Sally Sara, Anne Worthington and Victor Mambor – In the highlands of Papua, in easternmost Indonesia, villagers are returning to the burnt-out remains of their abandoned homes.

A woman slumps on the grass, overcome with grief, as men dig a pit for the remains of those who could not escape the bloodshed.

The air is filled with the sound of wailing.

West Papuan independence movement leader Benny Wenda has demanded "urgent attention from the international community" to claims that Indonesia is using the Covid-19 crisis to further militarise the region.

Dwi Bowo Raharjo and Stephanus Aranditio – The release and reintegration of five out of six Papuan political prisoners (tapol) was suddenly cancelled today, Tuesday May 12. Supporters say they are being screwed over by the Indonesian state.

Reza Gunadha and Erick Tanjung – Six Papuan political prisoners in Jakarta, namely Surya Anta Ginting and his companions are to be released from Salemba prison in Jakarta today, Tuesday May 12.

A West Papuan church leader says he has support of local Christian churches over his right to speak about violence in the region.

Reverend Socratez Yoman of the Baptist church was invited by Indonesian police to 'clarify' an article he wrote about an attack in which a New Zealander was killed in Papua in March.

Jakarta – 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 cases in the area continues to rise.

Febriana Firdaus – Thousands of workers at the world's largest copper and gold mine, run by U.S.-based Freeport McMoRan in the Indonesian province of Papua, have been instructed to remain on the company's premises or risk being furloughed without pay, amid an outbreak at the mine that has seen 56 employees test positive for COVID-19, with one death, in recent weeks.

Jakarta – The Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam) is urging President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to temporarily halt operations by mining companies around the country which they believe are neglecting workers' safety in the midst of the corona pandemic (Covid-19).

Senator the Hon Marise Payne
Minister for Foreign Affairs
PO Box 6100
Senate, Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

4 May 2020

Dear Foreign Minister,

I am writing to you on behalf of the Australia West Papua Association in Sydney, concerning the jailing of six West Papuan activists for treason.

Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern
Prime Minister
Rt Hon Winston Peters
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Parliament Buildings
Wellington

Dear Jacinda Ardern and Winston Peters,

David Robie – The jailing of the Jakarta Six – five Papuans and the first Indonesian to be convicted for a Papuan protest – in Indonesia last month has focused global attention on the plight of political prisoners in the face of a failing struggle against the coronavirus pandemic.

Basten Gokkon of Mongabay – Local authorities and indigenous communities in Indonesia's Papua region have imposed a sweeping lockdown in an attempt to minimise the spread of the novel coronavirus.

West Papuans continue to fight for independence with the support of many Pacific nations. Despite Indonesia's opposition and the recent impact of COVID-19 on the region, the resolution of West Papuan grievances may have stalled but nationalist sentiment has not been quelled.

By Johnny Blades

Key findings

Johnny Blades – A West Papuan church leader has been 'invited' by Indonesian police to 'clarify' an article he wrote about a shooting incident in which a New Zealander was killed.

The shooting attack, which occurred at the offices of mining giant Freeport in Papua's Mimika regency, resulted in the death of Graeme Wall and injuries to several other employees.

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) condemns the ongoing violence and racism against West Papuans living in various parts of Indonesia and in West Papua (the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua, and the government's reactions to these expressions of discontent.

There's been a surge in the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Mimika regency of Indonesian-ruled Papua. Mimika now has 51 cases, the most of any single regency in Papua region.

Indonesia's Health Ministry said the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in West Papua province was 37, and 189 in neighbouring Papua province, with seven deaths overall.

Nicolas Marvey & Babon Hitam – On December 16, 2009, the Indonesian armed forces murdered the independence leader Kelly Kwalik, accused of sabotage, treason, kidnapping and assassination. Kelly Kwalik, charismatic leader of the Free Papua Movement, was a major figure in the struggle of the Papuan people.

Gemma Holliani Cahya, Jakarta – "I know this might sound harsh for some people but this is the fact; if you do not want to die, do not come to Papua," Silwanus Sumule, a doctor who works in Jayapura, said in a recent phone interview with The Jakarta Post.

Silwanus is also the spokesperson for the Papua COVID-19 response team.

Skylar Lindsay – Indonesia is one of the world's largest exporters of coal and with little oversight, coal mining companies in the archipelago have cleared rainforests and polluted natural resources, often belonging to indigenous communities.

Agustinus Beo Da Costa, Jakarta – An Indonesian court convicted six activists of treason for organising a protest demanding independence for the easternmost province of Papua, in a verdict slammed by rights groups.

Adam Prireza, Jakarta – The Papua Advocacy Team believes that the panel of judges at the Central Jakarta District Court were desperately looking for a way to justify why the protest action by six Papuan activists in August last year was an act of treason.

Arie Firdaus (Benar News) – An Indonesian court sentenced six activists to prison on Friday after finding them guilty of treason for participating in a protest last year calling for a self-determination referendum in the restive Papua province.

Adam Prireza, Jakarta – A court hearing of six Papuan activists will be held again on Friday April 24. The six activists are scheduled to hear the verdict from the panel of judges on charges of treason.

London – TAPOL denounces the sentencing by the district court of Central Jakarta which found six political prisoners guilty of treason today and demands their immediate release. Paulus Suryanta Ginting, Ambrosius Mulait, Ariana Elopere, Dano Tabuni, and Charles Kossay were sentenced to nine months imprisonment, whereas Isay Wenda was sentenced to eight months imprisonment.

Jakarta – Papuan activist and treason defendant Suryanta Ginting and his five colleagues have been sentenced to between eight and nine months jail by judges at the Central Jakarta District Court.

They were declared guilty of violating Article 106 of the Criminal Code in conjunction with Article 55 of the KUHP on makar (treason, subversion, rebellion).

Jakarta – The panel of judges in the Central Jakarta District Court have handed down jail sentences against Surya Anta and five other Papuan activists charged with treason. The Five other defendants are Charles Kossay, Ambrosius Mulait, Isay Wenda, Anes Tabuni and Arina Elopere.

Galih Gumelar, Jakarta – A panel of judges at the Central Jakarta District Court have found six activists guilty of committing treasonous acts for holding a protest in support of Papuan independence in front of the Presidential Palace in Jakarta in last August.

Bangun Santoso and Stephanus Aranditio – Surya Anta Ginting and five other Papuan political prisoners will face a sentence hearing at the Central Jakarta District Court today on Friday April 24. The prosecution has demanding a sentence of one year and five months jail on charges of committing treason.

Ramadani Saputra, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo decided on Thursday to push back the 2020 National Games (PON) in Papua to October next year due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

West Papua's Independence movement has congratulated Vanuatu's new government on its parliamentary election.

The Vanua'aku Pati's Bob Loughman heads a new coalition government in Vanuatu after newly-elected MPs met for the first time following last month's general election.

Febriana Firdaus, Bintuni Bay, Indonesia – Residents of this part of the island of New Guinea have long known they live atop a coal deposit. Some local people recall hearing traditional stories of how the weather is hot because of the coal found deep in the bowels of the Earth.

A logging company, PT Wanagalang Utama, is felling timber on indigenous land from Aisnak, in the Far South East Aifat subdistrict, Maybrat Regency, to as far as South Moskona subdistrict, Bintuni Bay Regency, in Papua Barat province.

Rt Hon Jacinda Adern
Prime Minister
Rt Hon Winston Peters
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Parliament Buildings
Wellington

Dear Jacinda Ardern and Winston Peters,

Tsarina Maharani, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) is calling on the government to establish an independent team to investigate the fatal shooting of two people in Mimika, Papua, on April 13.

Jennifer Robinson and Veronica Koman with the support of TAPOL – Sixty-three political prisoners detained on treason charges in Indonesia have made a joint urgent appeal to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and UN Special Rapporteurs in response to the global coronavirus pandemic.

Sixty three political prisoners charged with treason in Indonesia have appealed to the United Nations for immediate release.

Lawyers Jennifer Robinson and Veronica Koman, supported by human rights organisation TAPOL, filed the joint appeal with the UN working group on Arbitrary Detention and UN Special Rapporteurs.

Dian Septiari, Jakarta – With their plight largely ignored by the public, 63 Indonesians detained on treason charges have turned to the United Nations for help, hoping they could be saved from the threat posed by the COVID-19 disease in the country's overcrowded prisons.

Victor Mambor and Nina A. Loasana, Jayapura and Jakarta – The bodies of two Papuan men bearing gunshot wounds have been found along a river near the complex of gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia in Mimika regency, Papua. It is believed they were shot and killed by security forces.

Ronna Nirmala and Tia Asmara, Jakarta – More than 60 political prisoners, mostly Papuan activists detained for pro-independence protests, wrote a letter to the United Nations for help in urging Indonesia to release them unconditionally, saying they were at risk of contracting the coronavirus, human rights lawyers said Thursday

Jakarta – Human Rights lawyers Veronica Koman and Jennifer Robinson have sent a letter to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the United Nations Special Rapporteur asking them to urge the Indonesia government to release 63 political prisoners (tapol) indicted on charges of treason related to the free Papua movement.

A West Papuan family is asking questions about the circumstances around the killing of their son and his friend in Mimika regency on Monday.

Media reports from Papua say the two university students, Eden Bebari and Ronny Wandik, aged 19 and 21, were killed by Indonesian military personnel about halfway between the city of Timika and the giant Freeport gold mine.

Agustinus Beo Da Costa, Jakarta – Indonesia's military will investigate an incident in the easternmost region of Papua in which two men were shot dead, it said on Wednesday, after rights activists and a family member said the men were wrongly identified as separatist rebels.

Pacific Media Watch – The Covid-19 coronavirus is "exacerbating tensions" in Indonesia's West Papua region and exposing the "shortcomings" of Jakarta government policy, warns a conflict watchdog group.

Lani Diana Wijaya, Jakarta – The trail of six Papuan activists is to be held online or long-distance amid the enforcement of large scale social restrictions or PSBB in Jakarta to contain the corona virus. The activists are scheduled to read out their defense or pledoi (defense speech) during the next hearing at the Central Jakarta District Court which will be held later today.

M Rosseno Aji, Jakarta – Indonesia Police Watch said that the clash between the military and police officers in Mamberamo, Papua, was started from the dispute regarding the rental of motorcycles.

"Based on the chronology report received by IPW, the clash starts from the rental of a motorcycle," said IPW presidium head Neta S. Pane to Tempo on Monday, April 13.

Timika, Indonesia – Indonesian security forces shot and killed three separatist rebels who were suspected in an attack that killed a New Zealander near the world's largest gold mine in the easternmost province of Papua, police said Saturday.

Ronna Nirmala, Jakarta – Government security forces in Indonesia's Papua province killed two suspected separatist rebels and arrested another during a raid on their hideout, a police spokesman said Friday.

Agung Sandy Lesmana and Ria Rizki Nirmala Sari – The Free Papua Organisation (OPM) is offering a ceasefire in the midst of the corona virus pandemic. The option of a ceasefire however must also be agreed to by the Indonesian government by withdrawing all non-organic troops from Papua.

Johnny Blades – An Indonesian human rights expert has called for New Zealand police help after a deadly attack on mine company staff in West Papua.

Last week's shooting attack at PT Freeport Indonesia's offices in the leafy town of Kuala Kencana near Timika left a New Zealander dead and two other employees seriously injured.

Apriza Pinandita, Jakarta – Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called for an independent investigation into the recent murder of a New Zealander Freeport employee by members of an armed group in Mimika regency, Papua

Graeme Thomas Wall, an employee of gold and copper mining company PT Freeport Indonesia, was shot dead by gunmen in Timika last week.