New Zealand is being urged to speak up about human rights abuses in West Papua, and to cut military ties with Indonesia.
Hundreds of troops have been deployed to the region after an intelligence chief was killed by pro-independence Papuan guerilla fighters last month.
Audrey Santoso, Jayapura – Police say that Victor Yeimo, the actor behind the riots in Papua two years ago, is in contact with lawyer and human rights activist Veronica Koman, who is in Australia, and is supplying her with data.
Jakarta – The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) is questioning the Indonesian police's logic related to accusations that non-government organisations (NGOs) and human rights activists are inflaming the situation in Papua.
Sebastian Strangio – Indonesian authorities have arrested a Papuan independence leader for his alleged role in orchestrating a spate of civil unrest in 2019, the latest sign of the central government's growing crackdown in the eastern region.
Fajar Pebrianto, Jakarta – State telecommunications firm Telkom (Telkom Indonesia) announced that it is fixing the damaged underwater Sulawesi Maluku Papua Cable System (SMPCS) which has caused internet blackout in Jayapura, Papua and its vicinity for over 10 days.
Jakarta – The Indonesian police have stated that non-government organisations (NGOs) and human rights activists are inflaming the situation in Papua.
Police intelligence and security chief Commissioner General Paulus Waterpauw says that they are categorised as non-state actors who are continuing to promote the issue of separatism.
Ratu Durotun Nafisah – On 29 April, the Indonesian government declared that all 'armed criminal groups' (KBB) and people and organisations affiliated with them were terrorists.
Rory James – Violence has flared in West Papua, with journalists and activists targeted, an internet blackout, and villagers forced to flee into the jungle.
Hundreds of additional Indonesian soldiers have been deployed to West Papua in the last month and thousands of people have reportedly been displaced in the Puncak regency.
Antara, Jakarta – The Indonesian National Police (Polri) on Monday admits the challenges that makes it difficult for authorities to overcome the armed criminal groups (KKB) in Papua. The Head of police intelligence, Gen. Commissioner Paulus Waterpauw attributes the difficulties to the group's dominating the local terrain.
Jayapura – Several Indonesian media outlets have mistakenly quoted a dead Free West Papua (OPM) founder, who died four years ago, in the news as the misidentified person was bashing human rights lawyer Veronica Koman for speaking up about Papua, calling her a provocateur.
On Sunday May 9, the Indonesian colonial police arrested Victor Yeimo, one of our most prominent leaders inside West Papua. This is a sign to the world that the Indonesian government wants to use its 'terrorist' designation as a smoke-screen to repress the people of West Papua.
10 May 2021
Hon Nanaia Mahuta,
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Parliament Buildings
Wellington.
Tena koe Nanaia Mahuta,
Brutality in West Papua has escalates with civilian and military casualties in the past month, reports SBS News.
The killing of Indonesia's spy chief on the ground and proscribing of the independence movement and fighters as "terrorists" has boosted fears that a major confrontation is looming.
A Papuan leader who has been sought by Indonesian police over the 2019 Papua "Spring" uprising, Victor Yeimo, has been arrested and charged with makar (treason, subversion, rebellion), reports CNN Indonesia.
Nemangkawi Task Force head Senior Commissioner Iqbal Alqudusy confirmed the arrest, saying it took place at 7.15 pm on Sunday.
Budiarti Utami Putri, Jakarta – Coordinating Minister of Politics, Law, and Security Mahfud MD in an interview on Friday urged the Indonesian public to no longer use the term 'Papuan armed criminal groups' as it could mislead people to unfairly generalize people with Papuan origins as armed criminal groups (KKB).
Kate Lamb and Agustinus Beo Da Costa, Jakarta – Indonesian authorities have arrested Papuan separatist leader Victor Yeimo over accusations that he orchestrated some of the most serious civil unrest in decades that broke out in 2019, the National Police said on Monday.
A leading figure in West Papua's independence movement has been arrested by Indonesian police in relation to large protests in 2019.
Victor Yeimo is the foreign spokesman for the West Papua National Committee, or KNPB, which has a large following in the Indonesian-ruled provinces of Papua region.
Jakarta – A fugitive from the law who has been sought by police over the 2019 riots in Papua, Victor Yeimo, was arrested in Jayapura, Papua, on Sunday May 9.
Antara, Jayapura, Papua – The Indonesian government has officially labelled members of armed Papuan groups as terrorists owing to their acts of terror and crimes against innocent civilians, a high police official said.
Jakarta – The police's Nemangkawi task force in Papua has just arrested a man in Mimika Regency for allegedly talking about "genocide" against Papuans in his Facebook account. The police accused him of spreading hate speech.
A former Indonesian military commander has condemned the formal labelling of the West Papuan resistance TPN/OPN as "terrorists", saying that the Papuan problem was complex and could not be solved by armed force alone.
Among other critics of the tagging are the Papua provincial Governor, Lukas Enembe and a Papuan legal researcher.
Ronna Nirmala and Tria Dianti, Jakarta – Indonesia's military and national police chiefs visited the rebellious Papua region Friday, in a rare joint trip to discuss security there with field commanders after insurgents dealt government forces setbacks, including assassinating an army general last month.
Human Rights Watch is urging the Indonesian government to rethink its classification of rebels in West Papua as terrorists.
Indonesia has formally designated Papuan independence fighters as "terrorists", in a move expected to expand the military's role in civillian policing in Papua.
Vatican News staff reporter – The Church in the province of Papua in Indonesia is calling on military leaders and rebel groups to declare a truce to avoid the risk of escalation of violence in the region.
Vidhyandika Djati Perkasa and Alif Satria – On April 29, the Coordinating Minister for Politics, Legal, and Security Affairs formally labelled Papua's armed criminal organization (KKB), also known as the West Papua National Army-Free Papua Organization (TNPB-OPM), a terrorist organization.
Egi Adyatama, Jakarta – Former commissioner of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Yoseph Stanley Adi Prasetyo in a Friday virtual discussion gave his opinion about the government's recently labelling armed separatists in Papua as terrorists.
Indonesia has deployed 400 more soldiers in the easternmost region of Papua, an army spokesman said on Thursday, as an exiled separatist leader warned that the military looked set to launch its biggest security operation in the area in decades.
Achmad Nasrudin Yahya, Jakarta – The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) has called in a commitment by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo who once pledged to resolve the human rights violations in Paniai, Papua.
Senator the Hon Marise Payne
Minister for Foreign Affairs
PO Box 6100
Senate
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
7 May November 2021
Dear Foreign Minister,
I am writing to you concerning the seriously deteriorating situation in West Papua.
Jakarta – The West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Movement (TPNPB-OPM) has requested military intervention from the United Nations (UN) Security Forces. It also seeks support from the European Union, African-Caribbean-Pacific States, and all UN members as advocated in UN Resolution 2625 (XXV) on the right to independence and self-determination for colonized nations.
Mark Bowling – Church human rights activists have demanded an end to violence and killing in Indonesia's easternmost Papua and West Papua provinces following an escalation of rebel attacks and a military crackdown.
Sebastian Strangio – Indonesia is bolstering its military presence in disputed Papua province, following the assassination of a senior military officer on April 26.
By Izzy Brown, as told to Zelda Grimshaw
"They make great trucks. That's what my father says whenever I ask him: "What do they make? Who do they sell them to?" "Only to the good guys," is his standard answer, and the topic changes quickly. But what he calls "trucks", most people call "tanks". And I am always led to wonder, "What kind of 'good guy' drives a tank?"
Yamin Kogoya – The Indonesian government has officially labelled the OPM (Organisasi Papua Merdeka) Free Papuan Movement and its military wing, the TPNPB (West Papua National Liberation Army) as a terrorist group.
Following a spate of shooting incidents over the last few weeks, including one that killed the head the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) in Papua, Brig. Gen. I Gusti Putu Danny, the government has declared the armed rebel group in the territory a terrorist organization.
Andita Rahma, Jakarta – The Indonesian National Police main headquarters (Mabes Polri) confirmed that it will act under the Law against Terrorism (UU Terorisme) in pursuing the armed criminal groups in Papua.
"We will surely use that specific Law as they are already categorized as terrorist groups," the Mabes Polri spokesperson Brig. Gen. Rusdi Hartono confirmed on May 4.
Bilveer Singh – On April 25, while taking part in a military patrol in the village of Dambet in Beoga district, part of Papua's Puncak Regency in eastern Indonesia, Papuan separatists succeeded in killing Brig. Gen. Gusti Putu Danny Karya Nugraha.
I issue this urgent warning the world: huge Indonesian military operations, some of the largest in years, are imminent in West Papua. The internet is being cut off, hundreds more troops are being deployed, and we are receiving reports that West Papuan civilians are fleeing from their villages in Intan Jaya, Puncak Jaya, and Nduga regencies.
Katharina R. Lestari, Jakarta – A senior Catholic official in Papua has called on Indonesia's military and rebel leaders to declare a ceasefire and prevent an escalation in violence and wider conflict following the government's decision to designate separatists as terrorists last week.
Meki Wetipo & Jenny Munro – I wish us Papuans to have a good home, have time with our families to go to church together on Sundays, and all of us work properly. Unlike today, we sell in the hot sun, get dust, get rain, sell at night with flashlights without electricity.
As military operations intensify in West Papua, internet services to the capital of Indonesia's Papua province have been cut.
The telecommunication company, PT Telkom Indonesia, has confirmed that internet service in Jayapura was disrupted on Friday night.
Budiarti Utami Putri, Jakarta – Chairman of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) Benny Wenda criticized the Indonesian government's decision that labeled the West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Movement (TPNPB-OPM), or the armed criminal group as called by the government, as terrorists.
Antara, Jakarta – The Papua Regional Police have mapped six armed criminal groups (KKB) that actively carried out security disturbances in the mountainous region of Papua. The groups were detected in Puncak, Intan Jaya, and Nduga Regency, said the Regional Chief Inspector General Mathius Fakhiri.
Achmad Nasrudin Yahya, Jakarta – The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) is calling in a pledge made by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo in 2015 related to press freedom in Papua, which to this day has not been fulfilled.
Abeth You, Jayapura – The Indonesian government's decision to categorize the West Papua National Liberation Army as a terrorist group is deemed subjective and reckless, says Papua conflict expert and leading church figure Okto Marko Pekei.
Jakarta – The Free Papua Organisation (OPM) has spoken out in response to the Indonesian government's move to pin the terrorist label on armed groups in Papua – which officials usually refers to as armed criminal groups (KKB).
Yogi Ernes, Jakarta – Police arrested scores of Papuan student at a May Day rally in Central Jakarta earlier today on the ground that they did not have a permit to demonstrate.
Dili – Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta has urged Indonesia's government to hold talks with the Papuan independence movement to help end a decades-long insurgency in the country's easternmost region.
UCA News reporter, Jakarta – Human rights activists and churchmen have voiced concerns over the impact of the Indonesian government's move to label Papuan pro-independence groups as terrorists, saying it will make peace even more difficult to achieve in the restive region.
AWPA condemns the continuing statements from Indonesian officials concerning the Free Papua movement in West Papua.
The Indonesian government has declared the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) as "terrorists".