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 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>
CoveragePost
May 20, 2023
Jubi News in Jayapura Esther Haluk, a women’s rights activist from GARDA Papua, is among West Papuan activists who have condemned a declining state of freedom of speech in the Melanesian region. Speaking in a recent online discussion on “Status and Trends of Freedom of Expression, Assembly, and Digital Rights in West Papua”, she said ... <a title="Papuan activists accuse Jakarta over mounting ‘brutal’ repression, arrests" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/05/20/papuan-activists-accuse-jakarta-over-mounting-brutal-repression-arrests/" aria-label="Read more about Papuan activists accuse Jakarta over mounting ‘brutal’ repression, arrests">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
May 11, 2023
Amnesty International is calling on Indonesia to release West Papua National Committee (KNPB) international spokesperson Victor Yeimo. Yeimo was sentenced on Friday to eight months in prison for his involvement in an anti-racism protest in Papua in August 2019. In a statement, Amnesty International is calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Yeimo and ... <a title="Amnesty calls on Jakarta to free West Papuan activist Victor Yeimo" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/05/11/amnesty-calls-on-jakarta-to-free-west-papuan-activist-victor-yeimo/" aria-label="Read more about Amnesty calls on Jakarta to free West Papuan activist Victor Yeimo">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
April 29, 2023
By David Robie As part of an Indonesian-backed disinformation and troll campaign against West Papuan pro-independence activists, a Facebook page has emerged making bitter and slanderous attacks on campaigners, Papuan exiles and media people in the Pacific region. Among the targets for this page — dubbed “View Information”, purportedly based in the Vanuatu capital of ... <a title="Vila-based Indonesian ‘troll’ page targets Papuan advocates" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/04/29/vila-based-indonesian-troll-page-targets-papuan-advocates/" aria-label="Read more about Vila-based Indonesian ‘troll’ page targets Papuan advocates">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
April 28, 2023
Jubi News in Jayapura Captured pilot Philip Mehrtens has called on the Indonesian government to stop military operations in the Nduga highlands in a bid to rescue him while his West Papuan rebel captors have condemned New Zealand for alleged “collusion” with Jakarta. According to Mehrtens, last weekend the Indonesian military (TNI) dropped bombs on ... <a title="West Papuan rebels condemn NZ for ‘collusion’ with Indonesia, risks to hostage pilot safety" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/04/28/west-papuan-rebels-condemn-nz-for-collusion-with-indonesia-risks-to-hostage-pilot-safety/" aria-label="Read more about West Papuan rebels condemn NZ for ‘collusion’ with Indonesia, risks to hostage pilot safety">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
April 26, 2023
RNZ Pacific New Zealand hostage Phillip Mehrtens, who is being held by pro-independence fighters in West Papua, appears well in a newly-released video. It comes as concerns were expressed for the pilot as fighting between Indonesian security forces and his captors, the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), intensified last week. New Zealand Prime Minister ... <a title="‘I’m alive, healthy . . . stop the bombs,’ says kidnapped NZ pilot in new West Papua video" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/04/26/im-alive-healthy-stop-the-bombs-says-kidnapped-nz-pilot-in-new-west-papua-video/" aria-label="Read more about ‘I’m alive, healthy . . . stop the bombs,’ says kidnapped NZ pilot in new West Papua video">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
April 26, 2023
By Singgih Wiryono in Jakarta An Indonesian human rights researcher has cricitised his government’s failure to negotiate with West Papuan rebels, saying security officials should learn from the 2005 Aceh peace pact. The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) research and mobilisation division head, Rozy Brilian, said the Indonesian government had always ... <a title="Jakarta should ‘learn from the Aceh, Philippines experience’ and talk to West Papuan rebels, says researcher" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/04/26/jakarta-should-learn-from-the-aceh-philippines-experience-and-talk-to-west-papuan-rebels-says-researcher/" aria-label="Read more about Jakarta should ‘learn from the Aceh, Philippines experience’ and talk to West Papuan rebels, says researcher">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
April 23, 2023
Asia Pacific Report Indonesian security forces have intensified operations in various conflict areas in West Papua, reports Human Rights Monitor. According to information received by the international watchdog, security force members have raided villages and set residential houses on fire. The raids reportedly occurred in conflict hotspots in West Papua, predominantly in the Puncak, Nduga, ... <a title="Indonesian security crackdown in West Papua – ‘traumatising raids, torture’" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/04/23/indonesian-security-crackdown-in-west-papua-traumatising-raids-torture/" aria-label="Read more about Indonesian security crackdown in West Papua – ‘traumatising raids, torture’">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
April 21, 2023
By Finau Fonua, RNZ Pacific journalist The United Kingdom’s commitments to upholding human rights have come under question this week over the West Papua issue, resulting in a heated exchange between a government representative and five members of the House of Lords. The exchange occurred on Monday after the Minister of State for the United ... <a title="UK minister grilled on West Papua human rights in House of Lords" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/04/21/uk-minister-grilled-on-west-papua-human-rights-in-house-of-lords/" aria-label="Read more about UK minister grilled on West Papua human rights in House of Lords">Read more</a>
