A spokesperson for the Australian Democratic Labour Party says the arrest of two French journalists in West Papua is unacceptable, and has called on Australia to review its support to Indonesia.
Robert Dandois and Valentine Bourrat were arrested two weeks ago for allegedly violating their tourist visas by reporting for a French-German television station, Arte.
Jerry Omona, Reza Aditya, Antara, Jakarta – Several Papuan figures urged president and vice president-elect Joko Widodo and Jusuf Kalla to solve past human rights violations and straighten history of Papua's integration to Indonesia as violence may re-emerge if it is not solved.
Michael Bachelard – Indonesian president-elect Joko Widodo has promised to build a presidential palace on the shores of West Papua's picturesque Lake Sentani as a sign he will pay more attention to the resource-rich but troubled region.
The plan, which includes regular meetings for dialogue with Papuan leaders, has met a mixed reception from senior local figures.
An exiled West Papuan independence activist, Benny Wenda, says he doubts Indonesia's newly elected president, Joko Widodo, will make any difference to the suffering of his people under Indonesia's military stranglehold.
Phelim Kine – French reporters Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat have spent the past two weeks in a police jail cell on Indonesia's island of Papua.
The two journalists, who domestic media have reported were producing a documentary on the restive province for Franco-German Arte TV, are just the latest victims of the Indonesian government's Papua censorship obsession.
Johan Chang – A recent seminar on human rights issues in West Papua has focused questions about New Zealand's priority on trade relations over press freedom and rights violations.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Celebrations for Indonesia's 69th Independence Day in Tiom, the capital of Lanny Jaya regency, Papua, passed off peacefully on Sunday, with a flag-raising ceremony led by Lanny Jaya Regent Befa Jigibalom.
Lasse Underbjerg – After an election campaign filled with turmoil and nerve-wrecking rivalry, Joko Widodo has been elected as the new president for the world's third largest democracy with 53.2 percent of the votes.
Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – Hundreds of Papuan students in Yogyakarta affiliated with the Papuan Students Alliance (AMP) rallied in Yogyakarta on Friday, demanding the release of two French journalists being held by the Papua Police.
Jakarta – The XVII/Cendrawasih Military Command chief spokesman Lt. Col. Rikas Hidayatullah said Saturday some 500 members of the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM) in West Papua swore allegiance to Indonesia and handed over the Morning Star flag and five firearms.
Craig Hoyle – Political activists are using this month's "Pacific shame" seminar in New Zealand to highlight the plight of indigenous West Papuans, and some say they fear the extinction of their people.
Two French journalists arrested in the Indonesian province of Papua late last week remain in detention on charges relating to misusing their visas.
A local activist, himself just released from prison, is calling for their immediate release. But Victor Yeimo is also keen to highlight that the fate of the journalists is something the local population faces everyday.
Yuliasri Perdani, Jakarta – Police in Papua say they have found indications that two French journalists who have been held in custody since Aug. 6 for allegedly abusing their tourist visas could be involved in espionage.
The Chairman of the Vanuatu-based West Papua Unification Committee says they won't defer to Indonesia on the issue of West Papuan self-determination aspiration.
Pastor Allan Nafuki's statement comes at a time as Indonesia has sent an official delegation on a diplomatic visit to Port Vila this week.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The improper implementation of policy and lack of attention to security-related problems in Papua are said to be the root causes of the ongoing separatist movements in the region.
Michael Bachelard, Jakarta – The detention of two French journalists in the Indonesian province of West Papua has taken a dangerous new turn, with local police suggesting the pair were present at an exchange of ammunition by a separatist group and should be charged with subversion.
The Vanuatu-based West Papua Unification Committee has postponed this month's planned West Papua conference to early October.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Authorities in Jayapura, Papua, continue to investigate two French journalists who were arrested on Aug. 6, for allegedly abusing their tourist visas.
Vanuatu's Prime Minister Joe Natuman has reconfirmed his government's support for West Papuan independence aspirations to Indonesia's government.
A West Papua advocacy group is urging New Zealand and other Pacific nations to lobby Indonesian authorities for the immediate release of two French journalists.
Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat, who were working for a French-German television station, were arrested in Indonesia's Papua province for allegedly violating their tourist visas.
The fate of two French journalists detained by Indonesian police for almost a week in the restive region of Papua remains uncertain.
Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat, from the Franco-German television channel Arte, have been accused of reporting without valid visas.
AWPA has written to Foreign Minister Julie Bishop concerning recent troubling events in West Papua. AWPA is urging the Foreign Minister to raise concerns and the deteriorating human rights situation in West Papua with the Indonesian Government and Indonesia's President-elect Joko Widodo.
Reporters Without Borders deplores the detention of French journalists Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat in the Indonesian province of Papua (on the island of New Guinea) since 6 August and calls on the local authorities to release them at once.
Jakarta – Indonesian Army spokesman Gen. M. Fuad Basya said that in six months the Army and the National Police lost at least 40 firearms in Papua.
Fuad told Tempo.co that officers lost their weapons while fighting members of the Free Papua Movement (OPM). On occasion, the officers reportedly also raid the OPM's weapons.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Jayapura Police have taken 21 civilians into custody for their alleged involvement with the separatist Free Papua Movement's (OPM) activities in Kampung Beraf, Nimbokrang district, Jayapura regency, Papua, on Sunday.
Jakarta – Papua Police said they arrested 21 alleged members of the Free Papua Organization (OPM) as they intercepted a convoy of new recruits for the group's military wing on Sunday, Indonesian media reported.
Jayapura – Police in Papua and the French Embassy in Jakarta confirmed on Friday the arrest and detention of two French journalists in Papua.
UA: 199/14 Index: ASA 21/020/2014. Indonesia Date: 8 August 2014
On 8 August two Papuan students, including a child, were arbitrarily detained for their peaceful political activism in Indonesia's West Papua province. They are believed to have been tortured or otherwise ill-treated by police.
Arnold Belau, Papuan, Jayapura – Two members of the Manokwari district West Papua National Committee (KNPB), Robert Helemaken (17) and Oni Weya (21) were arrested and severely beaten by Manokwari city municipal police on August 8.
Copper mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia aims to complete 7.5 percent of its smelter development in the coming months, although the company has not released details as to when it plans to start construction on the project.
Freeport-McMoRan Inc's Indonesia unit will complete on Thursday loading for its first copper concentrate export shipment since new mining rules were introduced in the Southeast Asian nation, the unit's CEO said.
Production at its Grasberg mining complex is already back to normal levels, FreeportIndonesia CEO Rozik Soetjipto said.
Jakarta – Award-winning human rights advocate Yan Christian Warinussy has suggested the establishment of a ministry to focus specifically on Papua.
Yan Christian, who was awarded with the Canadian John Humphrey Freedom Award in 2005, said a dedicated ministry was needed to handle all the problems in Papua under the next government.
The Free West Papua Campaign says a political prisoner Victor Yeimo has been released from jail in Indonesia after serving more than a year.
Mr Yeimo is the Chairman of the West Papua National Committee and was jailed in May 2013 for leading a peaceful demonstration. He will remain on parole until 2016.
The Vanuatu Prime Minister says a West Papua conference in Port Vila this month will provide a platform for delegates to decide together whether they want to join the Melanesian Spearhead Group.
Jayapura – The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) has called for a full investigation into violence in the Lanny Jaya regency of Papua and the use of an excessive security approach there.
Auckland (Pacific Media Watch) – Indonesia's ban on foreign journalists, torture and sexual assault by the military, and the New Zealand government's cosy relationship with Indonesia – one of "colonisers talking to colonisers", according to a Mana Party spokesman – were discussed at a weekend seminar.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – After being ambushed in the District of Pirime on Friday, Indonesian army personnel managed to kill five Papua insurgents who were subsequently deemed to have been responsible for the recent deaths of two police officers.
A journalist from Indonesia's Papua region says police discourage journalists from covering issues or stories involving the National Committee for West Papua, or KNPB.
According to Victor Mambor, the KNPB is the leading pro-independence organisation in West Papua and, as such, is the subject of much attention from security forces.
Support for a West Papuan bid to join the Melanesian Spearhead Group is strong in Indonesia's Papua region, according to a leading local journalist.
A formal membership application by the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation was recently knocked back by the MSG whose leaders called for a more representative bid.
Auckland (Pacific Media Watch) – The first West Papuan journalist to visit New Zealand has made a call for freedom for West Papua, and for the Indonesian government occupiers to lift the ban on foreign journalists.
Indonesia's President-elect Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, has been urged to make good on a promise to allow Papua region to be opened up to foreign media.
Outside access to Papua and West Papua provinces remains restricted for foreign journalists as well as international humanitarian agencies and NGOs.
Nethy Somba, Jayapura – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) called on local officials to speak out against the continuing violence in Papua.
Sally Whyte – A West Papuan activist has fled to Australia in fear for her safety after giving testimony to an Australian tribunal into the 1998 Biak massacre by Indonesian forces.
A West Papuan activist says Australia and New Zealand must not abandon the indigenous people of her homeland.
Visiting New Zealand, Paula Makabori has met members of parliament pushing for the country to play a role in addressing human rights abuses in Indonesia's Papua region.
A resolution to call upon the new President of Indonesia to commit to genuine media freedom in West Papua has gained historic cross-party support in New Zealand's parliament.
West Papua Action Auckland,
Box 68419,
Newton
West Papua Action Auckland is shocked that that Ministers Coleman and Tolley have decided against giving even a brief time to meet with visiting Papuan journalist Victor Mambor (Chair of the Papua Chapter of the Association of Independent Journalists, AJI).
Auckland (Pacific Media Watch/Scoop/CBS/Radio Australia) – New Zealand police minister Anne Tolley and defence minister Dr Jonathan Coleman must meet with the first West Papuan journalist to visit New Zealand, says a spokesperson for West Papua Action Auckland.
The Pacific Islands Forum leaders in Palau have been urged to discuss human rights violations in West Papua.
The Australian West Papua Association says the leaders need to make a public statement of concern in its official communique, just as the MSG leaders did at their meeting in Noumea last year.
Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – Three soldiers suffered from gunshot injuries on Monday morning following an attack against a military post in the Tingginambut area of Papua's Puncak Jaya district, alleged to have been lead by a separatist group.
The 45th Pacific Islands Forum and related meetings will be held from 29 July to 1 August 2014 in Koror, the Republic of Palau.