Pacific Brief: Geo-political and military activity in the Pacific
Malaysia buys Norwegian missiles, Japan hardens defence policy, India expands influence and Melanesia faces corruption risks in a shifting Pacific.
Indonesia
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From Gaza to West Papua, the long struggle for justice and freedom
On my office wall hangs a framed portrait of Shireen Abu Akleh, the inspiring and celebrated American-Palestinian journalist known across the Middle East to watchers of Al Jazeera Arabic, who was assassinated by an Israeli military sniper with impunity.
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PNG’s Marape makes foreign policy gaffes over Israel, West Papua
Prime Minister James Marape has made two foreign policy gaffes in the space of a week that may come back to bite him as Papua New Guinea prepares for its 48th anniversary of independence this Saturday.
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MSG snubs golden chance to reset peace and justice for West Papua
The Melanesian Spearhead Group has thrown away a golden chance for achieving a historical step towards justice and peace in West Papua by lacking the courage to accept the main Papuan self-determination advocacy movement as full members.
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UN told France has ‘robbed’ Kanaks of New Caledonian independence
New Caledonia’s Kanak national liberation movement has told the UN Decolonisation Committee that France has “robbed” the indigenous people of their independence and has appealed for help.
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Two countries, two kidnappings – Port Moresby shows Jakarta how it’s done with 3 PNG hostages freed
Two countries. A common border. Two hostage crises. But the responses of both Asia-Pacific nations have been like chalk and cheese.
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MUST READ: West Papuan cat-and-mouse over NZ pilot taken captive by ‘freedom’ rebels
Papuan independence rebels are playing a desperate game of cat and mouse with Indonesian authorities over their hostage taking last week with a New Zealand pilot caught in the middle.
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‘Terror’ bomb explodes near Papua journalist Victor Mambor’s home
David Robie also blogs at Café Pacific: A veteran journalist known for covering rights abuses in Indonesia’s militarised Papua region says a bomb exploded outside his home yesterday and a journalists group has called it an act of “intimidation” threatening press freedom.
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Farewell Filep Karma, the revered West Papuan leader who could have ushered in unity
A tragic day of mourning. Thousands thronged the West Papuan funeral cortège for human rights leader Filep Karma as the banned Morning Star led the way in defiance of the Indonesian military.
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‘Doorstops’ at the Pacific Forum – why no tough questions on West Papua?
Where were the hard media questions in Suva — whether “western or Pacific-style” — about West Papua and Indonesian human rights abuses against a Melanesian neighbour? Surely here was a prime case in favour of doorstopping with a fresh outbreak of violations by Indonesian security forces – an estimated 21,000 troops are now deployed in Papua and West Papua provinces — in the news coinciding with the Forum unfolding last week.