A Canadian man who cycled around the world to raise awareness of human rights abuses in West Papua says Indonesian media outlets have insulted him by distorting comments he made about prisoners' conditions.
Jeremy Bally completed his 12,000 kilometre cycling trip this month and is soon to fly out of Jakarta to return home.
Liam Cochrane – Free Papua Movement (OPM) military commander Danny Kogoya has died in Papua New Guinea, his family says.
Mr Kogoya was shot by Indonesian security forces during an arrest last year and later had his leg amputated while in custody. He was released, but then threatened with re-arrest and had been hiding in north-west PNG.
Raras Cahyafitri, Sorong, West Papua – Resource-rich areas in eastern Indonesia, particularly Maluku and Papua, are expected to produce more oil and gas and contribute to the national output next year despite some hurdles including hard terrain and lack of infrastructure.
The family of a one-legged West Papuan rebel who died in Papua New Guinea at the weekend has accused the Indonesian consulate of interfering with his planned autopsy.
Marni Cordell – Two high-profile lawyers involved in a "citizens' tribunal" that found Indonesian security forces tortured and killed unarmed civilians in West Papua 15 years ago have questioned what the Australian government knew about the incident.
Nivell Rayda – Jeremy Bally was pedaling his bike across Vancouver, British Columbia, when he was struck with an awe-inspiring idea: he would cycle the globe – 12,000 kilometers in all – to raise awareness about the situation in Papua, Indonesia.
Matt Peacock – Indonesia is facing calls to investigate the killing, raping, and torture of more than 150 civilians on the West Papuan island of Biak 15 years ago.
Jeremy Bally, 26, an environmental activist from Canada, visited Abepura Penitentiary in Jayapura, on Monday, to meet Papuan political prisoners and detainees.
Bally's visit was aimed at distributing 40 postcards from activists in seven countries to show their support of their struggle.
Canadian activist Jeremy Bally has concluded his 12,000 kilometer, 7 country international bicycling and performance tour in West Papua, delivering letters collected from around the world to political prisoners in Abepura Prison.
Jayapura – Papua is taking steps to combat violence against women and children as concerns grow about the level of domestic abuse. According the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan), Papua province recorded 1,360 cases of gender-based violence per 10,000 women in 2012.
Banjir Ambarita – A police officer was found laying in a pool of blood in Keerom, Papua, after the man's fellow officers accidentally left the officer behind when pulling out of a restive village on Friday.
Marni Cordell – Scores of unarmed civilians were tortured and killed and their bodies dumped at sea in a massacre by Indonesian security forces in West Papua 15 years ago, a "citizens' tribunal" held in Sydney has found.
The imprisonment of seven men in Sorong, Papua on 4 December 2013 highlights the ongoing criminalization of peaceful political activism in the region. Amnesty International considers the seven men to be prisoners of conscience - imprisoned solely for the peaceful exercise of their human rights – and calls for their immediate and unconditional release.
Yuliasri Perdani, Jakarta – A bus carrying Merauke Military Commander Brig. Gen. Bambang Haryanto and other military officers was fired upon by unidentified assailants near Freeport Indonesia's Grasberg mine in Mimika regency, Papua, on Thursday.
Papua Police spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. Sulistio Pudjo confirmed the attack and said no one had been injured.
Two vehicles operating at copper and gold producer PT Freeport Indonesia's (PTFI) mine were targeted in shootings on Sunday and Monday in Timika, Papua. No casualties were reported in the incidents.
Keerom – Refugees who have returned to Indonesia's Papua province from exile in neighbouring Papua New Guinea (PNG) are disillusioned with their new lives. Provincial officials pledged money, jobs and homes in 2009, but four years later, although some of the former refugees have homes, few have found steady work.
On her trip to Indonesia to try and smooth relations with Jakarta over the spying scandal, our foreign minister should also be raising the crackdown on the recent peaceful rallies in West Papua with the Indonesian Government.
Keerom – Indigenous people in Papua, Indonesia's easternmost province, struggle for employment because most jobs in the gold-rich region go to migrants despite government efforts to tackle growing income inequality. Service industry jobs in the provincial capital, Jayapura, are taken mostly by non-indigenous Papuans, who make up half the province's 2.8 million people.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Army has been given six months to complete the construction of 14 roads stretching more than 900 kilometers in Papua and West Papua provinces.
Protestors against Indonesian rule in West Papua have gathered outside New Zealand's parliament and raised the Morning Star flag.
They were marking the 52nd anniversary of the West Papuan declaration of independence. New Zealand Green Party MP, Catherine Delahunty, says the New Zealand government should be doing more to help West Papuans.
Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – The Indonesian Military has denied reports it was involved in a deadly raid on a village on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Free Papua Organization, or OPM, a separatist group established on Dec. 1, 1963.
Marni Cordell – At least one person was killed and others injured when Indonesian police opened fire and beat activists during a demonstration in the West Papuan capital of Jayapura last week, according to a witness.
The most senior commander in the OPM rebel force in Indonesia's Papua region is in Vanuatu to thank that country for its support for the indigenous people's push for independence.
Commmander Richard Joweni slipped surreptitiously out of Indonesia, through Papua New Guinea to reach Vanuatu.
Around 300 demonstrators from the Papua Student Alliance (AMP) gathered in front of the Negara Grahadi building in the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya on December 2 demanding that the Indonesian government give them the freedom to determine their own future as a democratic solution for the people of West Papua.
The Green Party is calling on the Government to cancel police and military ties with the Indonesian regime in West Papua on a day of international action in support of West Papuan independence from Indonesia.
Liam Fox, PNG – The governor of Port Moresby has raised the flag of the West Papuan independence movement, despite a request by Papua New Guinea's prime minister not to do so.
Marni Cordell – Three organisers of a pro-West Papua rally in Port Moresby have been taken into custody, with the governor of the Papua New Guinean capital accusing the country's government of bowing to pressure from neighbour Indonesia.
Jayapura – The XVII/Cenderawasih Military Command (Kodam) chief Maj. Gen. Christian Zebua said Friday that both military and police would hunt for those who shot a soldier in Ilu market, Puncak Jaya regency, in Papua.
Indonesia's National Police Chief General Sutarman says the country's police will take stern measures against those wanting to separate Papua from Indonesia.
General Sutarman told local media that police will take firm action against groups or individuals wanting to separate Papua from Indonesia because Papua is part of Indonesia.
Marni Cordell – The West Papuan activist Benny Wenda has said immigration officers in Papua New Guinea threatened to have him arrested along with an Australian lawyer for "engaging in political activities" and breaching their visa conditions.
A day before the 48th anniversary of the Free Papua Movement (OPM), an outlawed militant separatist organization, a member of the group was killed in an exchange of gunfire between fighters and police in Papua's Jayapura district.
The West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) strongly condemns ongoing Indonesian security force violence targeting peaceful West Papuan demonstrators. That police orchestrated violence, which has led to at least one civilian death and many injuries, comes on the eve of annual Papuan celebration of the Papuan national flag, December 1.
Jayapura – A member of the Indonesian Military (TNI) assigned as a non-commissioned officer serving as Community Affairs (Babinsa) personnel in Wurak village, Puncak Jaya, Papua, was shot by an unidentified person on Thursday.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – National Police chief Gen. Sutarman emphasized he would take firm action against protesters who resort to "anarchy", including those involved in a West Papua National Committee (KNPB) rally in Jayapura recently, which turned violent and left nine people injured.
"The Bintang Kejora flag raising ceremony on Dec. 1 is forbidden and those involved will be dealt with seriously" – National Police chief Gen. Sutarman who is visiting West Papua this week
Index: ASA 21/039/2013
Amnesty International is concerned about allegations that police ill-treated protesters involved in a pro-independence protest in Papua as well as intimidated journalists who were covering it.
Jayapura, Papua – The National Police Chief General Sutarman has stated that the country's police will take stern measures against those wanting to separate Papua from Indonesia.
"We will take firm action against groups or individuals wanting to separate Papua from Indonesia because Papua is part of Indonesia," Sutarman told the press.
WPM apologises for the delay in posting due to the remote location of the WPM team, and the delays in finding independent witnesses to help in cross-checking of this extreme situation. This situation is developing and will be updated as more information comes to hand.
Key developments:
The Australia West Papua Association in Sydney congratulates Powes Parkop, the Governor of Port Moresby and the National Capital District on receiving the John Rumbiak Human Rights Defenders Award for 2013.
Dozens of West Papuan activists are reported to have been arrested by a combined police and military deployment in the Indonesia province of Papua on Tuesday.
The National Committee for West Papua, or KNPB, reports 31 Papuans were arrested while staging a peaceful protest in Timika, calling for the right to self-determination of West Papuans.
The West Papua National Committee, or KNPB, says 16 of its members have been arrested for handing out leaflets, but the Indonesian police deny the report.
The group says its members were distributing leaflets on Monday, with details about meetings in Port Moresby and encouraging foreign ministers of the Melanesian Spearhead Group to visit Jakarta and Papua.
Arnold Belau, Papuan, Jayapura – As many as 16 members of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) were arrested earlier this afternoon by the Jayapura municipal police (polresta) when they were handing out leaflets about a planned demonstration to take place throughout the land of Papua tomorrow.
A former Chief Editor of the Jakarta Post says restrictions on foreign media visiting the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua should be lifted.
Police in Papua arrested six men after a police station went up in flames in Mamberamo Raya early Friday morning.
The wooden police station was set on fire at 3 a.m. Friday, according to reports by the state-run Antara News Agency. It is unclear why the station was torched, or who was behind the attack, the report read.
Journalists in Indonesia have called on the Government to clarify rules for journalists wanting to visit the provinces of Papua and West Papua.
While the Governor of Papua this year said the region's doors were open, many foreign journalists report a different story. Karen Abplanalp spoke to journalists and members of parliament in Indonesia.
Katharine Murphy – Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have now confirmed consular staff in Bali threatened to call the police if a group of West Papuan activists did not leave the Australian compound.
Ricky Binihi, Port Vila, Vanuatu – Vanuatu Prime Minister Moana Carcasses is relentless in his efforts to bring the alleged sufferings and atrocities of fellow Melanesians in West Papua into the international limelight so their plight could be heard.
Marni Cordell – Amid the fallout from the presidential phone-tapping scandal, an Indonesian human rights defender has spoken out about the Indonesian state's oppressive surveillance regime against its own citizens in the province of West Papua.
The President of the Alliance of Independent Journalists of Indonesia says his government should clarify the rules for foreign journalists seeking to visit West Papua.
Eko Maryadi, who was imprisoned as a journalist during the days of the Suharto regime, says even at the recent Bali Democracy Forum there was no talk of the remote provinces.
Jakarta – The Awaking Papua Forum (Forum Papua Bangkit) said it suspects corruption was the cause of the long delay in the construction of a Trans Irian highway linking the southern and north ends of the country's most underdeveloped region.