Indonesian police have been praised for showing restraint in their handling of a massive demonstration in the capital of Papua province.

At least 50,000 Papuans marched towards the provincial parliament in Jayapura yesterday, calling for formal rejection of special autonomy status.

About twenty thousand camped outside the parliament overnight. They're calling for the upper house to endorse last month's decision by the lower house to reject the autonomy arrangement which they say has failed to ensure their basic rights.

Australia-based activist Nick Chesterfield says the protest has been peaceful but that this hasn't stopped violent response from police in the past.

"The Indonesian police initially were going to disperse them with full force. They were fully armed, came in and gave a deadline of 6pm and then a very tense standoff ensued for quite a while. And the leaders of the movement entered into negotiations with police. Police agreed to let them stay until this afternoon."