Fedina S. Sundaryani, Jakarta – Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan said on Tuesday that the government would force PT Freeport Indonesia to revert back to its contract of work (CoW) should the mining giant fail to fulfill its promise of building a smelter in Gresik, East Java.

John Masaba – Parliament of Uganda has pledged to support West Papua, a province of Indonesia fighting for independence to realise its dream.

This is after its leader petitioned parliament and presented heartrending accounts of sufferings under the rule of the island nation.

Tiara Sutari, Jakarta – The Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) held a joint action [with the Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI-West Papua] in front of the offices of PT Freeport Indonesia in Jakarta on Friday April 7 demanding that Freeport halt its mining activities in Papua because it harms the Papuan people.

Makassar – Scores of student from the Student Solidarity Concern Forum for the Papuan People (FSMPRP) held a rally this morning under the Jl. Urip Sumoharjo flyover in the South Sulawesi city of Makassar on Friday April 7.

The students were voicing their aspirations regarding the control of a gold mine in the land of their birth by PT Freeport Indonesia.

Klojen – The Malang and Surabaya city Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) held a rally in front of the Malang city hall in the East Java city on Friday April 7.

Pradito Rida Pertana, Yogya – A rally by students demanding the closure of the Freeport Indonesia gold mine in West Papua and self-determination for the West Papuan nation at the University of Gajah Mada (UGM) traffic circle in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta was broken up by police on Friday April 7.

Jakarta – Indonesia will never give in to copper and gold miner PT Freeport Indonesia over three specific points during negotiations with the firm, namely conversion of the contract of work (CoW) to a special mining license (IUPK), smelter construction and 51 percent divestment, an official has said.

Hans Arnold, Bintuni – Commander of Military District (Kodam) XVIII Kasuari of the National Armed Forces (TNI), Major General Joppie Onesimus Wayangkau mentioned about the missile detachment that is set to be established in Bintuni Bay, West Papua.

Grant Wyeth – Preparations are being made in the Solomon Islands for the mid-year transfer of power from the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) intervention force, which has policed the islands since 2003 after the country's civil unrest, to the Royal Solomon Island Police Force (RSIPF).

Benny Mawel and Victor Mambor, Jayapura, Jubi – United Nations Special Rapporteur on health, Dainius Puras said distrust has make health problem in Papua become even more complicated.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called on Indonesian President Joko Widodo to keep his election promise to allow local and international journalists to operate in West Papua without obstruction or surveillance.

Fedina S. Sundaryani, Jakarta – Copper and gold miner PT Freeport Indonesia is getting the red-carpet treatment once again, as the government is allowing the company to resume exports despite the company's mounting responsibilities.

The Solomon Islands government says its strong stance on issues relating to West Papua is separate from proposed policing co-operation with Indonesia.

Along with Vanuatu, Solomon Islands has been a strong proponent for indigenous West Papuans' rights to self-determination and an end to human rights abuses in Indonesia's Papuan provinces.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on Indonesian President Joko Widodo to keep his election promise to allow local and international journalists to operate in West Papua, the Indonesian half of the island of New Guinea, without obstruction or surveillance. RSF's appeal follows the expulsion of French journalists Franck Escudie and Basile Longchamp on visa violation grounds on 17 March.

Fedina S. Sundaryani, Jakarta – In a move that is likely to reduce tensions over its future operations, major mining company PT Freeport Indonesia has agreed to convert its contract, paving the way to a resolution in its prolonged dispute with the government.

Jakarta – Police shot dead the suspected leader of a separatist group in Papua during a raid that quickly turned into a gunfight on Tuesday (28/03), a police spokesman said.

The incident on Monday appeared to be the latest in a string of violent clashes in Papua, where decades-old insurgencies showed no signs of abating.

Ndre Barahamin – Why have Jokowi's promises to open up Indonesia's "forbidden island" to journalists and rights monitors flunked?

Maya Ayu Puspitasari, Jakarta – A freelance journalist who works for a number of well-known international news outlets, Jack Hewson, has recently been blacklisted by Indonesian immigration office.

Jakarta – Maritime Coordinating Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has said Papua will get 5 percent from the divestment of cooper and gold miner PT Freeport Indonesia, which is required by law to release 51 percent of their shares to the Indonesian entities.

Jakarta – Over 150 members of the separatist group Free Papua Movement (OPM) have agreed to end their resistance and conveyed their pledge of allegiance to the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, said a statement released by the Indonesian Army (TNI AD) on Friday.

Viriya P Singgih, Jakarta – Gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) employees have urged the government once again to immediately settle its dispute with the company as the number of laid-off workers has kept increasing from one day to another.

Jane Lee – A man is refusing to pay a $500 fine for trespassing at an Indonesian consulate to protest against its presence in West Papua, saying Australia has sold him out.

New Zealand's parliament has been presented with a public petition urging government action on the human rights situation in West Papua.

This petition focuses on continued abuses of the right to freedom of expression and assembly in Indonesian-ruled Papua, citing thousands of arrests of people taking part in peaceful demonstrations last year.

Fedina S. Sundaryani, Jakarta – The Papua administration has requested a 10 percent share of divested shares of copper and gold miner PT Freeport Indonesia if the company abides by a requirement to sell 51 percent of its shares to national entities.

Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – The Yogyakarta District Court on Tuesday began the trial of Obby Kogoya, 22, a Papuan student suspected of committing violence against police personnel before a rally on Jl. Kusumanegara in July last year.

Obby is the first ever Papuan student in Yogyakarta to face trial because of political activities.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura, Papua – Hundreds of people grouped under the United Students Front for Freeport Closure staged a rally in front of the Papua Legislative Council and called for the closure of United States-based giant gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia, which has operated in Papua for 50 years.

Taylor McDonald – The unstable Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua are experiencing interesting times.

While human rights, media coverage and protests are muzzled as the provinces demand independence and closer ties with their Melanesian brothers throughout the South Pacific, Jakarta's dispute with mining giant Freeport has created a common enemy.

Sara Schonhardt – Freeport-McMoRan's standoff with Indonesia over the giant Grasberg copper and gold mine is entering a new phase, as the company scales back operations while trying to force a resolution to the dispute.

Phelim Kine – French journalists Jean Frank Pierre and Basille Marie Longhamp learned firsthand last week the Indonesian authorities' contempt for media freedom in its "Forbidden Island" provinces of Papua and West Papua (commonly referred to as "Papua").

Jakarta – Dozens of students grouped under the Papuan Students Alliance (AMP) in Bali protested on Monday in front of the United States Consulate General on Jl. Hayam Wuruk, Denpasar.

They expressed their rejection of the presence of gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia in Papua. Before the protests, they marched from the east parking area of Renon.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to health will visit Papua as part of a two-week trip to Indonesia.

Dainius Puras is to visit Papua's provincial capital Jayapura from March the 31st to April the 1st.

The UN Special Rapporteur will be assessing how Indonesia implements the right to health, including the availability and quality of health services.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Papuans have praised National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian for appointing a native to the country's eastern-most region as a police chief in Java.

Tito has appointed Adj. Sr. Comr. Semmy Ronny Thabaa, former Nabire Police chief in Papua, as the new chief of Tegal Police in Central Java.

Ainur Rohmah, Tuban, Indonesia – Papuans across Indonesia held demonstrations Monday against an American mining giant involved in a contract dispute with the government that has halted operations at the world's second biggest copper mine.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura, Papua – The Tembagapura Immigration Office has banned two French journalists, Jean Frank Pierre, 45, and Basille Marie Longhamp, 42, from entering Indonesia for the next six months for allegedly violating the 2011 Immigration Law.

Jakarta, Indonesia (AP) – Indonesia has deported two French journalists for committing visa violations while shooting a documentary film in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua, an official said Sunday.

The journalists, Jean Frank Pierre and Basille Marie Longhamp, were sent home Friday through Mozes Kilangin airport in Timika, said immigration office spokesman Agung Sampurno.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura, Papua – The unresolved friction between the Indonesian government and gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia has had a negative impact on the Persipura Jayapura soccer club, the pride of many Papuan soccer fans.

Timika, Papua – Hundreds of people from Solidaritas Peduli Bangsa (Nation Care Solidarity) took to the street at the Timika Indah Traffic Roundabout, Tuesday, voicing their opposition to Freeport Indonesia and affirming their support to the government.

Viriya P. Singgih, Jakarta – A lawmaker has urged the government to give local mining companies the chance to manage Papua's Grasberg mine, the world's biggest gold mine and second-largest copper mine, if it fails to reach a settlement with PT Freeport Indonesia over a contractual dispute.

Vaidehi Shah – West Papua's government has handed over more than 3,000 hectares of forest to indigenous communities, who say they intend to keep big agribusiness out, and instead harvest forest products that help them prosper without clearing forests.

Hans Nicholas Jong, Sorong – Villagers in West Papua have vowed not to let their forests be encroached by logging and palm oil companies, like what happened on Sumatra and Kalimantan where massive deforestation has posed threats to the natural environment.

An Aboriginal elder and artist says she's upset a mural she created in support of West Papua has been destroyed but it won't stop her, or her community, from advocating for the region's independence cause.Artwork by June Mills supporting the plight of West Papuans.

Indonesia is hosting this week's meetings of police ministers and commissioners from member countries of the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

The meeting is being chaired by Solomon Islands, as the current holder of the MSG chairmanship. Other full members are Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia's FLNKS Kanaks movement.

Mark Bowling – Seven Pacific island nations have called for a United Nations investigation into alleged human rights abuses in Indonesia's West Papua and Papua provinces where a separatist movement has simmered for decades.

Kieran Banks – A final protest to save a mural dedicated to the persecuted women of West Papua failed to prevent the piece of cultural art from being destroyed.

The East Timor Action Network, or ETAN, has paid tribute to the late Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin's work on West Papua.

The former member of the US House of Representatives, who represented American Samoa as its Delegate in Congress for 13 terms from 1989 to 2015, passed away in late February.

Hans Nicholas Jong, Sorong, Papua – Residents of Manggroholo village and Sira village in South Sorong, West Papua province, rejoiced on Thursday as their villages were the first in Papua to have their rights to manage the island's forests acknowledged by the government.

Katharina R. Lestari, Jakarta – A bishop in Papua has called for government aid for thousands of Papuans made jobless as a result of a bitter contractual dispute between the government and U.S.-based mining giant PT Freeport McMoran Inc.

Jakarta – Indonesia has prepared Rp 40 trillion (US$2.96 billion) for acquiring shares in PT Freeport Indonesia, a copper and gold miner in Papua, as the company is required to divest at least 51 percent of its shares as stipulated in the new mining regulation.

Jayapura, Jubi – Opposition leader Ro Teimumu Kepa has invited all men and women of all ages in Fiji to take concrete steps to accelerate the achievement of gender parity.

The United Liberation Movement for West Papua has cautiously welcomed news that Australia's Foreign Minister is to visit Indonesian-ruled Papua region this year.

Julie Bishop gave an undertaking to visit later this year, during talks in Jakarta this week with Indonesia's government which has been touting a policy of openness about Papua.