Mark Colvin: As president Obama shifts his country's strategic focus towards our region, US eyes may eventually fall on the situation in West Papua.

Michael Holtz, Papua – Indonesia, hosting President Barack Obama and other world leaders this week, has earned praise for democratic reforms achieved since longtime dictator Suharto was

Ismira Lutfia – Attorney General Basrief Arief admitted on Tuesday that a lack of political will was hindering the processing of cases involving human rights violations.

President Barack Obama
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500

November 15, 2011

Dear President Obama,

Barack Obama
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Via facsimile: +1-202-456-2461

The Obama administration's deepening relationship with Indonesia means being frank about Indonesia's serious human rights challenges.

Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and several Papuan civil society groups have protested against raids on Papuan student dormitories in seve

Dessy Sagita – Thirteen years after at least 12 university students and other civilians were killed by security forces in a demonstration at the Semanggi cloverleaf in South Jakarta, th

Jakarta – International human right watchdog Amnesty International urged the Indonesian government to reveal details concerning the Santa Cruz shooting in Timor Leste that allegedly cla

On the 20th anniversary of the infamous massacre at Santa Cruz cemetery in Timor-Leste, the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) called for the US and other governments and th

Index: ASA 57/004/2011

Jakarta – Commenting on the recent government claim that it was unaware of escalating tensions in Papua prior to a bloody crackdown at the Third Papuan Peoples Congress, lawmakers say i

Jakarta – The government is playing down reports made by the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) that the police and the military may have committed human rights violation

The Indonesian government must immediately act on the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission's (Komnas HAM) findings that human rights violations were committed by Indonesian secur

Banjir Ambarita, Farouk Arnaz & Ronna Nirmala, Jayapura – Seven soldiers have been detained by the military police on suspicion of abusing 12 people at a public meeting in Papua's J

Jakarta – National Police Chief Gen.

Jakarta – Papuan people refuse to argue with Jakarta over the Papua issue, demanding only that the central government respect their dignity as fellow humans, a senior researcher says.

Camelia Pasandaran – The National Commission on Human Rights on Friday released a report detailing alleged human rights violations carried out by Indonesian security forces during a rai

Geneva – The Faith Based Network on West Papua (FBN), Franciscans International (FI), and the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) released the report "Human Rights in Papua 2010/2011"

Geneva – Following last month's violent dispersal by Indonesian security forces of the Third Papuan Peoples' Congress in Jayapura, Indonesia has been confronted with the full scale of h

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) reported on Thursday that it had found that 96 out of 387 participants at the third Papuan Peoples Congress had been assaulted by po

Jayapura – Renewed demonstrations are being held in Jayapura today demanding Indonesia take formal and legal responsibility for ongoing human rights abuses in West Papua, most recently

Jakarta – As violence escalates in Papua, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is ready to deploy his special team on Papua, established on Sept. 20, according to an aide on Saturday.

Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), an NGO focussing on human rights issues, says the newly installed Cabinet and the government's new direct

Agus Triyono, Banjir Ambarita & Elisabeth Oktofani – The violent crackdown on a pro-independence rally earlier this week that left six people dead is indicative of the government's

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Dozens of NGOs grouped under the Coalition for Justice and Revelation of Truth (KKPK) welcomed the recent decision of the United Nations Human Rights Council

Ulma Haryanto – A tribunal on Monday began hearing a request for intelligence documents that the widow of the late human rights defender Munir Said Thalib believes would reveal the mast

Mariel Grazella, Jakarta – The failure of the Indonesian government to put to trial those responsible for the abduction and enforced disappearance of 13 political activists in 1997-1998

Abdul Qowi Bastian – On Sept. 30, 2009, the House of Representatives sent several recommendations regarding cases of abduction and disappearance of activists during the 1998 riots.

Jakarta – For two years now, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) has ignored the House of Representatives' (DPR) recommendation on the forced abduction and disappearance of 13 acti

Anita Rachman – "What is an ombudsman?" By now, Budi Santoso is used to hearing that question when friends ask about his work as a senior official with the Indonesian Ombudsman's office

Niniek Karmini, Rawagede, Indonesia – Six decades have passed, but Kadun bin Siot's voice still trembles as he recalls the morning Dutch troops surrounded his tiny Indonesian village an

Jakarta – Suciwati, widow of slain human rights defender Munir Said Thalib, is seeking to overturn the decision by the Law and Human Rights Ministry to grant remissions to the killer of

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Attorney General Basrief Arief says that filing a case review to challenge the acquittal of former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) deputy chairman Muchdi Pur

Daniel Pye – Asia Pulp and Paper has announced it has commissioned an independent audit of its practices in Indonesia following a UN call for businesses around the world to protect huma

A report has been released following a joint investigation into the mistreatment and torture of a group of 15 Papuans in connection with two criminal incidents that occurred recently in

Jakarta – After 27 years of tribulations in seeking justice, the victims of the 1984 Tanjung Priok riot have glimpsed a dim light of hope that their struggle may succeed.

Dessy Sagita – The families of the victims of the 1984 Tanjung Priok massacre are renewing their calls for the government to compensate them and give them justice, they said on Wednesda

Indonesian activists on Thursday welcomed an international court's finding that the Dutch state was responsible for a massacre in Indonesia in 1947 and that victims' families should be

Mariel Grazella, Jakarta – The murder of human rights activists such as Munir Said Thalib has solidified the fight for rights by activists instead of dampening their efforts, an interna

Relatives of Indonesian men and boys murdered by Dutch troops more than 60 years ago flocked back to the scene of the massacre Thursday – this time to celebrate.

Jakarta – A group of victims from the 1984 Tanjung Priok tragedy say they will meet members of the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) in efforts to help them restore their righ

Jakarta – Indonesian delegates brought the case of slain human rights activist Munir Said Thalib into the spotlight at the 6th Dublin Platform – the world's largest forum of rights acti

Mariel Grazella, Jakarta – London-based rights group Amnesty International has brought under the spotlight the arbitrary and excessive use of force and firearms by law enforcers in Lang

Bagus BT Saragih and Adianto P.

Arientha Primanita & Camelia Pasandaran – Seven years after the death of human rights defender Munir Said Thalib, his widow's pain has not eased.

Jakarta – Local and international human rights advocates are clamoring for further investigation of the death of activist Munir Said Thalib, who died from arsenic poisoning on a Garuda

Arientha Primanita – About 50 protesters have gathered outside the State Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday to mark the seventh anniversary of the murder of Indonesian human rights defender

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will not interfere in the legal case centering on the alleged murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib, who died on board a Garuda