Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court's recent ruling on Papua should prompt a revision to Law No.

Ricky Binihi – Vanuatu chiefs at the recent Melanesian Trust conference held in Tanna have unanimously agreed with other Melanesian representatives that Independence is a God-given righ

Oct. 4, 1999: Law No. 45/1999 issued to establish West Irian Jaya and Central Irian Jaya provinces, the regencies of Paniai, Mimika and Puncak Jaya, and the Sorong mayoralty. Jan.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court was established in 2003 to provide legal certainty in the face of conflicting laws, but its ruling on Papua's division on Thu

Jayapura – Papuan rebels went on a rampage in Puncak Jaya regency causing Rp 19 billion in damages, a top government official said on Thursday.

Oxford, UK – The international campaign calling on Kofi Annan to set up an official United Nations review of the UN's conduct in the 1969 Act of "Free" Choice received a huge boost toda

In Indonesia, at least three people are dead, and as many as 20,000 may have been displaced, after raids in Puncak Jaya district in Papua province.

The restive Indonesian province of Papua was a ticking time bomb that could drag Australia into its wreckage, a prominent Papuan human rights campaigner has warned.

Like war-torn Aceh, Papua remains in the spotlight.

Sapto Pradityo, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has asked the former governor of West Papua, Freddy Numberi, to assist in resolving the Papua question.

Suwarjono, Jakarta – A number of West Papuan public figures have asked President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to immediately proceed with the formation of the Papua People's Council (MRP) w

Eworaswa, Jakarta – The fatal shooting on September 14 in Mulia, Puncak Jaya, in which four civilians were killed, has left behind feelings of deep fear.

Gunawan Mashar, Makassar The perpetual internal conflicts in West Papua has prompted students originating from Papua who are studying in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassa

Cunding Levi and Lita Oetomo, Jayapura – Thousands of demonstrators from the Papua People's Anti-Militarism Front (Front Rakyat Papua Anti Militerisme, FRPAM) led by Jefrison A.

Agus Sumule, Manokwari – The downfall of former president Soeharto on May 21, 1998, undoubtedly fueled the widespread revival of free speech among the people – including Papuans – in de

Jakarta – As many as four people and a priest in the Puncak Jaya regency of West Papua were killed by shots suspected to have been fired from a TNI (armed forces) helicopter.

Paul Barber, London – It is not yet clear whether the election of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as president of Indonesia is a positive development for West Papua and whether he will bring p

Dewi Santoso, Jakarta – Despite an extensive campaign against HIV/AIDS in Papua, the number of local people living with the deadly virus continues to increase, making the province one o

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The whereabouts of the bodies of five migrants, killed a week ago by suspected separatist rebels in a remote area of Papua, remained a mystery on Tuesday

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Two Papuans were arrested on Monday for questioning over an attack that claimed five lives in Tinggi Nambut village, Puncak Jaya regency.

Jayapura – Some 100 people protested in Jayapura on Monday, demanding president-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono re-hold Papua's 1963 referendum.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Demonstrators rallied in Jayapura yesterday demanding that recently elected president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono allow international negotiators to end the dec

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – A three-day evaluation of regional autonomy in Papua ended on Friday, with one of the most contentious issues raised being the appointment of civil servan

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Papuans have called on president-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to enforce the Special Autonomy Law for Papua to resolve the prolonged issues in the provin

Angela Gregory – Pacific countries are ignoring the brutality of Indonesian armed forces towards West Papuans, a regional peace and security conference has been told.

Indonesia – The situation in Tinggi Nambut village, Puncak Jaya regency remained tense on Friday, following the murder of five construction workers, all migrants from Makassar, South Su

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – A group of suspected Papuan separatists remained in control of a hamlet in Puncak Jaya on Friday, as efforts to negotiate the release of bodies of five mi

West Papua has never been known to the world politics, except for its rich natural resources.

Port Vila – The West Papua freedom fighters are enjoying unprecedented support from the Vanuatu Government.

Jayapura – In the ongoing trial of five men charged with rebellion, the defence lawyers at a hearing in Jayapura on 28 September, called for the men's release.

Unless West Papua is granted independence from Indonesia, a time bomb will go off affecting Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand, according to a West Papuan activist.

John D'Arcy May – Now the pretext that the war in Iraq was a war on terror has worn thin, and the US President and the Australian Prime Minister face elections in which their manipulati

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – A group of suspected Free Papua Movement (OPM) rebels attacked on Tuesday 15 Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers in Lima Jari subdistrict, Puncak Jaya rege

Jakarta – An Indonesian general indicted for war crimes in East Timor has been appointed to lead a probe into the shooting deaths of two American schoolteachers at a gold mine in Papua

Indonesian security forces carried out gross human rights abuses including murder, torture and arbitrary arrests during two incidents in remote eastern Papua province, a rights body say

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) announced on Thursday that it had found initial evidence suggesting that security personnel had c

Jakarta – Two humanitarian organizations in Papua have demanded the United Nations to investigate alleged violations of human rights in the prosecution of two Papuans being held by Wame

Nethy Dharma Somba and Oyos Saroso, Jayapura/Lampung – One person was killed and seven others injured in a tribal clash in Papua over whether Indonesian Independence Day should be comme

Louise Williams – The failure of human rights prosecutions against the Indonesian military over abuses in East Timor has put millions of people at risk of continuing military abuses in

Nethy Dharma Somba and M.

Neles Tebay, Rome – It was the first time in the history of Papua that the Government of Indonesia recognized the Papuans' need for democracy (The Jakarta Post, July 30, 2004).

John Saltford, London – In his July 30th article in this newspaper, Foreign Affairs official Andri Hadi argues against any discussion of the 1969 Indonesian-organized act of self determ

An Indonesian independent rights watchdog has found evidence that the country's police and military were involved in gross human rights abuses in the troubled eastern province of Papua,

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has completed the report on its investigation into bloody incidents in the Papua towns of Wamena an

A dispute over the killing of two Americans in a remote Indonesian province two years ago shows no sign of abating, despite a recent US indictment against an Indonesian man believed to

Jakarta – Rights groups in Indonesia's Papua province Wednesday accused US Attorney General John Ashcroft of a cover up over the killing of two US teachers and an Indonesian near Papua'

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Three human rights groups in Papua province have accused the US Attorney-General, John Ashcroft, of withholding evidence of the Indonesian military's involvemen

John Roberts – US Attorney General John Ashcroft announced in late June that the Justice Department and FBI had indicted Anthonius Wamang over the August 2002 ambush of employees of the

[This transcript was kindly supplied by Tony O'Connor as ABC TV no longer provides transcripts.]

Reporter: Anthony Balmain (AB)

Antony Balmain – West Papuan leaders, including several from the Free Papua Movement, OPM, have decided to lay down arms and pursue self-determination from Indonesia through peaceful me