MI/Rommy Pujianto/ip, Makassar – Student Solidarity Concern for the Papuan People (SMPRP) along with advocacy and human rights groups held a protest action in front of the Mandala Monument Commemorating the Liberation of West Irian on Jl. Jenderal Sudirman in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar on Monday March 25.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Papua – The Papuan Traditional Council (DAP) has formed the Papuan People Mining Association as part of the council's supervision of mining activities, the fruits of which it the DAP says often bypass Papua province's indigenous people.

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-045-2013

Dear friends,

Ongoing repression on peaceful dissent and acts of torture on civilians by Indonesian police (Polri) in Yapen has drawn a sharp reaction from West Papuan pro-independence guerrillas, who have captured and carried out an arrest of the local Police chief for human rights abuses committed under his watch.

Jayapura – Melanesian support for the independence of the West Papuan people has always been very strong.

The Vanuatu opposition leader, Edward Natapei, has called on the government to reverse its stance on West Papua ahead of the July summit of the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

This comes after a Papuan activist, Benny Wenda, visited Port Vila on a regional tour from his exile in Britain.

Yosie Sesbania – After winning a case in the Constitutional Court over an election dispute, Lukas Enembe is now on his way to being sworn in as the governor of Papua.

Jakarta – When the government's moratorium on deforestation expires on May 20, forest areas in Papua province will be in peril, activists say.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Papua – Newly elected Papua Governor Lukas Enembe has vowed to improve the implementation of Papua's Special Autonomy (Otsus) Law No. 21/2001. He said improvements were necessary as many Papuans continued to complain about the lack of benefits.

The Jayapura Military Court sentenced First Sergeant Irfan to 12 years in prison on Monday for killing his lover Frederika Metalmety, who was six months pregnant.

The verdict was read by Jayapura Military Court presiding judge Let. Col. Priyo Mustiko. The defendant was also dismissed from his unit. The verdict was lighter than the 15 years sought by military prosecutors.

This is a joint statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs/World Council of Churches (CCIA/WCC), Dominicans for Justice and Peace (Order of Preachers), Franciscans International (FI), the International Coalition for Papua (ICP), Survival International (SI), United Evangelical Mission (UEM), Vivat International (VI),

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-040-2013

Dear friends,

West Papua, the western territory of island of New Guinea, was placed under Indonesian control in 1963. The transfer of power from Dutch colonialism was supposed to be temporary.

Oktovianus Pogau, Jayapura – On 7 March 2013, members of the Wamena District Police reportedly arrested three civilians in Pirime, Lanny Jaya Regency, Papua. The civilians have been named as Tinius Kiwo (23), Wurin Tabuni (46), and Kiwenus Tabuni (30).

Local residents in Paniai regency are bracing for more repression in sweep operations by Indonesian security forces after two separate incidents across the Paniai have intensified ongoing crackdowns on West Papuan independence sentiment, torturing a local priest and even banning the possession of traditional music.

[Written up Pacific Scoop from Social Media Reports by West Papua Media.]

Urgent Appeal Update: AHRC-UAU-003-2013. Re: AHRC-UAC-025-2013

Dear friends,

The killing of eight Indonesian soldiers in two separate incidents in Papua late last month was the bloodiest attack on security forces in the Indonesian province for two years. Those responsible have not been found or identified.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Papua – Rev. Neles Tebay of Papua has been named the winner of the Tji Hak-Soon Peace and Justice Award for 2013 for mediating peace talks between Papuan separatists and the Indonesia government.

Ira Guslina Sufa, Jakarta – Newly elected Papua governor elected on January 29 Lucas Enembe believes that adding military troops in Papua will not solve the security issues in the area.

Local communities around Sinak, Gurage, Mulia and Tingginambut in Puncak Jaya regency have felt the first effects of Indonesian military reprisals, after West Papuan independence guerrillas under General Goliat Tabuni confirmed that they had killed eight Indonesian special forces soldiers and four non-Papuan civilians on February 21 in two separate incidents.

Robert Isidorus, Jayapura – The National Liberation Army of the Free Papua Movement, led by Goliath Tabuni, said it had no interest in money or power and that it was purely fighting to achieve an independent Papua.

"We want to be fully independent," Anton Lego Obet Tabuni, secretary general of the organization known as TPN-OPM, told Suara Pembaruan in a phone call.

Ridwan Max Sijabat and Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The Regional Representatives Council (DPD) has strongly urged the government to cease military operations and withdraw special forces from Papua and West Papua to end the prolonged violence in the country's easternmost provinces.

Yeremia Sukoyo, Carlos Paath & Anastasia Winanti Riesardhy – A member of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has officially apologized to the Indonesian Military (TNI) for a controversial remark he made about the recent killing of eight military officers in Puncak Jaya, Papua.

Yeremia, Carlos Paath & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Newly elected Papuan Governor Lukas Enembe says he will form a special team to resolve conflicts and violence in the province as soon as he is inaugurated.

SP/Carlos Paath & Anastasia Winanti Riesardhy – The Indonesian military has demanded a public apology from the commissioner of the country's human rights watchdog, who on Friday made an insensitive remark about the recent murder of eight soldiers and four civilians in Puncak Jaya, Papua.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Papua – Paniai police apprehended two members of the Free Papua Organization (OPM) led by John Yogi, after a tip off from locals on the Paniai Lake.

Margareth S. Aritonang and Nethy Dharma Somba, Jakarta – The deaths of eight soldiers, who were shot by unidentified perpetrators in Papua last week, may have been due to negligence on the part of the local military command in the area.

SP/Roberth Vanwi & SP/Carlos Paath, Jayapura – The two armed attacks in Puncak Jaya that left eight soldiers and four civilians dead last week were linked to the local district elections, Papua Police Chief Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian said over the weekend.

Nethy Dharma Somba and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jayapura/Jakarta – The shooting deaths of eight soldiers and four civilians in Papua on Thursday may be connected to the province's recent gubernatorial election, according to the police.

The United States condemned the deadly series of shootings on Thursday that left eight soldiers dead in Papua.

The Australia West Papua Association is concerned that local people in the areas where the attacks against the Indonesian military occurred will suffer as security operations are conducted in the hunt for the perpetrators of the attacks. The attacks occurred in Sinak and Tingginambut in the Puncak Jaya District

AWPA notes that

Jakarta – The Ambassador of Australia to Indonesia, Greg Moriarty, has expressed condolences following the deaths of eight soldiers in shooting incidents in Papua on Thursday.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Ezra Sihite – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono says the national government will use a welfare-based approach rather than a military one to keep the peace in Papua after a deadly series of shootings on Thursday left eight soldiers dead.

Bagus BT Saragih and Nethy Darma Somba, Jakarta/Jayapura – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered the country's security forces to refrain from conducting excessive security operations in Papua following shootings that left eight soldiers and four civilians dead in the restive region.

Pemalang – Economic and social gap is the root cause of persistent security problem in Papua, Velix Wanggai, a special staff of the president on regional autonomy, said.

Farouk Arnaz – A military helicopter that was on its way to evacuate the remains of the eight soldiers who were shot dead in Papua's Puncak Jaya district, was forced to return back to its base after an armed group attacked them in the air on Friday morning.

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-025-2013

Dear friends,

UA: 48/13 Index: ASA 21/005/2013

Two Indonesian men now arbitrarily detained in Jayapura, Papua province, are believed to have been tortured or otherwise ill-treated by police.

AHRC-PRL-005-2013

Hong Kong/Jakarta – The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has released the video of interview with two Papuans who were tortured by the Indonesian Police. The video is available on AHRC's YouTube Channel on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMI1HouWMv4.

Banjir Ambarita – Three more soldiers have been killed, after an unidentified group exchanged gunfire with soldiers in Papua's Puncak Jaya district on Thursday, bringing the total number of casualties to eight.

The three soldiers were identified as Private Edi, Private Jojo and Private Idris.

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-024-2013

Dear friends,

Farouk Arnaz – Police said on Thursday that Papua was calm and peaceful a day after the local electoral commission named Lukas Enembe and Klemen Tinal as the province's governor and deputy governor.

"Thank God, everything is secure," said Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian, the Papua Police chief.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Yet again the streets of Papua were left bloody after another violent incident occurred at Kampung Pugo, East Paniai district, Paniai regency on Thursday. The victim was identified as Warigan, 48, an ojek (local motorcycle taxi) driver.

Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully will not meet a West Papuan freedom fighter who was refused a public forum at Parliament.

Michael Bachelard – AIDS was slow to arrive in the remote central highlands of the Indonesian province of Papua. It was not until 1996 that eight people tested positive in Wamena, the region's capital. By that time, the world had been dealing with this deadly disease for a decade. And yet, in Papua, precisely nothing happened.

Jayapura – The Indonesian Navy is to enhance the monitoring on maritime defense by establish Navy Primary Base in Papua region.

"We will establish the twelfth Indonesian Navy Primary Base in Sorong, Papua," said the Fifth Primary Base Commander of Jayapura Brigade General Putu Wijamahaadi here on Friday.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jakarta – Violence remains rampant in Papua as two civilians were attacked by unidentified people in two different areas.

The body of Yerson Wonorengga, 22, was found in the Skyland River, Jayapura, on Friday morning with an open wound on the waist. It is alleged Wonorengga was a victim of a brawl between two groups in Skyland on Thursday evening.

Farouk Arnaz – Police in Indonesia's restive Papua province are searching for a man who shot a motorcycle driver in the neck on Thursday in Tigi Timur, in the district of Paniai.

Ed McWilliams – In a December 5, 2012 lecture at Stanford University's International Policy Studies program (revised January 22, 2013), the respected Southeast Asia analyst Sidney Jones discussed the Indonesian government's unwillingness, thus far, to categorize the Papuan "ethno-nationalists/separatists" as "terrorists." Jones