Tag: Hostage taking

By Jeffrey Elapa in Port Moresby In what is described as a "significant relief", seven Papua New Guinea teachers and their families were rescued from...

ANALYSIS: By Damien Kingsbury, Deakin University New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens has now been held hostage in West Papua for four months. Stalled attempts to...

By Finau Fonua, RNZ Pacific journalist The West Papuan Council of Churches says New Zealand hostage pilot Phillip Mehrtens' life is in danger if negotiations...

By Majeleen Yanei in Port Moresby Seventeen Papua New Guinean schoolgirls who were kidnapped, raped and held hostage by armed men in Bosavi, Hela, last...

RNZ Pacific Reports from Papua New Guinea say that 17 girls from a remote village have been held captive by a large group of armed...

There are parallels between Indonesia’s Aceh where an Australian surfer faced a flogging, and West Papua where a New Zealand pilot may be facing...

Asia Pacific Report Free Papua Organisation (OPM) leader Jeffrey Bomanak has appealed for Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape to become a "neutral intermediary"...

Asia Pacific Report An Australian author-poet and advocate for West Papuan independence has condemned a reported threat against the life of a New Zealand hostage...

Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand advocacy group has appealed to the government to heed the call of West Papuan church leaders for Indonesia to...

Jubi News in Jayapura Church leaders across denominations in Papua have urged President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to stop military operations and to promote a humanitarian...

RNZ Pacific The Indonesian military has officially escalated its operational status in West Papua to "ground combat ready" following a clash with West Papuan National...

RNZ Pacific West Papuan rebels seeking independence in the Indonesian-ruled Melanesian region claim to have killed nine soldiers after Jakarta did not respond to a...

Asia Pacific Report A West Papuan leader has accused Indonesia of imposing a "martial law" on the Melanesian region in response to the kidnapping of...

RNZ Pacific The authorities in Indonesia's Papua region say the search for a New Zealand pilot taken hostage by West Papua Liberation Movement freedom fighters...

Jubi News in Jayapura Indonesia's Papua police chief Inspector-General Mathius D Fakhiri has called for action to ensure that "security disturbances" in the Puncak Jaya...

COMMENT: By Philip Cass Words matter when telling the story of West Papua’s continuing struggle for independence. Recently, New Zealand media carried reports of the kidnapping...

Tabloid Jubi in Jayapura The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has called on the international community to "pay serious attention" to the escalated...

By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby Papua New Guinea's Internal Security Minister Peter Tsiamalili Jr says the Royal PNG Constabulary is "stretched" with only 5000...

Asia Pacific Report The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) has released a new video about New Zealand hostage pilot Philip Mehrtens and a Papuan...

PNG Post-Courier A recent cash payment by Papua New Guinea for the release of three hostages held captive by armed gunmen in Southern Highlands province...

Jubi News in Jayapura The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) has denied Indonesian media claims that Egianus Kogoya, the commander of a TPNPB faction,...

By Rebecca Kuku in Port Moresby The three local female researchers who were kidnapped with Australia-based New Zealand professor Bryce Barker are being kept in...