An escape of a 13-year-old girl from a hostage crisis on the border of Papua New Guinea’s Western and Hela provinces has boosted hopes for the rescue of her fellow captives.

The group of 10 people was taken captive early on Monday morning at Adujmari.

PNG Police Commissioner David Manning has called the perpetrators “domestic terrorists” and warned that officers were able to use lethal force if needed to secure the release of the hostages.

• READ MORE: Other PNG crime reports

The girl Aiyo’s fellow captives are four adults — a teacher and his wife, and a health worker and his wife — along with another four school girls.

The Post-Courier reports that the kidnappers have demanded the government pay a ransom of K500,000 (NZ$207,000) for the safe release of the captives.

Aiyo has told police that the kidnappers had threatened to harm the group if no money was forthcoming.

Assistant Commissioner of Police, Commander Steven Francis, said officers were working around the clock to secure their safe release.

Locals in the Adujmari district have so far raised more than K11,000 (NZ4500) to try and negotiate the safe release of the group.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Today is the 24th anniversary of renegade and failed businessman George Speight’s coup in 2000 Fiji. The elected coalition government headed by Mahendra Chaudhry, the first and only Indo-Fijian prime minister of Fiji, was held hostage at gunpoint for 56 days in the country’s new Parliament by Speight’s rebel gunmen in a putsch that shook the Pacific and the world.

Emerging recently from almost 24 years in prison, former investigative journalist and publisher Josefa Nata — Speight’s “media minder” — is now convinced that the takeover of Fiji’s Parliament on 19 May 2000 was not justified.

He believes that all it did was let the “genie of racism” out of the bottle.

• READ MORE: Coup coup land: the press and the putsch in Fiji – David Robie
• FIJI: I was just PR consultant — Joe Nata
• USP 2000 coup student journalism archive

He spoke to Islands Business Fiji correspondent, Joe Yaya on his journey back from the dark.

The Fiji government kept you in jail for 24 years [for your media role in the coup]. That’s a very long time. Are you bitter?

I heard someone saying in Parliament that “life is life”, but they have been releasing other lifers. Ten years was conventionally considered the term of a life sentence. That was the State’s position in our sentencing. The military government extended it to 12 years. I believe it was out of malice, spitefulness and cruelty — no other reason. But to dwell in the past is counterproductive.

If there’s anyone who should be bitter, it should be me. I was released [from prison] in 2013 but was taken back in after two months, ostensibly to normalise my release papers. That government did not release me. I stayed in prison for another 10 years.

To be bitter is to allow those who hurt you to live rent free in your mind. They have moved on, probably still rejoicing in that we have suffered that long. I have forgiven them, so move on I must.

Time is not on my side. I have set myself a timeline and a to-do list for the next five years.

What are some of those things?

Since I came out, I have been busy laying the groundwork for a community rehabilitation project for ex-offenders, released prisoners, street kids and at-risk people in the law-and-order space. We are in the process of securing a piece of land, around 40 ha to set up a rehabilitation farm. A half-way house of a sort.

You can’t have it in the city. It would be like having the cat to watch over the fish. There is too much temptation. These are vulnerable people who will just relapse. They’re put in an environment where they are shielded from the lures of the world and be guided to be productive and contributing members of society.

It will be for a period of up to six months; in exceptional cases, 12 months where they will learn living off the land. With largely little education, the best opportunity for these people, and only real hope, is in the land.

Most of these at-risk people are [indigenous] Fijians. Although all native land are held by the mataqali, each family has a patch which is the “kanakana”. We will equip them and settle them in their villages. We will liaise with the family and the village.

Apart from farming, these young men and women will be taught basic life skills, social skills, savings, budgeting. When we settle them in the villages and communities, we will also use the opportunity to create the awareness that crime does not pay, that there is a better life than crime and prison, and that prison is a waste of a potentially productive life.

Are you comfortable with talking about how exactly you got involved with Speight?

The bulk of it will come out in the book that I’m working on, but it was not planned. It was something that happened on the day.

You said that when they saw you, they roped you in?

Yes. But there were communications with me the night prior. I basically said, “piss off”.

So then, what made you go to Parliament eventually? Curiosity?

No. I got a call from Parliament. You see, we were part of the government coalition at that time. We were part of the Fijian Association Party (led by the late Adi Kuini Speed). The Fiji Labour Party was our main coalition partner, and then there was the Christian Alliance. And you may recall or maybe not, there was a split in the Fijian Association [Party] and there were two factions. I was in the faction that thought that we should not go into coalition.

There was an ideological reason for the split [because the party had campaigned on behalf of iTaukei voters] but then again, there were some members who came with us only because they were not given seats in Cabinet.

Because your voters had given you a certain mandate?

Well, we were campaigning on the [indigenous] Fijian manifesto and to go into the [coalition] complicated things. Mine was more a principled position because we were a [indigenous] Fijian party and all those people went in on [indigenous] Fijian votes. And then, here we are, going into [a coalition with the Fiji Labour Party] and people probably
accused us of being opportunists.

But the Christian Alliance was a coalition partner with Labour before they went into the election in the same way that the People’s Alliance and National Federation Party were coalition partners before they got into [government], whereas with us, it was more like SODELPA (Social Democratic Liberal Party).

So, did you feel that the rights of indigenous Fijians were under threat from the Coalition government of then Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry?

Perhaps if Chaudhry was allowed to carry on, it could have been good for [indigenous] Fijians. I remember the late President and Tui Nayau [Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara] . . .  in a few conversations I had with him, he said it [Labour Party] should be allowed to . . . [carry on].

Did you think at that time that the news media gave Chaudhry enough space for him to address the fears of the iTaukei people about what he was trying to do, especially for example, through the Land Use Commission?

I think the Fijians saw what he was doing and that probably exacerbated or heightened the concerns of [indigenous] Fijians and if you remember, he gave Indian cane farmers certain financial privileges.

The F$10,000 grants to move from Labasa, when the ALTA (Agricultural Landlord and Tenants Act) leases expired. Are you talking about that?

I can’t remember the exact details of the financial assistance but when they [Labour Party] were questioned, they said, “No, there were some Fijian farmers too”. There were also iTaukei farmers but if you read in between the lines, there were like 50 Indian farmers and one Fijian farmer.

Was there enough media coverage for the rural population to understand that it was not a one-sided ethnic policy?

Because there were also iTaukei farmers involved. Yes, and I think when you try and pull the wool over other people, that’s when they feel that they have been hoodwinked. But going back to your question of whether Chaudhry was given fair media coverage, I was no longer in the mainstream media at that time. I had moved on.

But the politicians have their views and they’ll feel that they have been done badly by the media. But that’s democracy. That’s the way things worked out.

Pacific journalism educator, David Robie, in a paper in 2001, made some observations about the way the local media reported the Speight takeover. He said, “In the early weeks of the insurrection, the media enjoyed an unusually close relationship with Speight and the hostage takers.”

He went on to say that at times, there was “strong sympathy among some journalists for the cause, even among senior editorial executives”.

David Robie is an incisive and perceptive old-school journalist who has a proper understanding of issues and I do not take issue with his opinion. And I think there is some validity. But you see, I was on the other [Speight’s] side. And it was part of my job at that time to swing that perception from the media.

Did you identify with “the cause” and did you think it was legitimate?

Let me tell you in hindsight, that the coup was not justified
and that is after a lot of reflection. It was not justified and
could never be justified.

When did you come to that conclusion?

It was after the period in Parliament and after things were resolved and then Parliament was vacated, I took a drive around town and I saw the devastation in Suva. This was a couple of months later. I didn’t realise the extent of the damage and I remember telling myself, “Oh my god, what have we done? What have we done?”

And I realised that we probably have let the genie out of the bottle and it scared me [that] it only takes a small thing like this to unleash this pentup emotion that is in the people. Of course, a lot of looting was [by] opportunists because at that time, the people who
were supporting the cause were all in Parliament. They had all marched to Parliament.

So, who did the looting in town? I’m not excusing that. I’m just trying to put some perspective. And of course, we saw pictures, which was really, very sad . . .  of mothers, women, carrying trolleys [of loot] up the hill, past the [Colonial War Memorial] hospital.

So, what was Speight’s primary motivation?

Well, George will, I’m sure, have the opportunity at some point to tell the world what his position was. But he was never the main player. He was ditched with the baby on his laps.

So, there were people So, there were people behind him. He was the man of the moment. He was the one facing the cameras.

Given your education, training, experience in journalism, what kind of lens were you viewing this whole thing from?

Well, let’s put it this way. I got a call from Parliament. I said, “No, I’m not coming down.” And then they called again.

Basically, they did not know where they were going. I think what was supposed to have happened didn’t happen. So, I got another call, I got about three or four calls, maybe five. And then eventually, after two o’clock I went down to Parliament, because the person who called was a friend of mine and somebody who had shared our fortunes and misfortunes.

So, did you get swept away? What was going on inside your head?

I joined because at that point, I realised that these people needed help. I was not so much as for the cause, although there was this thing about what Chaudhry was doing. I also took that into account. But primarily because the call came [and] so I went.

And when I was finally called into the meeting, I walked in and I saw faces that I’d never seen before. And I started asking the questions, “Have you done this? Have you done that?”

And as I asked the questions, I was also suggesting solutions and then I just got dragged into it. The more I asked questions, the more I found out how much things were in disarray.

I just thought I’d do my bit [because] they were people who had taken over Parliament and they did not know where to go from there.

But you were driven by some nationalistic sentiments?

I am a [indigenous] Fijian. And everything that goes with that. I’m not infallible. But then again, I do not want to blow that trumpet.

Did the group see themselves as freedom fighters of some sort when you went into prison?

I’m not a freedom fighter. If they want to be called freedom fighters, that’s for them and I think some of them even portrayed themselves [that way]. But not me. I’m just an idiot who got sidetracked.

This personal journey that you’ve embarked on, what brought that about?

When I was in prison, I thought about this a lot. Because for me to come out of the bad place I was in — not physically, that I was in prison, but where my mind was — was to first accept the situation I was in and take responsibility. That’s when the healing started to take place.

And then I thought that I should write to people that I’ve hurt. I wrote about 200 letters from prison to anybody I thought I had hurt or harmed or betrayed. Groups, individuals, institutions, and families. I was surprised at the magnanimity of the people who received my letters.

I do not know where they all are now. I just sent it out. I was touched by a lot of the responses and I got a letter from the late [historian] Dr Brij Lal. l was so encouraged and I was so emotional when I read the letter. [It was] a very short letter and the kindness in the man to say that, “We will continue to talk when you come out of prison.”

There were also the mockers, the detractors, certain persons who said unkind things that, you know, “He’s been in prison and all of a sudden, he’s . . . “. That’s fine, I accepted all that as part of the package. You take the bad with the good.

I wrote to Mr Chaudhry and I had the opportunity to apologise to him personally when he came to visit in prison. And I want to continue this dialogue with Mr Chaudhry if he would like to.

Because if anything, I am among the reasons Fiji is in this current state of distrust and toxic political environment. If I can assist in bringing the nation together, it would be part of my atonement for my errors. For I have been an unprofitable, misguided individual who would like to do what I believe is my duty to put things right.

And I would work with anyone in the political spectrum, the communal leaders, the vanua and the faith organisations to bring that about.

I also did my traditional apology to my chiefly household of Vatuwaqa and the people of the vanua of Lau. I had invited the Lau Provincial Council to have its meeting at the Corrections Academy in Naboro. By that time, the arrangements had been confirmed for the Police Academy.

But the Roko gave us the farewell church service. I got my dear late sister, Pijila to organise the family. I presented the matanigasau to the then-Council Chairman, Ratu Tevita Uluilakeba (Roko Ului). It was a special moment, in front of all the delegates to the council meeting, the chiefly clan of the Vuanirewa, and Lauans who filled the two buses and
countless vehicles that made it to Naboro.

Our matanivanua (herald) was to make the tabua presentation. But I took it off him because I wanted Roko Ului and the people of Lau to hear my remorse from my mouth. It was very, very emotional. Very liberating. Cathartic.

Late last year, the Coalition government passed a motion in Parliament for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Do you support that?

Oh yes, I think everything I’ve been saying so far points that way.

Do you think it’ll help those that are still incarcerated to come out and speak about what happened in 2000?

Well, not only that but the important thing is [addressing] the general [racial] divide. If that’s where we should start, then we should start there. That’s how I’m looking at it — the bigger picture.

It’s not trying to manage the problems or issues of the last 24 years. People are still hurting from [the coups of] 1987. And what happened in 2006 — nothing has divided this country so much. Anybody who’s thought about this would want this to go beyond just solving the problem of 2000, excusing, and accusing and after that, there’s forgiveness and pardon.

That’s a small part. That too if it needs to happen. But after all that, I don’t want anybody to go to prison because of their participation or involvement in anything from 1987 to 2000. If they cooked the books later, while they were in government, then that’s a different
matter.

But I saw on TV, the weeping and the very public expression of pain of [the late, former Prime Minister, Laisenia] Qarase’s grandchildren when he was convicted and taken away [to prison]. It brought tears to my eyes. There is always a lump in my throat at the memory of my Heilala’s (elder of two daughters) last visit to [me in] Nukulau.

Hardly a word was spoken as we held each other, sobbing uncontrollably the whole time, except to say that Tiara (his sister) was not allowed by the officers at the naval base to come to say her goodbye.

That was very painful. I remember thinking that people can be cruel, especially when the girls explained that it was to be their last visit. Then the picture in my mind of Heilala sitting alone under the turret of the navy ship as she tried not to look back. I had asked her not to look back.

I deserved what I got. But not them. I would not wish the same things I went through on anyone else, not even those who were malicious towards me.

It is the family that suffers. The family are always the silent victims. It is the family that stands by you. They may not agree with what you did. Perhaps it is among the great gifts of God, that children forgive parents and love them still despite the betrayal, abandonment, and pain.

For I betrayed the two women I love most in the world. I betrayed ‘Ulukalala [son] who was born the same year I went to prison. I betrayed and brought shame to my family and my village of Waciwaci. I betrayed friends of all ethnicities and those who helped me in my chosen profession and later, in business.

I betrayed the people of Fiji. That betrayal was officially confirmed when the court judgment called me a traitor. I accepted that portrayal and have to live with it. The judges — at least one of them — even opined that I masterminded the whole thing. I have to decline that dubious honour. That belongs elsewhere.

This article by Joe Yaya is republished from last month’s Islands Business magazine cover story with the permission of editor Richard Naidu and Yaya. The photographs are from a 2000 edition of the International Press Institute’s Global Journalist magazine dedicated to the reporting of The University of the South Pacific’s student journalists. Joe Yaya was a member of the USP team at the time. The archive of the award-winning USP student coverage of the coup is here.   

In what is described as a “significant relief”, seven Papua New Guinea teachers and their families were rescued from an attempted kidnapping in the remote Mt Bosavi region in Hela Province.

Hela Education Director Ronny Angu said the teachers and their families were rescued safely by the Hela Education Division from their attempted kidnappers.

He said the teachers are from the Wagalu primary school, the same primary school where 17 school girls were recently kidnapped, raped and held hostage for ransom.

• READ MORE: PNG gunmen ‘kidnapped, raped’ 17 schoolgirls before freeing them
• Other PNG law-and-order reports

Angu said the teachers and their families have escaped from an organised kidnapping and potential harm by criminals after a successful rescue operation, executed with the help of key stakeholders that demonstrated “unwavering commitment and collaboration”.

He said the “heroic efforts” from Hela police and Moro police, the Hela Provincial government and the Hela Education Division, ensured that the teachers and their families were successfully relocated to safety.

“Their dedication and selflessness significantly contributed to the success of the rescue mission,” he said.

“To commemorate the safe return of the teachers and their families and for God’s guidance and protection, the Hela Education Division organised a welcome party. It was a moment of immense joy and relief, where experiences and challenges were openly discussed, and tears were shared.

Support for healing
“Hela Education Division is committed to providing the necessary support to the staff members to help them settle back into their respective homes.

“We aim to provide an opportunity to the teachers to reconnect with their families and begin the process of healing from the traumatic experiences they endured.

“The success of the rescue mission is a powerful testament to the unwavering commitment of the education division to serve the community and provide quality education in Hela Province.

“The division expressed sincere gratitude to those who supported and made the rescue operation successful, especially the Hela police, Moro police, Hela Provincial government, and Hela Education Division,” Angu said.

“This successful rescue operation is a significant relief to Hela Province. The safe return of the teachers and their families after such a perilous experience cannot be more relieving news.

“We wish all of them a speedy recovery from their ordeal.”

Jeffrey Elapa is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens has now been held hostage in West Papua for four months. Stalled attempts to negotiate his release, and an unsuccessful Indonesian military rescue attempt, suggest a confused picture behind the scenes.

Members of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) kidnapped Mehrtens on February 7, demanding Indonesia recognise West Papua’s independence.

The Nduga regency, where Mehrtens was taken and his plane burnt, is known for pro-independence attacks and military reprisals.

• READ MORE: Two countries, two kidnappings – Port Moresby shows Jakarta how it’s done with 3 PNG hostages freed
• The NZ pilot held hostage in West Papua is the pawn in a conflict only real international engagement can resolve
• How the world failed West Papua in its campaign for independence
• Other West Papua reports

New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has said: “We’re doing everything we can to secure a peaceful resolution and Mr Mehrtens’ safe release, including working closely with the Indonesian authorities and deploying New Zealand consular staff.”

Meanwhile, the Indonesian military (TNI) has continued its military operation to hunt down the TPNPB — including by bombing from aircraft, according to Mehrtens in one of several “proof of life” videos released by the TPNPB.

Early negotiations
From late February, I was authorised by the TPNPB to act as an intermediary with the New Zealand government. This was based on having previously worked with pro-independence West Papuan groups and was confirmed in a video from the TPNPB to the New Zealand government.

In this capacity, I communicated regularly with a New Zealand Police hostage negotiator, including when the TPNPB changed its demands.

The TPNPB had initially said it would kill Mehrtens unless Indonesia recognised West Papua’s independence. But, after agreeing to negotiate, the TPNPB said it would save Mehrtens’ life while seeking to extract concessions from the New Zealand government.

Its current position is that New Zealand stop its citizens from working in or travelling to West Papua, and also cease military support for Indonesia.

In late May, however, frustrated by the lack of response, the TPNPB again said it would kill Mehrtens if talks were not forthcoming.

My involvement with the New Zealand government ended when I was told the government had decided to use another channel of communication with the group. As events have unfolded, my understanding is that the TPNPB did not accept this change of communication channels.

West Papua rebels threaten to shoot New Zealand pilot if independence talks denied https://t.co/03CakUChHu

— The Guardian (@guardian) May 27, 2023

Latest in a long struggle
The TPNPB is led by Egianus Kogeya, son of Daniel Yudas Kogeya, who was killed by Indonesian soldiers in an operation to rescue hostages taken in 1996. The TPNPB is one of a small number of armed pro-independence groups in West Papua, each aligned with a faction of the Free West Papua movement.

The West Papua independence movement grew out of Dutch plans to give West Papua independence. Indonesia argued that Indonesia should be the successor to the Dutch East Indies in its entirety, and in 1963 assumed administration of West Papua with US backing. It formally incorporated West Papua in 1969, after 1035 village leaders were forced at gunpoint to vote for inclusion in Indonesia.

As a result of Indonesians moving to this “frontier”, more than 40 percent of West Papua’s population is now non-Melanesian. West Papuans, meanwhile, are second-class citizens in their own land.

Despite the territory having Indonesia’s richest economic output, West Papuans have among the worst infant mortality, average life expectancy, nutrition, literacy and income in Indonesia.

Critically, freedom of speech is also limited, human rights violations continue unabated, and the political process is riven by corruption, vote buying and violence. As a consequence, West Papua’s independence movement continues.

There have been a number of mostly small military actions and kidnappings highlighting West Papua’s claim for independence.

“Flag-raising” ceremonies and street protests have been used to encourage a sense of unity around the independence struggle.

These have resulted in attacks by the Indonesian military (TNI) and police, leading to killings, disappearances, torture and imprisonment. Human rights advocates suggest hundreds of thousands have died as a result of West Papua’s incorporation into Indonesia.

Illustrating the escalating conflict, in 2018 the TPNPB kidnapped and killed more than 20 Indonesian workers building a road through the Nduga regency. It has also killed a number of Indonesian soldiers, including some of those hunting for Mehrtens.

#OPM leader calls on Biden to take proactive role in ending West Papuan ‘holocaust’ #CafePacific #AsiaPacificReport #WestPapua #HumanRights #JoeBiden #openletter @westpapuamedia @westpapuanews @PNGAttitude @Scott_Waide @EveningReportNZ https://t.co/pPFHveH79i pic.twitter.com/T5JPmndGzD

— David Robie (@DavidRobie) May 16, 2023

Negotiations stalled
TPNPB spokesperson Sebby Sambom has said foreigners were legitimate targets because their governments support Indonesia. Despite Kogeya’s initial claim that Mehrtens would be killed if demands were not met, Sambom and TPNPB diplomatic officer Akouboo Amadus Douw had responded positively to the idea of negotiation for his release.

Since talks broke down, however, the TPNPB has said there would be no further proof-of-life videos of Mehrtens. With the TPNPB’s late May statement that Mehrtens would be killed if New Zealand did not negotiate, his kidnapping seems to have reached a stalemate.

The TPNPB has told me it is concerned that New Zealand may be prioritising its relationship with Indonesia over Mehrtens and has been stalling while the TNI resolves the situation militarily.

At this stage, however, Mehrtens can still be safely released. But it will likely require the New Zealand government to make some concessions in response to the TPNPB’s demands.

Meanwhile, the drivers of the conflict remain. Indonesia continues to use military force to try to crush what is essentially a political problem.

And, while the TPNPB and other pro-independence groups still hope to remove Indonesia from West Papua, they feel they have run out of options other than to fight and to take hostages.

Dr Damien Kingsbury is emeritus professor, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Deakin University.  This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

The West Papuan Council of Churches says New Zealand hostage pilot Phillip Mehrtens’ life is in danger if negotiations do not take place with the West Papua Liberation Army (TPNPB).

The council is calling on Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to cease military operations in West Papua and seek dialogue with TPNPB.

Chief moderator Reverend Benny Giay said they are sending a letter to President Widodo.

• LISTEN TO RNZ PACIFIC WAVES: Interview with Reverend Benny Giay
• Other West Papua reports

Since the kidnapping of 37-year-old pilot Phillip Mehrtens on February 7 by TPNPB local commander Egianus Kogoya, violence has escalated between the Indonesian Army and the guerrilla TPNPB, with both sides reporting military and civilian casualties as a result.

“Egianus Kogoya could shoot the pilot,” Reverend Giay said.

“In order to stop that, the Indonesian government has to take a peaceful approach,” he said.

“We are asking the Indonesian president to withdraw the military and to allow the church to go in and to dialogue with the TPNPB for the release of the pilot.”

Peaceful talk plan ‘ignored’
“We know that the TPNPB leader has proposed a kind of peaceful talk, but the government has not responded, and we are asking this through our letter, the TPNPB have proposed a peaceful talk…so why can’t you [President Widodo] take it?” Rev Giay said.

But Indonesian authorities say they are pursuing a “peaceful dialogue” to the crisis.

Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces Admiral Yudo Margono told local reporters in Sulawesi last week that they were being cautious.

Indonesia news agency Detikcom reported Admiral Margono saying on June 7: “We still prioritise [negotiations] carried out by religious leaders, community leaders and PJ regents there,” he said.

“If we prioritise operations with the military, of course, there will be many negative impacts on public safety,” he added.

It was a message repeated late last month by Papua Police chief Mathius Fakhiri.

“I talked to various parties about this negotiation process including the Church, which includes the Church Council and the Bishop who will do as much as possible to negotiate with the Egianus Kogoya group to be able to release the pilot,” Fakhiri told Detikcom on May 25.

“I opened myself to all parties, from the beginning, namely the Nduga government in collaboration with the Chief of Police and then there were also parties from Komnas HAM who offered themselves and we accepted,” Fakhiri added.

Church leader claims Indonesia ‘not taking us seriously’
However, Reverend Giay said the church could not mediate a dialogue unless the Indonesia military ceased its operations.

“The Papuan police chief has agreed that church [negotiators] should go in and talk with Egianus . . . but that means the military has to be withdrawn from the area [and] that has not been done yet,” Reverend Giay said.

“As of now, I cannot guarantee anything about church involvement because as of now the government is not taking us seriously,” he claimed.

Both Indonesia’s military and TPNPB have confirmed shootouts in the Nduga Regency of the remote highlands of Papua.

Indonesian authorities have confirmed the deaths of four Indonesian soldiers as a result of the fighting.

Reuters reported two weeks ago that the TPNPB released a video of Merhtens saying he would be shot in two months if the group’s demands were not met.

“If they [Indonesia] do not allow the church to go in and mediate, we will conclude that they are involved in the possible death of the pilot,” Reverend Giay said.

“From our discussions here, we think the conditions of the pilot may be worsening.

“We want to see the pilot . . . for Egianus to show us that he is okay…that is our first priority.”

Mehrtens’ welfare ‘top priority’ for MFAT
According to New Zealand’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs, everything is being done to try and seek Mehrtens’ release, but the details of this have been limited.

The TPNPB maintains that New Zealand has not approached them for negotiation.

“The welfare of the New Zealander at the heart of this situation is our top priority,” MFAT told RNZ Pacific in a statement in March.

“We are doing everything we can to secure a peaceful resolution and the safe release of the hostage, including working closely with the Indonesian authorities and deploying New Zealand consular staff.”

Reverend Giay said Wellington needed to pressure Jakarta into ceasing its military operations.

“New Zealand government and the international community has to pressure the Indonesia government and military to seek a peaceful dialogue.”

“That is only possible if the Indonesian military withdraw,” he added.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Seventeen Papua New Guinean schoolgirls who were kidnapped, raped and held hostage by armed men in Bosavi, Hela, last Wednesday were released yesterday.

The National’s source said they were released following a payment of 3300 kina (NZ$1500) and nine pigs as ransom to the gunmen.

“The females were released but they are traumatised. Some of them are just girls. It is the first time for them to be exposed to this kind of violence,” said the source.

• READ MORE: Armed gunmen kidnap 17 girls from remote PNG village – freed for ransom
• Two countries, two kidnappings – Port Moresby shows Jakarta how it’s done with 3 PNG hostages freed
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“Meanwhile, the teachers of Walagu Primary School are still on the run, with the school closed since then.

“A female teacher who was seven months pregnant was airlifted by police to Komo in a chopper yesterday.”

Another government worker said: “Last week 40 armed men from Komo to Bosavi had accused the villagers for reporting them to police in the last kidnap incident [in February].

“They went to Komo passing through Walagu village near Mt Sisa.

‘Kidnapped at gunpoint’
“At Walagu, they kidnapped the females at gunpoint saying the villagers had assisted security forces and reported them to have involved in the kidnap of the New Zealand research scientist a few months back.

“They were held hostage at Mt Sisa for three days until their release yesterday.

“We are appealing to the Hela government to stop the smuggling of guns in the province.

“We also appeal to the authorities to arrest the 40 men from Bosavi, as they have raped our children who are between the ages of 13 to 15 and yet they demand a ransom.

“People in authority should meet with all its 24 council wards in Komo-Hulia electorate and arrest youths who have homemade guns in their possessions.”

Police sources also confirmed that the group seemed to be the same one that was involved in the earlier kidnap and ransom in February when the captives included an Australian-based New Zealand academic.

Lack of action ‘serious error’
The lack of follow up action by police and the military was a “serious error of judgement and appears to have emboldened them to continue with this kind of activities an easy money making venture”,  a police source said.

Meanwhile, condemnation of the action and calls for serious government action came from the Member for Koroba-Lake Kopiage, William Bando; the Vanimo Green MP and Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, Belden Namah; and the Lutheran Church Head, Dr Jack Urame.

Namah said last night that he was alarmed that the police hierarchy and the ministry had gone silent on a serious issue involving the lives of children.

Majeleen Yanei is a reporter with The National newspaper in Port Moresby. Republished with permission.

By Duncan Graham in Malang, East Java

There were ten stories in a Google Alert media feed last week for “Indonesia-Australia”.

One covered illegal fishing in the Indo-Pacific claiming economic losses of more than US$6 billion a year — important indeed.

Another was an update on the plight of New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens, held hostage since February 7 by the Tentara Pembebasan Nasional Papua Barat (TPNPB-West Papua National Liberation Army).

• READ MORE: Indonesia refuses international aid to free NZ pilot
• Two countries, two kidnappings – Port Moresby shows Jakarta how it’s done with 3 PNG hostages freed – David Robie
• Other NZ pilot reports

This is the armed wing of the Organisasi Papua Merdeka, (OPM Free Papua Organisation) that has been pushing its cause since the 1970s.

A major story by any measure. The Indonesian military’s inability to find and safely secure the New Zealander has the potential to cause serious diplomatic rifts and great harm to all parties.

There have been unverified reports of bombs dropped from helicopters on jungle camps where the pilot may have been held with uninvolved civilians.

The other eight stories were about Queenslander Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones who had been arrested in April for allegedly going on a nude drunken rampage and bashing a local in Indonesian Aceh.

Stupidities commonplace
Had the 23-year-old surfer been a fool in his home country the yarn would have been a yawn. Such stupidities are commonplace.

But because he chose to be a slob in the strictly Muslim province of Aceh and facing  up to five years jail plus a public flogging, his plight opened the issue of cultural differences and tourist arrogance.  Small news, but legitimate.

He has now reportedly done a $25,000 deal to buy his way out of charges and pay restitution to his victim. This shows a flexible social and legal system displaying tolerance — which is how Christians are supposed to behave.

All noteworthy, easy to grasp. But more important than the threatened execution of an innocent victim of circumstances caught in a complex dispute that needs detailed explanations to understand?

Mehrtens landed a commercial company’s plane as part of his job for Susi Air flying people and goods into isolated airstrips when he was grabbed by armed men desperate to get Jakarta to pay attention to their grievances.

Ironically, Aceh where Risby-Jones got himself into strife, had also fought for independence and won. Like West Papua, it’s resource-rich so essential for the central government’s economy.

A vicious on-off war between the Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, (GAM-Free Aceh Movement) and the Indonesian military started in 1976 and reportedly took up to 30,000 lives across the following three decades.

Tsunami revived peace talks
It only ended when the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami killed 160,000  people and  former general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was elected president and  revived peace talks. Other countries became involved, including the European Union and Finland where the Helsinki Agreement was signed.

Both sides bowed to a compromise. GAM leaders abandoned their demands for independence, settling for “self-government” within the Indonesian state, while soldiers were withdrawn. The bombings have stopped but at the cost of personal freedoms and angering human rights advocates.

Freed from Jakarta’s control, the province passed strict Shariah laws. These include public floggings for homosexual acts, drinking booze and being close to an opposite sex person who is not a relative. Morality Police patrols prowl shady spots, alert to any signs of affection.

Australian academic and former journalist Dr Damien Kingsbury was also instrumental in getting GAM and Jakarta to talk. He was involved with the West Papua standoff earlier this year but New Zealand is now using its own to negotiate.

Dr Kingsbury told the ABC the situation in West Papua is at a stalemate with neither Wellington nor Jakarta willing to make concessions. The Indonesian electorate has no truck for “separatists” so wants a bang-bang fix. NZ urges a softly-slowly approach.

A TPNPB spokesperson told the BBC: “The Indonesian government has to be bold and sit with us at a negotiation table and not [deploy] military and police to search for the pilot.”

The 2005 Aceh resolution means the Papua fighters have a strong model of what is possible when other countries intervene. So far it seems none have dared, fearing the wrath of nationalists who believe Western states, and particularly Australia, are trying to “Balkanise”  the “unitary state” and plunder its riches.

Theory given energy
This theory was given energy when Australia supported the 1999 East Timor referendum which led to the province splitting from Indonesia and becoming a separate nation.

Should Australia try to act as a go-between in the Papua conflict, we would be dragged into the upcoming Presidential election campaign with outraged candidates thumping lecterns claiming outside interference. That is something no one wants but sitting on hands won’t help Mehrtens.

In the meantime, Risby-Jones, whose boorish behaviour has confirmed Indonesian prejudices about Australian oafs, is expected to be deported.

Mehrtens will only get to tell his tale if the Indonesian government shows the forbearance displayed by the family of Edi Ron.  The Aceh fisherman needed 50 stitches and copped broken bones and an infected foot from his Aussie encounter, but he still shook hands.

After weeks in a cell the surfer has shown contrition and apologised. Australian ‘”proceedings of crime” laws should prevent him earning from his ordeal.

If the Kiwi pilot does get out alive, he deserves the media attention lavished on the Australian. This might shift international interest from a zonked twit to the issue of West Papua’s independence and remind diplomats that if Jakarta could bend in the far west of the archipelago,  why not in the far east?

Lest Indonesians forget:  Around 100,000 revolutionaries died during the four-year war against the returning colonial Dutch after Soekarno proclaimed independence in 1975. The Dutch only retreated after external pressure from the US and Australia.

Duncan Graham has been a journalist for more than 40 years in print, radio and TV. He is the author of People Next Door (UWA Press) and winner of the Walkley Award and Human Rights awards. He is now writing for the English language media in Indonesia from within Indonesia. This article was first published in Pearls & Irritations on 30 May 2023 and is republished with permission.

Free Papua Organisation (OPM) leader Jeffrey Bomanak has appealed for Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape to become a “neutral intermediary” to negotiate between the Indonesian government and the West Papuan rebels holding a New Zealand pilot hostage for his release.

He has called in a statement today for the safe transfer of 37-year-old Philip Mehrtens, a flight captain working for Indonesia’s Susi Air who was seized at a remote airstrip in the central highlands on February 7, to a “secure location in Papua New Guinea”.

If Prime Minister Marape could not “come to the assistance of Captain Mehrtens”, Bomanak requested another PNG politician instead “because we are both Melanesian people”.

• READ MORE: Author-poet condemns Papuan rebel threat to shoot NZ hostage pilot if denied talks
• Two countries, two kidnappings – Port Moresby shows Jakarta how it’s done with 3 PNG hostages freed
• Other West Papua reports

“We would be very comfortable with [MPs] Belden Namah, Lhuter Wengge, Gary Juffa, or Powes Parkop. We trust them.”

In February, the PNG government successfully resolved a hostage crisis by negotiating freedom for three captives, including a NZ professor living in Australia.

This was one of three points cited in the OPM statement needed to “end the hostage crisis peacefully”.

“However, more miracles will be required for Indonesia to cease the genocide of my people, the destruction of our land and homes, and the plunder of our spectacular natural resources,” Bomanak added.

Two other conditions
The other two OPM conditions for a peaceful resolution are:

• The Indonesian government must “open up” and talk to the OPM as the official political body of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB); and
• Cease air and ground bombing and combat operations, and withdraw all Indonesian defence and security forces from all conflict areas.

Clarifying a TPNPB video released yesterday that purported to show Mehrtens saying that if negotiations on independence for West Papua did not start within two months he was at risk of being shot by the rebels seeking independence for the Melanesian region, Bomanak blamed the Indonesian authorities over the impasse.

“If the Indonesian government continues to carry out military operations and the New Zealand government does not take persuasive steps, the OPM will not be held responsible when something happens to the life of Captain pilot Philip Mehrtens as a result of the ongoing air and ground combat operations by Indonesia’s defence forces.”

Bomanak called on the Jakarta government to have compassion, adding: “Unfortunately, when there are six decades of Indonesia’s crimes against my people, to think Jakarta can act in any way compassionate is almost [an] impossible expectation. It would be a miracle!”

The OPM fighters have been struggling in a low-level insurgency for independence from Indonesia since 1969.

However, the struggle has gained a new intensity in the past five years with more sophisticated weapons and strategies. This has coincided with mounting peaceful civil resistance to Indonesian rule.

An Australian author-poet and advocate for West Papuan independence has condemned a reported threat against the life of a New Zealand hostage pilot, Philip Mehrtens, held by Papuan liberation fighters and appealed to them to “keep Philip safe”.

Jim Aubrey, a human rights activist who has campaigned globally on freedom struggles in East Timor, West Papua and Tibet, declared such a threat was “not in his name”.

In a statement in English and Bahasa today, Aubrey said he would never support a “senseless and stupid act”  such as killing pilot Mehrtens, who has been held captive in the remote Papuan highlands for more than three months since February 7.

• READ MORE: Papua rebels threaten to shoot New Zealand hostage if denied talks
• West Papua rebels threaten to shoot New Zealand pilot if independence talks denied
• Other West Papua reports

“Any acts of braggadocio and careless support by any West Papuan group and/or solidarity members of this current threat, in thinking that international governments are going to suddenly act with governance of care and respect are baseless and profoundly naive,” he said.

“The list of criminal accessories to Indonesia’s six decades of crimes against humanity is very long . . . long enough for anyone to know that they do not care.”

Aubrey said he believed that a third party, “such as an appropriate minister from Papua New Guinea who has previous and ongoing affiliation with OPM, should act as the intermediary on the ground to resolve the crisis”.

He called for immediate withdrawal of the more than 21,000 Indonesian security forces  from the Melanesian region that shares an 820 km-long land border with Papua New Guinea.

“Included in this approach is the immediate cessation of all Indonesian air and ground combat operations and the immediate exit of Indonesian defence and security forces from all conflict regions in West Papua,” he said.

Other West Papuan activists and advocates have also criticised the reported threat.

According to Reuters news agency and reports carried by the ABC in Australia and RNZ today, the West Papuan rebels had threatened to shoot 37-year-old Mehrtens if countries did not comply with their demand to start independence talks within two months.

Citing a new video released yesterday by the West Papua National Liberation Army-OPM (TPNPB-OPM) yesterday, the news reports said the fighters, who want to free Papua from Indonesian rule, kidnapped Mehrtens after he landed a commercial plane in the mountainous area of Nduga. The guerillas set the aircraft ablaze.

In the new video, a Mehrtens holds the banned Morning Star flag, a symbol of West Papuan independence, and is surrounded by Papuan fighters brandishing what one analyst said were assault rifles manufactured in Indonesia.

Mehrtens is seen talking to the camera, saying the pro-independence rebels want countries other than Indonesia to engage in dialogue on Papuan independence.

“If it does not happen within two months then they say they will shoot me,” Mehrtens said in the video, which was shared by West Papuan rebel spokesperson Sebby Sambom.

The video was verified by Deka Anwar, an analyst at the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC), according to the news agency reports.

A spokesperson for New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an e-mail to Reuters today that they were aware of the photos and videos circulating.

“We’re doing everything we can to secure a peaceful resolution and Mr Mehrtens’ safe release,” the spokesperson added.

Indonesia’s military spokesperson Julius Widjojono said today that the military would continue to carry out “measureable actions” in accordance with standard operating procedure.

The Indonesian Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

Prioritising ‘peaceful negotiations’
Indonesian authorities have previously said they were prioritising peaceful negotiations to secure the release of the Susi Air pilot, but have struggled to access the isolated and rugged highland terrain.

A low-level but increasingly deadly battle for independence has been waged in the resource-rich Papua region — now split into five provinces — ever since it was controversially brought under Indonesian control in a vote overseen by the United Nations in 1969.

The conflict has escalated significantly since 2018, with pro-independence fighters mounting deadlier and more frequent attacks, largely because they have managed to procure more sophisticated weapons.

Rumianus Wandikbo of the TPNPB — the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement — called on countries such as New Zealand, Australia and Western nations to kickstart talks with Indonesia and the pro-independence fighters, reports Reuters.

“We do not ask for money…We really demand our rights for sovereignty,” he said in a separate video.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

A New Zealand advocacy group has appealed to the government to heed the call of West Papuan church leaders for Indonesia to withdraw security forces and impose a “humanitarian pause” while negotiating for the release of captive pilot Philip Merhtens.

Mehrtens, a 37-year-old New Zealander working for the Indonesian local airline Susi Air, has been held hostage since February 7 when West Papuan National Liberation Army (TPNPB) rebels captured him and set his aircraft ablaze.

West Papua Action Aotearoa (WPAA) wrote an open letter at the weekend to Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta asking the government to support the churches’ appeal.

• READ MORE:  Indonesia upgrades NZ pilot operation in West Papua to ‘combat ready’
• Other West Papua pilot reports

The group has also asked the government to call on Jakarta to allow the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit West Papua given the gravity of the current crisis with mounting human rights violations.

They want an independent third party to be involved in the talks with the TPNPB to “achieve a peaceful solution to the impasse”.

The open letter, signed by WPAA’s Maire Leadbeater, Reverend Brian Turner and Catherine Delahunty, was endorsed by16 local organisations and community leaders, 10 international organisations and community leaders, and 14 individuals.

The text of the letter:

13 May 2023

Rt Hon Chris Hipkins
Prime Minister
c.hipkins@ministers.govt.nz

Hon Nanaia Mahuta
Minister of Foreign Affairs
n.mahuta@ministers.govt.nz

Parliament Buildings
Wellington

Kia Ora Prime Minister Hipkins and Foreign Minister Mahuta,

We know that you share our deep concern for the safety and wellbeing of pilot Philip Mehrtens who was abducted by the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) on 7 February 2023. In the succeeding weeks fears for Philip’s safety and that of the local community have escalated as more and more military have poured into the Nduga area. Tragically there have been several killings on both sides. Villagers have been forced to flee their homes and food gardens, risking their health in a desperate effort to escape the conflict.

We are especially worried currently because the Indonesian authorities have announced proposal to implement a “combat alert operation” in the area. There have been reports, including from Philip Mehrtens himself, of bombing in the area. This military heavy approach will only extend the cycle of violence and instil more fear and resentment toward the government.

As you know, West Papuan resistance to Indonesian rule dates from 1963 when Indonesia first took administrative control of the region. The armed resistance movement, the Free Papua Movement, or OPM, was formed as early as 1965, and their struggle has been ongoing since that time. In more recent years, peaceful forms of resistance have increased. This is a very welcome development, but unfortunately Indonesia fails to tolerate even the most peaceful forms of dissent such as vigils and prayer meetings. In the last few days peaceful pro-Papuan rights demonstrations have been broken up by police in Bali, Makassar and in Jayapura.

From what we know New Zealand has approached this difficult situation in the spirit of trying to resolve the situation peacefully and through dialogue and negotiation. We strongly support this approach. We deeply regret that Indonesia’s hard-line approach has come at a time when the TPNPB were signalling a more flexible approach to negotiation.

We commend to your attention the statement of influential Church leaders in West Papua. Catholic Bishop Yanuarius You, who is himself Papuan, has joined with his fellow Protestant Church leaders to call for a withdrawal of troops and to chart a way forward to peace. Bishop You said on 26 April:

We do not want civilian casualties, therefore, with utmost respect, we ask the President of the Republic of Indonesia to strongly order the military commander to withdraw troops from Papua. And it is necessary to take a humanitarian approach, namely through negotiations.

The Church leaders have offered their services as trusted leaders in the Papuan Community and have called on all parties to observe a “humanitarian pause” to enable successful negotiation to proceed.

As the Church leaders pointed out the withdrawal of security forces should be seen as the application of a “very noble face”, because it would promote the dignity of every human being.

We believe that there is also a need for the involvement of a neutral international agency, such as the United Nations and/or other skilled and experienced international negotiating body.

We therefore appeal to you to:

• take up the call of the Church leaders for the withdrawal of forces and a “humanitarian pause” in your ongoing negotiations with the Government of Indonesia and the TPNPB aimed at the release of New Zealand citizen Philip Mehrtens.
• Call on Indonesia to allow the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit West Papua urgently because of the gravity of the present situation.
• Call on Indonesia to allow an external party to be involved in the talks with the West Papua Liberation Army (TPNPB) in order to achieve a peaceful solution to the impasse.

Ngā mihi,
Maire Leadbeater
Rev. Brian Turner
Catherine Delahunty
West Papua Action Aotearoa

Copy to Her Excellency Fientje Maritje Suebu,
Embassy of Indonesia,
70 Glen Rd,
Wellington.

Endorsed by:
Mons. Gerard Burns, PP Te Ngākau Tapu parish for Māori, Wellington.
Dr Heather Came, STIR (Stop Institutional Racism)
Tigilau Ness, Polynesian Panthers Legacy Trust Representative.
Barbara Frame, West Papua Support Dunedin
Professor Steven Ratuva, Director of the MacMillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies & Professor of Anthropology, University of Canterbury
Rev Hamish Galloway, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa NZ
Rev Peter Taylor, President, Methodist Church of Aotearoa-NZ
Edwina Hughes, Coordinator, Peace Movement Aotearoa
Dr Treasa Dunworth, Associate Professor, University of Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand
Robert Reid, President, First Union
Morgan Godfery, First Union, Aotearoa
Dr Heather Devere, Chair, Asia Pacific Media Network, Auckland
Dr David Robie, Editor, Asia Pacific Report, Tāmaki Makaurau, and deputy chair of the NGO Asia Pacific Media Network
Leilani Salesa, Oceania Interrupted
Aotearoa Section, Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom
Greenpeace Aotearoa.

International
Human Rights Monitor
Papuan Medical Community Without Border (Komunitas Medis Papua Tampa Batas)
Merdeka West Papua Support Network (Philippines)
Joe Collins, Australia West Papua Association (Sydney)
Papua Partners (United Kingdom)
Samenwerkende Organisaties voor West Papua (SOWP) (Solidarity Organisations for West Papua), Netherlands.
International IPMSDL (International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self Determination and Liberation)
Dr Cammi Webb-Gannon, Coordinator, West Papua Project, University of Wollongong
Jim Elmslie, West Papua Project, University of Wollongong
Ronny Kareni, Individual Scholar, West Papua Project, University of Wollongong

Individuals
Dr Heather Devere
Dr David Robie
Megan Hutching
Dr Philip Temple ONZM
Dr Tony Fala
Rev Mua Strickson Pua
Che Strickson-Pua
Dr Tony Fala, Volunteer, Community Services Connect Trust, South Auckland.
Keith Locke (former Member New Zealand Parliament)
Sue Bradford (former Member New Zealand Parliament)
Leilani Salesa
TeRito Peyroux-Semu
Patricia Stickland-Morse
Mihaela Stickland-Kaiser
Sina Brown Davis

Church leaders across denominations in Papua have urged President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to stop military operations and to promote a humanitarian approach with negotiations in handling the Papua conflict instead.

Attempts to free New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens who was taken hostage by the West Papua National Liberation Army (TNPPB) on February 7 were highlighted.

Mehrtens also pleaded for an end to military operations in a video released by his captors earlier this week, saying: “Please, there is no need, it is dangerous for me and everybody here.”

• READ MORE: ‘I’m alive, healthy . . . stop the bombs,’ says kidnapped NZ pilot in new West Papua video
• Other West Papua reports

Among the clergy voicing the appeal to the President were Bishop Yanuarius You of the Jayapura Diocese, GIDI President Reverend Dorman Wandikbo, president of the West Papua Baptist Churches Fellowship Reverend Socratez Sofyan Yoman, chair of the Kingmi Synod in the Land of Papua Reverend Tilas Mom, chair of the GKI Synod in the Land of Papua Reverend Andrikus Mofu, and moderator of the Papua Council of Churches Reverend Benny Giay.

The pastors said this concern stemmed from the fear of civilian casualties following the recent upgrade of Papua military operation status to a “ground combat ready” alert by Indonesian military (TNI) commander Admiral Yudo Margono last week.

“We do not want civilian casualties, therefore, with utmost respect, we ask the President of the Republic of Indonesia to strongly order the military commander to withdraw troops from Papua,” said Bishop You on Wednesday.

“And it is necessary to take a humanitarian approach, through negotiations.”

91 extrajudicial killings
Amnesty International Indonesia noted that from 2018 to 2022 there were at least 91 cases of extrajudicial killings involving the Indonesian Military (TNI), police, prison officers, while the TPNPB had killed at least 177 civilians.

Meanwhile, the number of security forces members who were killed in the same period was 44 with 21 TPNPB dead.

Data from the Institute for Policy Analysis and Conflict Studies (IPAC) also shows that the number of violent incidents related to armed conflict in Papua from 2010 to 2021 continued to increase, exceeding 80 cases in 2021.

In these violent cases, at least 320 people were killed, with as many as 98 percent of the deaths (316 people) occurring in Papua Province.

The victims are mostly civilians (178), followed by security forces (92) and members of the armed group (50).

Research from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) also revealed that violence in Papua is four times greater than the Indonesian national average.

This is ironic considering Papua has the highest ratios of security forces per population compared to other provinces.

Special envoy to free Susi Air pilot
The church leaders asked President Jokowi to appoint a special envoy to negotiate with the TPNPB to release pilot Mehrtens.

“President Joko Widodo should appoint a team of special envoys to negotiate with the TPNPB, such as in the settlement with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) on August 15, 2005,” said Reverend Socratez Sofyan Yoman.

“That is an example the current government can follow.”

Another negotiation alternative, said Yoman, is through the church.

“Let the negotiation team from the church approach TPNPB leader Egianus Kogoya,” he said.

Reverend Dorman Wandikbo said that because of the armed conflict, both Indigenous Papuans and non-Papuans had lost access to basic services such as housing, health services, schools, and churches.

“Today there are more non-organic troops in Paniai, Dogiyai, Deiyai, Intan Jaya and Nduga than in 2018.

Children ‘can’t go to school’
“Children cannot go to school because schools are used by the military, as well as the community health centers, pastorate houses, and churches.

“Papuans cannot stay at their home, many have fled to the forest due to concerns for their safety,” said Wandikbo.

Reverend Benny Giay said that their demand for solving the Papua problem without weapons was in line with President Jokowi’s public statements.

He hoped that Jokowi would fulfill his commitment.

“We as church leaders have followed the political development in Papua since August 2019,” he said.

“After all, the president himself in his speech on June 15, 2021, talked about solving the Papua problem without weapons.

“Even before that, on September 30, 2019, he had spoken his intention to meet with the TPNPB,” said Reverend Giay.

Republished with permission.

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 Liberation Army militants over the weekend with multiple casualties reported on both sides.

Military (TNI) commander Admiral Yudo Margono made the announcement in Jakarta yesterday after returning from West Papua.

Admiral Margono said the decision was reached after a “very thorough evaluation” of the joint police and military operation to rescue New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens who was taken hostage by the West Papuan pro-independence fighters on February 7.

• READ MORE: Jakarta should ‘learn from the Aceh, Philippines experience’ and talk to West Papuan rebels, says researcher
• Deadly clash in West Papua during Indonesian rescue bid for NZ pilot
• Other West Papua reports

He said it was also in light of the high number of casualties being reported from the clash with the Papuan rebels, who claimed to have killed and captured more than a dozen Indonesian soldiers.

According to The Jakarta Post, TNI claims it used a “a peaceful approach to the rescue operation…to keep the local population safe”.

However, the fatal clashes “altered the outlook” of its operation.

“To deal with such attacks, we will raise the troops’ status to combat ready,” Admiral Yudo told the news outlet.

Call for NZ government to ‘intercede’
Meanwhile, the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) is calling on the New Zealand government to intercede and de-escalate the tensions in Nduga in Highlands Papua.

RNZ Pacific has also received reports of Indonesian airstrikes on the independence fighters’ positions which their leaders say further endanger the life of Mehrtens.

The rebels are calling for a ceasefire and urging Jakarta and Wellington to stop ignoring their requests for peaceful negotiations.

RNZ Pacific has asked the New Zealand and Indonesian foreign affairs ministries for an update.

An MFAT spokesperson said: “We are aware of the reports but will not be making any comment.

“The welfare of Mehrtens is our top priority. We’re doing everything we can to secure a peaceful resolution and Mehrtens’ safe release, including working closely with the Indonesian authorities and deploying New Zealand consular staff.

“We are also supporting Mehrtens’ family, both here in Aotearoa New Zealand and in Indonesia. They have asked for privacy at this incredibly challenging time,” the MFAT spokesperson added.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

West Papuan rebels seeking independence in the Indonesian-ruled Melanesian region claim to have killed nine soldiers after Jakarta did not respond to a request to negotiate the return of hostage New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens.

But the military said one soldier died during the attack on Saturday.

Indonesian military spokesperson Rear Admiral Julius Widjojono said yesterday other soldiers were dispersed to several sites in the search for captured Susi Air pilot Philip Mehrtens and they were having communication difficulties due to bad weather.

• READ MORE: Other West Papua reports

“As of 2.03pm (local time) the information we have is one died. We have not received any other information because it is difficult to reach the area, especially with the uncertain weather,” Admiral Widjojono said when asked about the higher casualty numbers.

The Jakarta Post reports that at least one soldier has been killed in the Papuan Highlands on Saturday during a clash with the rebel group.

The Post quoted Admiral Widjojono as saying that First Private Miftahul Arifin had been shot after he fell into a 15m deep ravine as other soldiers, who were trying to evacuate Miftahul, were reportedly stuck in the field and bombarded with bullets.

Admiral Widjojono said the military would intensify the operation to rescue Mehrtens as they hde identified the pilot’s location.

Erratic weather
Erratic weather had made the effort challenging, he said.

The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) abducted the New Zealand pilot on February 7. The group initially demanded Jakarta recognise the Papua region’s independence but told news agencies this month they were prepared to drop that demand and seek dialogue.

“We asked the Indonesian and New Zealand governments to free the hostages through peaceful negotiations,” rebel spokesperson Sebby Sambom said in a recorded message on Sunday.

“But the Indonesian military and police attacked civilians on March 23. Because of that the TPNPB troops said they would take revenge and it had already started,” Sambom said, adding that fighting was continuing on Sunday.

A military spokesperson in Papua, Herman Taryaman, denied the allegation of a March attack on civilians, saying the security forces were protecting civilians who were chased away by the rebels.

A low-level struggle for independence from Indonesia has been going on for decades in the remote and resource-rich Papua region, with the conflict intensifying significantly in recent years, analysts say.

The conflict began after a contested 1969 vote supervised by the United Nations saw the former Dutch territory brought under Indonesian control.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

A West Papuan leader has accused Indonesia of imposing a “martial law” on the Melanesian region in response to the kidnapping of a New Zealand pilot by rebels fighting Jakarta’s contested rule.

“It is clear that Indonesia is using the kidnap of New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens as a pretext to strengthen their colonial hold on West Papua,” said United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) interim president Benny Wenda.

Mehrtens was taken hostage on February 7 in the Papuan Highlands and has featured in video demands for independence.

• READ MORE:  Search for NZ pilot taken hostage by Papua rebels extended, says Indonesia
• Other West Papua reports

“[Indonesian security forces] are creating and exploiting violence to further depopulate our villages and create easier access to our resources through corporate developments like the Trans Papua Highway.

“This is all part of a 60-year colonial land grab,” claimed Wenda in a statement.

He has appealed for international aid agencies to be allowed to treat victims of forced displacement.

He said that in Intan Jaya, Puncak Jaya, and Nduga, Indonesian soldiers were “roaming the countryside, conducting arbitrary house searches, beating Papuan civilians, and even murdering women and children”.

Papuan shot dead
Wenda said that near Wamena, a Papuan named Stefanus Wilil was shot dead at random while crossing a road.

Last month, a 12-year-old boy, Enius Tabuni, was killed by soldiers who then “mockingly videoed his dead body”.

“Merely days ago, a woman walking back to her village with her husband was stopped, beaten, and then he was shot dead.

“Women and young girls have been raped, churches have been burnt by soldiers, and 16 villages in the Intan Jaya Regency have been abandoned by terrified inhabitants.

“My people are living in mortal fear of the next beating, the next murder, the next massacre.

“Everyone is a target: whether it is because they have a beard or Rasta culture, wearing dirty clothes, or carrying an axe or shovel to tend their gardens — every Papuan is under automatic suspicion.

“Hundreds have been forced to flee their homes by roving military bands acting with total impunity.”

Taking refuge
Wenda said they were taking refuge in the forests, where they lacked food, water, and “basic medical facilities”.

“But even there they are not safe, with armed police occupying every corner of the Papuan countryside, transforming the land into a hunting ground for Indonesian troops.”

Wenda, who lives in exile, said there were parallels with his own childhood experience.

“Seeing my people abused in this way brings up memories of 1977-1982, when I was a child living in hiding in the bush,” he said.

“The Highland operations during this time have been described by the Asian Human Rights Commission as a ‘neglected genocide’.

“Indonesia killed us with guns and bombs dropped from helicopters, but also with malnutrition and crop destruction.

“Even as a child I knew that my life was worthless to the colonial forces. The genocide and ethnic cleansing of West Papua is still neglected, as the massacre of 10 Papuans in Wamena in February proves.”

Up to 100,000 displaced
According to UN figures, between 60,000 and 100,000 West Papuans have been displaced over the past four years.

Wenda said his movement’s peaceful demands to Indonesia were:

• Allow aid agencies to treat victims of forced displacement;
• Allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights into West Papua, as had been demanded by more than 84 countries;
• Allow international journalists to report on the situation in West Papua;
• Draw back Indonesian troops to allow civilians to return to their lives; and
• Release all political prisoners — including 80 activists who had been arrested for handing out leaflets demanding political activist Victor Yeimo be freed, Victor Yeimo himself, and three students detained without charge last year.

The authorities in Indonesia’s Papua region say the search for a New Zealand pilot taken hostage by West Papua Liberation Movement freedom fighters more than two months ago has been extended.

Philip Mehrtens, a pilot for Susi Air, was taken hostage in the remote Nduga district on February 7.

According to Antara News, Senior Commissioner Faizal Rahmadani said they were now also looking for the group in Yahukimo and Puncak districts.

• READ MORE: Indonesian security forces attack West Papuan rebels holding NZ pilot
• Other NZ pilot reports

Commissioner Rahmadani said several efforts have been carried out to rescue the pilot, including involving a negotiating team comprising community leaders, the publication reported.

However, the negotiation has not yielded any results.

The search now covers about 36,000 sq km.

Commissioner Rahmadani said the safety of Captain Merthens was the priority for his team.

‘No foreign pilots’ call
The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) has released images and videos of Mehrtens with them since he was captured.

In the video, which was sent to RNZ Pacific, Mehrtens was instructed to read a statement saying “no foreign pilots are to work and fly” into Highlands Papua until Papua was independent.

He made another demand for West Papua independence from Indonesia later in the statement.

Mehrtens was surrounded by more than a dozen people, some of them armed with weapons.

Previously, a TPNPB spokesperson said they were waiting for a response from the New Zealand government to negotiate the release of Mehrtens.

In February, United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) leader Benny Wenda called for the rebels to release Mehrtens.

He said he sympathised with the New Zealand people and Merhtens’ family but insisted the situation was a result of Indonesia’s refusal to allow the UN Human Rights Commissioner to visit Papua.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

The West Papua Liberation Army says they would drop the key demand that Jakarta recognise the independence of the Papua region #WestPapua #nzpol https://t.co/I2Vd13w66G

— #WestPapua (@PurePapua) April 8, 2023

Indonesia’s Papua police chief Inspector-General Mathius D Fakhiri has called for action to ensure that “security disturbances” in the Puncak Jaya highlands do not widen in the face of escalating attacks by pro-independence militants.

“For Puncak, we will take immediate action,” he said.

According to General Fakhiri, attacks by the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) had happened repeatedly since early 2023.

• READ MORE: Other Papua security reports

A number of attacks had caused casualties with soldiers, police, and civilians.

General Fakhiri urged civilians not to travel to places far from the observation of security forces, both the police and the Indonesian Military (TNI).

“I have also called on TPNPB members to immediately cooperate with all stakeholders, while providing security guarantees so that security disturbances do not recur,” General Fakhiri said.

Cited incidents
He cited these “disturbances” in Puncak Regency:

• On January 23, 2023, an armed group shot dead a motorcycle taxi driver on the Ilame Bridge, Wako Village, Gome District.
• On January 24, 2023, armed groups attacked a member of the Indonesian military (TNI) at Sinak Market, Sinak District.
• On February 18, 2023, armed groups burned down a house and engaged in a shootout with security forces in Ilaga.
• On March 3, 2023, armed groups attacked a TNI post and shot dead one TIN soldier and a civilian in Pamebut Village, Yugu Muak District. However, TPNPB claimed that the civilian was shot by security forces.
• On March 22, 2023, armed groups shot dead a motorcycle taxi driver at the Kimak road junction, Ilaga District.

General Fakhiri also reminded his forces not to respond excessively to the burning of houses and the Gome District Office, Puncak Regency, Central Papua Province last Tuesday.

Arson ‘a strategy’
According to him, such arson was a strategy of the militants to provoke the security forces into pursuing them

“I ask the officers in the field not to respond excessively. Because usually the motive for the West Papua National Liberation Army armed group to burn is hoping that the officers will respond and then be shot at,” General Fakhiri said.

“I have reminded every rank, if there is an incident in the afternoon or evening do not respond immediately. Wait for the afternoon, then respond and carry out crime scene processing,” he said.

General Fakhiri said that the series of incidents in several vulnerable areas was motivated by an attempt to show the existence of each armed group.

He considered that the various attacks were uncoordinated.

“That’s why I hope the authorities in the field can scrutinise them well. Except for the incidents in Nduga and Lanny Jaya, of course it is of more concern, because it can interfere with the efforts of the authorities to rescue the Susi Air pilot who is currently still being held hostage by the Egianus Kogoya group,” he said.

New Zealand hostage pilot Phillip Merhtens was captured by a TPNPB group on February 7 and has remained a captive since.

Meanwhile, the United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) has claimed that Indonesian authorities have arrested 32 Papuans taking part in fund-raising for the Vanuatu tropical cyclones.

Republished from Tabloid Jubi with permission.

Words matter when telling the story of West Papua’s continuing struggle for independence.

Recently, New Zealand media carried reports of the kidnapping of a New Zealand pilot by a militant West Papuan group allied to the independence struggle.

Phillip Mehrtens, a pilot for Susi Air, was abducted by independence fighters from the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement, at a remote highlands airstrip on February 7.

• READ MORE: Indonesian security forces attack West Papuan rebels holding NZ pilot
• Other NZ pilot hostage reports

He is still a hostage in spite of an attack by Indonesian forces on his kidnappers last week.

Unfortunately, the language used by mainstream media reports has been falling into line with Indonesian government depictions of the Free Papua Movement.

While The Guardian and Al Jazeera referred to them as “independence fighters,” they also used the term rebels.

So did RNZ and Reuters, which also used the word “separatists”. “Independence fighters” or “freedom fighters” should have been the preferred terms.

We do not condone violent action, but the West Papuans are fighting for their freedom from decades of brutal Indonesian occupation. They deserve recognition for what they are, not what Indonesia deems them to be.

Dr Philip Cass is convenor of the Catholic Church’s Justice and Peace Commission in Auckland and editor of Whāia te Tika newsletter.

The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has called on the international community to “pay serious attention” to the escalated violence happening in West Papua.

Head of ULMWP’s legal and human rights bureau, Daniel Randongkir, said that since the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) — a separate movement — took New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens hostage last month, tensions in the Papuan central mountainous region had escalated.

The New Zealand government is pressing for the negotiated peaceful release of Mehrtens but the Indonesian security forces (TNI) are preparing a military operation to free the Susi Air pilot.

• READ MORE:  AI says West Papua conflict ‘alarming’
• Other reports on the NZ hostage pilot

Randongkir said the TPNPB kidnapping was an effort to draw world attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Papua, and to ask the international community to recognise the political independence of West Papua, which has been occupied by Indonesia since May 1, 1963.

Negotiations for the release of Mehrtens, who was captured on February 7, are ongoing but TPNPB does not want the Indonesian government to intervene in the negotiations.

Randongkir said that in the past week, there had been armed conflict between TPNPB and TNI in Puncak Papua, Intan Jaya, Jayawijaya, and Yahukimo regencies. This showed the escalation of armed conflict in Papua.

According to Randongkir, since 2018 more than 67,000 civilians had been displaced from conflict areas such as Intan Jaya, Nduga, Puncak, Puncak Jaya, Yahukimo, Bintang Mountains, and Maybrat regencies.

Fled their hometowns
They fled their hometowns to seek refuge in other areas.

On March 16, 2023 the local government and the military began evacuating non-Papuans in Dekai, the capital of Yahukimo Regency, using military cargo planes.

“Meanwhile, the Indigenous people of Yahukimo were not evacuated from the city of Dekai,” Randongkir said in media release.

ULMWP said that the evacuation of non-Papuans was part of the TNI’s preparation to carry out full military operations. This had the potential to cause human rights violations.

Past experience showed that TNI, when conducting military operations in Papua, did not pay attention to international humanitarian law.

“They will destroy civilian facilities such as churches, schools, and health clinics, burn people’s houses, damage gardens, and kill livestock belonging to the community,” he said.

“They will arrest civilians, even kill civilians suspected of being TPNPB members.”

Plea for Human Rights Commissioner
Markus Haluk, executive director of ULMWP in West Papua, said that regional organisations such as the Pacific Islands Forum and the African Caribbean Pacific bloc, have called on the United Nations Human Rights Council to immediately send the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to West Papua.

ULMWP hoped that the international community could urge the Indonesian government to immediately stop all forms of crimes against humanity committed in West Papua, and bring about a resolution of the West Papua conflict through international mechanisms that respect humanitarian principles, Haluk said.

Haluk added that ULMWP also called on the Melanesian, Pacific, African, Caribbean and international communities to take concrete action through prayer and solidarity actions in resolving the conflict that had been going on for the past six decades.

This was to enable justice, peace, independence and political sovereignty of the West Papuan nation.

Mourning for Gerardus Thommey
RNZ Pacific reports that Papuans are mourning the death of Gerardus Thommey, a leader of the liberation movement.

Independence movement leader Benny Wenda said Thommey was a regional commander of the West Papuan liberation movement in Merauke, and since his early 20s had been a guerilla fighter.

He said Thommey was captured near the PNG border with four other liberation leaders and deported to Ghana, and lived the rest of his life in exile.

Wenda said that even though he had been exiled from his land, Thommey’s commitment to a liberated West Papua never wavered.

Republished with permission.

https://t.co/32Q0qeXCS2

— Benny Wenda (@BennyWenda) March 20, 2023

Papua New Guinea’s Internal Security Minister Peter Tsiamalili Jr says the Royal PNG Constabulary is “stretched” with only 5000 men and women serving the country of more than 9 million people.

“Now more than ever we need leadership, we are stretched as a force, we all know that — we only have 5000 men,” he said.

“We are making recruitments happen.

• READ MORE:  Two countries, two kidnappings – Port Moresby shows Jakarta how it’s done with 3 PNG hostages freed
• Photo of naked girl with captors causes furore in Papua New Guinea
• Other PNG crime reports

“Issues in Hela — we are making every effort to manage this.

“That is happening in Hela, and it’s across the country. I am asking for help. This issue did not happen overnight, this is a culmination of the neglect our force has faced in the last 10 to 15 years.

“I am having sleepless nights, ensuring we work with the operational side of police. We are looking at stronger laws to deter citizens of such criminal acts.”

The minister — who is in charge of both the police and correctional services — was speaking during Parliament when he was asked by Mul-Baiyer MP Jacob Maki and a supplementary question from Abau MP Sir Puka Temu.

They questioned the minister on law and order issues over the latest crimes committed — in particular the alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl in Hela and the kidnapping of researchers in Southern Highlands.

Suspects on social media
Sir Puka said the rise in the use of social media had enabled many to see pictures of the suspects posted on media platforms.

“We have seen the faces of criminals being posted and what is police doing about it?” Sir Puka asked.

“Citizens are using the platform of social media to put out those criminal behaviours.”

The minister said police were working on the issue.

“In terms of the prosecution of those exposed, we have a cybercrime office and team, working on prosecution, there are processes in place,” he said.

“Police have taken action and it is a process that will take place.”

Miriam Zarriga is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) has released a new video about New Zealand hostage pilot Philip Mehrtens and a Papuan news organisation, Jubi TV, has featured it on its website.

The Susi Air pilot was taken hostage on February 7 after landing in a remote region near Nduga in the Central Papuan highlands.

In the video, which was sent to RNZ Pacific, Mehrtens was instructed to read a statement saying “no foreign pilots are to work and fly” into the Papuan highlands until the West Papua is independent.

• READ MORE: Sebulan disandera, TPNPB rilis video dan foto kondisi terbaru pilot Susi Air (After a month of being held hostage, TPNPB releases videos and photos of the latest condition of the Susi Air pilot)
• Other NZ hostage pilot reports
• Other West Papua reports

He made another demand for West Papua independence from Indonesia later in the statement.

Mehrtens was surrounded by more than a dozen people, some of them armed with weapons.

RNZ Pacific has chosen not to publish the video. Other New Zealand news services, including The New Zealand Herald, have also chosen not to publish the video.

Jubi TV item on YouTube
However, Jubi TV produced an edited news item and published it on YouTube and its website.

Previously, a West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) spokesperson said they were waiting for a response from the New Zealand government to negotiate the release of Mehrtens.

A Papua independence movement leader, Benny Wenda, and church and community leaders last month called for the rebels to release Mehrtens.

Wenda said he sympathised with the New Zealand people and Merhtens’ family but insisted the situation was a result of Indonesia’s refusal to allow the UN Human Rights Commissioner to visit Papua.

The latest video featuring NZ hostage pilot Philip Mehrtens. Video: Jubi TV

According to Jubi News, the head of Cartenz Peace Operation 2023, Senior Commander Faizal Ramadani, says negotiations to free Mehrtens, who is held hostage by a TPNPB faction led by Egianus Kogoya, has “not been fruitful”.

But Commander Ramadani said that the security forces would continue the negotiation process.

According to Commander Ramadani, efforts to negotiate the release of Mehrtens by the local government, religious leaders, and Nduga community leaders were rejected by the TPNPB.

“We haven’t received the news directly, but we received information that there was a rejection,” said Commander Ramadani in Jayapura on Tuesday.

“The whereabouts of Egianus’ group and Mehrtens are not yet known as the situation in the field is very dynamic,” he said.

“But we will keep looking.”

Republished with permission from RNZ Pacific and Jubi TV.

A recent cash payment by Papua New Guinea for the release of three hostages held captive by armed gunmen in Southern Highlands province has set a “dangerous precedent”, says the opposition.

Deputy opposition leader Douglas Tomuriesa said in a statement that the Marape government had set a bad precedent in allowing ransom money to be paid to the kidnappers for the release of the three hostages late last month instead of eliminating the gunmen.

The shadow treasurer said that thankfully the three captives had been set free without any harm but he expressed sadness that such a bad precedent had been set for the country which was likely to spur similar hostage-taking incidents in future.

• READ MORE:  Port Moresby shows Jakarta how it’s done with 3 PNG hostages freed
• Other PNG hostage crisis reports

Tomuriesa said since the hostages were now free, Police Commissioner David Manning must ensure that the culprits would be brought to justice and face the full force of the law.

He said it was “shameful” that the Prime Minister had contradicted his Police Commissioner by initially denying that any ransom had been paid.

“I now demand the Prime Minister tell the truth and reveal the actual amount of ransom paid to the criminals and why a third party was involved,” Tomuriesa said.

One of three women captives was released on February 23 while the other two were released with Australia-based New Zealand academic Professor Bryce Barker on February 26 after K100,000 (NZ$46,000) had been paid, according to one news report.

“If all the government can do is pay ransom to terrorists, then PNG can forget about promoting tourism and foreign investment in the country as investors will view the country as too dangerous.

“By very quickly resorting to allowing payment of ransom money, the government has now realised that the PNG police and military are very ill-equipped to deal with a dangerous hostage-taking situation.

“The whole country will remain at risk unless the gunmen are made to surrender all their guns, including the high-powered machines stolen from the PNG Defence Force armoury.”

Tomuriesa said the government must now seek specialised training and assistance from friendly countries like Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, or the United States to establish and train a special task force for the PNG police and military.

The special force would need to be capable of undertaking search and rescue operations should similar hostage-taking situations arise in future.

Republished from the PNG Post-Courier with permission.

The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) has denied Indonesian media claims that Egianus Kogoya, the commander of a TPNPB faction, asked for money and weapons to free the New Zealand pilot they are holding hostage.

“No, we never asked for money and weapons in exchange for releasing pilot Philip Mark Mehrtens. That’s just propaganda from the Indonesian security forces,” said TPNPB spokesperson Sebby Sambom.

“This is a political issue, the New Zealand pilot is a guarantee of political negotiations.”

• READ MORE: Other NZ pilot hostage reports

Previously, Papua Police spokesperson Senior Commander Ignatius Benny Ady Prabowo had said the police would not follow a request for firearms and cash in exchange for releasing the Susi Air pilot.

“That was their request at the beginning. But of course we don’t respond. We will not give weapons that will later be used to shoot the authorities and terrorise the community,” Prabowo told reporters.

‘Psychologically disturbing’
The Papuan Church Council said the capture of Philip Mehrtens as a hostage was “psychologically disturbing” for his wife, family and children.

The council demanded that the pilot be released in an open letter. With his release, of Philip Mark Mehrtens, the council said Kogoya would get sympathy from the global community and the people of Indonesia.

“There must be a neutral mediator or negotiator trusted by both the TPNPB, the community, and the government to release the pilot. Otherwise, many victims will fall,” said Reverend Socratez Sofyan Yoman, a member of the Papuan Church Council.

A New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said the welfare of its citizens was a top priority.

“We are doing everything we can, including deploying New Zealand consular staff to ensure the safe release of our citizen taken hostage,” she said.

The spokesperson added that New Zealand was working closely with Indonesian authorities to ensure the safe release of Mehrtens.

Republished with permission.

The three local female researchers who were kidnapped with Australia-based New Zealand professor Bryce Barker are being kept in a safe house and banned from speaking to news media.

According to their families, the women were being kept in an undisclosed location for their safety with their mobile phones taken away from them by authorities.

The family also told The National that they had also been restricted from talking to the media as well.

• READ MORE:  Two countries, two kidnappings – Port Moresby shows Jakarta how it’s done with 3 PNG hostages freed
• Other PNG hostages crisis reports

The female researchers were doing field work with Professor Barker researching the history of human migration to Australia in a remote part of Mt Bosavi, Southern Highlands, when they were kidnapped on February 19 and held hostage for seven days.

Their captors were reported to have sought a K3.5 million (NZ$1.6 million) ransom.

One of the women was released on Thursday while the other two were released with Professor Barker on Sunday afternoon after K100,000 (NZ$46,000) had been paid.

Prime Minister James Marape announced before his trip to Central Africa earlier this week that the K100,00 had been paid.

Made available by third parties
However, Internal Security Minister Peter Tsiamalili Jr clarified that the money was made available by third parties to assist with intelligence gathering and to support the negotiators, who secured the release of the hostages.

“In the course of these briefings, it was agreed that the state could not be the party to negotiate a financial settlement, as it recognised the risk of setting a precedent,” he said.

“It is important that members of the public understand the sensitive nature of what occurred in what was an act of terrorism and that the government was not directly involved with the negotiations.

“Negotiations were deliberately undertaken by third parties, through an agreed operational strategy, so as to not compromise the state’s position on law enforcement.”

Meanwhile, 16 of the kidnappers have been identified and their pictures have been provided to police.

Marape said that phase one of the process was completed and a combined PNG Defence Force (PNGDF) and police investigations would continue.

‘No stone left unturned’
“No stone will be left unturned, all those involved will be arrested and charged accordingly and will face the full force of the law,” he said.

Tsiamalili added that security forces would continue to work to bring those involved in the kidnapping case to justice.

“The full weight of the law will be brought to bear on the captors,” he said.

“The actions of the hostage takers were abhorrent, causing significant distress to the captives and their families.

“We will not tolerate those who seek to take the law into their own hands, and all necessary resources will be deployed to ensure that those responsible face the full weight of the law and are held to account.”

Rebecca Kuku is a reporter with The National. Republished with permission.

The Papuan Church Council has called on the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) unit led by Egianus Kogoya to immediately release the New Zealand hostage pilot Philip Mehrtens.

The council’s request was delivered during a press conference attended by Reverend Benny Giai as moderator and member Reverend Socratez Sofyan Yoman at the secretariat.

Reverend Yoman said he had written an open letter to Kogoya explaining that hostage-taking events like this were not the first time in Papua. There needed to be a negotiated settlement and not by force.

• READ MORE: Indonesia vows restraint as troops surround pro-independence rebels holding NZ pilot
• Two countries, two kidnappings – Port Moresby shows Jakarta how it’s done with 3 PNG hostages freed
• Other West Papua reports

The plea comes as news media report that Indonesian security forces have surrounded the rebels holding 37-year-old Mehrtens captive, but say they will exercise restraint while negotiations for his release continue.

Mehrtens, a Susi Air pilot, was taken hostage by the TNPB on February 7 after landing in the remote mountainous region of Nduga.

“The council and the international community understand the issue that the TPNPB brings — namely the Papuan struggle [for independence], Reverend Yoman said.

“We know TPNPB are not terrorists. Therefore, in the open letter I asked Egianus to free the New Zealand pilot.”

‘Great commander’
Reverend Yoman also explained that Kogoya was a “great commander”, and the liberation fight had been going on since the 1960s, and it must be seen as the struggle of the entire Papuan people.

This hostage-taking, he said, was psychologically disturbing for the family of the pilot. He asked that the pilot be released.

Reverend Yoman said he was sure that if the pilot was released, Kogoya would also get sympathy from the global community and the people of Indonesia.

His open letter had also been sent to President Joko Widodo.

“There must be a neutral mediator or negotiator trusted by both the TPNPB, the community, and the government to release the pilot. Otherwise, many victims will fall,” said Reverend Yoman.

Reverend Benny Giai said there were a number of root problems that had not been resolved in Papua that triggered the hostage-taking events.

“If the root problems in Papua are not resolved, things like this will keep occurring in the future,” he said.

‘Conditions fuel revenge’
“There are people in the forest carrying weapons while remembering their families who have been killed, these conditions fuel revenge.”

The council invited everybody to view that the hostage-taking occurred several days after the humanitarian pause agreement was withdrawn by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) when it should have continued.

Reverend Giai said he regretted that no negotiation team had been formed by the government to immediately release the pilot.

He was part of a negotiating team resolving a similar crisis in Ilaga in 2010.

At that time, Reverend Giai said, security guarantees were given directly by then Papua police chief I Made Pastika, and “everything went smoothly”.

“In our letter we emphasise that humanity must be respected.

“If the release is not carried out, it is certain that civilians will become victims. Therefore, we ask that the hostage must be released, directly or through a negotiating team,” he said.

Indonesian forces ‘surround rebels’
Meanwhile, RNZ Pacific reports the rebels say they will not release Mehrtens unless Indonesia’s government recognises the region’s independence and withdraws its troops.

Chief Security Minister Mahfud MD said security forces had found the location of the group holding the pilot but would refrain from actions that might endanger his life.

“Now, they are under siege and we already know their location. But we must be careful,” Mahfud said, according to local media.

He did not elaborate on the location or what steps Indonesia might take to free the pilot.

Susi Air’s founder and owner Susi Pudjiastuti said 70 percent of its flights in the region had been cancelled, apologising for the disruption of vital supplies to remote, mountainous areas.

“There has to be a big humanitarian impact. There are those who are sick and can’t get medication … and probably food supplies are dwindling,” Pudjiastuti told reporters.

Republished from Jubi with permission.

Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape has revealed that about K100,000 (about NZ$46,000) was paid to the kidnappers for the release of the three remaining hostages in the Bosavi mountains in the Southern Highlands province at the weekend.

The three hostages, an Australian-resident New Zealand professor and his two female colleagues, were set free yesterday.

In a news conference today, Prime Minister Marape clarified that the money was given through community leaders for the release of the hostages.

• READ MORE: Nightmare over for final 3 PNG freed hostages – police hunt their captors
• Prime Minister Marape warns police will come down hard on criminals
• PNG state pays partial ransom for release of the hostages
• Two countries, two kidnappings – Port Moresby shows Jakarta how it’s done with 3 PNG hostages freed
• Other PNG hostage crisis reports

”There was no K3.5 million paid [NZ$1.6 million — the original kidnappers’ demand]. The liaison money exchanged was K100,000 paid through the community leaders for a liaison to take place.

“The demand was very high and they maintained it all the way through, but we had to break the ice and ensure the safe return of the captives,” said Marape.

The look on the faces of their families said it all, as they cried awaiting anxiously for their loved ones who made their way from the aircraft into the airport terminal at the capital Port Moresby.

For the families of the last three Papua New Guinea hostage crisis captives, the nightmare of being held prisoner for an entire week had ended.

The relief was evident across the nation as pictures of two of the three hostages went viral online as they were being airlifted out of Moro in the Southern Highlands province.

• READ MORE: Prime Minister Marape warns police will come down hard on criminals
• PNG state pays partial ransom for release of the hostages
• Two countries, two kidnappings – but Jakarta and Port Moresby responses different with 3 PNG hostages freed
• Other PNG hostage crisis reports

The trio named by the Office of the Prime Minister are Professor Bryce Barker, Jemina Haro and Teppsy Beni.

From preliminary reports, all were unharmed.

According to police sources, the trio had been moved several times during the week-long ordeal with the trio and the armed men finally surrounded at Sebese village near Mount Bosavi in the Southern Highlands.

A thankful son and daughter of one of the two women released on Saturday evening shed tears of joy as they waited for the return of their mum.

Hunt continues for 21
For the perpetrators, the hunt continues for all 21-armed men who held eight people hostage before releasing all eight over a week-long crisis culminating in yesterday when the final three were released.

Security personnel, however, will remain in Bosavi for the next few months as they hunt for the men who are alleged to have been the main players in the kidnap and ransom demand.

Police Commissioner David Manning said that the trio were in “good spirits” as he arrived back into Port Moresby.

Commissioner Manning confirmed that security personnel were still in Southern Highlands, saying “we still have unfinished business and we hope to resolve that within a limited time frame”.

He also stated that a “component that required to be paid” was paid.

Prime Minister James Marape said that money was paid — but not “to the tune of K3.5 million” (NZ$1.6 million).

“Criminal enterprise has no longevity, there will not be any negotiations from here on out, you either come out or we will come for you,” Marape said.

Foot bandaged, but happy
One of the two women had one of her feet bandaged, but both women looked to be happy to be back in Port Moresby after their six-day ordeal in the jungles of Bosavi.

Professor Barker, who Marape named, was the hostage from New Zealand, but living in Australia, and has had a long standing relationship with Papua New Guinea and in particular with Gulf province and the Mount Bosavi area.

His release was welcomed by New Zealand High Commissioner Philip Taula who thanked the PNG government and the security personnel for the repatriation of the professor out of Bosavi.

Professor Barker and the two women were quickly transported to Moro where they all underwent medical check before being airlifted out of Moro.

They arrived in Port Moresby at 4.40pm yesterday where they were embraced by their children and were quickly whisked out of the APEC Terminal.

Family members screamed with joy as one of the two women waved at them before they were driven out.

Outside the terminal, there was heavy police presence with Prime Minister Marape saying there was no place in PNG for such armed criminals.

“Police firepower was more powerful and such activities has no place in the country,” he said.

“These people were there to assist the government and the people.”

Miriam Zarriga is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

Two countries. A common border. Two hostage crises. But the responses of both Asia-Pacific nations have been like chalk and cheese.

On February 7, a militant cell of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), the armed wing of the Free Papua Organisation (OPM) — a fragmented organisation that been fighting for freedom for their Melanesian homeland from Indonesian rule for more than half a century — seized a Susi Air plane at the remote highlands airstrip of Paro, torched it and kidnapped the New Zealand pilot.

It was a desperate ploy by the rebels to attract attention to their struggle, ignored by the world, especially by their South Pacific near neighbours Australia and New Zealand.

• READ MORE: ‘Thank God’ says PM Marape in a social media post about 3 freed hostages 
• Inside rescue mission to free Australian professor taken hostage by armed bandits in PNG jungle – Natalie Whiting, Theckla Gunga and Belinda Kora
• Metaphysics of a hero: Egianus Kogoya – is he a Papuan hero or villain? – Yamin Kogoya
• Kidnapped pilot a frightening reminder of forgotten war on Australia’s doorstep – Ben Bohane
• Other West Papua reports

Many critics deplore the hypocrisy of the region which reacts with concern over the Russian invasion and war against Ukraine a year ago at the weekend and also a perceived threat from China, while closing a blind eye to the plight of the West Papuans – the only actual war happening in the Pacific.

The rebels’ initial demand for releasing pilot Philip Mehrtens is for Australia and New Zealand to be a party to negotiations with Indonesia to “free Papua”.

But they also want the United Nations involved and they reject the “sham referendum” conducted with 1025 handpicked voters that endorsed Indonesian annexation in 1969.

Twelve days later, a group of armed men in the neighbouring country of Papua New Guinea seized a research party of four led by an Australian-based New Zealand archaeology professor Bryce Barker of the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) — along with three Papua New Guinean women, programme coordinator Cathy Alex, Jemina Haro and PhD student Teppsy Beni — as hostages in the Mount Bosavi mountains on the Southern Highlands-Hela provincial border.

The good news is that the professor, Haro and Beni have now been freed safely after a complex operation involving negotiations, a big security deployment involving both police and military, and with the backing of Australian and New Zealand officials. Programme coordinator Cathy Alex had been freed earlier on Wednesday.

Prime Minister James Marape announced their release on his Facebook page, thanking Police Commissioner David Manning, the police force, military, leaders and community involved.

“We apologise to the families of those taken as hostages for ransom. It took us a while but the last three [captives] has [sic] been successfully returned through covert operations with no $K3.5m paid.

“To criminals, there is no profit in crime. We thank God that life was protected.”

Ransom demanded
The kidnappers had demanded a ransom, as much as K3.5 million (NZ$1.6 million), according to one of PNG’s two daily newspapers, the Post-Courier, and Police Commissioner David Manning declared: “At the end of the day, we’re dealing with a criminal gang with no other established motive but greed.”

ABC News reports that it understood a ransom payment was discussed as part of the negotiations, although it was significantly smaller than the original amount demanded.

It was a coincidence that these hostage dramas were happening in Papua New Guinea and West Papua in the same time frame, but the contrast between how the Indonesian and PNG authorities have tackled the crises is salutary.

Jakarta was immediately poised to mount a special forces operation to “rescue” the 37-year-old NZ pilot Mehrtens, which undoubtedly would have triggered a bloody outcome as happened in 1996 with another West Papuan hostage emergency at Mapenduma in the Highlands.

That year nine hostages were eventually freed, but two Indonesian students were killed in crossfire, and eight OPM guerrillas were killed and two captured. Six days earlier another rescue bid had ended in disaster when an Indonesian military helicopter crashed killing all five soldiers on board.

Reprisals were also taken against Papuan villagers suspected of assisting the rebels.

This month, only intervention by New Zealand diplomats, according to the ABC quoting Indonesian Security Minister Mahfud Mahmodin, prevented a bloody rescue bid by Indonesian special forces because they requested that there be no acts of violence to free its NZ citizen.

Mahmodin said Indonesian authorities would instead negotiate with the rebels to free the pilot. There is still hope that there will be a peaceful resolution, as in Papua New Guinea.

PNG sought negotiation
In the PNG hostage case, police and authorities had sought to de-escalate the crisis from the start and to negotiate the freedom of the hostages in the traditional “Melanesian way” with local villager go-betweens while buying time to set up their security operation.

The gang of between 13 and 21 armed men released one of the women researchers — Cathy Alex on Wednesday, reportedly to carry demands from the kidnappers.

But the Papua New Guinean police were under no illusions about the tough action needed if negotiation failed with the gang which had terrorised the region for some months.

While Commissioner Manning made it clear that police had a special operations unit ready in reserve to use “lethal force” if necessary, he warned the gunmen they “can release their captives and they will be treated fairly through the criminal justice system, but failure to comply and resisting arrest could cost these criminals their lives”.

Now after the release of the hostages Commissioner Manning says: “We still have some unfinished business and we hope to resolve that within a reasonable timeframe.”

Earlier in the week, while Prime Minister Marape was in Fiji for the Pacific Islands Forum “unity” summit, he appealed to the hostage takers to free their captives, saying the identities of 13 captors were known — and “you have no place to hide”.

Deputy Opposition Leader Douglas Tomuriesa flagged a wider problem in Papua New Guinea by highlighting the fact that warlords and armed bandits posed a threat to the country’s national security.

“Warlords and armed bandits are very dangerous and . . . must be destroyed,” he said. “Police and the military are simply outgunned and outnumbered.”

‘Open’ media in PNG
Another major difference between the Indonesian and Papua New Guinea responses to the hostage dramas was the relatively “open” news media and extensive coverage in Port Moresby while the reporting across the border was mostly in Jakarta media with the narrative carefully managed to minimise the “independence” issue and the demands of the freedom fighters.

Media coverage in Jayapura was limited but with local news groups such as Jubi TV making their reportage far more nuanced.

An Asia Pacific Report correspondent, Yamin Kogoya, has highlighted the pilot kidnapping from a West Papuan perspective and with background on the rebel leader Egianus Kogoya. (Note: Yamin’s last name represents the extended Kogoya clan across the Highlands – the largest clan group in West Papua, but it is not the immediate family of the rebel leader).

“There are those who regard Egianus Kogoya as a Papuan hero and there are those who view him as a criminal,” he wrote.

“It is essential that we understand how concepts of morality, justice, and peace function in a world where one group oppresses another.

“A good person is not necessarily right, and a person who is right is not necessarily good. A hero’s journey is often filled with betrayal, rejection, error, tragedy, and compassion.

“Whenever a figure such as Egianus Kogoya emerges, people tend to make moral judgments without necessarily understanding the larger story.

‘Heroic figures’
“And heroic figures themselves have their own notions of morality and virtue, which are not always accepted by societal moralities.”

He also points out that there are “no happy monks or saints, nor are there happy revolutionary leaders”.

“Patrice Émery Lumumba, Thomas Sankara, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Malcom X, Ho Chi Minh, Marcus Garvey, Steve Biko, Arnold Aap and the many others are all deeply unfortunate on a human level.”

Last week, a riot in Wamena in the mountainous Highlands erupted over rumours about the abduction of a preschool child who was taken to a police station along with the alleged kidnapper. When protesters began throwing stones at the police station, Indonesian security forces shot dead nine people and wounded 14.

More than 200 extra security forces – military and police – were deployed to the Papuan town as part of a familiar story of repression and human rights violations, claimed by critics as part of a pattern of “genocide”.

West Papua breakthrough
Meanwhile, headlines over the pilot kidnapping and the Wamena riot have overshadowed a remarkable diplomatic breakthrough in Fiji by Benny Wenda, president of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), a group that is waging a peaceful and diplomatic struggle for self-determination and justice for Papuans.

Wenda met new Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, the original 1987 coup leader, who was narrowly elected the country’s leader last December and is ushering in a host of more open policies after 16 years of authoritarian rule.

The West Papuan leader won a pledge from Rabuka that he would support the independence campaigners to become full members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), while also warning that they needed to be careful about “sovereignty issues”.

Under the FijiFirst government led by Voreqe Bainimarama, Fiji had been one of the countries that blocked the West Papuans in their previous bids in 2015 and 2019.

The MSG bloc includes Fiji, the FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front) representing New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, traditionally the strongest supporter of the Papuans.

Indonesia surprisingly became an associate member in 2015, a move that a former Vanuatu prime minister, Joe Natuman, has admitted was “a mistake”.

An elated Wenda, who had strongly distanced his peaceful diplomacy movement from the hostage crisis and appealed for the unconditional release of the pilot, declared after his meeting with Rabuka, “Melanesia is changing”.

However, many West Papuan supporters and commentators long for the day when Australia and New Zealand also shed their hypocrisy and step up to back self-determination for the Indonesian-ruled Melanesian region.

Prime Minister James Marape has urged armed captors to free the remaining four hostages which includes an Australian-based New Zealand professor, following the release of a local woman and three local guides.

“These are citizens of our country and a friend of our country. Let’s settle this the Melanesian way,” Marape said.

“We know who you are.”

• READ MORE: Priority with ‘greedy’ kidnappers is to return captives to families, says PNG police chief
• Other PNG hostage reports

Marape, who is in Fiji for the Pacific Islands Forum “unity” summit this week, said the full names and pictures of the 13 people involved in the kidnapping were with police.

“[You have] been identified. So release the [remaining] four hostages,” he said.

The armed men, reported to be from Hela, kidnapped the seven researchers and guides on Sunday for a cash ransom at Fogomaiyu village near Mt Bosavi on the border of Southern Highlands and Hela.

The PNG woman was released with the four local guides.

One guide stays with professor
But one guide chose to remain with the professor, who is a permanent resident of Australia and teaches at the University of Southern Queensland.

The seven included a female staff of the National Museum, a Woman Leader Network member, an anthropology graduate of the University of Papua New Guinea, who is doing field work with the professor, and four local guides.

Marape called on the kidnappers, who were known to authorities, to release the four remaining hostages.

Marape said that the hostages were well.

“We are working with locals in the area as intermediaries to negotiate the safe release of the four,” he said.

Second such incident
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister John Rosso said this was the second such incident to happen in the area.

“It is not an organised crime, but a group of opportunists, who are heavily involved in the guns and drugs trade in the region who are doing this. It was a chance encounter,” he said.

“The safety of the remaining four people still held as hostages remain paramount.

“We are negotiating for their safe release.”

Deputy Police Commissioner Dr Philip Mitna said police were talking to the armed men through intermediaries.

“We are treating the matter as serious,” he said.

Rebecca Kuku is a reporter for The National. Republished with permission.

Indonesian security forces were about to launch a rescue operation for a pilot held hostage in Papua before New Zealand intervened, reports ABC News.

The ABC quoted Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security, Mahfud Mahmodin, as saying his forces knew the exact location of New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens, who was captured two weeks ago by pro-independence West Papuan rebels after he landed a plane in Papua’s remote highlands.

The minister said soldiers almost moved in to attack the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) until New Zealand authorities requested there be no acts of violence to free its citizens.

• READ MORE: Indonesian security forces ready to rescue hostage pilot but New Zealand wanted plan ditched
• Other NZ pilot in West Papua reports

The ABC said the New Zealand government wanted to prioritise the Susi Air pilot’s safety, and a military attack could become an international matter.

Instead, Mahmodin said Indonesia would negotiate with the rebels to release Mehrtens.

The rebels said they were refusing to release the pilot until Indonesia granted independence to the Papua region.

Mahmodin said he understood New Zealand’s decision.

‘No acts of violence’
“We already knew the place [where the pilot was being detained], at what coordinate points, but as soon as we were about to move, the New Zealand government came here asking for no acts of violence,” he said.

“Therefore, we are still waiting, hopefully there will be a resolution soon.”

Papua police chief Mathius Faakhiri told Indonesian news media Mehrtens was in “good health”.

“Currently, pilot Philip [Mehrtens] is still in the hands of the KKB [the name Indonesia gives to the Papuan armed group] led by Egianus Kogoya and is in good health,” he said.

Akoubou Amatus Douw, a spokesperson for the TPNPB, told the ABC they wanted the UN to mediate talks between New Zealand, Indonesia and TPNPB.

“That’s our position at the moment,” he said.

“He [Mehrtens] is part of our … people in the Pacific. We like to, you know, save his life. We respect human values, human rights for every individuals, according to the United Nations charter.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Warlords and armed bandits pose a threat to Papua New Guinea’s national security and must be destroyed, says Deputy Opposition Leader Douglas Tomuriesa.

“Warlords and armed bandits are very dangerous and pose a real threat to national security and freedom and must be destroyed,” he said.

“Police and the military are simply outgunned and outnumbered, and cannot effectively deal with the armed bandits.”

• READ MORE: Priority with ‘greedy’ kidnappers is to return captives to families, says PNG police chief
• Other PNG crime reports

He supported the call by former prime minister Peter O’Neill for the safe release of the hostages held by armed bandits in the Highlands region.

Three of the seven hostages held near the Mt Bosavi area at the border of the Southern Highlands and Hela provinces have been released by the bandits.

One of the captives is an Australian-based New Zealand professor and two Papua New Guinea women are among those still being held by the gunmen.

Tomuriesa said that the proliferation of warlords in the Highlands provinces armed with machine guns stolen from the PNG Defence Force armoury had been reported many times in the media.

But the James Marape-led coalition government had failed to address it seriously.

He added that the government should consider inviting the Australian and New Zealand special forces such as their SAS (Special Air Service) which possessed superior weapons and tactics to assist PNG deal with these “dangerous criminals and eliminate these so-called warlords once and for all”.

He also expressed concern over the kidnapping of innocent and harmless people, and joined the many Christians praying for the hostages.

Republished with permission.

As day five dawned in Papua New Guinea’s kidnapping drama, the family of one of the four hostages captives — one of three women held in the Bosavi mountains, Southern Highlands province — was relieved she was set free yesterday afternoon.

The Post-Courier was reliably informed of the release by the gunmen, with Police Commissioner David Manning confirming the news.

“The release of one female Papua New Guinean captive is a positive outcome, and negotiations continue for the safe release of the remaining two female Papua New Guineans and the male New Zealand citizen,” Commissioner Manning said.

• READ MORE: PNG gunmen free one of 3 women held captive, reports Post-Courier
• Other PNG kidnap drama reports

“From the information that we have received, the remaining three captives are in reasonable health, though [they] are being held in difficult terrain.

“We are continuing to work to strengthen lines of communication, which remains a challenging aspect of this operation.

“I will not go into deeper details at this point as this is an ongoing operation. The priority for police is to resolve this situation and return the remaining captives safely to their families.

“Negotiations are being undertaken with care so as to seek a peaceful resolution and minimise an escalation of tensions.”

Ten accused identified
Ten men from five clans in Komo LLG, Hela province, have been identified as the alleged kidnappers of the Australian-based New Zealand researcher and the three PNG women.

The Post-Courier understands that the men are from the clans of Pina, Hetaruku, Pi, Alo, Taburuma, and Hambuali.

Replying to questions raised by the Post-Courier, Commissioner Manning said: “We are working to negotiate an outcome.

“We are satisfied with the amount of information that we are receiving, pointing us to the area where they are kept and the identity of their captors,” he said.

“It is our intent to ensure the safe release of all and their safe return to their families. However, we also have contingencies if negotiations fail.

“At the end of the day, we are dealing with a criminal gang with no other established motive but greed.

“It is in everyone’s interest to ensure [that] we progress this effort as responsibly and safely as possible.

We have taken into consideration all factors and possible outcomes, we remain committed to ensuring a successful outcome.

“That being said, the group behind this abduction are aware that any harm coming to the people they are holding captive will be met with a swift security response.

“As one of the captives is a New Zealand citizen with Australian residency, the High Commissions of both countries continue to be briefed on the situation.”

Republished from the PNG Post-Courier with permission.

The Post-Courier has exclusively been advised of the release of one of the women held captive by armed men in the Bosavi mountains, Southern Highlands.

Police Commissioner David Manning confirmed with the newspaper that the woman was released yesterday afternoon with authorities working to bring her home.

“The release of one of the Papua New Guinean women is a positive outcome, and negotiations continue for the safe release of the remaining two women and the New Zealand professor,” he said.

The full story will be in the Post-Courier today.

Republished with permission.

• EARLIER STORY: Failure to free PNG hostages could cost captors ‘their lives’, warns police chief

Papua New Guinean security forces have been authorised to use the full force of the law to secure the four captives being held hostage by an armed gang in Bosavi, Nipa-Kutubu, Southern Highlands province since Sunday.

Police Commissioner David Manning said the abductors were being offered “a way out”.

Manning described the gang as having no “established motive but greed”.

• READ MORE: PNG police negotiators try to win freedom for hostage researchers
• PNG: Armed group seize Australian professor, 3 PNG researchers hostage, reports ABC
• PNG police say they will use lethal force if necessary
• West Papua: Wenda calls on rebels to release kidnapped NZ pilot
• Other hostage reports

“We are working to negotiate an outcome, it is our intent to ensure the safe release of all and their safe return to their families. However, we also have contingencies if negotiations fail,” he said.

“It is in everyone’s interest to ensure we progress this effort as responsibly and safely as possible.”

The four captive researchers are reported to be an Australian anthropology professor, a three women — a New Zealander and two PNG researchers.

“We have taken into consideration all factors and possible outcomes, we remain committed to ensuring a successful outcome,” said Commissioner Manning.

“We are satisfied with the amount of information that we are receiving, pointing us as to the area where they are kept and the identity of their captors.

‘Treated fairly’
“They can release their captives and they will be treated fairly through the criminal justice system, but failure to comply and resisting arrest could cost these criminals their lives.

“The full force of the law will be used to immobilise and apprehend the criminals,” Commissioner Manning said.

“Our specialised security force personnel will use whatever means necessary against the criminals, up to and including the use of lethal force, in order to provide for the safety and security of the people being held.”

Hela Governor Philip Undialu has called upon the captors of the four hostages to release them as they entered the second day of captivity.

In a response to questions by the Post-Courier, Governor Undialu said: “The location of the hostages is like two days’ walk from Komo with no communication network.

“The only access we have now is through a missionary based at Bosavi connected via a satellite phone.

“I have asked the LLG president, ward members and community leaders of Komo to find who’s missing in the community after speculation that some Komo youths are involved.

‘Act of terrorism’
“At this stage we do not have the identities of the individuals. Whatever the case maybe, no one has any right to abduct, kidnap, hold them hostage and ask for cash payment.

“This is an act of terrorism, like we hear of in other countries. Law enforcement agencies must take this seriously and deal with such crimes appropriately.”

His response comes after police said the armed men were allegedly from Komo in Hela.

He said that the situation was being closely monitored by the government.

Prime Minister James Marape, who is in Suva for the Pacific Islands Forum “unity” summit, has also confirmed that security personnel were monitoring the situation.

Across the nation, many people in the country have condemned the actions of the 21 men who are holding the four researchers hostage.

Republished from the PNG Post-Courier with permission.

An Australian-based anthropology professor and three Papua New Guinean women researchers are being held captive inside the jungles of the Southern Highlands after they were kidnapped at gunpoint in Fogoma’iu village in the Bosavi LLG.

Four local guides who were also seized were told to jump into the Hegigio river after being released by their captors after they were held for a few hours on Sunday morning.

A local villager (name withheld) spoke exclusively to the Post-Courier last night saying that the other four hostages had been moved a further 10km inland.

• READ MORE: PNG: Armed group seize Australian professor, 3 UPNG researchers hostage, reports ABC
• PNG police say they will use lethal force if necessary
• West Papua: Wenda calls on rebels to release kidnapped NZ pilot
• Other hostage reports

“The number of the gang members have now risen from 15 to 21 with the inclusion of another six men joining the group,” the villager said.

“The group remains adamant that their request for K3.5 million (NZ$1.6 million) remains before the hostages are released.”

The four who were released told locals in harrowing detail how after their release how their arms and legs had been bound with the professor threatened at gunpoint.

Fogoma’iu villagers said on Sunday morning at 2am that the home the research team were sleeping in at their village, a few kilometres from Mt Bosavi, was surrounded by several armed men.

Early hours
The group was taken away in the early hours of the morning.

Deputy Police Commissioner Philip Mitna said the armed criminals, reportedly from Komo in Hela province, were returning from Kamusi when they had sighted the victims and taken them hostage.

On Sunday morning, Prime Minister James Marape met with PNG’s Security Council and was briefed about the kidnapping and ransom demand of the group.

“This is the first time a ransom is attached to a hostage situation like this and I will make further statements in due time,” said Deputy Commissioner Mitna.

“This is the very first time and we are treating this very, very seriously; we don’t want it to be a precedent for the future. We are working with authorities concerned, at the moment the government is staying out of this picture in terms of negotiating on the ground.”

The Australian and New Zealand High Commissions in Port Moresby have both stated they were “aware of this situation but for privacy reasons no further information will be provided”.

In a short reply to questions by the Post-Courier, the PNG Defence Force said: “Yes, PNGDF is fully aware of it. Since, it’s within the context of operations, no comments/statement will be disclosed.”

Logging camp raids
The Post-Courier has uncovered that the armed group — now numbering 21 — had tried in two separate attempts to rob two logging sites in the Middle Fly area earlier this month.

However, both attempts were unsuccessful. The group left Middle Fly and trekked 101km  into Southern Highlans Province where it is alleged they came across the group of researchers.

Government and Security Council negotiators are continuing their communication with the armed men in a bid to secure their release.

• Both ABC News and the PNG Post-Courier have chosen not to name the captives given the sensitivity over this hostage situation.

Republished from the PNG Post-Courier with permission.

A West Papuan independence movement leader, Benny Wenda, says the release of New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens held hostage by armed rebels is out of his hands.

The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) fighters kidnapped Mehrtens on February 7 after he landed a small commercial passenger plane in Nduga regency.

The group then burned the Indonesian-owned Susi Air plane and demanded the New Zealand government negotiate directly for Merhtens’ release.

• READ MORE: Indigenous Papuan negotiators walk to forest hideout to seek release of pilot
• Other NZ pilot reports

Exiled Wenda is president of the peaceful United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP).

He told RNZ Pacific he did not condone the actions of the liberation army rebels and had called for them to release the pilot peacefully.

He said he sympathised with the New Zealand people and Merhtens’ family but insisted the situation was a result of Indonesia’s refusal to allow the UN Human Rights Commissioner to visit West Papua.

“Because the place where it’s actually happening is where hundreds of thousands [of indigenous Papuans] have been displaced from 2018 up to now — in Nduga, Intan Jaya, Mybrat and also Oksibil,” Wenda said.

‘Warning to Indonesia’
“So this happening right now is a warning to Indonesia to let the UN High Commissioner visit which they have been ignoring these last three years.”

“We are not enemies [with New Zealand]. We are very good,” Wenda said.

“New Zealand is a very strong supporter of West Papua.

“I do not think the [TPNPB] group can harm the pilot unless Indonesia uses the situation to do harm. That is my concern.”

He said Indonesia should consider TPNPB’s demands.

Wenda is leading a delegation from the ULMWP that is currently in Fiji ahead of the Pacific Islands Forum.

The group has observer status in the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) and is lobbying to become a full member.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

An armed group has taken an Australian professor and three colleagues hostage in a remote region of Papua New Guinea, reports ABC Pacific.

The ABC’s Port Moresby correspondent Natalie Whiting reported that the professor and colleagues were in the Highlands region doing field study when they were taken hostage.

As well as the Australian academic, the group included a Papua New Guinean programme coordinator and two University of PNG graduates.

• READ MORE: Further details from ABC News
• NZ pilot held hostage in neighbouring Papua

PNG Prime Minister James Marape told reporters in Port Moresby today there were “running conversations” between PNG authorities and the kidnappers, the ABC report said.

“I just want to inform the families of those taken hostage that we have been at work and contact has been made with people in the bush,” he said, according to the ABC report.

“We’ve got police and military on stand-by to assist. But, in the first instance, we want those criminals to release those who are held in captivity.

“We have been keeping this under close wraps because of the sensitivity and the need for us to get our friends [who were] captured, get them alive and safe.”

The ABC reported that it had chosen not to name the kidnapped Australian at this stage and had asked Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) for comment.

Meanwhile, UPNG Vice-Chancellor Professor Frank Griffin has denied any knowledge of reports of the abduction of four UPNG students in Southern Highlands over the weekend.

Sources from within UPNG’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences also confirmed they were still trying to find out the identity of a student who was allegedly among the hostages in Southern Highlands.

NZ hostage pilot
Earlier this month, in a separate incident across the border a group of West Papuan rebels fighting for independence in the western half of Papua New Guinea island seized a New Zealand pilot as a hostage on February 7.

They also set fire to his Susi Air plane at the remote highlands airstrip of Paro near Nduga.

Indonesian authorities have sent a negotiation team to make contact with the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) group led by Egianus Kogoya group to seek the release of the 37-year-old pilot Philip Mehrtens.

The rebels were demanding negotiations with the Indonesian government for independence for the Melanesian region.

An indigenous Papuan negotiation team has traversed rugged highlands forests in the Indonesian-ruled Melanesian province in search of the New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens, who was taken hostage by rebels last week.

The crisis over the captive pilot held by the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) led by Egianus Kogoya has entered day eight.

Papua Police chief Inspector-General Mathius Fakhiri said his party had sent a negotiation team consisting of indigenous people and several influential figures in Nduga regency to meet the armed group.

• READ MORE: Indonesia to negotiate with West Papuan rebels for NZ pilot’s release
• Papuan cat-and-mouse over NZ pilot taken captive by ‘freedom’ rebels — Backgrounder by David Robie
• TPNPB burns plane and takes Susi Air pilot hostage
• Other NZ pilot hostage reports

Inspector Fakhiri said the team had walked to the hideout location where Mehrtens was being held hostage.

“Please give us time as the team went there on foot. It will take one to two days to cross the river and pass through such difficult topography,” he said in a written statement.

“We hope they can arrive safely.”

On February 7, the TPNPB rebels set fire to a Susi Air plane with call sign PK-BVY that landed at an airstrip in Paro district.

“TPNPB has officially released photos and videos with the New Zealand pilot, and the pilot is in good health,” said Sambom

Local government help
TPNPB also claimed to have captured and held hostage pilot Mehrtens.

Fakhiri hoped that communication could be established between the negotiation team and Kogoya’s group so that Mehrtens could be released immediately.

He also hopes that the involvement of the Nduga Regency local government in the search for Philip Mark Mehrtens would be “fruitful”.

“We asked for help from the Nduga Regent and his people because they know the Nduga area best. They are ready to help, and there are also lawmakers who joined the team to negotiate with the TPNPB,” Inspector Fakhiri said.

Meanwhile, Susi Air operations director Melinasary said that the burning of the aircraft and the hostage taking of Philip Mark Mehrtens would not force the airline to withdraw from Papua.

She said Susi Air had been assisting development in Papua since 2006, pioneering flights and providing health assistance and medicines for the community.

“With this incident, we will not stop flying in the Papua region. But please give us protection,” Melinasary said.

Melinasary added that Susi Air would provide support in the search for pilot Mehrtens.

Logistics help
“We have provided flights for the search process and logistical assistance in the form of food in the search for our pilot,” she said.

On Tuesday, TPNPB spokesman Sebby Sambom released photos and videos of the Susi Air plane burning.

Sambom also released a video showing Philip Mehrtens with TPNPB Ndugama leader Egianus Kogoya.

“TPNPB has officially released photos and videos with the New Zealand pilot, and the pilot is in good health,” said Sambom

He also said that the pilot was a guarantee of political negotiations between TPNPB and Indonesia.

In the video circulating, Philip Mehrtens stood among TPNPB members and stated that Indonesia must recognise Papua’s independence.

Also in the video, Egianus Kogoya said his party would release the pilot if Papua was recognised as a free nation.

“Indonesia must admit that Papua is independent. We Papuans have long been independent,” Kogoya said.

Republished from Jubi News with permission

Authorities in Indonesia’s Melanesian province Papua will negotiate with indigenous pro-independence rebels to secure the release of a New Zealand pilot the insurgents took hostage last week, say police and military officials.

However, a spokesperson for the rebel group West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) said that while they were ready to negotiate, they would do so only if another country was involved as a mediator.

The Jakarta government’s negotiation plan came after the TPNPB released a video on Tuesday in which the group said it would kill pilot Philip Mehrtens if government security forces came for them.

• READ MORE: Papuan cat-and-mouse over NZ pilot taken captive by ‘freedom’ rebels
• Watch the ABC news report of the TPNPB video
• Why a NZ pilot is a pawn in the West Papua conflict that the world ignores
• Blood on the Cross: East Timor and West Papua – Mark Davis in Pacific Journalism Review
• Other West Papuan conflict reports

The Papuan police have been coordinating with the local government as well as indigenous and religious leaders to communicate with the local rebel group led by Egianus Kogoya, provincial police spokesman Benny Adi Prabowo said.

“Regional authorities . . . and customary and religious leaders have access,” he said.

“We are allowing them to take the lead in opening a space for communication with the Egianus Kogoya group,” he said.

Some people tasked with the negotiations have arrived in Nduga regency’s Paro district, where rebels set fire to a plane belonging to Susi Air and took Mehrtens hostage on February 7.

Mehrtens ID confirmed
Early yesterday, Papua military chief Major-General Muhammad Saleh Mustafa confirmed that the person in the photo and video released by the rebel group was Mehrtens.

“Based on the visible features, it is true that the photos and videos circulating on social media are of the Susi Air pilot, namely Captain Philip Mark Mehrtens,” Saleh said in a statement.

In the video, Mehrtens repeated the pro-independece group’s demand for the Indonesian military to withdraw from Papua.

“The Papuan military has taken me captive in their fight for Papuan independence. They ask for the Indonesian military to go home, if not I will remain captive and my life is threatened,” Mehrtens said.

Donal Fariz, a lawyer for Susi Air, also said the person in the video was Mehrtens.

‘Return to the motherland’s fold’
Early indications from comments on the government’s and the rebels’ side do not bode well.

TPNPB spokesman Sebby Sambom said that if Jakarta insisted on negotiating without involving the international community, there would be no talks.

“We don’t want to deal with the Indonesian government only,” Sambom said.

Meanwhile, Indonesian military spokesman Colonel Herman Taryaman called the rebel group’s demand for Indonesia to withdraw from Papua impossible to fulfill and “absurd”.

“In fact, we hope that their group will come to their senses and return to the motherland’s fold,” Taryaman said.

He added that New Zealand Embassy staff had met with Lieutenant General I. Nyoman Cantiasa, the commander of the joint military and police operation in Papua.

“They basically stated that the most important thing is that Philip is safe. Secondly, they asked us to have a medical team and medical equipment on stand-by in the event Philip is evacuated,” Nyoman said.

Earlier hostage-taking
In 2021, another Susi Air pilot from New Zealand and his three passengers were held by pro-independence rebels in Papua’s Puncak regency but were released after two hours.

Security forces were trying to locate Mehrtens by conducting air and land surveillance, Colonel Herman Taryaman said.

“We have not been able to pinpoint Captain Philip’s location yet,” he said.

Violence and tensions in Papua, a region that makes up the western half of New Guinea island, have intensified in recent years.

The region has a history of human rights violations by Indonesian security forces and police. Papuan pro-independence rebels also have been accused of attacking civilians.

In 1963, Indonesian forces invaded Papua, a former Dutch colony like Indonesia, and annexed it. In 1969, the United Nations sponsored a referendum where only 1025 people voted.

Despite accusations that the vote was a farce, the UN recognised the outcome, effectively endorsing Indonesia’s control over Papua.

Tria Dianti reports for BenarNews. Arie Firdaus in Jakarta also contributed to this report.

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.

Christchurch-raised Philip Mehrtens, 37, a pilot for the national feeder airline Susi Air owned by a former cabinet minister and with Jakarta government supply contracts, was seized by rebels last Tuesday, February 7, shortly after he had touched down at the remote Paro airstrip near Nduga in the Papuan highlands.

Five Indigenous Papuans on board the aircraft were set free and the plane was set on fire.

• READ MORE: Why a NZ pilot is a pawn in the West Papua conflict that the world ignores
• Blood on the Cross: East Timor and West Papua – Mark Davis in Pacific Journalism Review
• Other West Papuan conflict reports

After initial reports saying the authorities were trying to pinpoint the actual place where the rebels are in hiding and that a rescue operation is under way, the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) played a trump card today by releasing “proof of life” video footage and photos.

“Papua Merdeka!,” said Mehrtens in one of the obviously coached video messages. “The Papuan military have taken me captive in the fight for Papuan independence,” he added hesitantly while surrounded by a group of armed rebels.

Dressed in a denim jacket, he also wore a black tee-shirt displaying a clenched fist in the colours of the West Papuan Morning Star flag, banned under Indonesian law. The tee also sported the slogan “Papua Merdeka” (Papuan Freedom).

The rebels have gone to great pains to make it appear their captive is relaxed and in good health.

High stakes
The stakes are high with the Papuan rebels trying to attract world attention to their cause for independence, “forgotten” by the world for more than the past half century.

But analysts warn that there is a risk of a tragic outcome if a botched rescue takes place as happened the last time Indonesian security forces raided rebels of the Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM – Free Papua Movement) who had seized hostages at Mapenduma in 1996, also in the Papuan highlands.

A report of the “proof of life” messages from the TPNPB rebels by the ABC’s Jakarta correspondent Anne Barker.       Video: ABC Australia

Although in that operation on 15 May 1996 nine hostages were freed, two were killed by the captors while eight OPM guerrillas were killed and two captured.

Six days earlier another rescue bid had ended in disaster when an Indonesian military helicopter crashed killing all five soldiers on board.

Originally, on 8 January 1996, 29 members of a World Wildlife Fund research mission had been seized. However, the rebels promptly released 19 captives while holding 11 – four British, two Dutch and five Indonesians.

There were also international repercussions with the International Red Cross (ICRC) being accused of collaborating with the Indonesian military – later admitted by Jakarta after it was reported that they had used a white helicopter that had been involved in negotiations with soldiers on board.

White mercenaries were also accused of being part of the operation.

Rebel leader Kelly Kwalik had dropped a plan to release the remaining hostages, accusing the ICRC of not honouring their agreement. “We took the researchers hostage because we had no other way for our cause to be acknowledged,” he told the New Internationalist.

Human rights violations
The rescue raid mounted by Kopassus special forces – codenamed Operation Cenderawasih (Bird of Paradise) — was under the command of general Prabowo Subianto, former son-in-law of then President Suharto.

Prabowo was two years later dishonourably discharged from the military over allegations of human rights violations. Today he is a politician and Minister of Defence under President Joko Widodo.

The Papuan rebels are trying to reverse the narrative that is projected by Jakarta that the Melanesian provinces of Papua and West Papua (now increased to five) adjoining the independent country of Papua New Guinea are an integral part of Indonesia and those Indigenous people resisting are “terrorists”.

The rebels and also peaceful groups seeking self-determination argue that a 1969 referendum with 1025 handpicked voters supervised by the United Nations in the former Dutch colony voting “unanimously” for Indonesian rule in a so-called Act of Free Choice was a “sham”.

The lesson from this latest hostage-taking crisis, according to Australian academic Dr Camellia Webb-Gannon, who is author of Morning Star Rising: The Politics of Decolonisation in West Papua, is that there needs to be serious negotiations.

Echoing some of the demands of the rebels, she wrote in a backgrounder on the deeper issues of Indonesian colonialism that New Zealand, Australia – both accused of collaborating militarily with Jakarta — and other governments needed to seriously engage about human rights violations in Papua.

Webb-Gannon admitted it may not be enough to resolve the current crisis, “but it would be a long overdue and critical step in the right direction.”

Avoiding disproportionate response
As she stressed, negotiations for the release of Mehrtens must be handled carefully to “avoid further disproportionate responses” by the Indonesian military.

“The kidnapping is not justified, but neither is Indonesia’s violence against West Papuans — or the international community’s refusal to address the violence.”

There are other Papuan pro-independence players that are seeking a peaceful path to self-determination, such as the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) that is seeking to become a full member of the Port Vila-based Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG).

Exiled leader Benny Wenda issued a statement offering his “deepest sympathies” to the friends and family of hostage Mehrtens.

“At the same time, the ULMWP executive reiterates and reassures the New Zealand government and the world that we are [committed] to a peaceful, diplomatic approach,” he said in his statement condemning the Indonesian divide and rule policies.

“Our roadmap is very clear: we are pursuing the unified West Papuan goal of Merdeka – national liberation – peacefully, through diplomatic political mechanisms.

“We must not lose sight of the fact that Indonesia uses this kind of violence as part of a distinct strategy of occupation.

Stronger colonial grip
“Their aim is to intensify militarisation in West Papua as a way of strengthening their colonial grip on our land.”

Wenda highlighted how Indonesia’s Parliament had last year passed a law creating three new provinces in West Papua, as part of the renewal of the 2001 ‘Special Autonomy’ programme.

“West Papuans overwhelmingly reject ‘Special Autonomy’, more than 700,000 of us having signed a petition against it. Provincial division is a justification for increased militarisation in West Papua, pure and simple,” he said.

“By creating new administrative divisions, Indonesia justifies the establishment of new colonial infrastructure and new military posts.

“They do not want dialogue or peaceful protest — they want chaos and violence, for West Papua to remain a war zone.

“As our land is militarised and destroyed, our people are forcibly displaced.

“Depopulation is another key part of Indonesia’s colonial strategy: by removing West Papuans from our ancestral lands, they allow for massive exploitation of our natural resources.”

100,000 Papuans displaced
Wenda said that up to 100,000 West Papuans had been internally displaced since 2019, including close to half of Nduga’s entire population.

“They continue to live in the bush, deprived of education, food, and adequate medical facilities, unable to return to their homes.

“Indonesia labels us as terrorists while committing state terrorism in our lands.”
The ULMWP’s peaceful demands are:

• The withdrawal of all Indonesian troops from West Papua;
• Immediate access to West Papua for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights;
• Cancellation of ‘Special Autonomy’, including the new provincial division; and
• An immediate referendum on independence.

“The kidnap of a foreign pilot naturally brings West Papua to the attention of international media,” Wenda said. “But West Papuans are tortured and murdered daily by Indonesian forces, and international media are banned from seeing it.”

Meanwhile, Jubi News reports three New Zealand diplomats and two staff of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs have travelled to Timika, the capital of Mimika Regency, in the new Central Papua province this week to check on progress with the rescue operation.

They met military officers, including the commander of Timika region, Lieutenant-General Nyoman Cantiasa, on Monday. He appealed for “international support” to discuss the crisis with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Hopefully, a peaceful resolution can be found.

‘Proof of life’: Papua hostage takers say images show NZ pilot is alive https://t.co/b3aLjgkizm

— ABC News (@abcnews) February 14, 2023

“Phil Mehrtens is the nicest guy, he genuinely is — no one ever had anything bad to say about him,” says a colleague of the New Zealand pilot taken hostage last week by members of the West Papuan National Liberation Army (TPN-PB) in the mountainous Nduga Regency.

How such a nice guy became a pawn in the decades-long conflict between West Papua and the Indonesian government is a tragic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But it is also a symbolic and desperate attempt to attract international attention towards the West Papuan crisis.

• READ MORE: How the world failed West Papua in its campaign for independence
• Fight for freedom: new research to map violence in the forgotten conflict in West Papua
• West Papua is on the verge of another bloody crackdown
• Other Asia Pacific Report backgrounders on West Papua

A joint military and police mission has so far failed to find or rescue Mehrtens, and forcing negotiations with Jakarta is a prime strategy of TPN-PB.

As spokesperson Sebby Sambom told Australian media this week:

“The military and police have killed too many Papuans. From our end, we also killed [people]. So it is better that we sit at the negotiation table […] Our new target are all foreigners: the US, EU, Australians and New Zealanders because they supported Indonesia to kill Papuans for 60 years.

“Colonialism in Papua must be abolished.”

Sambom is referring to the international complicity and silence since Indonesia annexed the former Dutch colony as it prepared for political independence in the 1960s.

Mehrtens has become the latest foreign victim of the resulting protracted and violent struggle by West Papuans for independence.

Authorities have deployed a joint team to evacuate a foreign pilot after they were allegedly taken hostage by separatist fighters in the Papuan highlands on Tuesday. #jakpost https://t.co/nqyXZc082D

— The Jakarta Post (@jakpost) February 9, 2023

Violence and betrayal
The history of the conflict can be traced back to 1962, when the US facilitated what became known as the New York Agreement, which handed West Papua over to the United Nations and then to Indonesia.

In 1969, the UN oversaw a farcical independence referendum that effectively allowed the permanent annexation of West Papua by Indonesia. Since that time, West Papuans have been subjected to violent human rights abuses, environmental and cultural dispossession, and mass killings under Indonesian rule and mass immigration policies.

New Zealand and Australia continue to support Indonesian sovereignty over West Papua, and maintain defence and other diplomatic ties with Jakarta. Australia has been involved in training Indonesian army and police, and is a major aid donor to Indonesia.

Phil Mehrtens is far from the first hostage to be taken in this unequal power struggle. Nearly three decades ago, in the neighbouring district of Mapenduma, TPN-PB members kidnapped a group of environmental researchers from Europe for five months.

Like now, the demand was that Indonesia recognise West Papuan independence. Two Indonesians with the group were killed.

The English and Dutch hostages were ultimately rescued, but not before further tragedy occurred.

At one point, negotiations seemed to have stalled between the West Papuan captors and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which was delivering food and supplies to the hostages and working for their release.

Taking matters into their own hands, members of the Indonesian military commandeered a white civilian helicopter that had been used (or was similar to one used) by the ICRC. Witnesses recall seeing the ICRC emblem on the aircraft.

When the helicopter lowered towards waiting crowds of civilians, the military opened fire.

The ICRC denied any involvement in the resulting massacre, but the entire incident was emblematic of the times. It took place several years before the fall of former Indonesian president Suharto, when there was little hope of West Papua gaining independence from Indonesia through peaceful negotiations.

Then, as now, the TPN-PB was searching for a way to capture the world’s attention.

Human rights researcher pleads for West Papuan rebels to free NZ pilot

Losing hope
Since the early 2000s, with Suharto gone and fresh hope inspired by East Timor’s independence, Papuans — including members of the West Papuan Liberation Army — have largely been committed to fighting for independence through peaceful means.

After several decades of wilful non-intervention by Australia and New Zealand in what they consider to be Jakarta’s affairs, that hope is flagging. It appears elements of the independence movement are again turning to desperate measures.

In 2019, the TPN-PB killed 24 Indonesians working on a highway to connect the coast with the interior, claiming their victims were spies for the Indonesian army. They have become increasingly outspoken about their intentions to stop further Indonesian expansion in Papua at any cost.

In turn, this triggered a hugely disproportionate counter-insurgency operation in the highlands where Phil Mehrtens was captured. It has been reported at least 60,000 people have been displaced in the Nduga Regency over the past four years as a result, and it is still not safe for them to return home.

International engagement
It is important to remember that the latest hostage taking, and the 1996 events, are the actions of a few. They do not reflect the commitment of the vast majority of Indigenous West Papuans to work peacefully for independence through demonstrations, social media activism, civil disobedience, diplomacy and dialogue.

Looking forward, New Zealand, Australia and other governments close to Indonesia need to commit to serious discussions about human rights in West Papua — not only because there is a hostage involved, but because it is the right thing to do.

This may not be enough to resolve the current crisis, but it would be a long overdue and critical step in the right direction.

Negotiations for the release of Philip Mehrtens must be handled carefully to avoid further disproportionate responses by the Indonesian military.

The kidnapping is not justified, but neither is Indonesia’s violence against West Papuans — or the international community’s refusal to address the violence.

Dr Camellia Webb-Gannon, lecturer, University of Wollongong, and author of Morning Star Rising: The Politics of Decolonisation in West Papua. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

Indonesian police and military have launched a joint mission to rescue a New Zealand pilot who was seized by rebels as a hostage in Indonesia’s Papua region on Tuesday, media reports say.

The Jakarta Post reports that authorities have set up a joint search and rescue operation to try and locate Susi Air pilot Philip Merthens, who was seized after landing a small plane on a remote airstrip in the Papuan highlands.

The rebels have threatened to execute him if their demands are not met.

• LISTEN TO RNZ PACIFIC WAVES:  Interview with Andreas Harsono 
• Human rights researcher pleads for West Papuan rebels to free NZ pilot
• Indonesian security forces ‘have no idea’ where NZ pilot hostage is
• Indonesian rights researcher slams kidnapping – efforts to free NZ pilot
• NZ Papua hostage: Pilots warned to take precautions in ‘danger’ zone
• Papuan rebels seize NZ pilot hostage, set local plane on fire, say reports
• Rebels claim New Zealand pilot taken hostage in Indonesia’s Papua
• Other West Papuan conflict reports

Reuters reports that the West Papua National Liberation Army had claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the pilot would not be released until the Indonesian government acknowledged the independence of the Melanesian region of West Papua.

Merthens also had five passengers on board and it was unclear what had happened to them.

The Jakarta Post reports that the operation, codenamed Peaceful Carstensz, was launched by Indonesia police and the Indonesian military (TNI). The name Carstensz alludes to the mountainous region where the incident occurred.

Merthens’ location was still unclear due to conflicting information issued on Wednesday, the report said.

Consular support
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade also earlier said it was providing consular support to the Merthens’ family and said it would not comment further because of privacy reasons, The New Zealand Herald reports.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins told RNZ he had been given preliminary details and said the New Zealand embassy in Indonesia was working to help free Merthens, according to The Herald.

A researcher at Human Rights Watch in Jakarta has called for the immediate release of the hostages, including Merthens.

Researcher Andreas Harsono knew the main spokesperson of the rebel group, Sebby Sambom, after decades of research in the field.

He made a call to him personally to let the hostages go.

A former New Zealand pilot, who flew for Susi Air for just over a year ending in 2017, said pilots were warned by the airline to take precautions in the region — things such as keeping a low profile, travelling in groups, finding a driver to take them around, and not leaving compounds at night.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

A researcher at Human Rights Watch in Jakarta is calling for the immediate release of the six hostages — including a New Zealand pilot — being held by a rebel group in Indonesia’s Papua region.

The rebels in Highlands Papua are threatening to execute Susi Air pilot Phillip Mehrtens if their demands are not met.

Five other people are also believed to have been taken hostage in the attack.

• LISTEN TO RNZ PACIFIC WAVES:  Interview with Andreas Harsono 
• Indonesian security forces ‘have no idea’ where NZ pilot hostage is
• Indonesian rights researcher slams kidnapping – efforts to free NZ pilot
• NZ Papua hostage: Pilots warned to take precautions in ‘danger’ zone
• Papuan rebels seize NZ pilot hostage, set local plane on fire, say reports
• Rebels claim New Zealand pilot taken hostage in Indonesia’s Papua
• Other West Papuan conflict reports

The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) has posted an ultimatum on social media demanding Jakarta negotiate with them over independence for the region.

“Pilot is still alive and he will be held hostage for negotiations with Jakarta, if Jakarta is obstinate, then the pilot will be executed,” the statement read.

“We will take the New Zealand citizen pilot as hostage and we are waiting for accountability from the Australian government, the New Zealand government, the European Union governments, and the United Nations, because for 60 years these countries have supported Indonesia to kill Indigenous Papuans.”

Researcher Andreas Harsono knows the main spokesperson of the rebel group, Sebby Sambom, after decades of research in the field.

Personal appeal
He made a call to him personally to let the hostages go.

“I call on this group to immediately release all of the hostages including the pilot — it is a crime to kidnap anyone including this pilot,” he told RNZ Pacific.

“I do not know how to measure the seriousness of such a threat but this is a hostage situation, things could be out of control. So the best way is to negotiate and ask them to release the pilot.”

Harsono noted the difficulties for New Zealand attempting to negotiate with the group, particularly given their demands.

“I don’t think it is easy or even internationally accepted to pressure the New Zealand government to negotiate for West Papuan independence from Indonesia,” he said.

“It is way too complicated for any country in the world, including New Zealand, to negotiate the independence of this particular territory. But, of course, the Papuan people have suffered a lot and the Indonesian government should do more to end impunity and human rights abuses in West Papua.

“But this is a hostage situation. The most important thing is to call on this group to immediately and unconditionally release all of the hostages, including the New Zealand pilot.”

Very remote region
Harsono said he did not know whether the passengers had been taken hostage, nor did he know if they were indigenous Papuans.

“The area is very remote, only certain people go there, mainly construction workers, and there were killings against Indonesian workers back in 2018,” he said.

Indonesian authorities say they are facing difficulties locating Merhtens because of the lack of telecommunications facilities in Paro district and the absence of any Indonesian military or police post in the area.

Jubi News quotes Papua Police spokesperson Ignatius Benny Ady Prabowo, saying they were continuing to track the whereabouts of Mehrtens and were preparing to go to Paro district.

He said that before the burning of the plane, rumours had been circulating that a rebel group had threatened 15 construction workers who were building a health centre in the district.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins, told Radio New Zealand: “The New Zealand embassy in Indonesia is working on the case.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Indonesian security forces do not know the whereabouts of the New Zealand pilot taken hostage by the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) on Tuesday,

Captain Philip Mehrtens, a pilot for Susi Air, was taken hostage following the burning of his aircraft in Paro district, Nduga regency, in a rugged part of Indonesian-ruled Papua province on Tuesday.

One of the obstacles in finding Mehrtens is the lack of telecommunications facilities in Paro and there is no Indonesian military post in the area, says a police spokesperson.

• READ MORE: Indonesian rights researcher slams kidnapping – efforts to free NZ pilot
• NZ Papua hostage: Pilots warned to take precautions in ‘danger’ zone
• Papuan rebels seize NZ pilot hostage, set local plane on fire, say reports
• Rebels claim New Zealand pilot taken hostage in Indonesia’s Papua
• Other West Papuan conflict reports

Papua Police spokesperson Senior Commander Benny Prabowo said security forces continued to track the whereabouts of the pilot.

According to Commander Prabowo, the Nduga police were preparing to go to Paro district.

“Until now, the investigation is still being carried out by the police assisted by the Cartenz Peace Task Force,” he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, a Susi Air aircraft was burned after landing in Paro district.

The local leader of the TPNPB Ndugama-Derakma, Egianus Kogeya, said the plane was burned by his men. Kogeya also stated that his group had captured and held Captain Mehrtens hostage.

Preceded by threats
Benny said that before the burning of the plane, rumours had been circulating since Saturday that the TPNPB had threatened 15 construction workers who were building a health center in Paro district.

Commander Prabowo said the Nduga police had received a report from the Nduga regent who said the construction workers were questioned by TPNPB because they did not have complete identities.

“We got information that 15 people had left Paro district and headed to Mapenduma. But their whereabouts are still being investigated by the Cartenz Peace Task Force,” he explained.

Commander Prabowo hoped that the public would entrust the handling of the hostage case to the police.

“Telecommunication access there is still very limited, so there is very little information. I hope all parties will be patient,” he said.

The TPNPB rebels are fighting for independence in West Papua and say they will not release the pilot until their demands are met.

Republished from Jubi with permission.

A former New Zealand pilot says flying for an Indonesian airline can be dangerous, and those who do so are warned to take precautions in Papua.

This comes it was reported last night that a New Zealander, working as a pilot for Susi Air, was taken hostage by pro-independence fighters in West Papua.

Reuters reported that the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the pilot would not be released until the Indonesian government acknowledged the independence of West Papua.

• READ MORE: Papuan rebels seize NZ pilot hostage, set local plane on fire, say reports
• Rebels claim New Zealand pilot taken hostage in Indonesia’s Papua
• Other West Papuan conflict reports

The pilot was identified by Reuters as Captain Philip Merthens.

It is still unclear what happened to the five passengers reportedly on board, but the plane is said to have been set alight by the fighters.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins told RNZ today that New Zealand officials in Indonesia were working on the case.

He said while standard practice was to give hostage situations minimal airtime, he could confirm the New Zealand Embassy was aware of the situation, and he would be receiving a full briefing.

Support for family
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the New Zealand Embassy was providing consular support to the family, but for privacy reasons it would not be commenting further.

A former New Zealand pilot, who flew for Susi Air for just over a year ending in 2017, said pilots were warned by the airline to take precautions in Papua — things such as keeping a low profile, travelling in groups, finding a driver to take them around, and not leaving the compound at night.

Susi Air was known for flying government-commissioned “perintis flights” — pioneer flights — carrying mostly freight to remote areas of Indonesia, he said.

These were subsidised by the Indonesian government, intended to open up regional development.

Susi Air was founded by a former Indonesian Fisheries Minister, Susi Pudjiastuti.

All of this combined to make Susi Air near-synonymous with the Indonesian government.

The pilot who spoke to RNZ said the airline still ran the largest fleet of passenger-carrying Cessna Caravans in the world, and flew all around the Indonesian islands, including to Papua.

Mostly freight
Susi Air flights carried mostly freight, flying from tiny regional towns into main centres, picking up coffee beans, sugar, rice, and bringing in daily goods like washing powder

According to online reports, including aviation-safety.net, the plane flown by Captain Merthens was a Pilatus Porter, which only requires one pilot — unlike the Cessna Caravans, which the pilot said was required to be flown by two people at Susi Air.

The pilot said it was relatively common for foreign pilots to work for Susi Air. Those wanting to get more hours under their belt to be considered for a commercial airline back home would go to Indonesia to do so.

The situation within the country was tense, but most pilots saw it as part of the job.

“Most are just there to get their hours up and get out,” he said.

Since the region was brought under Indonesian control in 1969, there has been a low-level struggle for independence with the conflict escalating further from 2018.

‘Needlessly cruel’
“The smaller islands are being forced to align with a culture established in Jakarta,” the pilot said, and the Indonesian military had been “needlessly cruel and violent” in its oppression of the West Papuans.

As a white foreigner working for the Indonesian state, it was conceivable that Captain Merthens was in real danger — foreigners were, with some frequency, seen as pawns in this way, he said.

He said it was almost certain that the Indonesian government would not give in to the demands of the pro-independence rebels.

He had also heard reports of an aircraft being shot at while departing Papua, with bullets found lodged in the airframe under the pilot’s seat.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Pro-independence rebels in Indonesia’s Papua province have seized a New Zealand pilot as hostage after setting a small commercial plane on fire when it landed in a remote Highlands airstrip earlier today, say news agency reports.

A police spokesperson in Papua province, Senior Commander Ignatius Benny Adi Prabowo, said authorities were investigating the incident claimed by a militant West Papuan group at Paro airstrip in Nduga.

Police and military personnel have been sent to the area to locate the pilot and five passengers, the news agencies report.

• READ MORE: Other West Papuan conflict reports

“We cannot send many personnel there because Nduga is a difficult area to reach. We can only go there by plane,” Commander Prabowo said.

AP reports that rebel spokesperson Sebby Sambom said independence fighters from the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), the military wing of the Free Papua Organisation (OPM), had stormed the plane shortly after it landed.

“We have taken the pilot hostage and we are bringing him out,” Sambom said in a statement.

“We will never release the pilot we are holding hostage unless Indonesia recognises and frees Papua from Indonesian colonialism.”

Reuters news agency identified the pilot as Captain Philip Merthens.

Unclear about passengers
A military spokesperson in Papua, Lieutenant-Colonel Herman Taryaman, said it was unclear if the five accompanying passengers had also been abducted.

The plane, operated by Susi Air, landed safely early this morning, before being attacked by the rebel fighters, authorities said.

The TPNPB made no mention of the passengers in its statement, but said this was the second time the group had taken a hostage. The first incident was in 1996.

The New Zealand embassy in Jakarta and the Indonesian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A struggle for independence in the resource-rich Indonesia’s Melanesian provinces has been waged since Indonesian gained control in a vote overseen by the United Nations in 1969, but condemned by many West Papuans as a “sham”.

New Zealand pilot taken hostage in Indonesia, say Papua rebel group https://t.co/1JGHhNHKou

— ST Foreign Desk (@STForeignDesk) February 7, 2023

The conflict has escalated significantly since 2018 with a build-up of Indonesian forces and  with pro-independence fighters mounting deadlier and more frequent attacks.

Susi Air founder and former Indonesian Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said on Twitter she was praying for the safety of the pilot and passengers.

Mohon dukungan & dia semoga pilot kami di Nduga Paro diberikan lindungan Alloh SWT .. bisa kami jemput selamat https://t.co/iR71EzAjnL

— Susi Pudjiastuti (@susipudjiastuti) February 7, 2023

RNZ has approached the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in New Zealand for comment.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

West Papua National Liberation Army claims kidnapping of NZ pilot #terrorism https://t.co/nOZZN1E5xo

— Phil Gurski (@borealissaves) February 7, 2023

An academic says hostage diplomacy is a well-known tactic of the Iranian regime and New Zealanders should not go to the country.

Topher Richwhite and Bridget Thackwray are understood to have been detained for months after entering Iran.

The New Zealand government negotiated for the safe release of the pair but has remained tight-lipped about the details.

• LISTEN TO RNZ MORNING REPORT: ‘Iran is in the middle of a revolution’ – Massey University lecturer Dr Negar Partow
• Protests in Berlin, US cities in solidarity with Iranian women
• Iran protests: Why the country’s women are rebelling
• Other Mahsa Amini solidarity reports

A senior lecturer from Massey University who was born and raised in Iran, Dr Negar Partow, said there was a pattern of this kind of action in Iran.

However, she told RNZ Morning Report it was not necessarily naive for the couple to visit the country.

When they arrived in July it was much quieter than what it became when the unrest started in September after the death of Mahsa Amini, who was detained by morality police for allegedly not covering her hair properly.

However, travelling in a Jeep — a US brand — might have created suspicions, she said.

NZ not especially targeted
The move against the New Zealanders was not especially targeted at this country, she said, with as many as 70 nations having citizens in Iranian prisons.

“The fact that Iran entered a revolutionary phase complicated the situation and gave the Islamic Republic the opportunity to use them and to create a hostage diplomacy. This is not particular to Aotearoa. They do it all around the world,” she said.

People with dual citizenship, diplomats, activists, and human rights and environmental advocates were especially vulnerable to attention from Iranian authorities.

If the couple had been focusing on environmental concerns that may have made them a target, she said.

“As the Islamic Republic becomes more and more challenged and de-legitimised by this revolution, these hostage crises will increase and they will use any opportunity as a bargaining chip.”

There have been conflicting reports on now the couple were detained.

Dr Partow said Iran used different models, including imprisonment or being detained in a safe house and not being allowed to communicate.

Richwhite and Thackwray would have had their passports confiscated and their cellphones removed with their Instagram posts stopping in July.

She believed they were not put in prison.

Tepid resoponse by NZ
Asked about the tepid response by the New Zealand government to the unrest in Iran, she said the government was trying to do a delicate balancing act while the couple were being detained.

Many Western governments had to resort to hostage diplomacy with Iran.

While Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta has warned against visiting Iran due to the potential for violence, Dr Partow said it was important to remember the violence was being perpetrated by the security agencies not the protesters.

She said now that the couple had been freed, she was hopeful Aotearoa would take a stronger stance.

“Yes we have been too kind but I’m hoping that as we come out of this period and everybody’s back to normal diplomacy we will take stronger action against the Islamic republic,” she said.

“As the prime minister mentioned as well, this was a delicate diplomatic situation … we did have two New Zealanders inside Iran detained and I think that [strong criticism of Iran] would create more complications.”

Expulsion of ambassador
The expulsion of the ambassador, campaigning for oil embargoes, speaking out publicly to support the rights of Iranian women and human rights lobbying at the United Nations were among measures New Zealand should be considering.

“Now that we have been the victim of hostage crisis in the Islamic Republic that should give us much more importance into the project and we should actually work on it,” she said.

As for advice for potential visitors, she said: “Definitely not. Iran is in the middle of a revolution.”

Ordinary citizens were not in a position to offer help to foreign tourists and it was far better that they stayed away.

She said as the revolution approached the six-week mark, the response from authorities to the demonstrations was becoming even more violent and oppressive.

Asked about Act’s move to block a motion calling for a unified condemnation of Iran’s oppression of women’s rights unless Greens MP Golriz Ghahraman apologised for interrupting a speech made by party leader David Seymour in the House, she said it should be remembered that the Iranian government was now killing children and this was a more important consideration.

Deputy PM pleased couple released
The government is remaining tight lipped about what it took to secure the release of the couple.

Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson said Iran was a dangerous place and New Zealanders should obey the travel warnings not to go there.

Consular officials around the world did not judge New Zealanders who got into trouble —  instead they got on with the job of helping them regain their freedom.

“I’m just pleased we’ve been able to get them out.”

Robertson told RNZ First Up he could not comment specifically on the couple’s case — but he said it was important to understand the customs and rules of other countries — and to understand whether you should be there at all.

He said no doubt the pair would reflect on what they have been through.

Call for NZ govt to take strong stand
An Iranian-Kurdish journalist now living in New Zealand said the government needed to do more regarding the actions of Iran’s government.

Behrouz Boochani, who was granted refugee status in New Zealand in July 2020, said New Zealand should speak out loudly against the Iranian regime.

He said the current unrest was a revolution and was a call for regime change in Iran.

While there had been mass protests in the past, this year felt different because it involved more people and more cities.

He said he was delighted the couple had been freed. However, the Iranian community in New Zealand had been disappointed in Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s response to the unrest in Iran to this point.

He said since Mahsa Amini’s death another 250 people had been killed, including more than 20 children.

“So we expect the New Zealand government to strongly condemn this violence and strongly support the protesters on the street and the people of Iran.”

The US and Australia have criticised the Iranian government’s actions and it was time New Zealand followed suit.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.