Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Indonesian rights activists said the brutal response of police toward protesting Papuan students has incited hatred and could further strengthen the resolve among Papuans to demand independence.

Victor Mambor, Jayapura, Jubi – Three witnesses from Tolikara presented by the Public Prosecutor in the trial over the Tolikara incident held at Jayapura District Court were praised by two defendants and their attorney after they testifed that they did not see Jundi Wandikbo and Arianto Kogoya at the scene, contrary to prosecutors' charges.

Ayomi Amindoni, Jakarta – Investment to the country's easternmost province is increasing at a rapid pace, as Papua's provincial government expects both domestic and foreign direct investment (FDI) to grow stronger in 2016.

Wilda Asmarini, Jakarta – Freeport McMoRan must propose a price for a 10.64 percent stake it is required to divest from its Indonesian subsidiary on or by January 12, a mining ministry official said, amid a parliament probe centering around the stake.

Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has criticized ministries for a lack of cooperation in implementing development in the easternmost region, accusing them of only focusing on their respective sectors.

The President stressed that development in the region should consider the aspirations of the Papuans.

Below is the text of a letter faxed to Hon Murray McCully today. West Papua Action is urging him to speak about the gross human rights abuses that took place two days ago in West Papua. Mr McCully is also urged to take the initiative to pursue the proposal of a fact-finding mission to the territory as put forward at the recent Summit of the Pacific Islands Forum.

Victor Mambor, Jayapura, Jubi/Asia New Zealand Foundation – Assisted by an Asia New Zealand Foundation media travel grant, Mauri Television's Native Affairs producer and cameraman Adrian Stevanon and freelance photojournalist Karen Abplanalp travelled to West Papua, Indonesia in August. They were the first New Zealand television crew to visit the province in 50 years.

Victor Mambor, Semarang, Jubi – Dozens of Papuan students activists were arrested during a street rally in Jakarta to commemorate the political manifesto day that is regarded by many Papuans as their national day.

Victor Mambor, Jayapura, Jubi – Nabire Police arrested about 20 people who were preparing for a prayer gathering to commemorate the West Papua Anniversary.

A Nabire activist Gunawan Inggeruhi said they were arrested at 10:30 AM local time while gathering at Bunga Bangsa Park, Oyehee, Nabire.

Victor Mambor, Jayapura, Jubi – Former political prisoner Filep Jacob Samuel Karma said he was concerned about the current situation facing indigenous Papuans.

He said currently discrimination is not only being practiced by non-Papuans to Papuans or vice versa, but also among Papuans. He described the situation as a time bomb that is ready to explode at anytime.

Victor Mambor, Jayapura, Jubi – A lawyer for four activists of West Papua National Committee (KNPB) in Manokwari region, said the jail sentence of 1 year 6 months for them was too harsh because they simply expressed different views.

Jakarta – The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) has criticized police in the capital over the detention of several hundred Papuan students calling for independence at a rally in the city center on Tuesday.

Donny Andhika Mononimbar, Jakarta – Two foreign journalists have reportedly become victims of police violence and intimidation in Jakarta on Tuesday while covering a rally by Papuan students.

Reports from Indonesia's Papua region indicate up to four people have been shot by police and military as the security forces cracked down on people marking West Papuan Flag Day.

Jakarta – Two Papuan students were named suspects in attacks against a police officer during a violent demonstration in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Jakarta – Police fired tear gas at a hundreds-strong crowd hurling rocks on Tuesday (Dec 1) during a protest in Jakarta against Indonesian rule over the eastern region of Papua, with a lawyer saying that over 100 demonstrators had been detained.

Vanuatu chiefs and church groups have led a march through the Vanuatu capital Port Vila to mark West Papua Day.

They are among supporters of West Papuan self-determination who have been holding ceremonies today (Tuesday) within and outside Indonesia's Papua region.

Fifteen-year-old Adina curls up in bed under a sheet, her body ravaged by AIDS, one of many caught up in an epidemic sweeping Indonesia's eastern Papua region.

The teen, who only gave her first name, contracted HIV from an infected boyfriend and is one of 10 AIDS patients receiving free care at a hostel run by Agustinus Adil, a Catholic brother.

Yogyakarta – Coinciding with the anniversary of the Free Papua Movement (OPM), some 29 mass organisations (ormas) in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta declared the formation of the Jogya Anti-Separatist Front (Front Jogja Anti Separatis, FJAS) on the grounds of the Yogyakarta Regional House of Representatives (DPRD DIY).

Jakarta – On Tuesday December 1 police blocked protesters from the Papua Student Alliance (AMP) who had come from throughout Java and Bali to demonstrate at the Hotel Indonesia (HI) traffic circle in Central Jakarta.

Luqman Rimadi, Jakarta – Police have broken up a rally by the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) who were protesting at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta on December 1. As a result, a clash broke out between the protesters and police.

Jakarta – The Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta) has condemned the forced disbursing and arrest of protesters from the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) by Metro Jaya police in Jakarta on December 1.

The AMP protest action was held in the context of expressing the identity of the Papuan people that is celebrated every year on December 1.

Auckland (Pacific Media Watch) – A group of postgraduate students and staff today raised the West Papuan flag on campus at Auckland University of Technology in solidarity for Papuan self-determination.

The Morning Star flag-raising at the Pacific Media Centre was held to mark the day the banner was first flown 54 years ago – 1 December 1961.

A flag raising event in support of the West Papuan symbol, the Morning Star, has been held on the steps of New Zealand's parliament.

It's one of a number of annual West Papua Flag Day ceremonies in New Zealand, in Indonesia's Papua region and elsewhere abroad.

A collective of Maori and Pacific women in South Auckland will today raise the Morning Star flag in a show of solidarity for freedom in West Papua.

The flag is a potent symbol for the Free Papua Movement and was first raised on the 1st of December in 1961 but was later banned by Jakarta after it assumed control of the former Dutch province.

Johnny Blades – The West Papuan independence campaigner Filep Karma has questioned the veracity of the process around his early release from prison last month.

Mr Karma, who was released after spending eleven years in prison for raising the banned Papuan Morning Star Flag, has promised to continue his peaceful campaign for West Papua independence.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Miliary has confirmed that an armed Papuan civilian group known as Cosmas Makabori was responsible for the shooting death of a military officer in Namuni Kampong, Papua, on Monday.

The Australia West Papua Association congratulates the West Papuan people on the 54th anniversary of their National Day or National flag day. It is now fifty-four years since the Morning Star flag was flown officially for the first time on the 1st of December in 1961. We are all aware how much the West Papuan people have suffered under Indonesian rule.

James Burke – Dutch journalist and filmmaker Rohan Radheya spent five months undercover to document West Papua's ongoing struggle for independence from Indonesia's brutal rule.

Randy Fabi & Agustinus Beo Da Costa, Jakarta – Prominent Papua activist Filep Karma, released this month after more than a decade behind bars, promised on Monday to reinvigorate the independence movement against Indonesia and was prepared to go back to prison if necessary.

Victor Mambor, Jayapura, Jubi – "In Papua, not only the freedom of expression is restricted, but the freedom of worship as well," Director of Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta), Alghiffari Aqsa told Jubi on Sunday (29/11/2015).

Jayapura – A member of the military police in Wamena, Jayawijaya regency, Papua, is under investigation for allegedly shooting an 18-year-old student at an areca nut-eating party at the house of a local resident early on Friday.

Jakarta – Rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has praised an Indonesian government move to release Papuan political prisoner Filep Karma, who has spent 11 years behind bars for raising the Morning Star flag, a West Papua independence symbol.

Victor Mambor, Jayapura, Jubi – Papuan Legislator from Tolikara Electoral area, Orwan Tolli Wone, criticized the trial against two GIDI young members JW and AK related to the incident occurred in Tolikara on 17 July 2015.

Jakarta – Amnesty International on Thursday welcomed the release of Papuan independence activist Filep Karma but stressed that his decade-long detention for peaceful opposition to Indonesian rule was "an outrageous travesty of justice."

Human Rights Watch says Filep Karma is still coming to terms with his release after 11 years in prison in which he became West Papua's most high profile political prisoner.

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Human Rights Watch says Filep Karma is still coming to terms with his release after 11 years in prison in which he became West Papua's most high profile political prisoner.

Jakarta – The Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced former Papua governor Barnabas Suebu to four years and six months on Thursday after he was found guilty for inflating prices for a designing project in 2008.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Ina Parlina and Fedina S. Sundaryani, Jayapura/Jakarta – After 11 years behind bars, Papuan pro-independence leader Filep Jacob Semuel Karma, 56, was released on Thursday from prison by the government, a move applauded by democracy activists as a promising step toward resolving problems in one of the country's least-developed regions.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The panel of judges at the Jayapura Military Court in Papua dismissed First Sgt. Ashar from the Indonesian Army on Thursday, sentencing him to nine years' imprisonment for his involvement in a shooting incident that killed two civilians in Mimika regency.

A high-profile West Papuan separatist leader has been released from prison after more than a decade behind bars, in a fresh sign that Indonesia may be easing its tight grip on the restive eastern region.

Filep Karma spent more than a decade of his life in jail when he shouldn't even have been jailed for a day. It was an outrageous travesty of justice. – Josef Benedict, Amnesty International's South East Asia Campaigns Director

Jakarta – A prominent Papuan separatist leader on Thursday walked out of prison a free man in Indonesia's easternmost province after serving over a decade behind bars for treason.

Washington, D.C. – Freedom Now is pleased to announce that Papuan activist Filep Samuel Karma was released from prison today, four years before the end of his 15 year sentence. Indonesian authorities released Mr. Karma after considerable international attention has been brought to his case, most recently from a letter signed by Members of the US Congress.

Phelim Kine and Andreas Harsono – In September, Jakarta-based French journalist Marie Dhumieres decided to test whether Indonesia's decades-long barring of foreign media from Papua had indeed ended. In May, the Indonesian government had announced it would lift restrictions for accredited foreign journalists wanting to report on the Papua and West Papua provinces.

Jakarta – The New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has praised the decision by a military court in Papua last week to convict two soldiers for their role in the deaths of two civilians on Aug. 28.

Phelim Kine – Something remarkable happened last week in Indonesia's easternmost Papua province. A military court convicted two soldiers of murder and aggravated assault for their role in the deaths of two civilians on August 28.

Victor Mambor, Semarang, Jubi – Vice Chairman of Advisory Council of the Union Churches of Indonesia, the Rev. Phil Karel Erari said it will endorse the recommendation of the Pacific Islands Forum to send a fact-finding mission team to Papua could be done under the United Nations.

Jakarta – Indonesian authorities continue to restrict access by foreign journalists and rights monitors to Indonesia's easternmost provinces of Papua, raising serious concerns about the government's commitment to media freedom, Human Rights Watch said today in a new report.

In its latest report, the ICP brings together the research of 25 organisations and experts from in and outside West Papua on the situation of human rights, indigenous peoples' rights and the conflict situation there.

Jakarta – Six months after President Joko Widodo announced that foreign media would have unimpeded access to Papua, Indonesian authorities continue to hamper reporting from the region in various ways, Human Rights Watch said in a report launched on Wednesday.