Andrew Mathieson – A new report about British involvement in occupied West Papua was tabled on Tuesday in the UK parliament.

Eddie Osifelo, Honiara – Pacific Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have called on incoming Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Chair and Solomon Islands Prime Minister, Jeremiah Manele, to honour past commitments on West Papua.

Antara, Timika, Papua – Rescue teams at Freeport Indonesia's (PTFI) Grasberg Block Cave mine in Mimika, Central Papua, were still working Wednesday to evacuate seven contract workers trapped underground following a landslide that struck earlier this week.

On 15 August 2025, Indonesian police and Brimob forces used excessive force against peaceful KNPB protesters in Sentani, Jayapura Regency. The demonstration, part of region-wide commemorations from Sorong to Merauke, was organised to mark the controversial 1962 New York Agreement that transferred Papua from Dutch to Indonesian control.

Paul Gregoire – "Indonesia is in chaos, as massive protests have erupted over corruption, economic hardship, and police brutality," declared West Papuan provisional government president Benny Wenda in a 1 September 2025 statement. "I call on all my people to get ready for another escalation back home. West Papua is ready to depart from this dying empire."

Civil society advocates have called on Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders to address the issue of West Papua when they meet in Honiara this week.

An open letter said the region had issued several communiques about human rights abuses by Indonesia in the annexed territory, but a new approach was needed.

On 3 September 2025, an indigenous Papuan named Vicktor Bernadus Deyal, 29, was arbitrarily arrested by police officers in front of the police station (Polsek) on Paradiso Road in the town of Dekai, Yahukimo Regency, Papua Pegunungan Province. Initially suspected of being intoxicated, Mr Deyal was reportedly arrested and tortured inside a police truck for about three hours.

Caleb Fotheringham in Honiara and Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific presenter – Former New Caledonia President Louis Mapou says human rights and sovereignty are big issues facing not only Melanesia but the wider Pacific.

As Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders gather in Honiara for the 54th Leaders' Meeting, Pacific communities are demanding more than diplomatic platitudes – it's time for Forum Leaders to end the silence and act on the escalating humanitarian crisis unfolding in our region.

Pacific Greetings,

Susan Price – Indonesian security forces opened fire on a peaceful protest in Sorong, West Papua, on August 27, killing one person and injuring several others, according to eyewitness reports received by Green Left.

Indonesian security forces also made 20 arrests. They released 16 detainees two days later, but have arrested another four pro-democracy activists.

Dear Pacific Islands Forum Leaders,

I am writing to you concerning the human rights situation in West Papua.

Responding to the brutality of security forces in responding to demonstrations in Sorong and Manokwari which resulted in one local resident being shot and one person being killed, Amnesty International Indonesia's Executive Director Usman Hamid said:

Rights activists have called on the Indonesian government to return four treason-charged Papuans to their home province from South Sulawesi province to ensure their safety and a fair trial.

Jayapura – Thousands of protesters who joined in solidarity with Papuan students held a peaceful demonstration urging the chief of the Southwest Papua Regional Police (Kapolda) and the chief of the Sorong City Municipal Police (Kapolresta) to investigate the violence allegedly committed by police officers against residents in Sorong City, Southwest Papua, during a riot there on Augu

Fred Pearce – It was an unlikely destination for the first field visit by the new president of Indonesia. Last November, two weeks after taking office, Prabowo Subianto traveled more than 2,000 miles from his presidential palace in Jakarta to the remote coastal village of Wanam on the island of New Guinea.

West Papuan civil society and solidarity networks are calling for urgent action over a brutal Indonesian security forces crackdown that has led to a wave of arrests and political repression.

Protests erupted in Sorong, in the western part of the Melanesian territory, on Wednesday over the transfer of 4 political prisoners out of the territory.

Indonesia is in chaos, as massive protests have erupted over corruption, economic hardship, and police brutality. I call on all my people to get ready for another escalation back home. West Papua is ready to depart from this dying empire.

Joe Collins of AWPA said, "the demonstrators were peacefully protesting the transfer of four Papuan political prisoners – Goram Goram Gaman, Maksi Sangkek, Piter Robaha, and Nikson Mai from the Sorong State Court to Makassar. They were calling on the authorities to allow the prisoners to remain in West Papua where they would have the support of their families and friends".

A West Papuan independence advocate has accused Indonesia of "continuing to murder children" while escalating its military operations across the Melanesian region.

United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) interim president Benny Wenda says West Papua faces two connected crimes – ecocide and genocide.

West Papuan civil society and political groups and solidarity networks are calling for urgent action following a wave of arrests and political repression by the combined security forces of police in Indonesian occupied West Papua in Sorong on 27 August 2025, after local West Papuans acted to resist the transfer of 4 political prisoners out of the territory.

Gamaliel Kaliele, Sorong – At least 12 residents of Sorong City, Southwest Papua province, were arrested following a protest against the transfer of four Federal Republic of West Papua (NFRPB) political prisoners (tapol) to Makassar, South Sulawesi, to stand trial on treason charges.

Gamaliel M. Kaliele, Jayapura – Manokwari Legal Aid Assessment, Research and Development Institute (LP3BH) Executive Director Yan Christian Warinussy has condemned the legal authorities' decision to move the trial of four Papuan political prisoners (tapol) to Makassar, South Sulawesi.

Gamaliel M. Kaliele, Sorong – Protesters from the Greater Sorong Pro-Democratic Solidarity Movement held a protest action opposing plans to move the trial of four Papuan political prisoners (tapol) from Sorong City to Makassar in South Sulawesi.

The action took place at the Southwest Papua Governor's Office on Friday August 25 from morning through to the evening.

Andrew Mathieson – Exiled West Papuan media are calling for Fiji – in a reflection of Melanesian solidarity – to hold the greater Pacific region to account and stand against Indonesia's ongoing media blackout in addition to its human rights abuses.

Ema Ganivatu – In exile but unbroken, three West Papuan journalists are in Fiji calling on the Pacific to stand with them against Indonesia's ongoing media blackout and human rights abuses.

Tyberius Seeto and Kayla Hill – On 17th August, Indonesia celebrated 80 years of independence, an end to a 350 year rule riddled with mass atrocities committed by the Dutch, as well as an eventual end to the Japanese empire during World War II.

Andi Adam Faturahman, Jakarta – The West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Movement (TPNPB-OPM) has accused the Indonesian military (TNI) deployed in Yakuhimo regency of planting landmines to target the militias and individuals deemed affiliated with them.

Laurensia Yame is a mother of seven in her 50s who, with her Indigenous community, the Awyu, lives deep in the forests of South Papua Province, Indonesia. In late 2020, she heard from women traders that workers were surveying the community's forest for a company's commercial use, including Wagaban hamlet, where she farms.

Kanako Mita, Sawako Utsumi, and Lee Jay Walker – Spare a thought for the Indigenous Papuans, who have endured decades of persecution in their own homeland under Indonesian rule. This ongoing form of colonialism is enabled by nations that continue to supply arms to Indonesia – just as troubling is the silence of regional powers that accept Jakarta's authority without challenge.

West Papuan pro-independence advocate Benny Wenda has called for a boycott on Indonesia's Independence Day celebrations.

Declaring the raising of the Indonesian flag in West Papua as illegal, Wenda said Papuan Independence Day was December 1, the day in 1963 when the outgoing Dutch authorities handed over autonomy of the region.

The West Papuan National Committee (KNPB) has called on West Papuans to commemorate the tragic day in their history, the 15 August in 1962 (The New York Agreement) when the Papuan people were betrayed by the international community.

The four political prisoners from the West Papua Federal Republic Organisation (NRFPB), namely Mr Abraham G.

On 12 August 2025, a peaceful protest near Sentani Airport, Jayapura Regency, Papua Province, turned violent when police officers led by the Chief of the Airport Security Unit (KP3), Officer Wajedi, allegedly used excessive force against demonstrators.

Indonesia, West Papua – In the early hours of 7 August 2025, Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) reportedly raided the Oholumu Village, Mewoluk District, Puncak Jaya Regency, resulting in the burning of civilian homes, the destruction of church facilities, and the shooting of a 13-year-old girl named Y. W.

On 31 July 2025, the Nabire City Police arrested Mr. Deki Widigipa, 24, a member of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), at A. Gobay Road, Karang Tumaritis Market, Nabire, at 11:00 am. The officers accused him of robbery and motor vehicle theft.

On 5 August 2025, members of the Yahukimo Military District Command (Koramil) arbitrarily detained Mr Son Balingga (see photo on top, source: independent HRDs) at the rear complex of the Koramil Yahukimo. At the time of his arrest, Mr Balingga was accompanied by his friend and had stopped to refuel his motorcycle.

Indonesia, West Papua – On 10 August 2025, police officers from the Teluk Bintuni Police Department arbitrarily arrested two young women, Mrs Aksimina Muuk,20, and Mrs Derina Mosoum, 20, at Bintuni Bay Port, Papua Barat Province, along with a five-month-old infant and a five-year-old boy, Wene Husage.

Putri Nurjannah Kurita, Sentani – The West Papua National Committee (KNPB) has called for peaceful actions to commemorate 63 years since the New York Agreement on August 15, 1962, and the racist incident against Papuan students in Surabaya on August 17, 2019.

Indonesia, West Papua – Between April and July 2025, Papuan students in the Indonesian cities Gorontalo, Surabaya, Makassar, and Yogyakarta faced an alarming escalation of coordinated intimidation campaigns.

On 25 July 2025, Mr Yordan Nyamuk Karunggu, a Papuan activist from Nduga Regency, Papua Highlands Province, rejected accusations by Indonesian intelligence operatives and student groups alleging that he was a member of the TPNPB (West Papua National Liberation Army).

Indonesia, West Papua – The humanitarian crisis in West Papua continues. As of mid-August 2025, more than 80,709 people in West Papua [1] remain internally displaced as a result of armed conflict between Indonesian security forces and the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB).

Igor Oneill, Jakarta – Greenpeace Indonesia has launched a photo book Paradise Silenced at KALA in Kalijaga, South Jakarta. Following International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, the launch provided a joyful space for Indigenous Papuan representatives and the wider public to discuss the past, present, and future of West Papua (or 'Tanah Papua' as it is also known).

Eka Yudha Saputra, Jakarta – Thousands of people are protesting in Papua, demanding the government replace Acting Governor Agus Fatoni with the Commander of the Military Regional Command (Kodam) XVII/Cenderawasih as the region's temporary governor.

On 14 July 2025, at approximately 8:00 pm, lawyer Mr Joshua Rumbiak and six companions, including Wenior Pakage, Head of the Religious Affairs Working Group of the Central Papua People's Assembly), were allegedly assaulted by a dozen members of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) Battalion 754 in front of the battalion's headquarters in Timika.

Indonesia, West Papua – On 10 August 2025, Indonesian security forces opened fire on a group of indigenous Papuans, predominantly children, without prior warning in the Moanemani Airport area of Kamu District, Dogiyai Regency, Central Papua Province.

According to information received from local human rights observers, 22-year-old Aprianus Nabelau, was arbitrarily detained in SP2, Nabire Town, Central Papua Province, by members of the Indonesian military on 8 July 2025, without presenting any legal grounds or arrest warrant.

Larius Kogoya, Nabire – President Prabowo Subianto's granting of amnesty to Papuan political prisoner (tapol) Viktor Makamuke ahead of the Republic of Indonesia's 80th Anniversary is seen as image building and a pubic deception.

Melynda Dwi Puspita, Jakarta – The West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Organization (TPNPB-OPM) burned several Indonesian flags in Pegunungan Bintang Regency, Papua, on Thursday, August 7, 2025.

Andrew Mathieson – Indonesian forces in West Papua have arrested 42 Papuan liberation activists, including a prominent 74-year-old tribal chief, during an independence separatist meeting.