West Papua

Branding armed Papuan resistance groups as “terrorists” has sparked strong condemnation from human rights groups across Indonesia and in West Papua, writes David Robie.

West Papua solidarity activists fear an escalation of violence in West Papua, reports Susan Price.

David Robie reviews Australian journalist John Martinkus's new book about the Trans-Papua Highway, which is bringing military occupation, exploitation, environmental destruction and colonisation to West Papua.

All around the world, supporters of the long struggle for West Papuan self-determination raised the Morning Star flag of independence on December 1, writes Peter Boyle.

west papua flag

The armed conflict in West Papua’s central highlands continues to deteriorate, costing the lives of innocent civilians, writes Human Rights and Peace for Papua.

A new documentary describing the background and aftermath of last year's West Papua protests has been launched, reports Human Rights and Peace for Papua.

British human rights organisation TAPOL, in collaboration with Indonesian human rights lawyer Veronica Koman, have just published an extensive report on the 2019 West Papua Uprising, writes Susan Price.

Lawyer Veronica Koman has received international support for her work exposing Indonesia's human rights abuses in West Papua, writes Susan Price. Now, an international fundraising campaign may have scuttled the Indonesian government's latest attempt to disrupt her work.

August marked one year since the racist attacks on West Papuan students in Surabaya sparked a new uprising. Green Left spoke to Indonesian human rights lawyer Veronica Koman about the escalating conflict in West Papua and prospects for independence.

A selectively edited and captioned video clip of a recent West Papua solidarity protest outside the Indonesian consulate in Sydney has been circulating on Twitter. It purports to show that the protesters were paid $50 each to attend the protest and agreed to burn the West Papuan Morning Star flag for $100, but only off camera.

Surya Anta Ginting, the national spokesperson for the pro-independence Indonesian People's Front for West Papua — who along with five other Papuan activists is being held in Jakarta's notorious Salemba prison awaiting trial on treason charges — is reportedly seriously ill.

Anta's wife Lucia Fransisca told reporters that she visited him on November 29 and found that he and the other five Papuan detainees were ill and were not receiving proper medical treatment.

West Papuans and their supporters around the world traditionally raise the Morning Star flag — the symbol of an independent Papua — on December 1. This is an act of defiance, as flying the flag is outlawed by the occupying Indonesian government.

New Zealand-based West Papua solidarity activist and author Maire Leadbeater looks the new uprising in West Papua and the repression being carried out by Indonesian security forces while governments, including NZ’s, remain silent.