2) Three TNI Soldiers Injured During Shooting Contact With KKB In Kiwirok
4) Pacific Islands Forum’s inaction on West Papua undermines vision of united Blue Pacific
5) A list of sources of information/links in Bahasa/English. PAPUA 2025 August
1) Indonesia declares West Papua an ‘Internal Matter’ at MSG peace talks
Unity First, Says Naivalarua
“There will always be differences in all aspects, whether it’s political, economic, security issues. But here you would have noted that the spirit of the MSG is all about a unified effort to take us forward and catapult our region forward.”
2) Three TNI Soldiers Injured During Shooting Contact With KKB In Kiwirok
26 September 2025, 19:19 | Editorial Team
Kasdam XVII/Cendrawasih Brigadier General Thevi A. Zebua said three soldiers from Infantry Battalion 753/AVT suffered gunshot wounds during a shootout with KKB in Kiwirok, Bintang Mountains Regency.
"There were three soldiers who were injured in a shootout with the KKB in Kiwirok, Thursday (25/9)," said Kasdam XVII Cendrawasih Brigadier General Thevi A. Zebua as reported by ANTARA, Friday, September 26.
According to him, from the reports received; Battalion 753/AVT soldiers who suffered gunshot wounds have been evacuated and treated at RST Marthen Indey Jayapura.
The injured soldier was part of the Food Swasembada Task Force on duty in the Bintang Mountains Regency.
"I cannot confirm the condition of the victims who have now been handled by paramedics at the Marthen Indey Hospital in Jayapura," said Kasdam.
Data compiled by Antara revealed that the KKB Kodap 15 Ngalum Kupel led by Lamek Alipki Taplo attacked the Battalion 753/ATV Task Force post in Kiwirok, resulting in three soldiers being injured, namely Serda Yulianus Adrianto Erari, who suffered a gunshot wound to the waist. , Prada Haris Umumernate suffered a gunshot wound to his head and Pratu Hidayat was hit by a reset on the temple.
When carrying out the attack, it is estimated that there are 20 KKBs with four long-barreled and short-barreled weapons.
Based on information, Prada Haris Umumernate was reported to have died after being evacuated from Kiwirok.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
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https://www.greenleft.org.au/2025/1439/world/pacific-islands-forums-inaction-west-papua-undermines-vision-united-blue-pacific
4) Pacific Islands Forum’s inaction on West Papua undermines vision of united Blue Pacific
Ali Mirin September 26, 2025, Issue 1439, World
The four-day Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting in Honiara, Solomon Islands, concluded on September 12 with a commitment to unity under the banner “Iumi Tugeda” (“We are Together”).
Eighteen Pacific states celebrated new agreements on climate resilience, nuclear-free oceans, labour mobility and political transitions, including Bougainville’s impending independence. Leaders signed the Pacific Resilience Facility treaty, endorsed Fiji’s Ocean of Peace declaration and supported Australia’s proposal to co-host next year’s COP31 climate summit.
Yet the region’s deepest wound remains unhealed. For West Papua, where Indonesian military operations continue to displace tens of thousands, the forum once again offered cautious words and postponed action.
The forum’s final communiqué devoted just a single paragraph to West Papua. It reaffirmed Indonesia’s sovereignty, recalled a six-year-old invitation for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit and vaguely referenced a leaders’ envoy mission planned for next year.
For Papuans, who have been waiting for more than half a century for self-determination, this represented no progress — only the latest ritual of concern without consequence.
Jakarta ignores global voice for West Papua
Since the early 1990s, UN special rapporteurs and treaty bodies have sought access to West Papua. In 2012 and 2013, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression requested a visit, but Indonesia refused.
In 2018, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein stated his office was ready to proceed, but Jakarta’s “invitation” proved illusory.
In 2019, UNHCR Michelle Bachelet reiterated the request amid escalating violence, but no visit materialised.
In 2020 and 2022, UN experts condemned killings and mass displacement, again urging humanitarian access, but nothing changed.
More than 100 UN member states have supported a high commissioner’s visit, yet it has never occurred.
Regional and intergovernmental bodies have echoed this call. Since 2019, the PIF has urged Jakarta to allow UN human rights investigators to enter the country. The Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States has passed a resolution calling for West Papua to be placed on the UN Human Rights Council’s agenda.
The European Union and members of European parliament, as well as churches and civil society groups across Oceania, Africa and Europe, have added their voices and advocated for access.
Jakarta has consistently ignored them.
Journalism silenced, voices suppressed
International media outlets and humanitarian organisations face similar challenges. Despite President Joko Widodo’s 2015 claim that foreign journalists could enter freely, visa restrictions, surveillance and expulsions mean West Papua remains one of the world’s least-reported conflicts.
During mass protests in 2019, Indonesia shut down the internet to suppress information. For more than three decades, Jakarta has blocked and ignored every request for independent scrutiny of atrocities and military operations.
West Papua has some of the world’s richest deposits of gold, copper, timber and biodiversity. These resources generate revenues for Indonesia — Jakarta regards them as non-negotiable assets — and fuel global supply chains. Recognising Papua self-determination would threaten economic control and Jakarta’s narrative of a unitary republic.
The 1969 Act of Free Choice — carried out under military terror and endorsed by the UN — provided only a sham legal basis for Indonesia’s rule. Admitting its flaws would reopen fundamental questions about Indonesia’s claim to West Papua. It is this foundational lie — the theft of Papuan sovereignty — that drives Jakarta’s relentless efforts to block international scrutiny.
Indonesia also calculates that it can disregard external pressure. Powerful neighbours, such as Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, balance occasional concern with deeper security and trade ties. The United States and China prioritise strategic and commercial interests.
Even when UN member states support a high commissioner’s visit, they rarely impose consequences for non-compliance. This has enabled Jakarta to perfect a diplomatic routine: expressing openness, citing the need for “preparation” and then allowing the request to lapse.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ recent visit to Papua New Guinea underscored this silence. He praised Bougainville’s peace process and climate leadership but made no mention of the ongoing conflict just across the border. For Papuans, this silence echoes the UN’s previous failure to rectify the sham referendum it oversaw.
Pacific leaders face their own contradiction. They demand bold global action on climate justice, yet turn a blind eye to political injustice on their own doorstep. They defend state sovereignty but hesitate to uphold the sovereignty of peoples.
The ban on raising the Morning Star flag in Honiara — reportedly due to Indonesian pressure — brought this contradiction into sharp focus. The flag symbolises West Papua’s nationhood, so forbidding it at a summit dedicated to regional solidarity revealed the extent of external influence on Pacific decision-making.
The cost of this selective solidarity is high. It undermines the Pacific’s credibility as a moral voice on climate change and decolonisation, leaving Papuans to endure what they describe as a slow-motion genocide: militarised forests, displaced communities and silenced voices.
West Papua’s foundational place
In the 18th century, Papuan coastal communities resisted Dutch slave raids. In the early 1900s, highland clans fought against punitive patrols enforcing head taxes and forced labour. By the mid-20th century, Papuans were among Oceania’s earliest modern nationalists.
In 1961, they established the New Guinea Council and adopted a national anthem and flag — the Morning Star — years before Samoa gained independence in 1962, Fiji in 1970 and Papua New Guinea in 1975.
However, Cold War bargaining derailed this process. The Netherlands initially transferred administration to a UN Temporary Executive Authority and then to Indonesia. The promised referendum was replaced with the coerced 1969 Act of Free Choice. Despite protests by Papuan delegates and UN staff, the UN endorsed the outcome.
West Papua thus became the first Pacific nation to have its recognised independence revoked. Before this betrayal, Papuan delegates had helped found the South Pacific Conference — the precursor to today’s PIF.
From resisting slave raids in the 18th century to defying colonial handovers in the 20th century, West Papua’s history shows this is not an “internal Indonesian matter” but an unfinished chapter in Pacific decolonisation.
Papuans were the first in Oceania to resist European slavery, the first to raise a national flag, the first to form a modern government — and the first to have recognised sovereignty revoked.
Any claim to a united Blue Pacific remains incomplete until this history is confronted and justice served.
Heart of Oceania’s future
Despite being treated as a side issue at the forum, West Papua lies at the very heart of Oceania — rescuing West Papua means rescuing the Pacific itself. The Papuan struggle for land, life and freedom mirrors the struggle of every island society to survive rising sea levels, external pressures and economic exploitation.
Restoring West Papua’s sovereignty would help Pacific leaders rediscover their strength, reaffirm their shared destiny and set a new course for a world in crisis.
In an era of global upheaval — marked by climate disruption, collapsing ecosystems and geopolitical rivalries — Oceania needs a new paradigm that places land, ocean and Indigenous sovereignty above the logic of extraction and the empty rituals of paper diplomacy.
The Honiara summit could have risen to this challenge. Instead, it repeated the familiar ritual of expressing concern without action.
Until Pacific leaders confront Indonesia’s colonial frontier war in West Papua, Iumi Tugeda’s vision of a united Blue Pacific will remain a fading star on the horizon.
It is time to move beyond ritual slogans and take real action — transforming annual declarations into concrete steps towards sovereignty, justice and enduring solidarity.
[Ali Mirin is a West Papuan academic and writer from the Kimyal tribe of the highlands bordering the Star Mountain region of Papua New Guinea.]
5) A list of sources of information/links in Bahasa/English. PAPUA 2025 August
PAPUA 2025 AGUSTUS
daftar sumber informasi
oleh Theo van den Broek
6) Previously Frequent in Mountainous Papua, Why Has KKB Violence Spread to Asmat?
Violent actions by armed criminal groups in Papua continue to occur. The areas targeted are also expanding. What is actually happening?
By Haris Firdaus, Nasrun Katingka 25 Sep 2025 18:00 WIB · English
What can you learn from this article?
1. What is the chronology of the shooting of civilians by the KKB in Asmat?
2. Why did violence by the KKB occur in the Asmat region?
3. Apart from Asmat, what is the chronology of violence by the KKB in Yahukimo?
4. What are the KKB's demands regarding the evacuation of the bodies of victims in Yahukimo?
What is the chronology of the shooting of civilians by the KKB in Asmat?
The Head of Cartenz Peace Operations Brigadier General (Pol) Faizal Ramadhani confirmed the incident on Tuesday (23/9/2025). However, he stated that he could not yet confirm the chronology of the events.
"The location of the incident is quite far from the Suator Police Station (Suator District, Asmat) and communication is also not very good, so we are still continuing to gather complete data regarding this incident," said Faizal.
Based on initial information obtained, the perpetrators are estimated to number around six individuals. One of them is suspected of carrying a long-barreled firearm.
Why did violence by the KKB occur in the Asmat region?
The spokesperson for the West Papua National Liberation Army of the Free Papua Organization (TPNPB-OPM), Sebby Sambom, stated that they are responsible for the shooting in Asmat. He mentioned that the shooting was carried out by members of the TPNPB-OPM in the
Yahukimo region under the command of Operation Commander Kopitua Heluka.
Sebby stated that the victim was attacked because he was an agent of the Indonesian military intelligence. Such reasons are often cited by the KKB when carrying out terror and attacks on civilians. "We released the victim's wife and child in order to comply with humanitarian law in the war zone," he said.
The location of the shooting incident, namely the Kolf Braza District, is situated along the river in the southern region of Papua, which is connected to the Papua Mountains area, such as Yahukimo Regency.
Sebby stated that the operation in Asmat is part of a gradual revolution by TPNPB-OPM in the southern region of Papua. Previously, the southern region of Papua had relatively low levels of armed conflict.
Apart from Asmat, what is the chronology of violence by the KKB in Yahukimo?
As reported by Kompas.id, according to witness reports received by authorities, the attack initially occurred on Sunday (September 21, 2025) at around 7:00 PM WIT. At that time, information was received that a civilian was found dead on Jalan Poros Kampung Bingki, Seradala District.
Following the incident, traditional gold miners in the surrounding area took the initiative to seek refuge in Dekai, the capital of Yahukimo Regency. However, this intention could not be realized due to adverse weather conditions.
What are the KKB's demands regarding the evacuation of the bodies of victims in Yahukimo?
TPNPB-OPM spokesperson Sebby Sambom stated that the attack in the Seradala District was carried out by members of the TPNPB-OPM in the Yahukimo region, led by Elkius Kobak. He also claimed that there were nine fatalities.
Similar to the attack in Asmat, the TPNPB-OPM claims that the victims in Yahukimo are members of the Indonesian military and intelligence agents. On the other hand, Sebby stated that the attack on Indonesian officials attempting to evacuate the deceased victims serves as a warning.
Sebby stated that evacuations should only be carried out by the church or humanitarian teams. "If humanitarian teams wish to intervene directly, they should issue a notice to ensure safety," he said.
This incident recalls the tragedy of the murder of 16 traditional gold miners in the Papua Mountains. The event occurred from April 6 to 8, 2025, along the Silet River in Yahukimo.
Credits
Writer: Haris Firdaus, Nasrun Katingka. Editor: Mukhamad Kurniawan
MRP Chair Nerlince Wamuar Rollo said here on Friday that such a step is crucial to ensure the MBG program run by these foundations also contributes directly to improving the welfare of Papuan communities, particularly farmers.
“Based on our evaluations, we have found that some MBG foundations still source food from outside Papua. In fact, local produce is often more affordable and offers better opportunities for local farmers to become primary suppliers,” she explained.
She cited vegetables as an example, noting that prices are often higher when sourced from traders at the market compared to direct purchases from farmer groups, which can be cheaper and of higher quality.
“As we know, Papua has its own vegetable farmers, and this should be utilized by MBG foundations,” she added.
According to her, direct sourcing also ensures better and more stable income for farmers.
“If MBG kitchens purchase ingredients directly from farmer groups, it not only lowers costs but also provides farmers with reliable income,” she said.
Therefore, she urged foundations to explore cooperation with local farmer groups to promote the MBG program and economic empowerment of communities.
“In Jayapura and surrounding areas, there are many farmer and women’s groups ready to become the food ingredient suppliers. I encourage MBG foundations to review their procurement systems to better support local farmers,” she stated.
The MBG program was launched earlier this year, targeting not only school students, but also breastfeeding mothers, pregnant women, and toddlers.
President Prabowo Subianto earlier emphasized that MBG is not merely a social program, but a foundation for building a healthy, intelligent, and productive generation.
Related news: Papua: Free meals program covers 178 schools in Jayapura City
Related news: Indonesian govt ensures children's nutrition through MBG program
Related news: Free meals program reach 23,540 students in West Papua's Manokwari
Translator: Qadri, Kenzu
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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