Nivell Rayda, Jakarta – Indonesia has launched an international aid agency to strengthen its diplomatic relations in the region, but played down the role of Papua-related diplomacy in the fund.

Alfian Rumagit, Rahmad Nasutio, Jayapura, Papua – The Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) in Jayapura, Papua's capital city, expressed rejection to calls for jihad or fighting in the name of religion in connection with the recent Wamena rioting case that killed 33 innocent civilians.

Walda Marison, Jakarta – On Tuesday October 22 a lawyer from the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta) submitted a pre-trail suit against the Metro Jaya regional police over the arrest of six Papua activists who were charged with treason for flying the Morning Star independence flag in August.

Sydney – Veronica Koman, a human rights lawyer sought by Indonesian police over Twitter posts authorities blame for fanning unrest in the Papua region, has a tattoo on each wrist.

The first, inked when she was in her late teens and a fervent nationalist, reads simply "Indonesia" and, she says, meant that "Indonesia is running through my veins".

Adam Prireza, Jakarta – Six Papuan activists who had been named suspects in the alleged treason by Jakarta Metro Police filed a pretrial lawsuit to South Jakarta Court today, October 22.

Their advocate team member Okky Wiratama explained there were violations of the legal procedure during the arrest, search, seizure of evidence, and the suspect naming.

Arjuna Pademme, Jayapura – The legal counsel team for seven suspects of treason case from Papua stated their clients are in good condition after a visit in Kalimantan Timur.

Camellia Webb-Gannon – Last weekend, the Indonesian police took 43 West Papuan students into custody for allegedly disrespecting the Indonesian flag during an independence day celebration (an allegation the students deny).

Arjuna Pademme, Jayapura – Laurenzus Kadepa, Papua parliament member from Politics, Legal and Human Rights Division, said Papuan peoples do not need an offer in the presidential cabinet of Joko Widodo for the period of 2019-2024. What they urgently need at the moment, he further said, is the state's attention to solve problems in Papua (Jayapura, 16/10/2019).

Haeril Halim – Indonesia's human rights commission called for a probe into scores of deaths in Papua on Friday after some of the deadliest violence in years swept the restive region.

Dozens were killed when riots broke out in Wamena city last month, with some victims burned alive when buildings were set ablaze, and others stabbed in the chaos.

Jakarta – Indonesia launched an international aid agency on Friday to strengthen its regional diplomatic relations, some of which have been strained by Jakarta's approach to the restive Papua region.

Jakarta – If the government is serious about finding the best solution to the Papuan problem, the communication and informatics ministry should support the endeavor by Facebook to rid the site of computer-generated propaganda about Papua.

Nindya Astuti, Jakarta – Regional coordinator of SafeNET, Damar Juniarto, suspects there are blatant attempts to suppress information regarding Papua as they deemed information from the region has been framed in inaccuracy.

Jakarta – Activist and human rights lawyer for Papuan affairs, Veronica Koman, has met with Australian parliamentarians in Canberra. She said that during the meeting she asked the government of the Kangaroo Country to play a more active role in ending the bloodshed in Papua.

Jakarta – Human rights lawyer Veronica Koman met with the Australian parliament's human rights subcommittee on Wednesday to speak with its members about the current situation in West Papua.

Agus Pabika, Jayapura – The way government handling the humanitarian conflict in Papua has become a spotlight. Many people think the government are being discriminative in handling Nduga refugees compared to refugees from Wamena.

Ahmad Faiz, Jakarta – Several leaders of immigrant communities in Papua visited President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo at State Palace, Tuesday, Oct. 15. The head of South Sulawesi Community in Papua, Mansur, said their visit aimed to discuss the security situation post the riot last month.

Diana Mariska, Jakarta – The United States Ambassador to Indonesia Joseph Donovan met with leaders of Indonesia's second-largest Muslim organization Muhammadiyah in Jakarta on Tuesday to discuss various current issues, including the recent unrest in Papua and Indonesia's reaction to the repression of Uighur Muslims in China.

Five bodies have been found in the highlands of Indonesia's West Papua, with residents alleging them to be victims of a military attack.

Papuan news outlet Tabloid Jubi reports the bodies were found on Thursday in a village in Nduga regency, where violence has flared since last year.

Jakarta – United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) chairman Benny Wenda has called on President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to make good on his claim that he is willing to meet with pro-referendum Papuan leaders.

"I hope that Indonesia's President Jokowi is willing to sit down with me to discuss the future of West Papua," Benny tweeted on Sunday night.

Agus Salim, Suwanti, Jakarta – Indonesia's central government, along with the Papua provincial government, will conduct an evaluation of the policy and implementation of Papua's special autonomy status, according to President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).

Jakarta (VNA) – The Indonesian government on October 11 officially inaugurated Sorong Special Economic Zone (SEZ) on an area of 523.7 hectares in Sorong district, West Papua province.

Open letter to:

Sydney – Veronica Koman, who is currently on the Indonesian police's wanted persons list, met with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Australia on Tuesday October 8.

The meeting with Michelle Bachelet in Sydney was revealed in a posting on Koman's Facebook and Twitter accounts along with a photograph of the two together.

National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop is leading non-government organisations, the PNG Council of Churches, students, disciplined forces and others in the city to petition the United Nations at the Sir John Guise Stadium today.

Jakarta – Police in Indonesia's restive Papua region pledged on Friday to hold an investigation after a local leader said the bodies of five villagers had been found with bullet wounds in an area where there has been a military crackdown.

Benjamin Strick & Famega Syavira for the BBC – Indonesia's Papua province has become the focus of a well-funded social media campaign using bots to promote a pro-government agenda, the BBC has found.

Jakarta (Antara) – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has stated the central and the regional governments will evaluate the policy and the implementation of the special autonomy (otsus) of Papua.

"We will hold a discussion between the central government and the administration of Papua," said the President at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Friday, Oct. 11.

Indonesia's West Papua police chief is making assurances that no jihadis have arrived in Papua.

Paulus Waterpauw's comments come after hardline Indonesian Muslim group Front Jihad Islam, or FJI, issued a call to arms in the Indonesia-ruled Papuan provinces after non-Papuan settlers were among the victims of recent violence there.

Human rights activists from the Papuan Civil Coalition have condemned police in Papua for transferring treason suspects to East Kalimantan.

The activists, including the suspects' lawyers, claim the transfers were made without any legal basis and without their knowledge.

Jakarta (Antara) – There are still around 5,000 people displaced by the riots in Wamena, Papua. They currently live in 22 temporary refugee posts, mostly in Jayawijaya Regional Police, Jayawijaya Regional Military Command, Koramil, and Wamena Air Field.

Jakarta – The Papua Police have named 13 people suspects for allegedly having been behind the recent deadly unrest in Wamena, Jayawijaya regency, which caused tens of thousands of residents to flee their homes.

Indonesian authorities should independently investigate recent riots in West Papua that led to 33 deaths, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said as indigenous Papuans urged the government to allow United Nations human rights officials access to the restive region.

Andita Rahma, Jakarta – The National Committee for West Papua (KNPB) spokesman Vic Yeimo denied that 13 suspects in the deadly riot in Wamena are members of his organization.

Papua Regional Police earlier named 13 suspects in the riot and identified most of them as parts of the KNPB and United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP).

Human Rights Watch is calling on Indonesia to investigate riots in West Papua, which killed dozens last month.

The clashes in Wamena on 23 September killed 33 people, injured at least 77, and displaced thousands more.

James Massola, Jakarta – Indonesia has taken the "unusual" step of blocking foreign diplomats from visiting strife-torn Papua, citing security concerns following weeks of violence and ethnic conflict.

Nic Maclellan – When Vanuatu's prime minister, Charlot Salwai Tabimasmas, stood before the UN General Assembly last week, he would have known how Indonesia was likely to react to his words. Echoing the decision of the recent Pacific Islands Forum, he called on the United Nations to find solutions to ongoing violations of human rights in West Papua.

Diana Mariska, Robert Isidorus, Telly Nathalia and Farouk Arnaz, Jakarta – Papua Police said on Monday that the situation in Wamena had returned to normal and that residents were starting to return home, following deadly riots that broke out in the city on Sept. 23.

Jakarta – Human rights activists who are part of the Papuan Civil Coalition condemned the Papua Police for transferring treason suspects from Papua to East Kalimantan without their knowledge. The activists, including the suspects' lawyers, claimed that the plan was done without any legal basis.

Johnny Blades – Jihadis are being encouraged to go and fight in West Papua by Indonesian Muslim hardliners.

Front Jihad Islam, or FJI, issued a call to arms in the Indonesia-ruled Papuan provinces after non-Papuan settlers were among the victims of recent violence there.

Jakarta – Indonesian authorities should independently investigate recent riots in Wamena, Papua that resulted in 33 deaths, Human Rights Watch said today. Since September 29, 2019, at least 8,000 indigenous Papuan and other Indonesians have been displaced from their homes in Papua.

Alan Weedon – West Papua – an Indonesian region with closer cultural and ethnic ties to Melanesia – has been rocked by protests for more than a month, resulting in the deaths of dozens of people.

Tensions between Papuans and those ruling in Jakarta have simmered since it was formally incorporated into Indonesia from Dutch rule, following a disputed referendum in 1969.

Jakarta – Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) spokesperson Surya Anta, who has being detained at the Mobile Brigade Command Headquarters (Mako Brimob) in Depok since September 1, is reportedly ill and is not receiving proper treatment. Anta is said to be suffering from an ear infection and cannot hear out of his right ear.

Antara and Halida Bunga Fisandra, Jakarta – There are at least a total of 9,078 people taking refuge from Wamena. A number of refugees are staying at the Papare Military (TNI) Base, with some set to board the Indonesian Air Force's Hercules aircraft destined for regions outside of Wamena this Friday, October 4.

The treason trial of several West Papuan pro-independence activists is to be moved to Indonesia's East Kalimantan province.

The activists, who belong to the West Papua National Committee and United Liberation Movement for West Papua, were arrested during recent unrest in Papua.

A Pacific peacekeeping force should be mobilised under the auspices of the United Nations to enable a peaceful solution to the current violence in Papua.

Pacific Conference of Churches' General Secretary, Reverend James Bhagwan, called for a peacekeeping force after shots were fired in an area near the Papua New Guinea border on Tuesday.

Sydney Jones – Violence has swept across Indonesian Papua in the last six weeks, starting with racist taunts against Papuan students in East Java, and moving back to Papua where protests against racism turned into larger pro-independence demonstrations.

Jakarta (Antara) – A number of residents, who are being evacuated from Jayawijaya, Papua due to Wamena riot, are starting to suffer from diarrhea and skin disease at the refugee camps.

Johnny Blades – The West Papuan pro-independence movement is insisting that genuine talks with Indonesia's government must address self-determination.

President Joko Widodo and his chief of staff have both told Indonesian media in recent days that they were prepared to meet anyone to discuss problems in Papua.

Virginia Langeberg, Maani Truu – A pro-Papuan lawyer who has been threatened with an Interpol Red Notice says she receives daily rape and death threats as the uprising in the Indonesian provinces ramp up.

Tom Allard, Jakarta – Indonesian President Joko Widodo has opened the door to holding talks with separatists in the restive easternmost region of Papua, a departure from the stance of previous governments and some of his cabinet ministers.