With more than 50 years of restricted media access, one of the least covered armed conflicts in the world is the long-simmering struggle between Indonesia's military and the secessionist Free Papua Movement.
Excerpt of a 31 March 2015 CPJ blog post by Bob Dietz/Asia Program Coordinator.
With more than 50 years of restricted media access, one of the least covered armed conflicts in the world is the long-simmering struggle between Indonesia’s military and the secessionist Free Papua Movement. Under Indonesia’s seven successive post-independence governments–the early ones led by autocratic strongmen, the recent ones more or less democratically elected–the world has been deprived of details of the persistent low-intensity battle for autonomy playing out in the Papuan provinces.
Without open media access in the Papua and West Papua provinces, alleged abuses by security forces operating without media scrutiny will hound any bid by President Joko Widodo to bring peace and prosperity to the resource-rich region: a promise he made on assuming office in October.