Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's commitment to help develop Indonesia's easternmost region could instead lead to more abuses of Papuans, an activist warns.

Simon Santow: Indonesia has invited the foreign ministers of four Pacific Island countries to visit its two easternmost provinces – Papua and West Papua – to see for themselves if the people want independence. Those two provinces are the western half of the main island of New Guinea.

Ezra Sihite, Bogor, West Java – Visiting Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd reiterated his government's recognition of Indonesia's sovereignty over Papua on Friday.

This weekend marks the 15th anniversary of the Biak massacre in West Papua, when scores of West Papuans were wounded, arrested or killed while calling for independence from Indonesia.

On July 6, 1998, in Biak Island's main town, Indonesian military units launched a dawn attack on Papuans who had staged a peaceful demonstration over several days.

A citizens' tribunal is being held at the University of Sydney tomorrow to mark the 15th anniversary of the Biak massacre in West Papua.

On July 6, 1998, in Biak Island's main town, Indonesian soldiers launched a dawn attack on Papuans who had staged a peaceful demonstration over several days, calling for independence.

Saturday the 6 July marks 15 years since the Indonesian security forces massacred scores of people in Biak, West Papua. The victims, included women and children who had gathered for a peaceful rally. They were killed at the base of a water tower flying the Morning Star flag.

The bid by the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation, or WPNCL, to join the Melanesian Spearhead Group has reignited debate about who represents the indigenous people of Indonesia's Papua region.

Saturday, July 6, is the 15th anniversary of one of the worst massacres in Indonesia's post-Suharto history. On that day in 1998, members of the Indonesian military ruthlessly gunned down peaceful pro-independence demonstrators on the island Biak in West Papua. Like so many massacres in Indonesia, the exact number of those killed is unknown.

Jerry Omona, Jayapura – After just days of the distribution of its first edition, Pelita Papua magazine encountered problems with the police last Wednesday for portraying the symbol of the Free Papua Movement on its cover.

Jayapura – Two vocal church leaders in Papua, Rev Socratez Sofyan Yoman and Dr Beny Giai held a meeting with the Dutch ambassador, Tjeerd de Zwaan, on Tuesday.

During the meeting, the Dutch ambassador asked the church leaders about the implementation of the Special Autonomy for Papua (OTSUS) and the additional law called Special Autonomy Plus.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is visiting Indonesia for the third Indonesia-Australia Leaders' Meeting, from 4 to 5 July

No doubt the two main issues that will be discussed between Kevin Rudd and President Yudhoyono will be curbing the flow of asylum seekers and the live cattle trade.

Jerry Omona, Jakarta – The Free Papua Movement allegedly raised the Bintang Kejora (Morning Star) flag to commemorate the independence of Papua, which is believed to fall on July 1. The flags were found in several places in Papua, yet OPM's military wing, the Papua Liberation Army Front (TPN), refused that they were involved in the case.

Bobby Anderson – Under Papua's 2001 Special Autonomy Law, the majority of Papua's natural resource wealth is returned to the province. The law was meant to address both the sources of political unrest in Papua, and the challenges ordinary Papuans experience on a daily basis.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – A group of civilians raised the banned Morning Star (Bintang Kejora) flag in Kampung Wandenggobak, Mulia, Puncak Jaya regency, Papua, on Monday, while officers from the Puncak Jaya Police precinct were celebrating the National Police's 67th anniversary, which fell on July 1.

Lambertus Pekikir, the leader of Free Papua Movement's (OPM) military wing, the Papua Liberation Army Front (TPN) said that the organization will unilaterally proclaim the independence of Papua on July 1.

Nadya Natahadibrata, Jakarta – The Education and Culture Ministry launched the 12-year compulsory education program on Tuesday, officially named the Universal Secondary Education (Pendidikan Menengah Universal), to give equal access to education for people between 16 and 18 years old.

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – The Free Papua Movement (OPM) has claimed responsibility for the fatal shooting of an Indonesian Military (TNI) soldier, which also left a civilian dead in the Papua district of Puncak Jaya on Tuesday.

A West Papua rebel leader has claimed responsibility for the killing of three Indonesian soldiers.

The claim was made by a General of the National Liberation Army of West Papua, Goliath Tabuni. The rebel group says General Tabuni gave the command to his forces to shoot two members of the military, or TNI, in the remote Ilu district in Puncak Jaya.

The many years of lobby by the Independence movement the OPM, a job now carried on by West Papua National Coalition for Liberation (WPNCL) has entered a new chapter in its international efforts.

Jakarta – Mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia will resume operations in its open-pit with government permission after being idle for more than a month following a fatal tunnel collapse.

The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has allowed the United States-based gold and copper producer to resume production only in the open-pit and to commence milling in Papua.

The West Papua National Coalition for Liberation says the decision by the Melanesian Spearhead Group to retain its application for MSG membership is a major boost to efforts to bring the West Papua issue into the United Nations.

Issues of decolonisation and self-determination took centre stage at the just-completed 19th Melanesian Spearhead Group Leaders Summit in New Caledonia.

For the summit's hosts and incoming chair of the MSG, New Caledonia's FLNKS movement, the gathering was a strong endorsement of their preparation for possible independence from France.

The Melanesian Spearhead Group says it "fully supports" the right of West Papuans to self determination.

Presenter: Geraldine Coutts

Speaker: Sean Dorney, Pacific correspondent for the Australia Network

Eoin Blackwell, Papua New Guinea – Papua New Guinea's opposition has launched a broadside against Prime Minister Peter O'Neill over his government's recent signing of an extradition treaty with Indonesia.

Opposition leader Belden Namah says the treaty will be used to expel thousands of West Papuans who have crossed the 760km land border into PNG to escape Indonesian rule.

Presidential Regulation (Perpres) 40 of 2013, a new order issued by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to "Build Roads to Faciltate the Expansion of Development in Papua and West Papua Provinces", has been greeted with opposition and concern by the Papuan people.

Godwin Ligo – Oceania Decolonization Committee (ODC) president Shem Rarua said Vanuatu leaders compromising the nation's stand on West Papua with the rest of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) members at the 19th MSG Leaders' Summit is "disappointing".

Hipolitus Yolisandy Ringgi Wangge & Agustinus Kambuaya – The Free Papua Movement (Organisasi Papua Merdeka or OPM) has opened an office in the city of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

Efforts to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in the Indonesian provinces of Papua, which has among the country's highest rates of infection, and West Papua are making steady though slow progress, say aid workers and government officials.

The leaders of the Melanesian Spearhead Group have signed off on a communique at the end of their meeting, raising issues of alleged human rights abuses in the Indonesian Province of West Papua.

They also accepted an invitation from Indonesia for a ministerial team from the organisation to visit the province.

Noumea, New Caledonia – Another group has emerged claiming to legitimately represent the people of West Papua are lobbying for recognition at the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Leaders Summit, currently underway in Noumea.

Jacob Rumbiak, who is responsible for foreign affairs for the Federal Republic of West Papua, says his group represents the majority on West Papua.

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The Indonesian government has invited foreign ministers from Melanesian nations grouped under the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) to Jakarta to receive briefings on development in Papua and West Papua provinces, a move that could be seen as a campaign to obtain international support for the country's sovereignty over its easternmost region.

Farouk Arnaz – Papua Police have named another two suspects over the burning down of a police station in the east of the restive province, bringing the total to eight suspects, police said.

"There are two more suspects, they are KS, also known as Keli, and MHK," Sr. Cmr. I Gede Sumerta Jaya, a Papua Police spokesman, told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday.

A man in Indonesia's Papua province says he is currently on the run from the military after witnessing a massacre of Papuans reported last month.

Several reports emerged in May of a slaughter of 40 people in the remote area of Tingginambut, close to the Puncak Jaya mountain, but so far very little evidence has emerged.

Farouk Arnaz – Police in Papua have arrested 14 people following Sunday's attack on a police district headquarters in Pegunungan Bintang, a police official said on Wednesday.

Jennifer Robinson – As the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) prepares to consider West Papua's application for membership, it is important for member states to consider international law relevant to West Papua.

Banjir Ambarita – Dozens of people vandalized Freeport facilities and looted ore concentrate at the copper and gold giant's mining district in Mimika, Papua, on Sunday.

Witnesses said that around 70 people came to the mining area, looting and vandalizing cars and a security post.

It has been recommended that a bid by the Free West Papua movement to join regional Pacific body the Melanesian Spearhead Group to been deferred by at least six months.

The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) brings together the leaders of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, along with New Caledonia's indigenous political movement FLNKS.

Carlos Paath – The Mimika Regency government in Papua has asked the central government to push forward talks with Freeport Indonesia in order to speed up the reopening of the company's Grasberg mine.

Farouk Arnaz & Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – High ranking police officers and reinforcements arrived at the Papuan highland town of Oksibil on Monday following an arson attack on the Pengunungan Bintang district police station.

Serui – Following a number of violent incidents that have occurred in Yapen Island, the security forces have conduced sweepings along the coast and in Kanawa Kampung to see whether the OPM was involved.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The situation in Tembagapura mile 74, a Freeport Indonesia mining area, is reported to be quiet again after incidents of property damage perpetrated by a mob at 7:30 p.m. local time on Sunday.

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – A mob armed with machetes and arrows stormed a police district headquarters in Pegunungan Bintang, setting the building and several vehicles ablaze after claims that police beat an intoxicated man set-off a wave of anti-police sentiment in this conflict-prone region.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill is planning to discuss the topics of trade, border security and extradition during his three-day visit to Indonesia over the weekend, a report from Port Moresby said on Friday.

PT Freeport Indonesia workers called off a strike planned for today that would have halted maintenance at the world's biggest copper mine, after the company suspended officials held responsible for an accident, according to a union official.

A journalist in Indonesia's Papua province says yesterday's student rally was forcibly broken up by police who are currently searching for the organiser.

Police started dispersing the 50 rallying students at Cendrawasih University in Waena when they blocked the entrance. The police also violently arrested the leader of the Papua National Parliament, Buchtar Tabuni.

Damien McElroy – Benny Wenda, a 38-year-old exile from the Pacific territory of West Papua, has recently opened an office on the Cowley Road for his campaign seeking independence for the Indonesian-run half of the island of New Guinea.

A demonstration by dozens of students from Cenderawasih University calling for West Papua to become a member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group was forced to disperse by the police on the grounds that they did not have a permit to demonstrate. Moreover, they were flying the Kejora – Morning Star flag.

Jayapura – The former chairman of the KNPB (National Committee of West Papua), Buchtar Tabuni, has been released after being interrogated by the police. It was reported earlier that he had been arrested by units of the police in Jayapura.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Papua – The police forcibly dispersed a student mass rally held in front of Cendrawasih University campus in Waena, Jayapura, Papua province, on Wednesday.

The decision was made after the rally blocked off the only access route into the campus, thus disrupting studying activities.

Please find attached the West Papuan community's response to Foreign Minister Bob Carr's comments at the Senate Estimates, that the West Papuan Independence Movement is "a cruel deceit" by "self-indulgent people".

For all media inquiries, please contact: Ronny Kareni West Papuan Independence at Rize of the Morning Star campaign 0401222177

Regards,