiko – Police Commissioner Ben Groenewald says funding has been received from the Indonesian Government for the development of the Melanesian Spearhead Group regional police academy.
While visiting the Western Division earlier this week, Mr Groenewald said regional discussions on the progress of the academy were held recently.
A month ago today, on 29 April 2015, TAPOL organised a demonstration outside the Indonesian Embassy in London, where dozens of demonstrations gathered to demand open access to Papua for international journalists, humanitarian agencies and human rights organisations.
Today, the 28 May the KNPB had called for peaceful rallies in all regions of West Papua.
The organisers are calling for the freedom of expression for the West Papuan people and also calling for international and regional support for the application by the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) to the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG).
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Jayapura Police took into custody 47 would-be protesters who were preparing for a rally in support of Papua's efforts to secure membership in the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) in Jayapura on Thursday.
Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Police arrested at least 71 members of the pro-independence West Papua National Committee (KNPB) during two peaceful rallies on Thursday in Wamena of Jayawijaya district and Jayapura, the provincial capital of Papua.