As violence escalates in West Papua, Indonesian political leaders have again turned to the military to address what is, at base, a political issue while West Papuan leaders call for dialogue without response. Neither approach is likely to be any more successful at ending the conflict than they have been for the past half century. […]
Tag Archives: West Papua
On the last day of January 2019, the Free Papua Organisation (OPM) announced in Port Moresby that it recognized that West Papua was in a state of war with Indonesia and supported the OPM’s military wing, the National Liberation Army of West Papua (TPNPB) is its own declaration of war against Indonesia early in 2018. […]
West Papua is in turmoil with the killing of 31 construction workers and a soldier, widespread protests and the arrest of 537 West Papuan activists across Indonesia. These events follow what West Papuan sources say have been the killing of numerous villagers in recent weeks. Taken together, these events mark a significant escalation of the […]
The arrest and expulsion of Australian journalist Rebecca Henschke from the Indonesian province of (West) Papua again highlights the sensitivities of the Indonesian military, the TNI over the territory. It also shows, again, that while Papua is more open to journalists than in the past, that openness remains limited, reflecting the TNI’s deep paranoia about […]
Text (rough translation – I had two meetings with the West Papuan groups, not ‘several’, as well as some other minor factual errors): Ten years ago Professor Damien Kingsbury held several meetings with representatives of Papuan groups. The goal is to discuss and find ways to speak in a single voice. At that time, President […]
In a move that is expected to wind Indonesia’s military into a frenzy and which will again start an Indonesian witch-hunt for Australian supporters, a West Papuan petition calling for a vote on independence has been presented to the United Nations’ Decolonisation Committee. The petition demands a free vote on West Papua’s independence as well […]
It seems that no matter how cordial Australia’s relationship with Indonesia is or how much it is desired to be so, perennial issues continue that call aspects of that relationship into question. Critically, the gap between how Australia official engages with Indonesia and how that engagement is more widely viewed within Australia continues to test […]
The Indonesian governments attempt to initiate dialogue with West Papuan independence activists has declined into farce, following the shooting on 14 June of key West Papuan leader Mako Tabuni. Tabunis killing follows seven other recent shootings of West Papuans by Indonesian police and soldiers. Despite eye witnesses saying that Tabuni was unarmed and trying to […]
The shooting of one of West Papua’s independence leaders, Kelly Kwalik, has opened up new opportunities for a negotiated resolution to that troubled territory’s long-running problems. Kwalik was one of two senior commanders of the Free Papua Organisation’s National Liberation Army (OPM/TPN), and had a reputation as being among the OPM hard-liners.However, despite recent Indonesian […]