CoveragePost
May 14, 2025
RNZ Pacific An escape of a 13-year-old girl from a hostage crisis on the border of Papua New Guinea’s Western and Hela provinces has boosted hopes for the rescue of her fellow captives. The group of 10 people was taken captive early on Monday morning at Adujmari. PNG Police Commissioner David Manning has called the ... <a title="PNG police authorised to use lethal force with ‘domestic terrorist’ kidnappers as one hostage escapes" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/05/14/png-police-authorised-to-use-lethal-force-with-domestic-terrorist-kidnappers-as-one-hostage-escapes/" aria-label="Read more about PNG police authorised to use lethal force with ‘domestic terrorist’ kidnappers as one hostage escapes">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
May 19, 2024
SPECIAL REPORT: Islands Business in Suva Today is the 24th anniversary of renegade and failed businessman George Speight’s coup in 2000 Fiji. The elected coalition government headed by Mahendra Chaudhry, the first and only Indo-Fijian prime minister of Fiji, was held hostage at gunpoint for 56 days in the country’s new Parliament by Speight’s rebel ... <a title="Fiji’s Jo Nata reflects on the 2000 coup: ‘We let the racism genie out of the bottle’" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2024/05/19/fijis-jo-nata-reflects-on-the-2000-coup-we-let-the-racism-genie-out-of-the-bottle/" aria-label="Read more about Fiji’s Jo Nata reflects on the 2000 coup: ‘We let the racism genie out of the bottle’">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 12, 2023
By Majeleen Yanei in Port Moresby Seventeen Papua New Guinean schoolgirls who were kidnapped, raped and held hostage by armed men in Bosavi, Hela, last Wednesday were released yesterday. The National’s source said they were released following a payment of 3300 kina (NZ$1500) and nine pigs as ransom to the gunmen. “The females were released ... <a title="PNG gunmen ‘kidnapped, raped’ 17 schoolgirls before freeing them" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/06/12/png-gunmen-kidnapped-raped-17-schoolgirls-before-freeing-them/" aria-label="Read more about PNG gunmen ‘kidnapped, raped’ 17 schoolgirls before freeing them">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
June 12, 2023
Reports from Papua New Guinea say that 17 girls from a remote village have been held captive by a large group of armed men. The National reported this, according to an eyewitness, and the story has been corroborated by a government worker from Komo Hulia. The eyewitness said the men had been demanding $40,000 kina ... <a title="Armed gunmen kidnap 17 girls from remote PNG village – freed for ransom" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/06/12/armed-gunmen-kidnap-17-girls-from-remote-png-village-freed-for-ransom/" aria-label="Read more about Armed gunmen kidnap 17 girls from remote PNG village – freed for ransom">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 15, 2023
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand advocacy group has appealed to the government to heed the call of West Papuan church leaders for Indonesia to withdraw security forces and impose a “humanitarian pause” while negotiating for the release of captive pilot Philip Merhtens. Mehrtens, a 37-year-old New Zealander working for the Indonesian local airline Susi ... <a title="Open letter plea for NZ to back West Papua peaceful hostage plan" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/05/15/open-letter-plea-for-nz-to-back-west-papua-peaceful-hostage-plan/" aria-label="Read more about Open letter plea for NZ to back West Papua peaceful hostage plan">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>
CoveragePost
April 17, 2023
RNZ Pacific West Papuan rebels seeking independence in the Indonesian-ruled Melanesian region claim to have killed nine soldiers after Jakarta did not respond to a request to negotiate the return of hostage New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens. But the military said one soldier died during the attack on Saturday. Indonesian military spokesperson Rear Admiral Julius ... <a title="West Papuan rebels claim 9 soldiers killed in Jakarta bid to free NZ pilot" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/04/17/west-papuan-rebels-claim-9-soldiers-killed-in-jakarta-bid-to-free-nz-pilot/" aria-label="Read more about West Papuan rebels claim 9 soldiers killed in Jakarta bid to free NZ pilot">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
April 14, 2023
Asia Pacific Report A West Papuan leader has accused Indonesia of imposing a “martial law” on the Melanesian region in response to the kidnapping of a New Zealand pilot by rebels fighting Jakarta’s contested rule. “It is clear that Indonesia is using the kidnap of New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens as a pretext to strengthen ... <a title="Wenda accuses Indonesia of imposing ‘martial law’ abuses on West Papua" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/04/14/wenda-accuses-indonesia-of-imposing-martial-law-abuses-on-west-papua/" aria-label="Read more about Wenda accuses Indonesia of imposing ‘martial law’ abuses on West Papua">Read more</a>
