Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi with her PNG counterpart Rimbink Pato at the Port Moresby media conference yesterday. Image: PNG Today

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Pacific Media Watch

PNG’s Peter O’Neill … “time to speak about the oppression.” Image: Masalai

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Pacific Media Watch

A prominent Australian human rights lawyer has welcomed a statement of support for West Papuans by Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, saying it has “been a long time coming”.

O’Neill said he would speak out on behalf of Melanesians in Indonesian West Papua, saying it was “time for PNG to speak about the oppression of our people there”.

Jennifer Robinson, a long-time advocate for the independence movement in the two Indonesian provinces that make up West Papua, said O’Neill’s change of heart on the human rights abuses in the province was a huge development. Read more »

Indonesian special forces Kopassus soldiers … President Widodo urged to act over human rights in Papua. Image: Faithbasednetworks

Pacific Scoop:
Report – Special correspondent in Jakarta

Rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to uphold human rights in Papua and bring perpetrators of rights abuses to justice.

The group said in its World Report 2015 that Papua’s festering low-level pro-independence insurgency led by the Free Papua Movement (OPM) has continued to result in human rights abuses by Indonesian security forces.

At least 69 Papuans were imprisoned for peaceful advocacy of independence as of late October. Read more »

Gunboat diplomacy … Indonesian navy sailors keep an eye on a Vietnamese fishing vessel after it was destroyed for illegally operating in Indonesian waters in the Riau Islands, last month. Image: Jakarta Post

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Nethy Dharma Somba in Jayapura

Indonesian  police in West Papua have said they will sink a Vietnamese-flagged fishing vessel named the KM Thank Cong, which they caught allegedly poaching in the province’s waters earlier this month.

“The police will not give up their fight against illegal fishing perpetrators in West Papua. The Vietnamese fishermen proven guilty of stealing our resources will be brought to justice in the hope that this can have a deterrent effect,” West Papua police chief Brigaduer-General Paulus Waterpauw told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

“We have coordinated with prosecutors for special measures to be taken to sink the foreign vessel,” he said. Read more »

Eyes Shut : West Papuans in exile…
Click for big version

Dutch Surinamese photographer Rohan Radheya has spent two years photographing West Papuans in exile… Read more »

Indonesian security forces beating a West Papuan man during a previous and separate wave of arrests in Wamena. Image: KNPB/West Papua Media

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Helen Davidson

Indonesian authorities have conducted mass arrests and burned down the homes of West Papuan villagers in response to the deaths of two police officers, a West Papuan independence leader in exile has claimed.

Benny Wenda, who is also an international lobbyist for the Free West Papua campaign and spokesman for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, told Guardian Australia Indonesian military police raided the village of Utikini near Timika on the southern coastline last week and found pro-independence banners in the house of a villager.

More than 100 people were arrested, including women and some children, and dozens of houses were burned down, he said. Most people were released but some are still being detained. Read more »

The Paniai massacre has compounded the “dangerous scenarios” facing President Joko Widowo. Image: PS files

Pacific Scoop:
Analysis – By Warren Doull*

The recent massacre in Paniai, Papua, has moved Indonesia further away from a “Papua Solution”. Five protesters were killed when a combined force of Indonesian police and military opened fire on unarmed demonstrators on December 8.

There are fears that the Jokowi government is emulating the same approach to the military that his party chief, former president Megawati, adopted in 2001-2004. In any case, Jokowi faces a series of dangerous scenarios, with a military that in the past was not above murdering its detractors.

The Megawati approach involves treating military hardliners like spoiled children because they can create huge problems if a civilian president tries to assert authority over them. But giving the military a free reign also has its share of problems. Read more »

Alleged Paniai massacre images distributed on social media networks. Image: Pacific Scoop

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Nethy Darma Somba and Hasyim Widhiarto in Jayapura

Human rights activists have demanded that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo form an independent team to probe a shooting in Paniai, Papua, that claimed the lives of at least five civilians and wounded 21.

“President Jokowi should form an impartial team to thoroughly investigate the shooting incident so as to avoid the blame game among law enforcers and civilians,” said Rev Neles Tebay, coordinator of rights group Peaceful Papua Network.

The shootings occured around 10 a.m. on Monday when security personnel allegedly attempted to disperse a crowd that had gathered and was dancing in Karel Gobai field in Madi district, Paniai. Read more »

A Papuan protest over the killings by Indonesian military at Paniai on Monday. Image: Merdeka

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Pacific Media Watch

Scores of Papuan students have held a demonstration at the Gadjah Mada University (UGM) traffic circle in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta in Indonesia in protest over the killings of Papuan teenagers on Monday.

The action took place to coincide with a visit by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo who was scheduled to give a public lecture before hundreds of UGM academics.

The students were protesting the armed repression by the Indonesian military against local residents who were alleged to have been members of the pro-independence Free Papua Movement (OPM) in Paniai regency, Papua. Read more »

The scene at Paniai in Papua on Monday after the shootings of teenagers by the Indonesian military to crush a protest. Image: Pacific Scoop

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Oktovianus Pogau in Jayapura

The most saddening Christmas gift for the Papuan people this month has been the death of five teenagers in Paniai regency, Papua, who were shot dead by a joint unit made up of the municipal police (Polresta) and the Indonesian military (TNI) on Monday.

Paniai Traditional Council (DAP) chairperson John Gobay the shooting showed President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s remained committed to the continued use of a security approach to resolving West Papuan problems.

“I can say that this is a most saddening gift for the Papuan people, specifically the residents of Paniai this December. We are questioning Jokowi’s commitment to resolve the Papua problem,” Gobay told a media conference at the office of the Democratic Alliance for Papua (ALDP). Read more »