Two New Zealanders have been awarded the 2014 John Rumbiak Human Rights Defenders Award for their work pushing for improved human rights in Indonesia's Papua region.

The KNPB has reported that a six of their activists were arrested, beaten and taken to the Jayapura Police Station yesterday afternoon, 3 July. The six activists are Ono Balingga, Hakul Kobak, Yandri Heselo, Gesman Tabuni, Ronal Wenda. The name of the sixth activist is not known at this stage.

Timika – Police are searching for people who distributed leaflets urging voters to boycott the July 9 presidential election and demand a referendum.

"A group led by Teni Kwalik is behind it because he made a statement calling for the boycott of the presidential election," Mimika Police Deputy Chief Commissioner Wirasto Adi Nugroho said on Tuesday (1/7) in Timika, Papua.

Port Moresby – The Government of Vanuatu will continue raising the issue on West Papua to the UN.

The Vanuatu Prime Minister Joe Natuman says the government is still looking at pushing the West Papua issue at the United Nations level.

His comment comes as the Melanesian Spearhead Group resolved to seek a more proactive approach alongside Indonesia to help address the development needs of West Papuans.

The Vanuatu Prime Minister Joe Natuman says the onus is on Indonesia to allow West Papuan groups to partake in a more inclusive application to join the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

At last week's MSG summit in Port Moresby MSG leaders resolved to seek a more proactive approach alongside Indonesia to help address the development needs of West Papuans.

The Australia West Papua Association says a rally of independence supporters in Jayapura yesterday was peaceful and not attended by Indonesian security forces.

The 1st July is a very important day in the West Papuan struggle for self-determination and independence. On 1st of July in 1971, West Papuan leaders Brig. Gen. Seth Rumkorem and Jacob Prai (exiled in Sweden) made a proclamation of independence.

A human rights advocacy group is calling for a new Indonesian government to end human rights abuses by previous governments, and bring those responsible to account.

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network, or ETAN, says the government in power following next weeks election in Indonesia should rein in military activity in West Papua.

Melanesian Spearhead Group leaders say they want to take a more proactive approach alongside Indonesia to help address the development needs of West Papuans.

The leaders have just concluded their summit in Port Moresby where issues regarding the indigenous Melanesians of Indonesia's Papua region featured prominently on the agenda.

The Free West Papua Campaign says Dutch New Guinea veterans are angry they have been stopped from carrying the West Papuan Morning Star flag during a a march this week in The Hague.

Melanesian Spearhead Group leaders meeting in Port Moresby have indicated that the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation's bid to join the group will have to return to the drawing board.

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – Police said that two firearms, some traditional weapons and a thousand rounds of ammunition seized in a Jayapura raid had been smuggled in from Papua New Guinea and was destined for anti-Jakarta groups in Puncak Jaya.

Melanesian Spearhead Group leaders meeting this week in the Papua New Guinea capital are expected to formulate a decision on a West Papuan bid to join the grouping.

The leaders have been briefed on the outcomes of the MSG Foreign Ministers delegation to Indonesia's Papua region in January.

Port Moresby, PNG – The Free West Papua Campaign PNG chapter is appealing to the members of Parliament for the West Papua's membership in the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG).

Siteri Sauvakacolo – The Indonesian embassy in Fiji says no one has the right to interfere in matters relating to West Papua.

Responding to questions from this newspaper yesterday, it stated the embassy's stance on the issue of West Papua was that it was "entirely an internal matter of Indonesia".

A new office for the self-declared Federal Republic of West Papua has been opened in Australia.

The organisation calling itself the Federal Republic of West Papua is today opening an office in Melbourne.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs of the organisation, Jacob Rumbiak, says the new office in Melbourne's Docklands business district will help build relations between West Papua, Indonesia and Australia.

Councilor Amanda Stone from the Yarra City Council is cutting the ribbon on the Federal Republic of West Papua's new office in Docklands (Melbourne) on Monday 23 June 2014. This is despite the Lombok Treaty, signed by Australia and Indonesia in 2006, which outlaws any demonstration of the Indonesian colony's independence.

Kursi Istana, Jayapura – Human rights activists and organisations have launched the Movement Against Forgetting in Papua. The activists are calling on the Papuan people not to vote for a presidential candidate that has a track record of human rights violations.

Tevita Vuibau – Churches in Fiji and the region are throwing their voices behind self determination for West Papua. Their support comes as the PIDF hosts Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at its second summit in Nadi this week.

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he would explain his policies on Papua during his visit to Fiji, where he will attend a meeting of Pacific Island leaders, some of whom have been critical of Jakarta's handling of Papua.

There are renewed calls for United Nations monitors to be allowed in to Indonesia's troubled Papua provinces, to verify what human rights groups describe as gross violations.

Rights groups from around the world are meeting at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, trying to turn the spotlight on the region.

Jakarta – US Ambassador Robert Blake has highlighted growing cooperation between the US government and its counterparts in Indonesia, including local administrations and civil society organizations in Papua, during his trip to Papua and West Papua from June 8-13.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Another shooting incident occurred in Jayapura, Papua, on Saturday, highlighting the fragile security situation in the region, which was recently gripped by a shooting incident in Skouw-Wutung that led to the ongoing closure of the Indonesia-Papua New Guinea border.

Churches in the Solomon Islands have agreed to actively support the struggle for political independence of the people of West Papua.

The call comes a week before Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono attends the Pacific Islands Development Forum Summit in Denarau, Fiji.

The United Nations Human Rights Council's current session has heard concerns that freedom of expression and peaceful assembly continue to deteriorate in Indonesia's Papua region.

Harry Pearl, Jakarta – New Zealand's ambassador to Indonesia, in response to allegations that his country had a hidden motive behind a police training project in eastern Indonesia, says New Zealand has only ever worked at the request of the Indonesian government.

The journalist who revealed Indonesia's move to pull out of a New Zealand-funded police training programme in West Papua says he believes political sensitivity is behind the decision.

Kennial Caroline Laia, Jakarta – Indonesian officials keep sending mixed messages regarding the contract renegotiation with Freeport Indonesia – with a minister saying it is imperative to give the local unit of US mining giant Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold some sense of security, while an official said the matter was the authority of the next government.

Harry Pearl & Farouk Arnaz, Jakarta – Indonesia has axed a multimillion dollar police training program in West Papua because police intelligence reports suggested there were "hidden motives" behind the New Zealand-funded program.

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – A joint group of soldiers and police officers shot Rudi Orerei, the alleged leader of an armed group in Papua's Yapen Island, during an attempted arrested at 10:00 a.m. local time on Tuesday morning, police said.

A Joint Oral Statement by the Asian Legal Resource Center (ALRC), Franciscans International (FI), International Coalition for Papua (ICP), Tapol, Vivat International, West Papua Netzwerk (WPN) for the 26th Session of the UN Human Rights Council (Council live webcast) (http://webtv.un.org/live-now/watch/26th-regular-session-of-the-human-rights-council-10-27-june-2014/2178978643001

A graphic novel advocating West Papuan independence has been released online, as part of efforts to provide an alternative version of the history of the Indonesian-run province.

The illustrated novel, which is called "Vanishing Tribes: Unheard Voices from West Papua", is authored under the penname Ahinsa Angel, which means messenger of peace.

Admin MS, Jayapura – West Papua National Committee (KNPB) spokesperson Basoka Logo is calling on all Papuan people to boycott the 2014 presidential election (pilpres).

The call was conveyed together with KNPB Deputy Chairperson Agus Kosay at a press conference earlier this afternoon on Tuesday June 10 at Expo, Waena, in the West Papua provincial capital of Jayapura.

Satria Sambijantoro and Raras Cahyafitri, Jakarta – The outgoing administration will not ink an extension deal with PT Freeport Indonesia concerning its contract to mine the world largest gold site in Papua.

Wutung, PNG – - The Indonesia-PNG border was officially opened on Tuesday this week but closed down again three hours later due to the killing of an Indonesian soldier by OPM (Organisasi Papua Merdeka) rebels.

Sita W. Dewi, Jayapura – Presidential candidate Joko "Jokowi" Widodo says he wants to develop soccer in Papua as it already has produced exceptional talents.

Speaking before hundreds of supporters at Waringin Sports Center in Jayapura, Papua, during a campaign visit on Thursday, he praised Papuan soccer players who had succeeded on the national stage.

Sita W. Dewi, Jayapura – Presidential candidate Joko "Jokowi" Widodo pledged on Thursday to open access to Papua and West Papua for foreign journalists and international organizations, if he was elected president.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott is to attend the D-day anniversary celebrations in France and will stop in Indonesia briefly to meet with President Yudhyono to try and smooth relations with Jakarta over the spying scandal and Australia's stop the boats policy.

A South East Asia politics and history specialist says it's unlikely that the next president of Indonesia will be as focussed on the West Papua issue as Susilo Bambang Yudhyono has been.

The global activist network Anonymous has launched a campaign to raise attention on censorship and the killings of indigenous West Papuans in Indonesia's eastern region.

Anonymous, which is known for its activist stunts and disruptions to government and corporate websites, says West Papuans have been silenced for too long by Indonesia's military and government.

The six-million dollar program was scheduled to begin in the first half of this year but Indonesia has told the New Zealand Government that it is not able to support the project at this time.

The New Zealand Green MP Catherine Delahunty says the community policing aid program would not have been helpful to the people of West Papua.

Advocates for West Papuan self-determination have called for a UN decolonisation committee to be consistent and make a fact finding trip to Indonesia's Papua region.

The special committee on decolonisation is meeting in Nadi this week to look at how 17 Pacific territories on the list are faring.

[Commentary from the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG).]

West Papua, comprised of the provinces (Papua and Papua Barat) is the Indonesian government's last remaining colony, situated on the western half of the island of New Guinea, adjacent to independent Papua New Guinea.

The New Zealand government has confirmed that its planned community policing training programme in Indonesia's Papua region will not go ahead this year.

The Eastern Indonesia Community Policing Programme had been slated for early 2014. But New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade says Indonesia advised that it is not able to support the project at this time.

Advocates for the independence of West Papua say a UN decolonisation committee should visit the Indonesian province.

The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation is meeting in Fiji this week. The Australia West Papua Association says the committee should go on a fact finding mission to investigate how the West Papuan people have fared under Indonesian rule.

The Special Committee on Decolonization will hold its Pacific Regional Seminar in Nadi, Fiji, from 21 to 23 May 2014.

The Pacific Conference of Churches is calling on leaders attending a United Nations meeting on decolonisation this week in Fiji to advocate for West Papua to be added to the UN list of non self-governing territories.

The West Papua Coalition for Liberation says the new Vanuatu Prime Minister Joe Natuman will continue the good work of his predecessor in supporting the West Papuan self-determination cause.

Mr Natuman has replaced Moana Carcasses who was yesterday removed in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence.