WestPapuaMedia is greatly concerned that the statements made on May 9 by Indonesian President Joko (Jokowi) Widodo in Jayapura regarding the ending of the foreign media ban for journalists to visit West Papua, is not being given due diligence by foreign media, and reminds all foreign media workers that West Papua is and still remains an incredibly dangerous place for journalists to

Ross Tapsell, guest contributor – Over the weekend Indonesia's President, Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo, promised to give foreign journalists full access to Papua – the home of a decades-long separatist movement fighting for independence.

Church leaders, human rights organisations, academics and international observers have gathered in the capital of the European Union, Brussels, to discuss the human rights situation in Papua.

A New Zealand-based rights group has welcomed the Indonesian President's latest promise to open up West Papua to foreign media.

Ina Parlina, Merauke – In a bold move to fulfill his campaign pledge, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo opened access for foreign journalists and international organizations to enter Papua and West Papua. The move was immediately welcomed by journalism associations at home.

Merauke, Papua – Foreign journalists must first obtain permits if they want to cover Papua, and there will be screening, according to Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno.

"So, we will not be blamed if they go to forbidden areas," the chief minister affirmed here, Sunday.

Ina Parlina and Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – In an effort to foster peace in restive Papua province, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo granted clemency on Saturday to five political prisoners incarcerated in Jayapura.

Jakarta – Cabinet Secretary Andi Widjajanto confirmed on Sunday that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo had made an official press statement revoking the restrictions that prevented foreign journalists from covering Papua.

He said the President made the statement while in Kampung Wameko, Hurik, Merauke, Papua, where he was attending a harvest ceremony, on Sunday.

The Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, told reporters on Saturday that the government would lift decades-old reporting restrictions for foreign journalists in West Papua and a group of political prisoners in the insurgency-hit eastern province would be released.

Jakarta – Human Rights Watch (HRW) says redress for human right's abuses against people who peacefully express support for self-determination in Papua is often obstructed by a lack of transparency fueled by official restrictions on media access.

Joe Collins of AWPA said, "although this first small step is encouraging, we should be cautious of Jokiei's motives.

Jakarta – President Joko Widodo has declared Indonesia's easternmost provinces of Papua and West Papua as open to foreign journalists, as part of what he calls a new paradigm in addressing longstanding grievances in the region.

Indonesian president Joko Widodo has ordered the release of a group of political prisoners in Papua in a rare conciliatory gesture to the restive eastern province.

The release of five prisoners raises hope that the many political prisoners still held would be freed, but they remain unlawfully behind bars. The Indonesian government should release all political prisoners with an immediate presidential amnesty rather than demand prisoners admit 'guilt' for convictions that violated their basic human rights. – Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director

Indonesian President Joko Widodo's visit to Papua New Guinea this week represents Jakarta's latest heavy-handed attempt to pressure members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) into not supporting West Papua's application for membership.

Jakarta – Amnesty International is calling on President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to take immediate steps to end the Indonesian security forces' increasing attacks on freedom of expression in the country's Papuan region.

Amnesty International calls on President Joko Widodo to take immediate steps to end Indonesian security forces' increasing attacks on freedom of expression in the country's Papuan region.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – The security situation cited by police to justify violent action in Papua is little more than a guise, rights activists warned this week, after calling on Indonesia's government to rethink its policy.

Jayapura, Jubi – President Joko Widodo should push for a resolution into the killings of four students in Paniai and other human rights abuse cases during his visit to Papua this weekend, a Papuan legislator said.

We, Church leaders, human rights defenders, academics and international observers, gathered in Brussels for the International Consultation on Papua 2015 to discuss the situation of human rights in Papua.

Philip Jacobson – There's a saying in the Indonesian palm oil industry: Sumatra is yesterday, Kalimantan is today, and Papua is tomorrow. Tomorrow might well have arrived.

A new report sheds light on the industry's rapid expansion in Indonesia's easternmost region – and on the companies behind the plantation drive.

Jakarta – The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) has urged the government to end restrictions on media access in Papua, as the world commemorates World Press Freedom Day on Sunday.

"We urge the government to open access for journalists to Papua. There is no reason to isolate it from the world," AJI head Sujarwono told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Sunday.

Jayapura, Jubi – Amidst intimidation, illegal arrests, disappearances, torture and killings in Tanah Papua resulting from tensions between the Indonesian authorities and the Papuan pro-liberation groups, churches seek justice, peace, dignity and security for the Papuans.

Jayapura, Jubi – The West Papua National Coalition for Liberation (WPNCL) said it strongly condemned the brutal and inhuman acts carried out by security forces against students and activists who support the liberation of West Papua during the demonstration against the annexation of Papua nation into the Republic of Indonesia on 1 May.

Mass arrests are reported to have been carried out in West Papua on Friday, on the anniversary of Indonesia's annexation of the province.

The pro-independence KNPB says 12 activists were arrested outside a market in Manokwari, while 15 were arrested in Merauke. In the provincial capital, Jayapura, 30 people were arrested at rally against Indonesian rule.

London (TAPOL/Pacific Media Watch) – Dozens of demonstrators dressed in black gathered outside the Indonesian Embassy in London this week to lead the global protest against West Papua's 50-year long isolation.

The demonstration was organised by TAPOL and Survival International, supported by Amnesty UK and the Free West Papua Campaign.

International Press Freedom Day is a golden opportunity for the Indonesian government to finally end its official chokehold on foreign media access to Papua. The broad restrictions on reporting from Papua encourage security force abuses and profoundly undermine the public's right to know what's happening there. – Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director

Fifty-two years ago on 1 May in 1963, the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA) transferred administration of the Dutch colony of Netherlands New Guinea to Indonesia.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Dozens of activists from different NGOs staged "a silent rally" in front of the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday afternoon, urging President Joko Widodo to open Papua to foreign journalists, who have faced difficulty reporting on the embattled region for half a century.

Robertus Wardhy, Jayapura – Papua Police arrested three members of the outlawed Free Papua Movement organization in the country's easternmost province on Thursday, shooting a rebel commander in the legs and detaining two fighters.

Mitchell Bland – Dozens of protesters gathered at Brisbane's King George Square last night as part of a global day of action against Indonesia's media blackout of West Papua.

A group of protestors gathered outside New Zealand's parliament today calling on Indonesia to give access for media and aid groups to West Papua.

It was one of many rallies being held across the world to mark the Global Day of Action on West Papua.

Auckland (Pacific Media Watch) – The spokesperson for the main journalists union in New Zealand today criticised the Indonesian blocking of access for international journalists in the West Papua region but says he is even more concerned about the "intimidation" of local Papuan journalists.

London (Tapol/Pacific Media Watch) – The London-based human rights organisation Tapol is today launching a global appeal to President Joko Widodo for "free and open access" for international journalists, humanitarian groups and human rights observers in the Melanesian Pacific provinces of Papua and West Papua.

Protesters outside the Indonesian consulate in Darwin have called on the country to "stop murdering people".

A small group gathered for a global day of action for media access in West Papua on Wednesday with about half a dozen police present. Similar protests will take place in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, as well as internationally.

An open letter to Indonesian President Joko Widodo

Mr Joko Widodo
President of the Republic of Indonesia
Jl. Veteran No. 16
Jakarta Pusat Indonesia

29 April 2015

Dear Mr President,

On Wednesday, April 29, an international group of protesters gathered at the Indonesian consulate near Central Park in New York to call for an end to restrictions on access to West Papua.

London – Dozens of demonstrators dressed in black gathered outside the Indonesian Embassy today to lead the global protest against West Papua's 50-year long isolation.

Amy McQuire – A West Papuan independence activist, who has been in exile for 12 years after escaping the Indonesian-controlled province, has called on the Australian government to look on "in [and] sympathy in pain" for his own people, who are being "killed like animals" following the execution of two Australians.

Jayapura, Jubi – Youth, Student and Papuan People Movement (GempaR) urged the Indonesian Government to open the democratic space and immediately open the access for foreign journalists in Papua.

"We urge the Indonesian Government to open space for democracy in Papua as promised," the Secretary General of GempaR, Samuel Wamsiwor told Jubi in Abepura last week.

The campaign to push West Papuan independence from Indonesia continues to spread in Africa with a Free West Papua protest being held in Nigeria.

The protest outside the Indonesian Embassy in Lagos was organised by the Pan African Consciousness Resistance and follows a surge of support from South Africa for a Free West Papua.

Basten Gokkon, Jakarta – Regardless of apparently conflicting statements from the Vanuatu government about the opening of an embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia appreciates the Pacific nation's interest in the establishment of a diplomatic mission here, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Rights monitors on Wednesday slammed police for last week's arrest of five indigenous Papuans who stand accused of treason, saying the arrests painted a bleak portrait of freedom of expression in the archipelago's easternmost province.

Lawrence Mehue, Don Flassy, Mas John, Ebieb Suebu and Banundi Ones were arrested on April 14.

Vanuatu's prime minister has downplayed the suggestion made by the foreign minister that it was poised to open an embassy in Indonesia.

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi utilized the opening of the 60th Asian-African Conference Commemoration on Sunday to continue her diplomatic efforts toward Pacific nations, which will soon hold a high-ranking meeting to discuss a membership application of a West Papuan group.

The general secretary of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua has been in Solomon Islands to lobby support for his organisation's bid to join the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

The movement has lodged its membership application to the MSG, which will be deliberated on when MSG leaders meet at their summit in Honiara in July this year.

Siteri Sauvakacolo – Opposition leader Ro Teimumu Kepa has called on all Fijians to show their support towards their Melanesian brothers and sisters from West Papua who have been suffering for the last 50 years.

Bradford Theonomi – A West Papua independence leader was in the country for the past week rallying support for his home country to be part of the Melanesia Spearhead Group (MSG).

Octovianus Mote, an exiled West Papuan who now lives in the United States, is the general secretary of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP).

Civil Society Organisations are outraged at the escalation of brutal attacks and arbitrary killings of West Papuan people by the Indonesian security forces, as a result of the growing support for West Papua's independence around the Pacific Region.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Papua Police detectives have named five people as treason suspects for their alleged involvement in activities aimed at separation from the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.