News Stories
Category: Human Rights
Release West Papuan political prisoners now!
September 21, 2020
Over 14 West Papuan leaders, including Agus Kossay, Buchtar Tabuni and Bazoka Logo, have finally been released. Many others, however, remain imprisoned. In Wamena, eight political prisoners are imprisoned for their involvement in the 2019 West Papua Uprising against racism and for self-determination. The prisoners have suffered torture and harassment at the hands of the […]
Model Parliamentary Questions on West Papua
September 16, 2020
Below is a list of questions for members of our International Parliamentarians for West Papua (IPWP) network to table in their national legislatures concerning issues of vital importance in West Papua. Please write to your local parliamentarian or representative asking them to table some of these questions! Military Operations What representations have been made to […]
Remembering KNPB leader Martinus Yohame
August 26, 2020
Today we remember peaceful KNPB leader Martinus Yohame who was abducted tortured, mutilated and murdered by the Indonesian government between 20-26th August 2014. His body was found was found floating in a sack in the sea. His hands and feet had been tied together, his dreadlocks pulled out, his head crushed and his body riddled […]
‘Balikpapan 7’ political prisoners released from jail
August 23, 2020
The last of seven Papuan activists have been released from a detention center in Indonesian Borneo after serving a sentence on charges of treason for protesting against racism and calling for a referendum on independence. The seven men were given a heroes welcome on their return to Jayapura, West Papua. In June, the Balikpapan District […]
Tapol report on first anniversary of West Papua uprising
August 19, 2020
Press release from human rights NGO Tapol Today marks the first anniversary of the West Papua Uprising. The Uprising swept across 22 towns in West Papua, 17 cities in Indonesia, and 3 cities overseas during the period of 19 August to 30 September 2019. The trigger of the Uprising was the racist persecution of West […]
West Papuan refugees shot dead by Indonesian military
July 22, 2020
Originally published in the Jakarta Post Two men, Elias Karungu and Selu Karungu, from the conflict-prone Nduga regency in West Papua, were fatally shot by Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel on Saturday. Locals claimed the two were displaced civilians, while the Indonesian Military claimed the two were members of an armed group. The father and son […]
A referendum, not ‘autonomy’, is the only solution in West Papua
July 11, 2020
Statement from Benny Wenda, Chairman of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) — For over 50 years, Indonesia has been promising West Papua ‘autonomy’. Each time, underneath autonomy lies only bullets and killings. As the 2001 Special Autonomy law expires this year, the United Liberation Movement and all the people of West Papua are united […]
West Papua freedom song features on new album Keleketla!
July 8, 2020
A song featuring West Papua independence leader Benny Wenda has been released on a new album. Keleketla! is an expansive collaborative project, reaching outward from Johannesburg to London, Lagos, Los Angeles and West Papua. “Keleketla!” started as a musical meeting ground between Ninja Tune co-founders Coldcut and a cadre of South African musicians, including the […]
Al Jazeera report on fraud and human rights abuses in West Papua land grabs
July 7, 2020
Al Jazeera has broadcast an investigative report produced in collaboration with Mongabay, The Gecko Project and the Korea Center for Investigative Journalism. It reveals how Korean-run companies are engaging in fraudulent deals and human rights abuses as they buy up rainforests in West Papua, forcing locals off their land to develop palm oil plantations. Watch […]
New book on West Papua – The Road by John Martinkus
July 2, 2020
John Martinkus, a four-time Walkley-nominated investigative reporter who previously covered the massacres in East Timor, has released a new book about the ongoing struggle for freedom in West Papua. Chemical weapons deployed. Choppers taken out. Communications repressed. Tens of thousands of people displaced. The West Papuan independence movement has reignited, and Indonesian troops are cracking […]