CoveragePost
July 14, 2023
RNZ Pacific A West Papua pro-independence leader says Indonesia is ramping up its repression of peaceful activists while people mobilise in favour of the province gaining full membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG). Benny Wenda said 10 activists were arrested earlier this week while handing out leaflets advertising a peaceful rally to support his ... <a title="Wenda slams ‘grave abuses’ against Papuan activists at MSG demos" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/07/14/wenda-slams-grave-abuses-against-papuan-activists-at-msg-demos/" aria-label="Read more about Wenda slams ‘grave abuses’ against Papuan activists at MSG demos">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
July 9, 2023
By Singgih Wiryono in Jakarta Indonesia’s former National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) chairperson Ahmad Taufan Damanik says it is difficult to expect Komnas HAM to play a role in freeing the New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens held hostage in West Papua. According to Damanik, who was chair 2017-2022, this is because the current Komnas ... <a title="Jakarta’s rights commission criticised for ‘failure’ over NZ pilot hostage case" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/07/09/jakartas-rights-commission-criticised-for-failure-over-nz-pilot-hostage-case/" aria-label="Read more about Jakarta’s rights commission criticised for ‘failure’ over NZ pilot hostage case">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
July 6, 2023
Asia Pacific Report An Australian human rights author and poet has accused successive federal governments of “deliberately aiding and abetting” the 1969 annexation of West Papua by Indonesia and enabling the “stifling” of the Melanesian people’s right to self-determination. In reaffirming his appeal last May for a royal commission into Australia’s policies over West Papua, ... <a title="Author condemns Canberra ‘collusion’ with Jakarta on West Papua atrocities" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/07/06/author-condemns-canberra-collusion-with-jakarta-on-west-papua-atrocities/" aria-label="Read more about Author condemns Canberra ‘collusion’ with Jakarta on West Papua atrocities">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
July 2, 2023
SPECIAL REPORT: By Yamin Kogoya The name Vanuatu has taken on a sacred significance in Papuan liberation consciousness. The Free Papua Movement (OPM) elders ignited this consciousness after the declaration of West Papua’s independence on 1 July 1971. The declaration was an act of revolution to reclaim Papuan sovereignty, stolen by Indonesia. General Seth Rumkorem ... <a title="Vanuatu – West Papua – MSG: An epic saga of messianic hope, betrayal, tragedy and resurrection" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/07/02/vanuatu-west-papua-msg-an-epic-saga-of-messianic-hope-betrayal-tragedy-and-resurrection/" aria-label="Read more about Vanuatu – West Papua – MSG: An epic saga of messianic hope, betrayal, tragedy and resurrection">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
June 17, 2023
Asia Pacific Report Seven regional executives representing all the customary regions of West Papua have declared their support for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) gaining full membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group. The executives are of the ULMWP ‘provisional government’ in the Indonesian-ruled Melanesian region. The ULMWP declared this political support in ... <a title="West Papua’s customary region leaders back full MSG membership" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/06/17/west-papuas-customary-region-leaders-back-full-msg-membership/" aria-label="Read more about West Papua’s customary region leaders back full MSG membership">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 10, 2023
Jubi News The trial of three Papuan “free speech” students accused of treason has resumed at the Jayapura District Court this week. The defendants — Yoseph Ernesto Matuan, Devio Tekege, and Ambrosius Fransiskus Elopere — have been charged with treason for organising a free speech rally where they were accused of raising the banned Morning ... <a title="Papuan students accused of ‘treason’ over raising Morning Star flags" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/06/10/papuan-students-accused-of-treason-over-raising-morning-star-flags/" aria-label="Read more about Papuan students accused of ‘treason’ over raising Morning Star flags">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
June 6, 2023
Asia Pacific Report The self-styled provisional government of the United Liberation Movement of West Papua“with the people” of the Melanesian region have declared political support for full West Papuan membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG). In a statement issued in the Vanuatu capital of Port Vila after a meeting of thew ULMWP executive in ... <a title="West Papuan ‘provisional’ government backs full membership of MSG" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/06/06/west-papuan-provisional-government-backs-full-membership-of-msg/" aria-label="Read more about West Papuan ‘provisional’ government backs full membership of MSG">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
June 5, 2023
Asia Pacific Report The president of a West Papuan advocacy group has appealed to the militants holding New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens hostage to free him unconditionally and unharmed, describing him as an “innocent pawn”. United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) president Benny Wenda said he held “deepest concern” for the life of Mehrtens, ... <a title="Wenda calls on Papuan rebels to free NZ pilot ‘unconditionally’" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/06/05/wenda-calls-on-papuan-rebels-to-free-nz-pilot-unconditionally/" aria-label="Read more about Wenda calls on Papuan rebels to free NZ pilot ‘unconditionally’">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 24, 2023
Asia Pacific Report An Australian advocacy group has called for West Papua to be reinscribed on the United Nations list of “non self-governing territories”, citing the “sham” vote in 1969 and the worsening human rights violations in the Indonesian-ruled Melanesian region. The UN Special Committee on Decolonisation began its 2023 Pacific Regional Seminar in Bali, ... <a title="Protesters call for West Papua to be included on UN ‘decolonisation’ list" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/05/24/protesters-call-for-west-papua-to-be-included-on-un-decolonisation-list/" aria-label="Read more about Protesters call for West Papua to be included on UN ‘decolonisation’ list">Read more</a>
