A protest demanding an easing of a Covid-19 lockdown at the Grasberg gold and copper mine in Papua ended last Friday.

Mining operatons had been disrupted since last Monday after protestors blocked access to the mine in the Indonesian province.

Agustinus Beo Da Cost, Jakarta – Workers at Indonesia's Grasberg gold and copper mine on Friday ended a protest demanding an easing of a coronavirus lockdown at the mine operated by a local unit of Freeport-McMoran Inc, a workers' representative and the company said.

Herlambang P Wiratraman – In mid-August, the government acknowledged that it has asked Indonesian human rights activist Veronica Koman to return Rp 774 million (A$73,400) in scholarship funds. This comes on top of a criminal investigation she faces because of her public advocacy of human rights issues in Papua in 2019.

Jakarta – Gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia has agreed to meet the demands of its employees at the Grasberg complex in Tembagapura, Papua, after more than 1,000 workers blocked access to the world's biggest gold mine.

Jakarta – Papuan Traditional Council (DAP) Second Secretary John Gobay is asking President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to quickly issue a government regulation on the mechanisms for establishing local political parties in the Land of the Cenderawasih as Papua is known.

A group of West Papuan political prisoners just released from jail have paid tribute to a human rights lawyer who died last week.

Yuliana Yabansabra had worked for the so-called Balikpapan Seven, West Papuan men who were jailed by an Indonesian court on treason charges for their role in anti-racism protests last year.

Timika, Indonesia – More than 1,000 Indonesian workers blocked access to the world's biggest gold mine on Monday in protest at a company move to shut down visits to their families over virus concerns.

Charles Maniani, Jayapura – On Wednesday August 19, officers from the Abepura sectoral police (Polsek) forcibly broke up a Papuan People's Solidarity action collecting funds to provide financial assistance to exiled Papua activist and human rights lawyer Veronica Koman.

Victor Mambor, Jayapura, Papua – Musa Heselo, a resident of Jayapura, Papua, was not aware that he had frequently been discriminated against on the basis of his race. In fact, he never understood how discrimination and racism could manifest themselves in his everyday life.

Jayapura, Jubi – Abepura Sector Police of Jayapura Municipality dispersed fundraising activity by Papuan Student Solidarity for Veronica Koman in Jayapura City this month.

"The Police forcibly dispersed us," said Yops Itlay, fundraising partisan.

Jakarta – Hundreds of Papuan students from the East Java cities of Malang and Surabaya held an action on Tuesday August 18 commemorating the racist incident that befell them one year ago.

David Robie – The silence from Facebook is deafening and disturbing.

Alfian Kartono, Jayapura – Indonesian troops fatally shot a separatist leader in ongoing clashes between security forces and a rebel group near the world's largest gold mine in Indonesia's easternmost Papua region, police and rebels said Monday.

Usman Hamid – The debate over Papua flared up again in Indonesia after anti-racism protests in the US triggered a social media campaign highlighting the plight of Papuans. Like black people in America, they have long suffered from structural racism.

Ronna Nirmala, Jakarta – Government security forces in Indonesia's easternmost Papua province have killed a separatist commander whose group carried out deadly shootings at the Grasberg mine, police said Monday.

Papua, Indonesia's eastern-most province, has been in a grip of a civil unrest.

Mong Palatino – Arbi Nur was one of four students who were expelled from Khairun University in Indonesia after they joined a protest in December 2019 supportive of Papua, Indonesia's largest and most eastern located, and predominantly Christian province.

A group of Indonesian religious leaders, academics, activists and cultural figures have called on President Joko Widodo to free all political prisoners from Papua and Maluku. The call came as Indonesia prepared to mark its Independence Day on Aug. 17.

Ronny Kareni – We are West Papuans living in Australia, calling for our friends to support Veronica Koman, an Indonesian human rights lawyer. Many West Papuans admire her advocacy work on West Papua issues, including her defense of West Papuan clients charged with treason for peacefully demanding our right to self-determination.

Jayapura, Jubi – The Action Committee against the Special Autonomy Policy Phase II held a protest in front of the Indonesian Ministry of Home Affairs Office on Monday, 10 August 2020.

Islami Adisubrata, Wamena, Jubi – Papua Customary Council (DAP) commemorated the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples of 9 August 2020 by organising public prayer at Karma football square of DAP Hubula Office located in Wesaput Sub-district on Monday (10/8/2020).

Denpasar – The Bali chapter of the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) held a protest action at the Renon traffic circle in the provincial capital of Denpasar on Saturday August 15 to commemorate 58 years since the 1962 New York agreement.

Jakarta – Approximately 289 children below 19 years old have been infected with COVID-19 in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua, an official has said, arguing that the virus transmissions were not from school activities following the recent reopening of schools.

Yudha Baskoro, Jakarta – Activists from the Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) and the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) held a demonstration on Saturday against the 1962 New York Agreement, which allowed the transfer of rule over West Papua from the Netherlands to temporary administration by the United Nations, before it was handed over to Indonesia in the same year.

Chandra Iswinarno and Adie Prasetyo Nugraha – The Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) and the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) held actions at two locations in Jakarta on Saturday August 15 to commemorate 58 years since the 1962 New York agreement.

Jakarta – Activist Veronica Koman says that she is ready to be discarded by the Indonesian government if her activities as a Papua human rights defender are deemed not to support the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).

Vero, as she is known, said that she has openly affiliated herself with the Papuan people since she began this struggle.

Nina Loasana, Jakarta – Civil society group Papua Itu Kita (Papua Is Us) and Jayapura-based publication Jubi have initiated a fundraising movement to support Indonesian human rights lawyer Veronica Koman who was recently asked to return government-sponsored scholarship funding for her studies in Australia.

Jakarta – Papuan human rights activist Veronica Koman is questioning the attitude of the Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) which she says ignored her written report to them about the death and rape threats against her.

Facebook has been urged by media freedom advocates to restore an article it pulled ostensibly because the piece violated its rules on nudity.

The article, published by the International Federation of Journalists, reported on concerns raised about media freedom in Melanesia by the Pacific Journalism Review in its latest edition.

Annisa Nurul Aziza – Indonesian human rights activist and lawyer Veronica Koman said in a statement on Tuesday, August 11, that the Education Fund Management Institute (LPDP) under the Indonesian Ministry of Finance had demanded that she return a scholarship amounting to 773.8 million Rupiah ($53,000), that she received back in 2016.

Tri Indah Oktavianti, Jakarta – With accusations mounting against her, Indonesian human rights lawyer Veronica Koman has said she is being forced to return hundreds of millions of rupiah of government-sponsored scholarship in what she claims is a move to financially punish her as she pleads for Finance Minister Sri Mulyani's impartiality in handling her case.

Friski Riana, Jakarta – Human rights advocate Veronica Koman admitted that the Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) warned her to return to Indonesia before asking her to pay back the scholarship funds totaling Rp773.8 million.

Gunawan and Ronna Nirmala, Balikpapan, Indonesia, and Jakarta – The last of seven Papuan activists was released from a detention center in Indonesian Borneo on Wednesday after serving a sentence on charges of treason for taking part in anti-Jakarta protests last year.

Jakarta – The human rights based community Papua Is Us (Papua Itu Kita) has launched a fund raising campaign to assist human rights activists and lawyer Veronica Kaman who says that the Indonesian government has asked her to return scholarship money she was given amounting to 773 million rupiah (US$52,760).

Jakarta – Papuan activist and former political prisoner Filep Karma says there are differences in how demonstrations proceed in Papua and Jakarta. He says that in Papua, demonstrations are not as free and easy as in Jakarta.

Pacific Media Watch – Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called on Facebook to restore an article that was censored for violating its rules on nudity and has urged the social media platform to be more transparent and responsible about respect for the free flow of information.

London – Surveillance, intimidation and harassment, protest dispersals, torture, arbitrary arrests and extra-judicial killings continued in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua, and in Indonesia more broadly, as the state tried to crack down on the contentious issue of West Papua's self-determination in 2019.

Jakarta – Human Rights activist and lawyer, Veronica Koman, says that the Indonesian government has asked her to return scholarship money amounting to 773 million rupiah (US$52,760) which she received to pursue her master's degree in Australia in 2016.

Johnny Blades – Indonesian students becoming engaged in the West Papuan human rights struggle are under pressure from authorities.

Human rights advocates have called for the reinstatement of four Indonesian university students expelled for protesting against human rights abuses in Papua, including one young man charged and facing a lengthy prison term for his actions.

Indonesia's military is investigating its personnel linked to the death of a young West Papuan man while in custody.

Eighteen-year-old Oktovianus Betere died after being taken in by military (TNI) personnel two weeks ago.

The death occured in Asiki district of remote Boven Digoel regency, about fifty kilometres west of Indonesia's border with Papua New Guinea.

Jayapura – Indonesia's public Khairun University on Ternate Island should reinstate four students who were expelled after taking part in a peaceful protest, Human Rights Watch said today.

Len Garae – Chairman of Vanuatu West Papua Association and Unification Committee (VWPAUC), Pastor Alan Nafuki, has welcomed Prime Minister Bob Loughman's confirmation that his Government supports 100% his Committee's stand against alleged Human Rights abuse by the military of Indonesia against the people of West Papua, and the importance to recognise the future of the Melanesians.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – As the special autonomy law for Indonesia's easternmost region of Papua will expire this year, the debate over the possibility of its extension is heating up.

A response to a statement from Jaleswari Pramodhawardani (Vice Deputy for Political, Legal, Security and Human Rights of the Presidential Staff Office) published by Antara News Jakarta on July 14, 2020.

Moch. Fiqih Prawira Adjie, Jakarta – The prolonged violence and inequality in Indonesia's easternmost provinces are taking a particularly hard toll on women, increasing the risk of them becoming victims of domestic violence and hampering their empowerment, Papuan rights activists say.

A guerilla force waging war for independence in West Papua has revealed it's been buying weapons from Indonesia's military.

The West Papua Liberation Army has been embroiled in intensified conflict with Indonesian security forces in the highlands interior of Papua region since 2018.

Gemma Holliani Cahya, Jakarta – A group of 57 Catholic priests from across Papua Island have demanded that the government put a stop to the "forced continuation of special autonomy [Otsus] in Papua".

Rahmad Nasution – More and more armed Papuan rebels have surrendered and declared their allegiance to the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia over the past few months of 2020.

This good trend can be perceived as the fruit of hard and soft power approaches that the Indonesian authorities and law enforcement agencies have applied in Papua Province.

Jakarta – The government may deploy more troops in Papua if it deems the escalation necessary to maintain security, Home Minister Tito Karnavian has said, amid reports of tensions between security forces and armed civilian groups in Indonesia's easternmost province.

Victor Mambor, Jayapura – The largest PCR testing lab in Papua has announced that it will stop accepting new samples for COVID-19 testing on July 25 because of a lack of reagent and single-use equipment.

The lab at the Papuan Health Research and Development Agency (Balitbangkes) accounts for more than half of the province's testing capacity under normal circumstances.