CoveragePost
August 7, 2024
Asia Pacific Report The West Papuan resistance movement OPM has blamed the tragic death of a New Zealand helicopter pilot in a remote part of the troubled Melanesian region on Indonesia’s security forces and “every nation supporting barbarity”. In a statement today, the OPM (Free Papua Organisation) chairman-commander Jeffrey Bomanak claimed his movement had undertaken ... <a title="OPM blames Indonesia over tragic death of NZ helicopter pilot" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2024/08/07/opm-blames-indonesia-over-tragic-death-of-nz-helicopter-pilot/" aria-label="Read more about OPM blames Indonesia over tragic death of NZ helicopter pilot">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 27, 2024
PNG Post-Courier A kidnapped Australian pilot of a Hevilift helicopter and two Papua New Guinean subcontractors have been released in without harm following a rapid deployment of security forces. Security forces were mobilised and deployed in the Mt Sisa, a remote area near the border of Hela and Southern Highlands, in large numbers this afternoon ... <a title="Kidnapped Australian helicopter pilot, subcontractors set free in PNG" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2024/02/27/kidnapped-australian-helicopter-pilot-subcontractors-set-free-in-png/" aria-label="Read more about Kidnapped Australian helicopter pilot, subcontractors set free in PNG">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 6, 2024
RNZ Pacific The New Zealand government is again calling on the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) to release the kidnapped pilot Phillip Mehrtens. Tomorrow will mark one year since the 38-year-old New Zealander was taken hostage in Papua by independence fighters in the Nduga Regency province. Mehrtens was taken hostage a year ago on ... <a title="NZ govt seeks release of Kiwi hostage pilot Phillip Mehrtens in West Papua" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2024/02/06/nz-govt-seeks-release-of-kiwi-hostage-pilot-phillip-mehrtens-in-west-papua/" aria-label="Read more about NZ govt seeks release of Kiwi hostage pilot Phillip Mehrtens in West Papua">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
June 15, 2023
ANALYSIS: By Damien Kingsbury, Deakin University New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens has now been held hostage in West Papua for four months. Stalled attempts to negotiate his release, and an unsuccessful Indonesian military rescue attempt, suggest a confused picture behind the scenes. Members of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) kidnapped Mehrtens on February ... <a title="I was involved in stalled talks to free kidnapped NZ pilot in West Papua. What happens now?" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/06/15/i-was-involved-in-stalled-talks-to-free-kidnapped-nz-pilot-in-west-papua-what-happens-now/" aria-label="Read more about I was involved in stalled talks to free kidnapped NZ pilot in West Papua. What happens now?">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
June 3, 2023
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author-poet and advocate for West Papuan independence has condemned a reported threat against the life of a New Zealand hostage pilot, Philip Mehrtens, held by Papuan liberation fighters and appealed to them to “keep Philip safe”. Jim Aubrey, a human rights activist who has campaigned globally on freedom struggles in ... <a title="Author-poet condemns Papuan rebel threat to shoot NZ hostage pilot if denied talks" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/06/03/author-poet-condemns-papuan-rebel-threat-to-shoot-nz-hostage-pilot-if-denied-talks/" aria-label="Read more about Author-poet condemns Papuan rebel threat to shoot NZ hostage pilot if denied talks">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
June 2, 2023
There are parallels between Indonesia’s Aceh where an Australian surfer faced a flogging, and West Papua where a New Zealand pilot may be facing death. Both provinces have fought brutal guerrilla wars for independence. One has been settled through foreign peacekeepers. The other still rages as outsiders fear intervention. By Duncan Graham in Malang, East Java ... <a title="Duncan Graham: Compromise worked in Aceh – why not West Papua? " class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/06/02/duncan-graham-compromise-worked-in-aceh-why-not-west-papua/" aria-label="Read more about Duncan Graham: Compromise worked in Aceh – why not West Papua? ">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
May 28, 2023
Asia Pacific Report Free Papua Organisation (OPM) leader Jeffrey Bomanak has appealed for Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape to become a “neutral intermediary” to negotiate between the Indonesian government and the West Papuan rebels holding a New Zealand pilot hostage for his release. He has called in a statement today for the safe ... <a title="OPM call for PNG’s James Marape as negotiator for NZ pilot’s safe passage" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/05/28/opm-call-for-pngs-james-marape-as-negotiator-for-nz-pilots-safe-passage/" aria-label="Read more about OPM call for PNG’s James Marape as negotiator for NZ pilot’s safe passage">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
May 17, 2023
Asia Pacific Report Free Papua Organisation (OPM) leader Jeffrey Bomanak has appealed to US President Joe Biden for a “proactive role” in ending Indonesia’s “unlawful military occupation and annexation” of West Papua. He claims this illegal occupation led to the subsequent US “foreign policy failure” in protecting six decades of crimes against humanity. Bomanak made ... <a title="OPM leader calls on Biden to take proactive role in ending West Papuan ‘holocaust’" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/05/17/opm-leader-calls-on-biden-to-take-proactive-role-in-ending-west-papuan-holocaust/" aria-label="Read more about OPM leader calls on Biden to take proactive role in ending West Papuan ‘holocaust’">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
April 19, 2023
RNZ Pacific The Indonesian military has officially escalated its operational status in West Papua to “ground combat ready” following a clash with West Papuan National Liberation Army militants over the weekend with multiple casualties reported on both sides. Military (TNI) commander Admiral Yudo Margono made the announcement in Jakarta yesterday after returning from West Papua. ... <a title="Indonesia upgrades NZ pilot operation in West Papua to ‘combat ready’" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/04/19/indonesia-upgrades-nz-pilot-operation-in-west-papua-to-combat-ready/" aria-label="Read more about Indonesia upgrades NZ pilot operation in West Papua to ‘combat ready’">Read more</a>
