The West Papua National Coalition for Liberation says its participation at the Melanesian Spearhead Group Leaders Summit next week will help elevate the status of its cause.

Papuan independence activists in Vanuatu say membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group would be a major breakthrough in its fight for independence from Indonesia.

Jayapura – In response to the decision of the government of Papua New Guinea to reject a request by the OPM to open an office in Port Moresby, the Director of Baptist Voice-Papua, Mathius Murib, said that OPM offices have been opened in a number of places around the world, including an office in Oxford, the United Kingdom, as well as in Indonesia.

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura, Papua – State-owned energy company Pertamina says it does not know how a low-ranking police officer in Papua who is accused of fuel smuggling and illegal logging could have ended up with 1 million liters of subsidized fuel.

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – A man was murdered on Thursday after he allegedly refused to join the Free Papua Organization (OPM), police said.

Australia's Foreign Minister has accused people who advocate self-determination rights of West Papuans of misleading the indigenous people of Indonesia's Papua region.

Bob Carr made the comment during a Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee hearing on his government's response to ongoing human rights abuses in West Papua.

AWPA has written to Senator Carr about the possibility of another crackdown by the security forces on rallies called by the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) for the 10 June.

Australia West Papua Association (Sydney)
PO Box 28
Spit Junction NSW 2088

6 June 2013

Senator the Hon Bob Carr
Minister for Foreign Affairs Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Fax: 6261 3111

Copy to Senator Richard Di Natale
Fax: 6277 5957

Dear Senator Carr,

Australian Greens Senator, Dr Richard Di Natale, has condemned the Australian Foreign Minister's comments in Senate Estimates where he blamed the escalating tensions in West Papua on the international human rights movement.

New Caledonia's pro-independence FLNKS Movement has officially invited West Papua to attend this month's Melanesian Spearhead Group summit in Noumea.

At the summit, MSG leaders are expected to decide on a formal membership bid by the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation.

Camelia Pasandaran – Political prisoners held at Papua's Abepura Prison rejected President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's offer to grant them clemency as part of the Home Affairs Ministry's proposed "special autonomy plus" program for the restive region.

Arya Dipa, Bandung – Members of the Papuan Students Alliance (AMP) studying in West Java staged a rally on Monday demanding the United Nations hold a referendum on Papua.

Chairman of AMP's central committee, Rinto Kogoya, said a referendum was the best solution for prosperity.

Rangga Prakoso – Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold reported another death at its Grasberg mine in Papua on Sunday after a worker was seriously injured while conducting maintenance on an underground tunnel, a company official said.

London – Two human rights lawyers from West Papua, Olga Hamadi and Gustaf Kawer, are today being honoured at a ceremony for the Lawyers for Lawyers Award in Amsterdam. An expert jury placed them third on the shortlist for the Award won by Russian human lawyer, Magamed Abubakarov.

The secretary of the KNPB – National Committee for West Papua – Ones Suhuniap has said that the governor of Papua, the chief of police and the commander of XVII Cenderawasih Military Command must all be held responsible for the mysterious killings that occurred in Puncak Jaya during the month of April.

Bagus BT Saragih and Nethy Dharma Somba, Jakarta, Jayapura – Frightened by a series of reports of missing persons in the past few weeks, several residents of Puncak Jaya, Papua, have left their homes to go to other cities or hide in the forests, officials say.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Papua provincial administration and the central government will revise Law No. 21/2001 on Papua Special Autonomy and deliberate the Papua Administration Law, says a presidential special staff member.

Bagus BT Saragih and Nethy Dharma Somba, Jakarta, Jayapura – Dozens of Papuan convicts, many of them pro-independence activists who were sentenced to jail for treason, have rejected the proposal for their release under a government clemency or amnesty program, alleging that the move was only part of the government's efforts to silence their voice.

Yuliasri Perdani, Jakarta – In what could been seen as damage control from a money-laundering scandal, Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian has dismissed Raja Ampat Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Taufik Irfan.

Jakarta – Government claimed that they had pocketed identities of foreign intelligence agents who carried out their mission in Papua. Spokesman of Minister of Defense, Maj. Gen. Hartind Asrin said government kept monitoring activities the foreign intelligence agents.

Indonesia says allegations about a mass killing in Papua province by an Indonesian counter terrorist unit are "blatant lies".

Indonesia says allegations in an ABC story last week about a mass killing in Papua province by an Indonesian counter terrorist unit are "blatant lies".

Oktovianus Pogau, SuaraPapua.com, Papua, Manokwari – The latest development concerning the diplomatic struggle in West Papua is the submission of a proposal by Papua to be accepted as a member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG). The group will hold a conference in Noumea, New Caledonia in June 2013. This step is in accordance with the international mechanisms of the UN.

Credible and disturbing reports are continuing to emerge from Tingginambut, Puncak Jaya, in the West Papuan highlands, detailing evidence of another violent rampage by the Indonesian army special forces (Kopassus) against civilians throughout May, allegedly by Kopassus officers stationed in the district which has been suffering war conditions since February.

Jamie Small – West Papua may become a crucial issue for the Pacific if the Melanesian Spearhead Group next month decides to offer observer status to the Indonesian-ruled region at its leaders' summit next month.

The MSG leaders will be gathering in Noumea, New Caledonia, for the organisation's 25th jubilee and many serious matters will be on the table.

Peter Lloyd – An elite counter-terrorist police unit in Indonesia has been accused of carrying out a mass killing in a village in the disputed Papua province.

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has promised to free all Papuan political prisoners, a legislator claimed here on Wednesday.

The prisoners will reportedly be offered clemency as part of the priority points under the government's "special autonomy plus" program.

A day after rescuers pulled the last body from the rubble of a recent mine collapse that killed 28 workers, Freeport has turned its attention to a review of safety measures at its underground operations, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold chief Richard Adkerson said.

Yuliasri Perdani, Jakarta – Adj. First Insp. Labora Sitorus, a Papua Police officer accused of owning fat bank accounts, has said he wired money for "charity-related programs" to several of his superiors.

Margareth S. Aritonang and Yuliasri Perdani, Jakarta – Antigraft and police watchdogs suspect that the sudden arrest by the National Police of Papua policeman Adj. First Insp. Labora Sitorus was part of plot to protect higher ranking officers who could be dragged into the mire of a major graft case.

[Comments On the US Department of State's Annual Country Report On Human Rights for 2012 Concerning Indonesia/West Papua: http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm?year=2012&dlid=204203.]

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Attempts at PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) to rescue workers trapped in a tunnel in the Big Gossan training facility in Mimika regency, Papua, have been hampered by the confined and restricted space within the tunnel.

A police emergency response unit found four bodies and rescued 10 workers trapped in a collapsed tunnel in Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold's Grasberg complex in Tembagapura, Papua, on Wednesday.

Ezra Sihite – Military chief of staff Agus Suhartono has sought to downplay Papuan separatist Benny Wenda's activities overseas, saying he is not worried because the firebrand activist is getting little support from Papuans at home.

AWPA has written to the Indonesian President calling for the release of those arrested in West Papua on 13 May.

Dear President Yudhoyono,

I am writing to you concerning the arrest of four West Papuans on the 13 May at a peaceful rally in Jayapura.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Marzuki Alie, the speaker of the House of Representatives, has urged the Foreign Ministry to take a stronger stand against domestic separatist groups operating overseas, arguing that the country's reputation and sovereignty are at stake.

Jayapura – The Jayapura City Police detained West Papua National Committee (KNPB) leader Viktor Weimo during a rally in Jayapura on Monday.

Michael Bachelard – West Papuan independence movement leader Victor Yeimo was detained and allegedly beaten by police on Monday as another prominent Indonesian national politician warned Western countries against supporting separatists in the troubled province.

Indonesian police in Jayapura have this morning violently dispersed a pro-independence rally being held by the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), arresting its leader Victor Yeimo, media worker Marthen Manggaprouw and two KNPB activists, according to early reports.

Senator The Honorary Bob Carr
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Senate
Parliament House
Canberra

RE: the deadly shooting in Papua, Indonesia

Dear Senator,

Jakarta – Australian academics and researchers have raised concerns, in a letter sent to Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr, about a recent fatal shooting in Sorong, Papua.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – A Papuan, allegedly under the influence of alcohol, was killed after a soldier in Wamena, Papua, opened fire to defend himself after being chased by a group of allegedly drunk local residents, according to a military spokesman.

Anton Kogoya, 27, was killed on Saturday evening at 10:43 p.m. local time (8:43 p.m. Jakarta time).

Michael Bachelard – West Papua marked its 50-year anniversary under Indonesian rule last week and three events amply reminded us why it is a festering sore within the country and a serious inhibitor of good relations between Indonesia and the rest of the world.

Jayapura – Amnesty International has urged Indonesia to probe the deaths of three Papua independence activists who were gunned down as they protested 50 years of Jakarta's control over the restive region.

Jamie Small – A prominent West Papuan journalist and activist has visited New Zealand to gather support for West Papua's inclusion in the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) while an Indonesian government crackdown was killing and arresting Papuan demonstrators.

Index: ASA 21/013/2013

Jakarta – West Papua Students in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and Forum SeTARA criticized the killing of Papuans marking the 50th anniversary of the transfer of West New Guinea (now Papua)'s administration from the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA) to Indonesia on May 1, 1963.

Ezra Sihite & Carlos Paath – Noises of fury over the launching of a Free West Papua Campaign office in Britain continued to emerge from the Indonesian government on Tuesday, although one lawmaker was more philosophical.

Bagus BT Saragih and Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa summoned British Ambassador to Indonesia Mark Canning on Monday and filed a diplomatic protest against the British government over the recent opening of a Free West Papua (OPM) office in Oxford.

Indonesia on Monday summoned the British ambassador in Jakarta to protest after a group supporting the independence of the restive Papua region set up its headquarters in England, the envoy said.

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The House of Representatives urged the government to officially ask the United Kingdom to not interfere with affairs in Papua, Indonesia's easternmost province.