John Roberts – Even as Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono postures as a "democrat", his government has given the go-ahead for the dispatch of an additional 15,000 troops from

Mr. Eddy Pratomo
Deputy Chief of Missiom
Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia

Dear Sir,

Jayapura – The number of people with HIV/AIDS is on the rise in Papua, with around 500 people testing positive for the virus every year.

The decision to establish a KOSTRAD headquarters in Timika and to station three new battalions in Papua is likely to upset public opinion.

A West Papuan church leader has urged the federal government not to turn a blind eye to human rights abuses in his homeland as it contemplates a new security pact with Indonesia.

Paul Kingsnorth – Nona Kogoya was two years old when she died. She had been a normal, healthy young girl; but that was before the soldiers came.

Jakarta – The plan of the Indonesian National Army to form a Regional Army Force in Merauke – West Papua and the plan to add a third division of Army Strategic Force Reserve in West Pap

The commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces General Endriartono Sutarto, the commander of KOSTRAD Lt.General Hadi Waluyo, and spokesman for the Armed Forces, Brig.General Hotmangaridja P

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – A 23-member delegation from the Papua provincial legislative council is protesting the installment of the controversial West Irian Jaya council.

Jayapura – Major-General Nurdin Zainal, commander of the Trikora/XVII division, has announced that Kostrad, the Army Strategic Command will set up a base in Timika District, Papua in th

Jakarta – Indonesian House of Parliament Technical Delegation for Inter-parliamentarian Bilateral Cooperation warned the government to take serious preventive actions towards the separa

Greg Poulgrain – The Indonesian military is planning to increase troop numbers in restive Papua province by an additional 15,000 personnel from Kostrad, the Strategic Reserve Command.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Army plans to set up a new division of elite troops and station it in the country's westernmost province of Papua, where rebel groups have been fighting a l

These days, most Australians are well and truly aware of the suffering that the people of East Timor went through before they finally gained their independence from Indonesia back in 19

Brendan Nicholson – Indonesian troops in West Papua used resources earmarked for humanitarian aid and development in the province for an offensive against rebels of the Free Papua Movem

The attack in Timika in August 2002 not only wounded Patsy Spiers, it also killed Rick Spiers, her beloved husband of 20 years.

The identity of the gunman at Mile 62 is still a mystery. Indonesian Police do not have any evidence with which to arrest the FBI's suspect.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The provincial offices of the General Elections Commission (KPUD) in Papua said they were unprepared to organize the direct elections for regional heads i

Jayapura – The number of people living with HIV/AIDS has reached an alarming level in the nation's easternmost province of Papua.

The Indonesian government is considering splitting the province currently known as Papua into five new provinces, in what is seen by many to be another weapon in its fight against Papua

Washington – Researchers and advocates today called on US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to consider new evidence of Indonesian involvement in an August 2002 attack on US citizens

We have just received a tragic message from a Papuan contact (copied below), letting us know that three more Papuans have died in just one of the many refugee camps in the jungles of We

Rendi A.

Jakarta – The idea of dividing West Papua into five provinces has been mooted again.

Laksamana.Net – The government has reportedly accepted a proposal to divide resource-rich and rebellious Papua province into five provinces by 2009, despite the Constitutional Court's r

Reported by: Rev. Socratez Sofyan Yoman, MA, President of West Papuan Baptist Church

A. The burning of School and District buildings

Chitra Ramaswamy – Human rights activists and church organisations predict that, without international attention and intervention, West Papua is in danger of becoming the next East Timo

Since August 2004, the Indonesian army has been conducting military operations in Puncak Jaya, in the Central Highlands of West Papua.

Jayapura – Papua police have arrested seven suspected Papuan rebels in the past five days in Tolikara regency, some 700 kilometers southwest of Jayapura, the Papuan capital.

Our correspondent from Mbaliem (Wamena) reported today of a military brutality against civilians in Wunin District, Wurineri Village, Tolikara Regency, Jayawijaya, West Papua by The Ind

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Papuan leaders urged the central government to cancel a plan for direct elections in the newly created, but controversial West Irian Jaya province, as they bel

On 20 January, Filip Karma, a West Papuan, went on trial in Jayapura for rebellion.

Ridwan Max Sidjabat and Nethy Dharma Somba, Jakarta/Jayapura – Papua's provincial leaders have expressed concern over a rumor that the central government will include West Irian Jaya pr

Andre Vltchek – Mr. Peter M Baki has been interviewed while attending UNESCO EFA (Education for all) Forum for the Pacific, held in the city of Nadi in Fiji.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Two Papua opposition leaders went on trial separately on Wednesday at the Jayapura District Court for treason.

Matthew Moore and Karuni Rompies – They look like barbeque chips or mulga roots and exude a comforting smell drifting between fresh timber and flowers.

Christine Susanna Tjhin, Jakarta – President Susilo's decision to spend Christmas in Papua (Dec. 26, 2004) may well be a very sympathetic yearly ritual.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Following the issuance of a presidential decree on the Papua People's Council (MRP), the Papua provincial government is now preparing the establishment of

A boycott of today's Christmas visit to the capital of the Indonesian province of West Papua is an embarrassing rebuke to newly elected President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Two years ago, whilst West Papuan tribal leader and independence activist, Benny Wenda, was being tortured in an Indonesian prison cell, Oxford MP Andrew Smith was sitting at the Cabine

Monica Sloan – Oxford MP Andrew Smith has met a West Papuan tribal leader who fled torture to highlight the oppression of Papuans by Indonesia.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – At least 23 people had starved to death in the remote Papuan highlands after fleeing a massive Indonesian military operation, church leaders claimed last nig

Darmawan Sepriyossa, Cunding Levi, TNR – A team of eight men had apparently come and gone with the wind. They arrived in Papua "stealthily".

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Police personnel will not hesitate to arrest any parties who attempt to commemorate the 16th anniversary of the proclamation of the West Melanesian State,

Kanis Dursin, Jakarta – The 150 or so people in the room suddenly burst into laughter when one of the speakers conveyed what he said was an appeal from Papuan girls.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Leading Papuan figures said the establishment of West Irian Jaya province as a province from Papua was still the subject of heated controversy despite

Jayapura – At least 5,000 people in Indonesia's West Papua province face hunger and starvation after fleeing a military offensive against separatists, church leaders in the region said.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Papua will probably return its special autonomy status to Jakarta and, instead, demand for a self-determination ballot for the province's future, if the go

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Violence erupted in the capital of Indonesia's troubled province of West Papua on Wednesday as security forces moved to break up a flag-raising ceremony by indepe

Agencies – Police personnel clashed on Wednesday with pro-independence Papuans in Trikora field, Jayapura, after the independence supporters hoisted in the area the Bintang Kejora flag,