Katharina R. Lestari, Jakarta – Planned gold mining operations on a vast concession in Indonesia's Papua province have the potential to fuel human rights abuses, according to a report by Amnesty International.

Two West Papuans were reportedly shot dead by security forces last Tuesday during peaceful protests against Indonesia's plans to create six more provinces in Papua.

According to sources on the ground, at least seven others sustained injuries when the demonstrations turned violent in Dekai – the capital of Yahukimo Regency.

Jubi TV – The Indonesian government should immediately stop plans to mine the Wabu Block in Papua due to the risk of escalating conflict and violating the rights of Indigenous Papuans, Amnesty International said in its latest report released on Monday, March 21, 2022.

Sri Krishnamurthi – Students from West Papua are facing a difficult time in New Zealand since the beginning of the year after Indonesia said it would no longer fund their autonomous West Papuan scholarships and wanted them repatriated home.

Indonesian authorities should immediately halt plans to develop a sprawling gold mine the size of the city of Jakarta in volatile Papua Province, where it risks fueling conflict and violating the land rights of Indigenous Papuans, Amnesty International said in a new briefing published today.

Jakarta – In the wake of a protest on Thursday by members of a militia who surrounded the Central Jakarta headquarters of Amnesty International Indonesia (AII), the human rights group continued its efforts in lobbying the government to conduct a full investigation into human rights abuses in Papua.

Hengky Yeimo, Jayapura, Jubi – Chairman of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) Agus Kosay denied the Papua Police's accusation that the KNPB was involved in a protest rejecting the expansion of Papua Province which took place in Dekai, Yahukimo Regency, on Tuesday, March 15, 2022.

Sam Lawson – In November 2018, Earthsight published an in-depth investigation in collaboration with Mongabay into the Tanah Merah oil palm project in Papua, on the Indonesian half of the island of New Guinea.

Elisa Sekenyap, Jayapura – Papua Human Rights Solidarity Concern has reported the shooting of 10 Papuan civilians in Yahukimo regency – which occurred during a rally opposing the creation of new autonomous regions (DOB) in Papua – to the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM).

Hengky Yeimo, Jayapura, Jubi – Tensions that occurred after the shooting that killed eight telecommunication workers of PT Palapa Timur Telematika on March 2, 2022, has made the residents of Tinggilibet Village and Dambet Village in Beoga District, Puncak Regency, flee their villages. Most of them fled to YPPGI Elementary School in Milawak Village, the capital of Beoga.

Yuliana Lantipo, Jayapura, Jubi – Two participants of the protest rejecting Papua Province's expansion in Yahukimo Regency's capital of Dekai, Yakob Meklok and Esron Weispa, became victims of alleged police brutality and died on Tuesday, March 15, 2022.

The Australia West Papua Association condemns the killing of two West Papuan demonstrators in the Yahukimo regency on Tuesday the 15 March 2022.

Yance Wenda, Jayapura, Jubi – The Papuan People's Council (MRP) and the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) on Tuesday, March 15, 2022, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation to advocate for cases of violence against Papuan women.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Indonesian police shot dead two Papuans and injured four others during a protest against a proposal to break up the province that turned violent in the easternmost region.

An eyewitness said victims Yakob Meklok and Erson Weipa suffered fatal gunshot wounds when police were chasing away the crowds.

Jakarta – Several demonstrators opposing regional decentralisation or new autonomous regions (DOB) in Yahukimo regency, Papua, have died after being shot by police.

Nuevaterra, Jubi TV – Chairman of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) Benny Wenda said the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) did not have the capacity to be a mediator in a dialogue between the Papuan people and the Indonesian government. Komnas HAM, according to Wenda, is part of the State.

Marena Mane – Indigenous students from West Papua studying at universities across Aotearoa are defying an order from the Indonesian government to return home.

In January more than 40 students were told that Indonesia will no longer be funding autonomous West Papuan scholarships so they have to pack up and leave.

Hengky Yeimo, Jayapura, Jubi – The Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) on Saturday, March 12, 2022, visited the Office of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) in Jakarta.

Benny Mawel, Wamena, Jubi – The Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) has called on the central government and the House of Representatives to not force their will to divide Papua Province into several regions. Instead, the government and the House should listen to the people and not follow the wishes and interests of certain political elites.

Hamdan Cholifudin Ismail, Jakarta – The student demonstration against the expansion of the Papua province staged in front of the Home Affairs Ministry's building this afternoon was marred by chaos. One police officer was injured.

Jakarta – Police arrested a total of 90 Papuan students during a protest action which ended in chaos near the Presidential Palace complex in Central Jakarta on Friday March 11. As has been reported, the demonstration by the Papuan students was to oppose the creation of new provinces in Papua.

Konradus Epa, Jakarta – Indigenous people have stepped up their opposition to an Indonesian government proposal to break up the country's predominantly Christian easternmost Papua region into six provinces.

Konradus Epa, Jakarta – A man was hacked to death and three others injured in two separate attacks by a rebel group in Indonesia's restive Papua province, police said on March 10.

Jubi TV – Executive Director of the Manokwari Institute for Research, Assessment, and Development of Legal Aid (LP3BH) Yan Cristian Warinussy has called for an investigation of the alleged persecution of seven children in Sinak District, Puncak Regency, Papua Province.

Vitorio Mantalean, Jakarta – National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) Chairperson Ahmad Taufan Damanik hopes that peace talks between Papua and Jakarta can begin to be held this year.

Kornelius Purba, Jakarta – My conversations several years ago with three former foreign ministers on East Timor (now Timor Leste) suddenly came to mind when I read an article in this paper entitled "Indonesia to protest 'ill-intentioned, click-bait' UN Papua report" on Tuesday.

Jakarta – Harsh words and phrases like "unprofessional, ill-intentioned and one-sided" chosen by the Indonesian Mission at the United Nations in Geneva recently in response to the report of UN human rights rapporteurs on Papua have reminded us of the repeated denials from the same mission during Indonesia's 24-year occupation of East Timor, now Timor Leste.

Dian Septiari, Jakarta – The government has said it will file a complaint against what it has called an "unprofessional, ill-intentioned and one-sided" report by three United Nations human rights experts on its handling of conflicts in Papua.

Jakarta – Papua Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) Director Emanuel Gobay says that hundreds of Cendrawasih University (Uncen) students took to the streets on Tuesday March 8 to hold actions opposing the creation of new provinces in Papua.

John McBeth, Jakarta – Coming in the middle of a heated exchange between the Indonesian government and United Nations rapporteurs over alleged military human rights abuses, the March 3 rebel massacre of eight telecommunication technicians has again underscored the growing complexity of the security situation in the eastern province of Papua.

Katharina R. Lestari, Jakarta – Authorities in Indonesia have recovered the bodies of eight technicians killed by armed separatists in a remote and mountainous district in restive Papua province after having to wait five days due to bad weather.

Zely Ariane – CIVICUS, a global civil society alliance, and the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) have expressed their deepest concern about the ongoing trial against Papuan human rights defender Victor Yeimo.

Jakarta – Scores of Papuan students held a protest action at the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) building in Jakarta on Monday March 7 urging the commission to immediately resolve cases of human rights violations in Papua.

Jakarta – Scores of Papuan activists held a protest action in front of the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Green Berets) headquarters in Gambir, Central Jakarta, on Monday March 7. They demanded that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo withdraw military troops from Papua.

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – Pulpwood and palm oil companies were among the biggest contributors to the loss of a Manhattan-size area of forest in Indonesia's Papua region in 2021, a new report says.

Alexander Loen, Jayapura, Jubi – The Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network or SAFEnet conveyed the condition of internet access in Papua in an online discussion on the launch of the 2021 Digital Rights Situation Report on Wednesday, March 2, 2022.

A West Papuan advocacy group in Australia has appealed to Foreign Minister Marise Payne to take the cue from a new United Nations Rapporteurs statement this week condemning the "ongoing human rights abuses" in the Indonesian-ruled West Papuan region.

Prianka Srinivasan (ABC Pacific Beat) – International media has been facing scrutiny from indigenous groups in the Pacific for the way it has been covering the Russia-Ukraine war.

AWPA has written to our foreign minister concerning the statement by the UN on West Papua. (Letter below).

In the statement, 3 UN Special Rapporteurs expressed serious concerns about the deteriorating human rights situation in West Papua.

Joe Collins of AWPA said,

Moh Khory Alfarizi, Jakarta – West Papua Liberation Army-Free Papua Movement (TPNPB-OPM) claimed responsibility for the shooting in Kago Village, Ilaga District, at 13:00 Western Indonesian Time (WIB) Wednesday, March 2. The shooting killed 8 employees of telecommunication firm PT Palapa Timur Telematika (PTT).

Benny Wenda, who is the Interim President of the United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) says even as the world looks on in horror at Russia's invasion, West Papuans feel a special affinity to the Ukranian people.

CIVICUS, a global civil society alliance, and Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) are gravely concerned by the ongoing prosecution of human rights defender Victor Yeimo. He has been arbitrarily detained for speaking up against the serious human rights violations perpetrated by the Indonesian security forces against Papuans and must be released immediately.

The eyes of the world are watching in horror the invasion of Ukraine. We feel their terror, we feel their pain and our solidarity is with these men, women and children. We see their suffering and we weep at the loss of innocent lives, the killing of children, the bombing of their homes, and for the trauma of refugees who are forced to flee their communities.

Sebastian Strangio – Earlier this week, United Nations human rights experts issued a statement decrying the Indonesian state's abuses against indigenous residents of the country's Papua region, where the security situation has deteriorated markedly over the past year.

Alfian Kartono, Jayapura, Indonesia – Attackers believed to be West Papua separatist rebels killed eight technicians repairing a remote telecommunications tower in Indonesia's restive Papua province, authorities said Thursday.

Hans Nicholas Jong, jakarta – A plan to clear forests in Indonesia's easternmost region of Papua for food crops will release as much greenhouse gases into the atmosphere as Australia emits in an entire year, according to a new analysis.

Jakarta – Indonesia has dismissed a call by United Nations human rights experts for independent investigations into reports of "shocking abuses" against indigenous Papuans, saying that the Southeast Asian nation has already tackled the accusations.

Hengky Yeimo, Jayapura, Jubi – Novita Opki, a member of the Women's and Children's Team of the Civil and Political Division of the Papua Legal Aid Institute (LBH Papua), said that throughout 2021, her party received 57 allegations of violence against women and children. Of the 57 cases, 20 cases were online gender-based violence.

The West Papua Action Aotearoa is calling on the New Zealand Government to condemn the charges of treason brought against West Papuan activist Victor Yeimo.

Mr Yeimo was charged with treason last week for participating in an anti racism protest in August 2019.

Konradus Epa, Jakarta – The governor of Indonesia's Papua province has established a specialized legal team to better protect and represent indigenous Papuans subjected to human rights abuses and facing other legal cases.