A delegation of West Papuan representatives has been arrested after claiming they were told by an Indonesian minister that it is time for negotiation about West Papua.
Tabloid Jubi reports that the six Papuans, including members of the Papua Customary Council, or KIP, went to Jakarta and met informally with the Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu.
Linda Yulisman – With its high food self-sufficiency target, the government is considering reviving the stalled "food estate" program of the prior administration by involving private and state-owned companies.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Papua Police investigators have named five people as suspects for allegedly taking arms against the government with an aim to separate Papua from the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.
The chairman of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, Victor Tutugoro, says a special summit is planned for May 21st to examine the membership bid of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua.
The Commander of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force is looking into an unauthorised excursion of Indonesian soldiers into the country last week.
The newspaper, The National, reports that Brigadier-General Gilbert Toropo has directed his officers at the Vanimo Forward Base to submit a report on the matter.
Jayapura, Jubi – Nearly 1,600 people in 16 districts in Papua are suffering from leprosy, said Ary Pongtiku, a consultant of Leprosy and Framboesia in Papua and West Papua in Jayapura last week.
An announcement by Indonesia's Human Rights Commission that it will recommend a pro-justicia inquiry into killings of four students in Papua last year has been described as a good first step.
West Papua must be given full membership at the Melanesian Spearhead Group, says the Pacific Freedom Forum.
"The people of West Papua have long been denied basic human rights by their own government," says PFF Chair Titi Gabi. "They are therefore justified in seeking support and assistance for those rights from outside their own borders."
Index: ASA 21/1423/2015
Amy McQuire – There is a silent genocide in his homeland of West Papua, independence leader Benny Wenda says, but it is slowly becoming difficult for the world to ignore.
"A lot more people are talking about it, a lot more people are finding out the truth," he tells New Matilda.
New video footage showing the bloody aftermath of the 'Paniai massacre' in West Papua highlights the urgent need for Indonesia to hold an independent and transparent investigation into the tragedy, Minority Rights Group International (MRG) said on Thursday.
Bradford Theonomi – Outspoken pressure group, Malaita Ma'asina Forum (MMF) has strongly urged the Democratic Coalition for Change (DCC) Government to make clear its stand on the West Papuan issue.
Jayapura, Jubi – At least 150 students and youths rallied in front of the National Human Rights Commission Papua Representative Office on Tuesday (7/4/2015) urging it to set up a team to investigate the shooting dead of four students in December.
Jakarta – The construction of the headquarters of a new military command (Kodam) in West Papua is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year, Kodam XVII/Cenderawasih chief Maj. Gen. Fransen G. Siahaan said on Tuesday.
Jayapura, Jubi – In commemorating the 12 anniversary of the Bloody Wamena Tragedy, the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence on Saturday (4/4/2015) urged the government to resolve cases of human rights abuses.
Sally Andrews – As the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) prepares to discuss West Papua's latest bid for membership, the 'Papuan problem' poses a significant challenge to Melanesian states, who tread a fine line between responding to regional human rights concerns and managing relations with Indonesia.
Vanuatu's West Papua Unification Committee has dismissed the credentials of a man claiming to be a West Papuan envoy.
Paul Peter Masta claims to be the Federal Republic of West Papua's Ambassador to Papua New Guinea. He has provoked consternation from West Papua leaders based in Vanuatu for denouncing the outcome of the West Papua Forum in Port Vila last year.
Bob Dietz – With more than 50 years of restricted media access, one of the least covered armed conflicts in the world is the long-simmering struggle between Indonesia's military and the secessionist Free Papua Movement.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Agustinus Tabuni, a 24-year-old local identified as a member of an armed criminal group led by Militer Murib, was shot dead when a number of Indonesian Military and National Police personnel conducted a patrol in Kampung Jenggernok, Gome district, Puncak Jaya, around 10 a.m. local time on Tuesday.
Brisbane (Free West Papua Campaign/Pacific Media Watch) – West Papuan leaders of the newly formed United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), including Benny Wenda, Octovianus Mote and Rex Rumakiek, met in Brisbane over the weekend with Australian and some Aotearoa/New Zealand solidarity groups.
Papua New Guinean prime minister Peter O'Neill has called on Indonesia to fulfil the promise of its former president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, to reduce troops stationed in West Papua.
Mr O'Neill told Radio Australia's Pacific Beatprogram that Mr Yudhoyono had discussed this intention with him during a bilateral meeting when the PNG prime minister was in Indonesia for a state visit.
Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – A leader of the Free Papua Movement has not "surrendered" to the Indonesian military and remains committed to armed struggled over Jakarta's occupation of Papua, a relative of Goliath Tabuni told the Jakarta Globe.
Liam Fox – Papua New Guinea's government says a prominent West Papuan activist has been flown out of the country because he was travelling without a visa.
Benny Wenda, spokesman for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, was detained by immigration officials when he arrived in Port Moresby on Tuesday.
Port Moresby (PNG Loop/Pacific Media Watch) – West Papua roving ambassador Benny Wenda says he came to Papua New Guinea to personally thank Prime Minister Peter O'Neill for voicing concern and support for the West Papuan struggle.
Wenda made these comments while he was being escorted into the international airport to be deported from Papua New Guinea.
UA: 72/15 Index: ASA 21/1312/2015 Indonesia
Four students have been tortured or otherwise ill-treated by police in Indonesia Papua province. There are concerns for their safety.
Four students, three of them children, were arbitrarily detained and tortured or otherwise ill-treated by police on 18 March 2015, according to their lawyer.
Jayapura (ANTARA News) – Commander XVII/Cenderawasih Major General Fransen Siahaan asserted, Jakarta-Papua dialogue that aggressively championed by a number of people, will be presented in the frame of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).
"We have the same perception of the dialog before it is implemented," said Maj Siahaan, told Antara in Jayapura on Thursday.
West Papua leader Benny Wenda is still under the control of PNG Immigration and will be deported today at 1pm, back to England where he came from yesterday.
The co-ordinator of Free West Papua PNG Chapter Freddy Mambraso, said his group, with the support of NCD Governor Powes Parkop, were still negotiating with the government to allow Mr Wenda to stay for a while in the country.
The Papuan Police Chief, Inspector General (Pol) Yotje Mende said that the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) should be banned, as it is not an official organisation, it's an underground organisation.
Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – The Indonesian military has claimed a prominent leader of the pro-independence Free Papua Movement, or OPM, has turned himself in to authorities and renounced his struggle against Indonesian rule in Papua.
There's an uneasy calm in Yahukimo regency of Indonesia's Papua province following an incident at a West Papuan fundraising event which left a person dead.
Last week's event in Dekai, aimed at at raising funds for the West Papuan bid to join the Melanesian Spearhead Group, lapsed into chaos when police forces started forcibly breaking up the crowd.
Timika, Jubi/Antara – A legislator urged the Papua Police to thoroughly investigate the shooting case of a number of civilians in Paniai on December 8, 2014.
The deputy chairman of House of Representatives' Commission III, Benny K Harman, made the statement during a working visit to Jayapura to the Papua police chief, Inspector General of Police Yotje Mende.
Andrew Janes – Freeport McMoRan's Grasberg copper mine in Indonesia, the world's second-largest for the metal by capacity, reopened Saturday after a worker roadblock stopped production for five days and helped push the metal's price to a two-month high.
The Security Forces again target KNBP in West Papua. One person killed and 3 wounded.
Throughout the week (11 to 18 March) the Yahukimo Regional Branch of the KNBP held a fundraising campaign in support of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP).
Dennys Kapa, Jakarta – A blockade by workers at Freeport-McMoRan's Indonesian mine extended into a fifth day on Friday, a union official said, with output still halted but maintenance workers allowed into the Grasberg site by protesters.
Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – A policeman was assaulted and his firearm stolen during a fundraising event in the separatist eastern province of Papua on Thursday, Indonesian police told the Jakarta Globe.
Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – In conjunction with the recent International Women's Day, the government has laid out its plans to protect Indonesian women from violence, with this year's focus being on the eastern part of the country.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Church leaders grouped under an ecumenical cooperation forum in Papua have urged President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to establish a Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Violations (KPP HAM) to probe the Paniai tragedy.
Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura, Papua – Freeport's operations at the Grasberg mine in Papua are being hampered, the company confirmed on Monday, as hundreds of upset employees were blocking access to the facility.
"It is true that we have received a report that some employees have staged a protest this morning," Freeport spokeswoman Daisy Primayanti told the Jakarta Globe.
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare and the new Indonesian Ambassador to Solomon Islands, Ronald Manik said they want to see a strengthened bilateral relationship between their two countries.
Siteri Sauvakacolo – Support for the indigenous people of West Papua continues to gather momentum.
On Thursday, about 50 Methodist Church heads of divisions signed the solidarity movement for West Papua petition forms at Suva's Centenary Church in support of the call for the freedom of the natives of West Papua.
Jayapura, Jubi – The Independent Student Forum (FIM) urged the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) to immediately form an inquiry team to investigate the shooting dead of four high school students in Enarotali, Paniai, Papua on December 8, 2014.
The United Nations special rapporteur on torture has criticised the Indonesian government's breakup of demonstrations in West Papua last year, saying it breached international conventions on torture.
The Solomon Islands Foreign Minister says the Melanesian Spearhead Group as a collective supports the right of West Papuans to self-determination.
Milner Tozaka says he related this during his recent talks with Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi in Honiara.
The West Papuan representative body applying for membership in the Melanesian Spearhead Group says it always expected Indonesia's government to increase efforts to counter the application.
Jakarta has been busy forging closer ties with independent Melanesian governments and Indonesia's Foreign Minister has just visited Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Fiji.
The Australia West Papua Association in Sydney condemns the intimidation of the staff of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) Merauke's office by the Indonesian security forces.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – One of the world's copper and gold giants, PT Freeport Indonesia, has pledged that it would process some of its copper concentrate at a smelter to be built by the Papua provincial administration and its Chinese partner in the province's regency of Timika.
A West Papuan leader says Indonesian lobbying of regional governments should not dilute the case for West Papuan membership in the Melanesian Spearhead Group.
The comment from the secretary-general of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, Octo Mote, follows visits by Indonesia's Foreign Minister to Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Fiji.
Suva (The Fiji Times/Pacific Media Watch) – About 1000 signatures supporting West Papuan self-determination have been collected by the Ecumenical Centre for Research, Education and Advocacy (ECREA).
This is in solidarity with the West Papua people who have applied to officially join the Melanesian Spearhead Group.
Papua New Guinea's media watchdog has demanded an explanation for why local journalists were blocked from asking questions about West Papua during an official visit by Indonesia's foreign minister, Retno Marsudi.
Ms Marsudi has just wrapped up a three-country tour through the Pacific aimed at strengthening relations with PNG, Solomon Islands and Fiji.
Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi has completed her one-week tour of four pacific nations, including three members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), which has just received another membership application from a Papuan resistance group.