Evi Mariani, Jakarta – The giant wave of the United States' #BlackLivesMatter campaign has now swept across Indonesia. A number of groups have begun to discuss racism in the country and have touched upon a rarely discussed topic: racism against Papuans.

Tom Fawthrop – After 50 years of popular resistance to Indonesian rule in West Papua, this forgotten war is flaring up again. The indigenous movement, led by the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), has never lost hope of recovering ancestral lands dating back centuries before their annexation by Indonesia.

The human rights watchdog TAPOL has condemned a demand by Indonesian prosecutors for a 17-year imprisonment for West Papuan activist Buchtar Tabuni.

Tabuni is one of seven West Papuan political prisoners on trial in East Kalimantan, having been moved to custody there from Papua for "security reasons".

Reuters – Thousands of miles from the protests that have swept the United States, Black Lives Matter has become a rallying cry for pro-Papuan activists in Indonesia, provoking questions about accusations of deep-seated racism.

Alya Nurbaiti, Jakarta – The lawsuit against President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's decision to cut off the internet in Papua and West Papua during antiracism protests in the two provinces last year was meant to be a call for better policies in the future, the suit's plaintiffs have said.

Human rights watchdog TAPOL has condemned the demand by Indonesian prosecutors seeking 17 and five years imprisonment for West Papuan activists Buchtar Tabuni and Irwanus Uropmabin.

On June 2, the Jayapura District Prosecutor's Office issued 33 pages containing charges against the defendant Irwanus Uropmabin.

Jakarta – The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) has picked up indications that the Bloody Paniai human rights case in Papua will stall like other human rights cases. The indications of this emerged after the Attorney General's Office (AGO) again returned the investigation dossier and documents on the case to Komnas HAM.

Egi Adyatama, Jakarta – Amnesty International executive director Usman Hamid said he would lodge the latest report of his organization on Papuan issues titled "Civil and Political Rights Violations in Papua and West Papua" to the United Nations (UN).

Evarukdijati, Sri Haryati, Jayapura, Papua – Papua's Law Enforcement Task Force arrested TW, a member of a criminal armed group that attacked PT Freeport employees in Kuala Kencana that resulted in the death of New Zealander Graeme Thomas Wall.

Two other employees of the giant mining firm also suffered injuries in the attack on March 30.

Egi Adyatama, Jakarta – Multiple mysterious phone calls have terrorized an Amnesty International discussion touching on rights violations in Papua and West Papua held on Friday, June 5, 2020.

Ghina Ghaliya, Jakarta – A virtual discussion about human rights issues and the repression against Papuans' freedom of expression held by rights group Amnesty International Indonesia on Friday was bombarded by spammers, in the latest show of disturbance against Indonesian activists recently.

Elvira Rumkabu, Jayapura – The death of George Floyd, an African-American who was brutally murdered by a policeman in an American city, is not an isolated incident but a sign of deeply entrenched and normalized outright racism.

Caesar Akbar, Friski Riana, Jakarta – After the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) found the president and the Communication and Informatics Minister guilty for the internet blackout in Papua and West Papua in August of 2019. The current minister Johnny Gerard Plate believes that the steps were taken by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo for the nation's best interest.

The Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) ruled the government internet ban in Papua and West Papua during the anti-racism protests in August and September 2019 was unlawful.

Budi Sutrisno, Jakarta – As the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died while being arrested in the United States, sparks a global outcry, Indonesian rights advocates and young people have stepped forward to remind fellow citizens that racism has long been an issue at home as well.

TAPOL condemns the demand by Prosecutors seeking seventeen and five years imprisonment for West Papuan activists Buchtar Tabuni and Irwanus Uropmabin.

Jakarta (Reuters) – An Indonesian court on Wednesday (June 3) ordered President Joko Widodo to make an official apology after ruling that his government's decision to rein in Internet speeds to contain civil unrest in the Papua region last year was unlawful.

Moch. Fiqih Prawira Adjie, Jakarta – A panel of judges at the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) has granted a lawsuit filed by civil society groups against the government's decision to impose an internet blackout during weeks of protests in Papua and West Papua last year, declaring that such move violated the law.

An Indonesian court on Wednesday ordered President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to make an official apology after ruling that his government's decision to rein in internet speeds to contain civil unrest in the Papua region last year was unlawful.

Voice of Papua – While the delay in the Indonesian government response to the covid-19 corona virus is disappointing, Papua's provincial government needs to be commended for its speedy awareness of how serious the matter crisis is.

Sorong – Four defendants charged with treason in Sorong City, West Papua province, were finally declared guilty and sentenced to eight months and 15 days jail at the Sorong District Court on Thursday May 28.

Amanda Siddharta, Jakarta, Indonesia – Six activists charged with treason in Jakarta for organizing a protest rally last August outside the presidential palace have been freed from prison.

Paulus Suryanta Ginting, Ambrosius Mulait, Charles Kosay, and Dano Anes Tabuni, along with the only woman in the group, Arina Elopere, were freed this past week.

Antara, Jakarta – Two members of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) in Timika, Papua, have reportedly been arrested by local police over alleged slanders the two made in a recent Facebook post.

"One of the arrested is the KPB spokesperson," said Mimika Police Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. I Gusti Gde Era Adhinata in Timika, May 29.

M Rosseno Aji, Translator: Dio Suhenda (Intern), Jakarta – Chief of the Papuan Human Rights Lawyers Association, Gustaf Rudolf Kawer, reported that dozens of inmates in the Jayapura Precinct detention center are now suspected to have been infected with COVID-19, due to the lack of isolation procedures for suspected COVID-19 positive inmates.

At 7:00 in the morning on May 27th, two West Papuan activists, Gerson Son Tabuni and Kalep Kilungga were arrested without explanation by the Indonesian police in Kuala Kencana, West Papua. Gerson was shot in the leg and brutally tortured. His crime according to the police? Posting information on social media "that is at odds with the Republic of Indonesia".

John Martinkus – It was a simple insult that started it: "Monkey."

The Indonesian police, alongside Islamist and nationalist Indonesians, gathered outside the Papuan university dormitory in the East Javanese city of Surabaya and yelled "Monkey" at the Papuan students inside.

Rizki Fachriansyah, Jakarta – Five Papuan political activists who were convicted of treason for protesting in support of Papuan independence in Jakarta have been released from prison after serving nine-month sentences.

[The following is a translation of a press release issued by the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) following the release of five Papuan political prisoners on May 27.]

Jakarta – Four Papuan political prisoners immediately underwent a corona virus rapid test after being released from Salemba prison in Central Jakarta today. One of them was Paulus Suryanta Ginting or Surya Anta.

Papua Advocacy Team member Suarbudaya Rahadian said that the rapid tests were done to ensure that they were not infected by Covid-19 during their time in jail.

Reza Gunadha and Stephanus Aranditio – Four out of five Papuan political prisoners (tapol) were officially released from the Salemba prison in Central Jakarta today, Tuesday May 26.

The fate of one other Papuan political prisoner incarcerated at the Pondok Bambu women's detention centre in East Jakarta, Arina Elopere, is still unclear.

Usman Hamid and Veronica Koman, Jakarta – The United Nations is right: It's impossible to practice physical distancing and self-isolation in an overcrowded prison. We therefore applaud the decision by Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly to release almost 40,000 prisoners at risk from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jakarta – The Free Papua Movement (OPM) has denied that it was involved in the shooting of two members of the Intan Jaya regency COVID-19 task force, claiming that the two men were shot by security forces.

Jakarta – Military and police personnel belonging to the Nemangkawi task force in Intan Jaya regency, Papua, are on a manhunt for an armed group that purportedly shot members of a local COVID-19 response team.

Len Garae – Chairman of Vanuatu West Papua Association and Unification Committee (VWPAUC), Pastor Alan Nafuki has confirmed that all relevant West Papua related documents to brief the Government how far his Committee has progressed regarding its drive to help the United Liberation Movement of West Papua, have been handed over to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mark Ati and Prime M

A West Papuan man has died shortly after allegedly being hit by a police officer while making a complaint against a palm oil company.

Indonesian media say the man claimed the company knocked down his banana plantation in the southeast of Papua province.

For millions around the world COVID 19 is one more terrible threat to an existence already precarious because of poverty and conflict. Others are at high risk because they are in detention at the behest of repressive governments.

The West Papua Liberation Army has stolen a number of weapons from an Indonesian police post.

A spokesman for the pro-independence guerilla fighting force said the attack on the station in Paniai regency was carried out to retrieve its own guns earlier confiscated by police.

Benny Mawel and Alya Nurbaiti, Jayapura and Jakarta – A Papuan man has died shortly after allegedly being hit by a police officer while making a complaint against a palm oil company he believed was responsible for knocking down his banana plantation in Asiki village, Boven Digoel regency, in Papua.

Sri Krishnamurthi – Australian war correspondent and investigative journalist John Martinkus warns the West Papuan conflict is "reigniting" and "that's happening now with new weapons and 20-year-olds".

James Balowski – Rights groups have slammed a last-minute decision to deny parole to five Papuans jailed on charges of treason over a peaceful protest in August last year. The activists were calling for an end to racism against Papuan students and a referendum on self-determination for West Papua.

Review by David Robie – The 4300-km Trans-Papuan Highway costing some US$1.4 billion was supposed to bring "wealth, development and prosperity" to the isolated regions of West Papua.

At least, that's how the planners and politicians envisaged the highway far away in their Jakarta offices.

Fathin Ungku and Wilda Asmarini, Singapore – Freeport-McMoRan Inc's Indonesian unit said it will operate the giant Grasberg mine with a "skeletal team" after a rise in coronavirus infections in the area, including at the mine workers' living quarters, and three deaths.

Sarah Jacob – It's 8 am on a Saturday morning in early March. A group of young children are busy arranging tables and chairs inside a makeshift building. They range in age from toddlers to late primary schoolers. Their classroom doubles as their community's only church. The building is a simple structure, constructed largely from pieces of corrugated iron and bamboo poles.

Camellia Webb-Gannon, Jaime Swift, Michael Westaway and Nathan Wright – Indonesia has recently indicated it is considering investigating the killings of hundreds of thousands of people in the 1965 "anti-communist" purge under authoritarian leader Suharto.

Jakarta – Five Papuan activists imprisoned for treason are not eligible for early release, as part of the government's prisoner assimilation program, which aims to reduce COVID-19 transmission, a legal team has revealed.

The government deems the assimilation program necessary due to overcrowded prisons during the health crisis.

The mining company PT Freeport Indonesia has increased efforts to test for, and treat people with Covid-19, in Papua.

The number of confirmed covid-19 cases in Mimika regency, where Freeport operates one of the world's largest gold and copper mines, has reached 110.

Responding to the postponed release of five Papuan prisoners of conscience (PoC) in Jakarta, Amnesty International Indonesia Executive Director, Usman Hamid, said:

Pacific Media Centre – TAPOL has condemned the political decision to cancel the early release of five political prisoners that were arrested in Jakarta for demonstrating in favour of self-determination of West Papua.

London – TAPOL condemns the political decision to cancel the early release of five political prisoners that were arrested in Jakarta for demonstrating in favour of self-determination of West Papua.

Pacific Media Watch – The regent of Mimika in Papua has urged President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to temporarily close a mine in the regency owned by gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia as the number of covid-19 coronavirus cases in the area continues to rise.