A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Four years after special autonomy legislation came into effect in Papua, it has been called a failure for not living up to the expectations of the people.

Sean Barry – Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold has hit back at reports that were critical of its financial support for Indonesian military personnel guarding the company's giant Grasbe

Muridan S.

Slobodan Lekic, Jakarta – Indonesia's military acknowledged for the first time Thursday that its commanders in Papua had received "support" from a US gold-mining giant – responding to a

Tiarma Siboro and Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Former Trikora Military Commander in Papua Maj. Gen.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Jayapura Military Court on Tuesday sentenced a soldier to six years in jail for killing a civilian in Papua.

Dorothy Kosich – It was only a matter of time until the New York Times "investigative" series on gold mining would highlight the track record of Freeport McMoRan's Grasberg operations i

Greg Poulgrain – Supporters of Papuan Governor Jacob Salossa have raised allegations of foul play over his sudden death last week.

Jane Perlez and Raymond Bonner, Jakarta – The closest most people will ever get to remote Papua, or the operations of Freeport-McMoRan, is a computer tour using Google Earth to swoop do

Organisations campaigning for independence in the Indonesian province of Papua hope that a new umbrella body will help them gain support from governments in the Pacific.

Fabio Scarpello, Jakarta – A recently published Dutch-report has rekindled hopes of "correcting the course of history" in Papua, Indonesia's easternmost province and theatre of a strugg

Organisations campaigning for independence in the Indonesian province of Papua have formed a new umbrella organisation – the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation.

Jakarta – Indonesian police have seized dozens of atlases showing the flag of separatist rebels in Papua province amongst the banners of nations.

Jakarta – A high-ranking government official returning from Yahukimo regency in Papua denied on Thursday a famine was underway in the isolated region, describing people there as "fat".

There are hopes that a coalition to be established in the Indonesian province of Papua will lead to a united self determination movement.

An advocate for the self determination movement in the Indonesian province of Papua says the Vanuatu parliament's withdrawal of a motion in support of West Papua is shameful.

Jakarta – Widodo AS, the Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security, has said that the government has taken a rapid response to the hunger cases in Papua.

Olivia Ward – West Papua is one of the world's most obscure territories, a rain-forested land that is little known except for its exotic beauty.

Jayapura/Jakarta – Stunned by reports of famine in a remote Papua district that has left 55 people dead, the government dispatched a military cargo plane on Friday night to carry food a

Jayapura – After a racial dispute delayed the process, the Papua General Election Commission (KPUD) officially named on Tuesday five candidates for Papua Governor.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Breaking a long-held tradition of secrecy, the Indonesian Military disclosed on Tuesday that 48 of its soldiers in Papua had contracted HIV/AIDS since 200

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Although he spends his days and nights in a cramed prison cell, the spirit to fight for Papua's independence still burns brightly in the heart of convicte

Ridwan Max Sijabat and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Papuans have continued protesting the presence of security forces in villages across their troubled province, which they say has caused t

Nethy Dharma Somba and Andi Hajramurni, Jayapura – The police have foiled an attempt to raise the outlawed Bintang Kejora (Morning Star) flag, keeping pro-independence action planned fo

Jayapura – Security forces clashed with hundreds of rock-throwing protesters at an independence day rally Thursday in Papua province, police and witnesses said.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Papua Governor JP Solossa on Wednesday told residents not to celebrate the self-declared independence anniversary of Papua on Dec. 1.

Amanda Freund, Newcastle – Newcastle City Council will fly the West Papuan flag from City Hall on December 1 as a gesture of support for the West Papuan people's struggle for independen

Jayapura, Jakarta – The central government must consistently implement the Special Autonomy Law in Papua in order to help quell the demands for independence for the resource-rich provin

John Aglionby – This Thursday, December 1, marks the 44th anniversary of the West Papuan people's declaration of independence from their Dutch colonial masters.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Vice President Jusuf Kalla has again proved himself to be a more than competent mediator, bringing together officials from Papua and the central government

Malang, East Java – The Indonesian Army is to establish one Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) division in Papua.

Jakarta – The first ever direct gubernatorial election in West Irian Jaya, scheduled for Nov.

Jakarta – The government has been urged to open the way for broadest possible dialogue with various elements in Papuan society, such as the traditional communities, students, youth, NGO

Manokwari, West Irian Jaya – The West Irian Council insisted on Monday that the province should be allowed to hold regional elections on Nov.

Doug Lorimer – The Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) has called on the Australian government to follow the Dutch government's example and commission a study into Australia's invol

Ivy Susanti, Jakarta/Jayapura – The government plays down the controversial study by Dutch historian Prof.

Jakarta – Indonesia dismissed Friday a Dutch parliament-commissioned study that cast doubt on the legality of its rule in the province of Papua, saying the report's "substance was no lo

Jakarta – Papuan people gave mixed reactions on Thursday to a Dutch government-commissioned study that found the 1969 vote on their territory's incorporation into Indonesia to be a "sha

The Australia West Papua Association (Sydney) calls on the Australian Government to follow the Dutch governments example and commission a study into our own involvement in the so called

Lita Oetomo, Jakarta/Jayapura – The Papuan People's Council has threatened to reinstate demands for special autonomy if the Government delays the election of regional heads in West Iria

Anthony Deutsch, The Hague – A key 1969 vote on the future of the Indonesian island province of West New Guinea was "a sham" orchestrated by Jakarta, a Dutch government-commissioned stu

The Pacific Concerns Resource Centre expresses alarm and disgust at recent news that Australia has signed a new Security Treaty with Indonesia.

Summary

The 1969 Act of Free Choice, intended to be an act of self-determination by the people of Indonesian-occupied West Papua, was doomed to failure from the outset suggests a Dutch governme

TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign, strongly condemns the decision of the police in Jayapura to ban an action planned for tomorrow, 15 November, to welcome the launch in The Net

Yesterday [10 November 2005], on the 4th anniversary of the murder of West Papuan independence leader Theys Hiyo Eluay by Kopassus [Indonesian Special Forces], the West Papua Street Par

A long-awaited report commissioned by the Dutch government into West Papua's controversial incorporation into Indonesia will be launched at the Institute of Dutch History in the Hague n

Jakarta – Indonesia has greeted with a sigh of relief a decision by the United States Congress to omit references to Papua from the State Department Authorization Bill, saying it reflec

Papuans are reportedly forming their own assembly to counter the Papuan People's Council, or MRP, established by the Indonesian government to represent the province.

By Richard Chauvel