Jakarta – Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc reached a tentative agreement with Indonesian union workers on Wednesday over wages and pensions, a union official said, raising hopes that a strike will be averted with just two days left of talks.

The group of seven West Papuan asylum seekers deported by Australia to Papua New Guinea say they feel powerless and afraid about what will happen to them.

The seven, who arrived in the Torres Strait last week claiming to be fleeing persecution by the Indonesian security forces, were transferred to Port Moresby by Immigration officials.

Ian Rintoul – Yesterday at his press briefing, Immigration Minister, Scott Morrison, claimed that Australia had removed seven West Papuan asylum seekers to PNG last Friday on the basis of a 2003 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with PNG.

The Refugee Action Coalition says the Australian government has acted unlawfully in transferring seven West Papuans, who had fled Indonesia and sought asylum in Queensland, to Papua New Guinea.

The Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, has restated that Canberra has total respect for Indonesia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Speaking in Jakarta, Mr Abbott has told his hosts that he admires what Indonesia has done to improve the autonomy and life of people in West Papua.

An Australian activist group says the Australian government is doing its best to wash their hands of the plight of a group of West Papuan asylum seekers, which have been transferred from the Torres Strait to Papua New Guinea for processing.

In Tony Abbot's Joint media conference with the Indonesian President he said,

Indonesia must immediately conduct an investigation into the alleged excessive use of force by police against protesters during a demonstration in Papua on Sept. 23 when a student, Alpius Mote, was shot dead, New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement released on Monday.

While the Australian PM is taking 20 prominent business leaders with him to Jakarta, the diplomatic tension over asylum-seekers will be hard to ignore.

West Papua Action Auckland,
Box 68-419,
Auckland.

30 September 2013

The Australian High Commissioner.
His Excellency Mr Micheal Potts,
72-76 Hobson Street, Thorndon,
Wellington.
Fax: 04 498 7135

Your Excellency,

"The Indonesian government needs to explain why police officers found it necessary to fire directly into a crowd of protesters throwing rocks. Lethal force may only be used as a last resort to protect lives." --Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director

Vanuatu's prime minister has used his time at the United Nations General Assembly to call for investigations into alleged cases of human rights abuses in West Papua.

Prime Minister Moana Carcasses Kalosil accused the UN of consistently ignoring West Papuan people or their plight.

A consultation in Geneva has proposed political dialogue as the only way towards peace and stability in Tanah Papua, a province of Indonesia.

The region has remained the focus of tensions between the Indonesian authorities and the Papuan indigenous people for years – resulting in grave human rights violations.

Marni Cordell – A group of West Papuans who went into hiding in fear for their lives after taking part in the West Papua Freedom Flotilla have been deported to Papua New Guinea after seeking asylum in Australia.

There are fears for the safety of a group of West Papuans held by Australia's Immigration Department after fleeing from Indonesia.

The group of seven – including a 10 year old boy – fled Merauke earlier this week and after reaching Boigu Island were sent by Immigration to Papua New Guinea's capital, Port Moresby.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop are visiting Indonesia at the end of September. AWPA has sent the below letter to the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister urging that they raise the human rights situation in West Papua with their counterparts in Indonesia.

Yesterday (25/9) a delegation of Papuan human rights defenders met with the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UNWGEID) in Geneva to follow-up on the case of Aristoteles Masoka, who disappeared on 10 November 2001.

Joel Magarey And Lauren Wilson – Up to seven West Papuan independence activists are believed to have fled across the Torres Strait to northern Queensland in search of asylum after supporting Australian "Freedom Flotilla" members who sailed close to Indonesian waters earlier this month.

Daniel Drageset – The daughter of a political prisoner in West Papua has sent a letter to the Indonesian president appealing for the release of all political prisoners in the Indonesian-ruled region.

Allegations raised in this release have been verified independently by WPM.

West Papua Media (WPM) stringers have received credible disturbing reports of a major escalation in Indonesian police operations against civilians in the Waghete, outside Enarotali in Paniai, resulting in the shooting of three civilians and the death of one.

One person is said to have been killed and at least two others injured on Monday when Indonesian riot police opened fire on civilians in Waghete, West Papua. Spokesperson for the Papuan provincial police Sulistyo Pudjo told Guardian Australia that the shooting occurred when police tried to disperse a mob that was attacking them.

Jerry Omona, Jayapura – Papua Police Chief, Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian, denied having received money from Adj. First Insp. Labora Sitorus – the former member of the Raja Ampat resort Police implicated in illegal logging, illegal fuel distribution and money laundering.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – A public transportation driver was fatally fatally shot by an unidentified man in the Tingginambut district of Puncak Jaya regency, Papua, on Saturday.

A man – reportedly a civilian – was shot dead while driving in a convoy carrying food in Puncak Jaya district in Papua on Saturday.

"As they drove through Kalome village in Tingginambut subdistrict at 12:06 p.m., the car with plate number DW 8496 CA was shot at," Papua Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Sulistio Pudjo told Indonesian news portal kompas.com on Saturday.

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI)says it will remain vigilant even though a boat carrying pro-West Papua independence activists had returned to Australian waters, reasoning that they could return any time and try to enter Merauke, West Papua, illegally.

Four West Papuan community leaders were arrested on Wednesday the 18th of September, 2013 after sending a letter to the Biak police station informing them of a procession planned to welcome the sacred water and ashes delivered by the Freedom Flotilla, as well as to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Biak Massacre. The four remain in custody and may be charged with treason.

Jakarta – Pay talks at Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc's Indonesian unit have stalled but a deadline for an end to negotiations has been extended, a union official said on Thursday, easing the threat of any disruption.

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-123-2013

Dear friends,

Rendi Witular and Nethy Dharma Somba, Jakarta – More than 100 Papuan students, who have been awarded full scholarships to study at top universities on Java, have discovered their places are at risk as the Papua administration claims it has no money to fund their travel costs.

Jayapura – The TPN/OPM [National Resistance Army/Papuan Freedom Movement] in Gurangi, Puncak Jaya has written to the Indonesian Red Crescent [PMI] [Indonesian Red Cross – JB.] in the District of Puncak Jaya apologising for shooting three PMI volunteers on 31 July, 2013. During this incident, a man called Heri Yoman was shot dead, while two other people were injured.

Daniel Drageset – The West Papua Freedom Flotilla has arrived back in Gove in the Northern Territory of Australia, describing their attempt to get the attention of the region's Indonesian masters and the world's media, a success.

Jayapura – The National Committee of West Papua – KNPB – has claimed that 249 members have been arrested by the police across West Papua because they took part in demonstrations to mark International Democracy Day on Monday this week.

Hyginus Hardoyo, Boven Digoel, Papua – In Ogenetan, a tiny village located in Iniyandit, one of the more remote districts of Boven Digoel regency in Papua, residents recently donned their best traditional attire to welcome several guests from Jakarta.

Yuliasri Perdani, Jakarta – An investigation by the Indonesian Police Watch (IPW) has found that a Papua Police officer paid bribes to 33 police officials, including the Papua Police chief.

It is alleged that Adj. First Insp. Labora Sitorus had paid the bribes, totalling Rp 10.95 billion (US$959,684), to protect his illegal logging and fuel-smuggling businesses.

Jayapura – Dozens of people taking part in peaceful actions organised by the KNPB to mark International Democracy Day were forced to retreat by the security forces who sprayed them with tear gas.

"We gave the KNPB five minutes to disperse their members because we had not granted permission for the demonstrations to take place,' a police spokesman told Jubi.

A number of events took place across West Papua today to celebrate the arrival of sacred water and fire from the Freedom Flotilla.

September 14th 10am.

The Pog, flagship of the Freedom Flotilla has returned to Australian waters, following threats made by the Indonesian military and a successful cultural exchange between indigenous elders from Australian and West Papua.

Evading the Indonesian navy, two tiny boats met near the Australia-Indonesia border to ceremonially reconnect the indigenous peoples of Australia and West Papua. The ceremony was the pinnacle of a 5000km journey beginning in Lake Eyre, in which sacred water and ashes were carried and presented to West Papuan leaders.

Marni Cordell – West Papuan political leaders who met a boatload of Australian and West Papuan activists across the Indonesian sea border could face interrogation or torture at the hands of Indonesian authorities, a spokesperson claims.

Michael Bachelard, Jakarta – One Freedom Flotilla protest vessel has completed its ceremonial mission, meeting activists from West Papua in secret and under the noses of the Indonesian armed forces, while another acted as a decoy, organisers have claimed.

Monique Ross – Activists on a flotilla which left Australia last month have completed their mission to present water and ashes to leaders of Indonesia's disputed Papua region.

Activists on a flotilla which left Australia last month have completed their mission to present water and ashes to leaders of Indonesia's disputed Papua region.

The 15 of September is International Day of Democracy. The UN General Assembly, in a resolution in 2007 encouraged Governments to strengthen national programs devoted to the promotion and consolidation of democracy, and also decided that 15 September of each year should be observed as the International Day of Democracy.

An Australian boat carrying pro-independence activists to Indonesian Papua will be turned around, the head of the military in the province's port city of Merauke says.

The flotilla making its way from Australia towards Papua is expected to cross Indonesia's marine border today.

Organisers of the "Freedom Flotilla" say they aim to let the world know about human rights abuses in the country's disputed Papua region.

Joe Magarey – Activists of the "Freedom Flotilla" left Thursday Island yesterday bound for disputed waters off West Papua and a probable ocean confrontation with Indonesian forces, defying a "final warning" that they could be jailed in Indonesia for 20 years.

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-118-2013

Dear friends,

Michael Bachelard – The "Freedom Flotilla" of Australian protesters set sail from far north Queensland on Monday bound for the province of West Papua, where the Indonesian military stands ready to repel it.

The flotilla once had three boats, but is now down to one, the Pog, which carries just six people, after other boats broke down and could not be repaired.

The jailed leader of the self-proclaimed republic of West Papua Fokorus Yaboisembut has written to the Australian Prime Minister-elect Tony Abbott to congratulate him and seek support.

Mr Yaboisembut was named president of the two remote Indonesian provinces by separatist groups nearly two years ago.

On Election Day, West Papuan activists spread a message of hope and freedom in Melbourne to raise awareness of the Freedom Flotilla, writes Jenny Denton.