Cenderawasih Regional Military Command Spokesman Colonel Tri Purwanto told ANTARA on Saturday evening that preliminary investigations indicated the attack was carried out by the Kodap III Ndugama's armed faction.
"The shooting carried out by the armed group left two civilians injured. They are currently receiving medical treatment from paramedics at the Wamena Regional General Hospital," Purwanto said.
He said the attack was likely an attempt to disrupt the two-day festival after the military tightened security and restricted the armed group's movements in the area.
"We strongly condemn the shooting of civilians and will ensure this group has no room to disrupt public security," he said.
The shooting occurred at about 12:50 p.m. local time, roughly 500 meters from the festival entrance, as the victims arrived to attend the event.
The victims were identified as Laode Muhammad, 43, who suffered a gunshot wound to the knee, and Salbia, 50, who was shot in the right thigh.
The cultural festival was held on August 7 and 8 to boost the local economy and promote tourism.
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Translator: Evarukdijati, Uyu Liman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Jayapura, Jubi – The 2026 Papua Film Festival is seeking to build collective awareness among Papuans through documentary filmmaking. Organised by Papuan Voices, the festival opened on Friday (7 August 2026) at Liborang Dormitory in Padang Bulan, Jayapura City, Papua Province, and will run until Sunday (9 August 2026).
National chair of Papuan Voices Stracky Yali said the festival aims to strengthen collective awareness by giving communities a platform to document and share their own experiences through film.
This year’s festival adopts a different format, with screenings no longer concentrated solely in Jayapura. Films will also be screened in several other parts of Papua.
“The film festival is part of our community work to document and give a voice to the social, environmental, cultural and political issues unfolding across Papua,” Yali said.
Papuan Voices has community networks across the region, he said, allowing the festival to showcase stories and issues from different communities that experience them firsthand.
Festival organising committee chair Max Wayeni said previous editions had been centred in a single location, with participants from other regions travelling to Jayapura. This year, organisers are introducing smaller satellite festivals in other areas.
“Last year, we focused on one location, such as Jayapura, and friends from other regions came here. This year, we are doing things differently. The main festival remains in Jayapura, but we are also holding mini-festivals in other regions,” Wayeni said.
He said the new approach reflects the fact that Papua’s social, environmental and cultural challenges extend far beyond Jayapura, affecting communities in Biak, Fakfak, Merauke, Wamena, Paniai, Nabire, Serui and elsewhere.
As a result, this year’s festival is featuring simultaneous screenings across seven locations: Fakfak, Wamena, Paniai, Nabire, Biak, Serui and Jayapura.
“We want Papua’s stories to come not only from Jayapura but from every region. This is the reality of Papua today,” Wayeni said. The festival is intended not simply as a space to watch films but also as a forum for discussion, allowing audiences to examine issues facing Papua and consider possible ways forward.
In Jayapura, the festival also features an exhibition where communities can
showcase their work and the issues they are documenting through different forms of
media. The festival’s theme, “Nature and the Lives of Papuans,” was chosen to reflect the
interconnected challenges facing people and the environment in Papua.
“Today, Papuan people are facing oppression, while Papua’s natural environment is also being extensively displaced and destroyed. That is why we chose the theme ‘Nature and the Lives of Papuans,” Wayeni said.
Papuan Voices believes local communities must have the opportunity to tell their own stories, he said, because they possess knowledge and lived experience that is deeply connected to their land, culture and customary traditions.
“The people in the villages are the ones who know their customary lands. I can speak about my own area, but our friends in Merauke know far more about the customary land and cultural issues there. That is why we are taking the festival to all regions,” he said.
Wayeni described documentary films as a form of living archive, capable of preserving stories and facts long after their creators are gone.
“A documentary is a living work. The person who makes it may die, but the film will remain alive. It will continue telling the story of our land,” he said.
Documentary filmmaking is particularly important because it can bring forward facts and grassroots voices that do not always receive attention in mainstream media.
Stories from villages, he said, are often overlooked, meaning issues affecting local communities can remain largely unknown outside their immediate surroundings.
Through documentaries, communities can record and tell their own stories about land, the environment, daily life and changes taking place in their communities. Advances in technology have also made filmmaking more accessible.
Mobile phones, which are widely available, can now be used to record and document events
and issues in local communities.
Wayeni encouraged young people across Papua to begin documenting their communities and the challenges they face. When problems arise, local residents can record what is happening and connect with other communities through their
networks.
“If there is a problem in your area, record it. If your land is being taken, document it. By building networks, other people can learn about and tell the story of what is happening in Papua,” Wayeni said.
He said the 2026 Papua Film Festival is therefore more than a series of film screenings. It is intended as a space to build collective awareness, strengthen community networks and preserve stories about Papua’s environment and people’s lives through documentary filmmaking. (*)
Jayapura, Jubi – Papuan human rights defender and recipient of the Yap Thiam Hien Award (1999) and the Goldman Environmental Prize (2001), Mama Yosepha Alomang, has undergone cataract surgery at an eye hospital on Cik Ditiro Street in Jakarta.
She is currently staying in the hospital as an inpatient so her condition can be closely monitored, as her post-operative treatment requires regular care and medication.
Aloysius Renwarin, a lawyer who has long accompanied Alomang, said close medical supervision is particularly important for her eye treatment, including administering prescribed eye drops at specific times.
“I hope PT Freeport Indonesia will cover her ongoing inpatient treatment at the eye
hospital rather than leaving her to manage her care as an outpatient,” Renwarin told Jubi in Jayapura on Friday (7 August 2026).
Renwarin said Alomang’s vision had deteriorated severely, with only one of her eyes still able to perceive light, although she could no longer clearly recognise people’s faces.
“She is around 82 years old, and her age has also affected her eyesight. We hope she can receive inpatient care so that her condition can be properly monitored. While she has been in Jakarta, she has generally received treatment as an outpatient, which has made it difficult to ensure consistent care,” he said.
Alomang was born in Akimuga, Mimika Regency, now part of Central Papua Province, around 1940. She later moved to Timika with her husband and two children when the area was still largely forested and had little settlement activity. “I worked in Timika, helping the Amungme people and accompanying my husband in the field and in the Kwamki Lama settlement,” Alomang recalled in an earlier interview.
From a young age, Alomang campaigned for the basic rights of Indigenous communities living in the area affected by PT Freeport Indonesia’s operations.
During the 1980s, she was arrested anddetained several times, including in containers belonging to the company.
Many of the senior Amungme figures who were involved in the struggle have since
died, including Thom Beanal, a fellow campaigner who helped bring environmental
and human rights cases to court in New Orleans, United States. (*)
