West Papua

Reuters reports that the losses appear to be pushing the Indonesian government and Freeport to resolve the row.

Tabloid Jubi reported this call came after the expulsion of French journalists Franck Escudie and Basile Longchamp on visa violations last month.

RSF's Benjamin Ismail said the Indonesian president had undertaken to scrap the restrictions that obstruct the work of foreign journalists in West Papua.

But he said Jakarta's repeated refusals to issue press visas and the growing number of journalists on its blacklist, shows it falls far short of qualifying as a country that supports freedom of expression and media freedom.

The office's head Samuel Enock said Jean Pierre and Basille Longhamp were sponsored by Garuda to report on a number of stories in Indonesia, but they started their work before obtaining the necessary documents, which were still being processed

Mr Enock said as a consequence, the pair had been banned from entering Indonesia for the next six months.

The pair was deported from Timika to France via Jakarta on a Garuda flight on Friday.

The 34th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, was told that Indonesia has not curtailed or halted various widespread violations.

Vanuatu's Justice Minister Ronald Warsal was speaking on behalf of his country and six other Pacific nations: Tonga, Nauru, Palau, Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands, and Solomon Islands

Indonesia's president Joko Widodo has just completed his first state visit to Australia where he had talks with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

It marks the resumption of a close working relationship between the neighbouring countries' armed forces.

Indonesia partially suspended military links with Australia at the start of the year.

This followed discovery of what was deemed "insulting" material at a Special Forces base in Perth where Indonesian troops were training.

Mogu, is part of the Rebel Musik collaboration taking the stage of XO state in Melbourne, next Friday, February 24.

Rebel Musik, he says, will raise awareness on the struggle of West Papua and other ignored issues.

Put together as an initiative of Aireleke – a musician and recognised activist for West Papua, the group of talented musicians from PNG and West Papua will voice the concern on the musical stage.

 “Music is an art form but should not be taken for the aesthetics of it only – the beauty of art as an organised sound.

RNZ reports the Hercules C130 plane had taken off from the city of Timika before crashing near its destination of Wamena.

Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency says the crash site on Lisuwa mountain was been found and the bodies of the victims were being brought back to Wamena.

Indonesia has a patchy air safety record and President Joko Widodo promised a review of the country's ageing air force fleet last year after a military transport plane crashed, killing more than 100 people.

The main aim of the exhibition is to raise awareness of the West Papuan peoples wish for independence and right to self-determination.

RNZ reports the newly-established Indonesian People's Front for West Papua, or FRI West Papua, this week declared its support for West Papuan liberation from Indonesian rule.

Made up of non-Papuans, the group said that the universal right to self-determination was denied in the case of West Papua.

Its spokesman Surya Anta says Indonesians are not well educated about what he calls the illegitimate takeover of Papua.

Indonesia's Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu has urged Australia to pass on a message to Pacific Island governments to not interfere in Indonesian domestic affairs.

In media comments in the past week, he pressed Canberra to rebuke Pacific states, in particular Solomon Islands, for raising Papua in global forums and inviting Papuans to join the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

The Solomons' envoy on West Papua, Rex Horoi, said his government won't respond to what is effectively a media statement.