West Papuans battling for independence have new hope after recent events propelled their deadly but usually hidden struggle into the global spotlight.

We are writing to express our deep concern about Westmont's planned sponsorship of a paid speaking engagement with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

An Australian academic says West Papuans have been subject to a slow-motion genocide and the United Nations should step in.

Jim Elmslie, of the University of Sydney's Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, is the co-author of a just-released report titled 'A Slow-Motion Genocide – Indonesian Rule in West Papua'.

The rapid proliferation of new districts in Papua is strengthening the political influence of highlanders at the expense of the traditionally dominant coast, but it is also producing new conflicts and complicating the search for peace, the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) said on Wednesday.

Paddy Doulman – Prime Minister Tony Abbott's claim that the situation in West Papua is "getting better", in response to a protest by three Papuan activists in the Australian consulate in Bali, has been rejected by experts.

Marni Cordell – One of the three men who occupied the Australian consulate in Bali on Sunday says he is being pursued by the Indonesian military and does not believe Indonesia's assurances that he will not be arrested or detained.

The first president of Vanuatu, Ati George Sokomanu, has condemned comments by the Australian prime minister, Tony Abott, that he would clamp down on West Papuan activists.

The newspaper, The Australian, reports Mr Abbott as saying in Bali that people seeking to grandstand against Indonesia are not welcome in Australia.

Andreas Harsono – Markus Jerewon, Yuvensius Goo and Rofinus Yanggam came up with a novel method of breaking the chokehold the Indonesian government has long held on news about human rights abuses in Papua: scaling the Australian Consulate's fence in the dead of night and hand-delivering a personal plea to open the Indonesian province to world scrutiny.

Katharine Murphy – The Greens have sought explicit assurances from senior Indonesian officials in Australia about the safety and wellbeing of three West Papuan students who occupied the Australian consulate in Bali in protest early on Sunday morning.

Dr Richard Di Natale
Australian Greens Senator for Victoria

Australian Greens spokesperson for West Papua, Senator Richard Di Natale, today has written to the Foreign Minister Julie Bishop to request a full account of the events relating to three West Papuans entering the Australian Consulate in Bali over the weekend.

West Papua Action Auckland,
Box 68-419,
Auckland

8 October 2013

Hon Murray McCully,
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Parliament Buildings,
Wellington.
Fax 04-499-0704

Dear Mr McCully,

Reporter: Emma Alberici

Human rights lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, who has been working with West Papuan asylum seekers for ten years discusses why three West Papuans scaled the fence to the Australian Consulate in Bali over the weekend and where they are likely to be now.

Simon Benson – Tony Abbott was warned in a phone message from a Victorian Senator that a group of activists were planning to break into the Australian consulate in Bali to stage a protest against the Indonesian Government ahead of the Prime Minister's arrival last night for the APEC summit.

Katharine Murphy – Tony Abbott has bought himself a fight with a key Senate kingmaker after declaring that West Papua is better off under Indonesian rule.

On Monday, Abbott told reporters in Bali that "the people of West Papua are much better off as part of a strong, dynamic and increasingly prosperous Indonesia".

Bagus BT Saragih, Nusa Dua, Bali – Students in Bali from the restive province of Papua have become the targets of raids by security forces that could view them as threats to Indonesia's image during the prestigious APEC Summit.

Jenny Denton – Indonesia has been accused of using torture as a "mode of governance" in West Papua – security forces have committed at least one incident of torture, on average, every six weeks for the past half century, a study has found.

Australia's Consul-General in Bali has denied making threats to three West Papuan protesters who sought refuge inside the consulate.

Student activists Rofinus Yanggam, Yuvensius Goo and Markus Jerewon climbed the wall of the consulate in the early hours of Sunday morning, but left later in the day.

Rowan Callick, Deborah Cassrels – Crossbench politicians are demanding that the Abbott government back the calls of three West Papuan activists who in the early hours of yesterday morning scaled the wall of the Australian consulate in Bali – and left soon afterwards in controversial circumstances.

Tony Abbott says activists who want to "grandstand" against Indonesia are not welcome in Australia.

The Prime Minister today reiterated his support for Indonesia's sovereignty over West Papua while insisting three activists who breached the walls of the Australian consulate in Bali left the compound voluntarily.

"We ask for your help. We seek refuge and plea for our safety. We don't feel safe in Papua" were the words of the open letter given by the three Papuan Activists to the staff of the Australian Consulate in Bali on Sunday 6 October 2013 at around 0630 local time after they scaled the Consulate Wall and entered the Consulate Compound.

Australian Greens Senator, Richard Di Natale, today called on Trade Minister Andrew Robb to explain misleading remarks about West Papuans who visited the Australian consulate in Bali over the weekend to raise awareness of human rights issues in West Papua.

AWPA has faxed the below letter to the Australian Consulate in Bali seeking clarification if the 3 West Papuan students left voluntarily or if were told that they would be handed over to the Indonesian military if they did not leave.

Australian Greens Senator, Dr Richard Di Natale, today called for the Australian Government to immediately offer sanctuary to three West Papuans.

Markus Jerewon, Yuvensius Goo and Rofinus Yanggam entered the Australian Consulate in Bali last night and have released an open letter to the APEC leaders currently meeting in Bali.

Kristian Lasslett – Barely two weeks into office and Australia's prime minister, Tony Abbott, has committed his government to upholding an appeasement policy that has seen Australia entangled in some of the worst human rights abuses imaginable in the neighbouring region of West Papua, where a struggle for independence has been waged for over four decades.

Independent senator Nick Xenophon says West Papuan activists were "effectively threatened" to leave the Australian consulate in Bali ahead of Prime Minister Tony Abbott's arrival for the APEC summit.

Marni Cordell and agencies – Three West Papuans who entered the Australian consulate in Bali overnight have left the compound after being warned by the consul-general that the Indonesian army would be called, the group says.

They arrived in the Torres Strait from Indonesia after transiting for two days in PNG, saying they feared they would be killed if captured by the Indonesian military.

A 2003 Memorandum of Understanding between the Australia and PNG allows deportation of asylum seekers back to PNG only if seven or more days are spent there in transit.

Refugee advocates in Australia want the United Nations to take action over what they say is the government's failure to abide by the Refugees Convention.

This comes amid campaigns to have seven West Papuan asylum seekers from Indonesia assessed for refugee status in Australia, after the government flew them from Queensland to Papua New Guinea last week.

The Netherlands-based advocacy group Foundation Pro Papua says the seven Papuan asylum seekers deported from Australia should be given the option to test their legal rights under the Refugee Convention to claim asylum and protection in Australia.

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-127-2013

Dear friends,

The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

October 3, 2013

Dear President Obama, On the occasion of your visit to Indonesia for the 2013 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, we write to urge you to highlight the case of West Papua.

Jakarta – Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc reached a tentative agreement with Indonesian union workers on Wednesday over wages and pensions, a union official said, raising hopes that a strike will be averted with just two days left of talks.

The group of seven West Papuan asylum seekers deported by Australia to Papua New Guinea say they feel powerless and afraid about what will happen to them.

The seven, who arrived in the Torres Strait last week claiming to be fleeing persecution by the Indonesian security forces, were transferred to Port Moresby by Immigration officials.

Ian Rintoul – Yesterday at his press briefing, Immigration Minister, Scott Morrison, claimed that Australia had removed seven West Papuan asylum seekers to PNG last Friday on the basis of a 2003 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with PNG.

The Refugee Action Coalition says the Australian government has acted unlawfully in transferring seven West Papuans, who had fled Indonesia and sought asylum in Queensland, to Papua New Guinea.

The Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, has restated that Canberra has total respect for Indonesia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Speaking in Jakarta, Mr Abbott has told his hosts that he admires what Indonesia has done to improve the autonomy and life of people in West Papua.

An Australian activist group says the Australian government is doing its best to wash their hands of the plight of a group of West Papuan asylum seekers, which have been transferred from the Torres Strait to Papua New Guinea for processing.

In Tony Abbot's Joint media conference with the Indonesian President he said,

Indonesia must immediately conduct an investigation into the alleged excessive use of force by police against protesters during a demonstration in Papua on Sept. 23 when a student, Alpius Mote, was shot dead, New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement released on Monday.

While the Australian PM is taking 20 prominent business leaders with him to Jakarta, the diplomatic tension over asylum-seekers will be hard to ignore.

West Papua Action Auckland,
Box 68-419,
Auckland.

30 September 2013

The Australian High Commissioner.
His Excellency Mr Micheal Potts,
72-76 Hobson Street, Thorndon,
Wellington.
Fax: 04 498 7135

Your Excellency,

"The Indonesian government needs to explain why police officers found it necessary to fire directly into a crowd of protesters throwing rocks. Lethal force may only be used as a last resort to protect lives." --Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director

Vanuatu's prime minister has used his time at the United Nations General Assembly to call for investigations into alleged cases of human rights abuses in West Papua.

Prime Minister Moana Carcasses Kalosil accused the UN of consistently ignoring West Papuan people or their plight.

A consultation in Geneva has proposed political dialogue as the only way towards peace and stability in Tanah Papua, a province of Indonesia.

The region has remained the focus of tensions between the Indonesian authorities and the Papuan indigenous people for years – resulting in grave human rights violations.

Marni Cordell – A group of West Papuans who went into hiding in fear for their lives after taking part in the West Papua Freedom Flotilla have been deported to Papua New Guinea after seeking asylum in Australia.

There are fears for the safety of a group of West Papuans held by Australia's Immigration Department after fleeing from Indonesia.

The group of seven – including a 10 year old boy – fled Merauke earlier this week and after reaching Boigu Island were sent by Immigration to Papua New Guinea's capital, Port Moresby.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop are visiting Indonesia at the end of September. AWPA has sent the below letter to the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister urging that they raise the human rights situation in West Papua with their counterparts in Indonesia.

Yesterday (25/9) a delegation of Papuan human rights defenders met with the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UNWGEID) in Geneva to follow-up on the case of Aristoteles Masoka, who disappeared on 10 November 2001.

Joel Magarey And Lauren Wilson – Up to seven West Papuan independence activists are believed to have fled across the Torres Strait to northern Queensland in search of asylum after supporting Australian "Freedom Flotilla" members who sailed close to Indonesian waters earlier this month.

Daniel Drageset – The daughter of a political prisoner in West Papua has sent a letter to the Indonesian president appealing for the release of all political prisoners in the Indonesian-ruled region.