CoveragePost
February 24, 2023
By Kelvin Anthony, RNZ Pacific digital and social media journalist, and Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka is the first Fijian leader in 16 years to hold a one-on-one meeting with the president of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), while also confirming his government will support the independence ... <a title="Rabuka backs call for West Papuan independence group to fully join MSG" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/02/24/rabuka-backs-call-for-west-papuan-independence-group-to-fully-join-msg/" aria-label="Read more about Rabuka backs call for West Papuan independence group to fully join MSG">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 24, 2023
RNZ Pacific Indonesian security forces were about to launch a rescue operation for a pilot held hostage in Papua before New Zealand intervened, reports ABC News. The ABC quoted Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security, Mahfud Mahmodin, as saying his forces knew the exact location of New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens, who was ... <a title="NZ government ‘intervened’ to stop operation to save pilot, says Jakarta" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/02/24/nz-government-intervened-to-stop-operation-to-save-pilot-says-jakarta/" aria-label="Read more about NZ government ‘intervened’ to stop operation to save pilot, says Jakarta">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 23, 2023
By Felix Chaudhary in Suva Recognising Indonesia’s sovereignty is one thing. However, failing to allow West Papuans a seat at regional discussion tables like the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) and Melanesian Spearhead Group to address human rights atrocities, torture and killing at the hands of Indonesian security forces is not the Pacific way. United Liberation ... <a title="Wenda hopes to get plight of West Papuan people to PIF ‘beyond rhetoric’" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/02/23/wenda-hopes-to-get-plight-of-west-papuan-people-to-pif-beyond-rhetoric/" aria-label="Read more about Wenda hopes to get plight of West Papuan people to PIF ‘beyond rhetoric’">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 22, 2023
PNG Post-Courier An Australian-based anthropology professor and three Papua New Guinean women researchers are being held captive inside the jungles of the Southern Highlands after they were kidnapped at gunpoint in Fogoma’iu village in the Bosavi LLG. Four local guides who were also seized were told to jump into the Hegigio river after being released ... <a title="PNG police negotiators try to win freedom for hostage researchers" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/02/22/png-police-negotiators-try-to-win-freedom-for-hostage-researchers/" aria-label="Read more about PNG police negotiators try to win freedom for hostage researchers">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 22, 2023
RNZ Pacific A West Papuan independence movement leader, Benny Wenda, says the release of New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens held hostage by armed rebels is out of his hands. The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) fighters kidnapped Mehrtens on February 7 after he landed a small commercial passenger plane in Nduga regency. The group ... <a title="Wenda calls on West Papuan rebels to release kidnapped NZ pilot" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/02/22/wenda-calls-on-west-papuan-rebels-to-release-kidnapped-nz-pilot/" aria-label="Read more about Wenda calls on West Papuan rebels to release kidnapped NZ pilot">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 18, 2023
Jubi News in Jayapura An indigenous Papuan negotiation team has traversed rugged highlands forests in the Indonesian-ruled Melanesian province in search of the New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens, who was taken hostage by rebels last week. The crisis over the captive pilot held by the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) led by Egianus Kogoya ... <a title="Indigenous Papuan negotiators walk to forest hideout to seek release of pilot" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/02/18/indigenous-papuan-negotiators-walk-to-forest-hideout-to-seek-release-of-pilot/" aria-label="Read more about Indigenous Papuan negotiators walk to forest hideout to seek release of pilot">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 18, 2023
The National in Port Moresby Papua New Guinea’s new media draft policy would put a stop to reporting news not regarded as “positive” for the country’s image, says former PNG Media Council director Bob Howarth. Howarth, who was director from 2001-2005, said that the national government needed to seriously look at the way the media ... <a title="Learn from Timor-Leste ‘freedom’, says former PNG media council head" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/02/18/learn-from-timor-leste-freedom-says-former-png-media-council-head/" aria-label="Read more about Learn from Timor-Leste ‘freedom’, says former PNG media council head">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 16, 2023
BACKGROUNDER: By David Robie Papuan independence rebels are playing a desperate game of cat and mouse with Indonesian authorities over their hostage taking last week with a New Zealand pilot caught in the middle. Christchurch-raised Philip Mehrtens, 37, a pilot for the national feeder airline Susi Air owned by a former cabinet minister and with ... <a title="Papuan cat-and-mouse over NZ pilot taken captive by ‘freedom’ rebels" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/02/16/papuan-cat-and-mouse-over-nz-pilot-taken-captive-by-freedom-rebels/" aria-label="Read more about Papuan cat-and-mouse over NZ pilot taken captive by ‘freedom’ rebels">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 13, 2023
ANALYSIS: By Camellia Webb-Gannon, University of Wollongong “Phil Mehrtens is the nicest guy, he genuinely is — no one ever had anything bad to say about him,” says a colleague of the New Zealand pilot taken hostage last week by members of the West Papuan National Liberation Army (TPN-PB) in the mountainous Nduga Regency. How ... <a title="Why a NZ pilot is a pawn in the West Papua conflict that the world ignores" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/02/13/why-a-nz-pilot-is-a-pawn-in-the-west-papua-conflict-that-the-world-ignores/" aria-label="Read more about Why a NZ pilot is a pawn in the West Papua conflict that the world ignores">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 9, 2023
RNZ News Indonesian police and military have launched a joint mission to rescue a New Zealand pilot who was seized by rebels as a hostage in Indonesia’s Papua region on Tuesday, media reports say. The Jakarta Post reports that authorities have set up a joint search and rescue operation to try and locate Susi Air ... <a title="Rescue mission underway for NZ pilot held hostage in Papua, say reports" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/02/09/rescue-mission-underway-for-nz-pilot-held-hostage-in-papua-say-reports/" aria-label="Read more about Rescue mission underway for NZ pilot held hostage in Papua, say reports">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 9, 2023
Jubi News in Jayapura Indonesian security forces do not know the whereabouts of the New Zealand pilot taken hostage by the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) on Tuesday, Captain Philip Mehrtens, a pilot for Susi Air, was taken hostage following the burning of his aircraft in Paro district, Nduga regency, in a rugged part ... <a title="Indonesian security forces ‘have no idea’ where NZ pilot hostage is" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/02/09/indonesian-security-forces-have-no-idea-where-nz-pilot-hostage-is/" aria-label="Read more about Indonesian security forces ‘have no idea’ where NZ pilot hostage is">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
February 9, 2023
By Finau Fonua and Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalists A researcher at Human Rights Watch in Jakarta is calling for the immediate release of the six hostages — including a New Zealand pilot — being held by a rebel group in Indonesia’s Papua region. The rebels in Highlands Papua are threatening to execute Susi Air ... <a title="Human rights researcher pleads for West Papuan rebels to free NZ pilot" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/02/09/human-rights-researcher-pleads-for-west-papuan-rebels-to-free-nz-pilot/" aria-label="Read more about Human rights researcher pleads for West Papuan rebels to free NZ pilot">Read more</a>
