Ezra Sihite & Robertus Wardi – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called for increased autonomy for Papua province to address the host of development and security problems there

The Indonesian government has been accused of detaining more than 400 political prisoners from West Papua, despite official claims that every inmate in the country's jails has broken cr

National Papua Solidarity (NAPAS) condemns the Papuan police decision to ban the plan to organise public demonstration in Papua to commemorate the transfer of administration of then Wes

Robert Isidorus & Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – Police in the restive province of Papua have arrested a man suspected of taking part in an attack at a police residential compound in t

London – A new report by UK-based NGO, TAPOL, forcefully challenges the Indonesian government's repeated assertion that the country has "no political prisoners."

Banjir Ambarita – A police officer was fatally stabbed in an early morning home invasion in Yapen Serui Island, Papua, police said on Saturday.

Papuan leaders have voiced their concern at plans for more than a thousand Indonesian soldiers to build 1,500 km of new roads in the next two years to accelerate 'development' in West P

Vicky Anggriawan, Jakarta – Scores of people from a number of difference social organisations that are part of National Papua Solidarity (Napas) held a protest action in front of the PT

Nethy Dharma Somba, Papua – The Papua administration has announced that it will ask for a 10 percent stake in mining giant PT Freeport due to the fact that the company operates on Papua

Six West Papua National Committee (KNPB) activists from Timika were each sentenced to one year in prison on Tuesday by judges from the Assembly District Court in a trial deemed as opaqu

Yayat Supriatna and Michael Taylor – Workers at the Indonesian unit of Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc have refused to rule out a repeat of a 2011 strike that crippled the world'

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-062-2013

Dear friends,

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Papua Governor Lukas Enembe has pledged to embrace Free Papua Movement (OPM) separatists, expressing his will to build a bridge between the group and the

Jayapura – Today the Civil Society Coalition for the Upholding of Law and Human Rights in the Land of Papua, working together with a number of human rights NGOs in Jakarta and internati

An expression of people's desire for freedom, cries of "Papua Merdeka" continue to ring out through the cities, mountains and forests of West Papua.

Defence witnesses have revealed the extensive and systemic use of casual torture and inhumane treatment by Indonesian police, whilst testifying at the Makar (treason) trial of two West

A group of West Papuan students from Solidarity for Papua (SUP) held a demonstration in front of the Abu Bakar Ali Park in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta on April 15.

Independent human rights workers in Puncak Jaya regency have reported that Indonesian police and army in the remote highlands district of Tolikara have been continuing to arbitrarily ar

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Sixty-one residents of Samenage hamlet in Helenga district, Yahukimo, Papua, are reported to have died between January and March this year due to a variet

Robert Isidorus, Jayapura – Sixty-one people have reportedly died in the past three months in the Samenage district of Yahukimo, Papua, due to the lack of health-care facilities.

Nadya Natahadibrata and Nethy Dharma Somba, Jakarta – A non-governmental organization (NGO), National Papua Solidarity (NAPAS), urged the government to investigate the cause of death of

Robert Isidorus & Dina Manafe, Jayapura/Surabaya – Activists in West Papua province say that up to 95 people have died of hunger in Tambrauw district since last November, with hundr

Ezra Sihite & SP/Jeis Montesori – Indonesian government officials have denied a recent allegation that dozens of people in a Papuan district died after suffering from severe malnutr

Prodita Sabarini, Reportage – For Papuans, their graves are a reminder of the grief that besieges their land.

Papua continues to be plagued by violence.

Prodita Sabarini – Papuans have been allowed to reject secrecy as one of the principles of general elections.

The Archipelago – The Papua Police reportedly has identified the gunmen who attacked a missionaries' helicopter in Puncak Senyum, Puncak Jaya, Papua.

Returning to the land may be one way to improve food security and welfare in Papua.

Prodita Sabarini, Wamena, Jayawijaya – A mama walks barefoot under the skin-burning sun in a hamlet in Piramid district, Jayawijaya regency.

Rendi A. Witular, Papua – When it comes to realizing a massive road project, nothing could match what governor general Herman Willem Daendels did during the Dutch colonial era.

Rendi A.

Rendi A. Witular, Papua – The stakes are high when it comes to infrastructure development work in Papua.

Development in Papua, Indonesia's most eastern and underdeveloped province, has been hampered by extremely expensive logistics costs caused by the lack of transportation infrastructure.

MI/Rommy Pujianto/ip, Makassar – Student Solidarity Concern for the Papuan People (SMPRP) along with advocacy and human rights groups held a protest action in front of the Mandala Monum

Nethy Dharma Somba, Papua – The Papuan Traditional Council (DAP) has formed the Papuan People Mining Association as part of the council's supervision of mining activities, the fruits of

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-045-2013

Dear friends,

Ongoing repression on peaceful dissent and acts of torture on civilians by Indonesian police (Polri) in Yapen has drawn a sharp reaction from West Papuan pro-independence guerrillas, wh

Jayapura – Melanesian support for the independence of the West Papuan people has always been very strong.

The Vanuatu opposition leader, Edward Natapei, has called on the government to reverse its stance on West Papua ahead of the July summit of the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

Yosie Sesbania – After winning a case in the Constitutional Court over an election dispute, Lukas Enembe is now on his way to being sworn in as the governor of Papua.

Jakarta – When the government's moratorium on deforestation expires on May 20, forest areas in Papua province will be in peril, activists say.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Papua – Newly elected Papua Governor Lukas Enembe has vowed to improve the implementation of Papua's Special Autonomy (Otsus) Law No. 21/2001.

The Jayapura Military Court sentenced First Sergeant Irfan to 12 years in prison on Monday for killing his lover Frederika Metalmety, who was six months pregnant.

This is a joint statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs/World Council of Churches (CCIA/WCC), Dominicans for Justi

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-040-2013

Dear friends,

West Papua, the western territory of island of New Guinea, was placed under Indonesian control in 1963. The transfer of power from Dutch colonialism was supposed to be temporary.

Oktovianus Pogau, Jayapura – On 7 March 2013, members of the Wamena District Police reportedly arrested three civilians in Pirime, Lanny Jaya Regency, Papua.

Local residents in Paniai regency are bracing for more repression in sweep operations by Indonesian security forces after two separate incidents across the Paniai have intensified ongoi

[Written up Pacific Scoop from Social Media Reports by West Papua Media.]

Urgent Appeal Update: AHRC-UAU-003-2013. Re: AHRC-UAC-025-2013

Dear friends,