West Papua Media sources in Serui – Credible but unconfirmed reports have been received by West Papua Media reporting that a major operation is currently being carried out by a combined force of of Australian trained and armed police and military special forces.

A bloody and brutal rampage by Indonesian security forces is currently underway in Wamena, in the Baliem Valley of West Papua, after two soldiers were killed for running down a small boy in Wamena on Wednesday afternoon.

Workers at Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.'s Grasberg mine in Indonesia threatened to return to strike as tensions grow following the dismissal of three union members this month, a union official said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is urged to immediately appoint members to a dialogue team in order to intensify dialogue with stakeholders both in the Land of Papua and Jakarta. The formation of a dialogue team is an urgent need and essential to bring to an end the shooting incidents that have recently occurred in Papua.

The human rights activist, Sebby Sambom has declared that the Indonesian government has armed a group of civilian personnel in Papua which have been armed in order to carry out actions like the shooting of a foreign visitor, in order to damage the reputation of Papuan people in the outside world.

Jayapura – According to several journalists working in Serui, Yapen district in Papua, including a journalist from Bintang Papua, they had been warned against publishing information about a demonstration that took place there on 29 May.

Ezra Sihite & Farouk Arnaz – Authorities need to quickly arrest the perpetrators of a string of recent shootings in Papua, lawmakers and observers say, with the shooting of a foreigner on Tuesday sending a strong signal that the province is not safe.

Indonesian diplomacy to allay international concerns about its policy of special autonomy for the province of Papua is slowly bearing fruit, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa says.

Intensification of Indonesian security force repression on Papuan non-violent activists and ordinary villagers is allegedly occurring across Yapen Island, in response to escalating demands for freedom from violence, according to credible human rights sources on the island.

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Papuan activists and scholars have called on the government to allow the use of the region's traditional symbols and stop prosecuting locals who promote them.

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – A joint team of military soldiers and police officers on Tuesday arrested two members of the Free Papua Organization (OPM) in a raid on OPM headquarters in a forest located near Kampung Wadapi, Angkaisera district, Yapen, Papua.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The violence in Indonesia's easternmost province appears to be spiralling out of control after an Indonesian and a foreigner were shot by unknown assailants in separate incidents on Tuesday.

A teacher was shot and killed dead in Puncak Jaya regency on Tuesday, while a German tourist was shot and wounded in Jayapura.

West Papua Media with local sources in Jayapura – Questions are being raised again about the willingness of the Indonesian police in Papua to properly investigate suspicious shooting incidents by "Unknown persons", after a German born Spanish citizen was shot by a sniper and critically injured whilst swimming at a popular tourist beach in Jayapura.

The transitional government declared by the Federated Republic of West Papua organised another peaceful demonstration on May 29, with participants from Yapen, Waropen and Mamberamo gathering to peacefully condemn ongoing acts of violence, terror and intimidation by members of the Indonesia Police and military forces (TNI).

At least five countries have used a human rights review at the United Nations to question Indonesia's failure to make any arrests in series of shooting incidents in Papua.

London – On May 23rd, the Indonesian government released its annual human rights record for Universal Periodic Review by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. Throughout the course of the proceedings, Indonesia failed to make mention of their ongoing human rights abuses to the people of West Papua.

Karlis Salna – Indonesia is facing fresh criticism over its human rights record following a year of continued unrest and the jailing of leading political activists in Papua.

London – Today, Indonesia's human rights record was reviewed by the UN Human Rights Council during the 13th session of the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva, Switzerland.

The recent shooting of five young Papuan men by Indonesian Police is characteristic of the out of control 'State violence' against indigenous people at Indonesia's 'development' frontier in West Papua.

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – Police in the violence-wracked town of Mulia in Papua's Puncak Jaya district have confirmed that three civilians were shot and injured on Thursday by suspected separatists who killed a motorcycle taxi driver earlier in the day.

Banjir Ambarita – Police from the mobile brigade unit (Brimob) reportedly shot five civilians in Paniai, Papua on Tuesday evening – one victim is dead and four are said to be critically injured.

AWPA is urging the PIF Leaders at their summit in Rarotonga, the Cook Islands:

The separatist group, the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation, has called on Vanuatu to reconsider its foreign policy in regard to Indonesia.

A West Papuan living in exile in Vanuatu has been arrested along with about two dozen others for protesting against the arrival of an Indonesian military aircraft in Port Vila today.

Andy Ayamiseba, who is also a Vanuatu citizen, says he believes he may have been arrested for protesting without a valid permit.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Papua Legislative Council speaker John Ibo, former Papua provincial secretary Andi Baso Basaleng and former Papua provincial financial bureau head Paul Onibala had their initial trial session at the Jayapura Corruption Court on Thursday, for the alleged misappropriation of Rp 5.2 billion (US$566,000).

The High Court in Papua has decided that Forkoruus and his co-defendants should be sentenced to three years, in accordance with the verdict declared at the trial on 16 March.

The defence lawyer of the five men, Gustaf Kawer said that the High Court's decision had simply affirmed the verdict of the district court which had given the men sentences of these years each.

Jayapura – Socialization of the Accelerated Development Unit for Papua and West Papua (UP4B) continues to be met with challenge and refusal. After a rejection incident took place in Manokwari, now the people of Nabire Regency also carried out a rejection action towards UP4B. This action took the shape of a peaceful protest at Nabire airport, Thursday (10/5) morning.

At least 42 prisoners – both political and criminal – have been beaten by warders in Abepura Prison where they are being held, These beatings occurring on 30 April.

The separatist OPM Free West Papua Movement is planning to fly the banned Morning Star flag throughout Indonesia's Papua region for three days from July the 1st.

The TP/OPM [National Libration Army/Organisasi Papua Merdeka] is planning to fly Morning Star flags throughout the territory of West Papua for three days from 1-3 July this year, said Yusak Pakage, chairman of the Street Parliament.

Tomorrow's EU-Indonesia human rights dialogue should address systematic rights violations in Papua, which remain an ugly stain on the country's record as a burgeoning democracy, says TAPOL.

Nethy Dharma Somba and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jayapura/Jakarta – Papuan lawmakers have urged Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi to replace caretaker governor Syamsul Arief due to him being "incapable of performing his tasks, especially in relation to holding gubernatorial elections".

During the course of 2010 – 2011, the Indonesian Government has restricted the number of foreign journalists who are given access to enter Papua and report on the situation there. As well as journalists, a number of foreign NGOs have been prevented from functioning in West Papua.

The Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE) is a vast mega-project, a plan for over a million hectares of plantations and industrialised agriculture that threatens the people and environment across the southern part of West Papua.

Over 400 Bintang Kejora (Morning Star) flags were flown by scores of people on a demonstration in Tanggal, Serui, West Papua.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Calls have been aired in Medan, North Sumatra, by the Teacher Eye Drop Community (KAMG) for the government to cancel the National Examinations for good due to its concerns that it is plagued with cheating year after year.

UA: 109/12 Index: ASA 21/017/2012 Indonesia

Indonesian prisoner of conscience Filep Karma is in urgent need of medical treatment. He needs to travel to receive this treatment, but the prison authorities have refused to pay for his transport and medical costs.

Steve James, New York – Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc whose recent profits were hurt by lower output from its strike-hit Grasberg mine in Indonesia, expects production to return to normal there by the end of June.

Jakarta – Speaking in Jakarta on Wednesday April 18, Indonesian Military (TNI) headquarters information centre chief Rear Admiral Iskandar Sitompul said that intelligence personnel on duty in Papua do indeed have its own chain of command.

Farouk Arnaz – A convoy of Freeport Indonesia cars was on Saturday attacked twice on the road linking Tembagapura and the company's Grasberg mine, but no one was injured.

13 April, 2012

Rt Hon David Cameron, MP.
Prime Minister,
10 Downing Street
London SW1

Dear Mr Cameron,

The Free West Papua Campaign has condemned Britain's renewal of selling weaponry to Indonesia as "one of the worst outcomes imaginable," while the UK seeks arms exports opportunities for its businesses.

Ati Nurbaiti, Jakarta – Several unexplained cases of violence involving mysterious snipers are heightening insecurity in Papua, the national rights body has said.

Banjir Ambarita, Arientha Primanita & Farouk Arnaz – The identity of the gunmen who on Sunday fired machine guns at a commercial plane in Papua may already be known by authorities.

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – A top military officer was quick on Wednesday to blame the Free Papua Movement (OPM) for a recent shooting at an airport in Papua that killed one and injured four even though the investigation into the incident has not concluded.

Rory MacKinnon – David Cameron may have once been a West Papuan hero but activists poured scorn on the PM on Wednesday after he promised their Indonesian oppressors "the best defence equipment in the world."

Demonstrations were held in Jayapura on April 5 in support of a groundbreaking conference held in The Hague, The Netherlands, to examine pathways to the reinstatement of the New Guinea Council or Nieuw-Guinea Raad, the original Parliament of West Papua from 1961 until Indonesia's invasion.

Arientha Primanita, Farouk Arnaz & Ismira Lutfia – Soldiers may be deployed in Papua to assist the police in the search for the gunmen responsible for Sunday's attack on a commercial airplane, as the president demands swift justice.

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered security forces to intensify and heighten security measures in Papua following the attack on a commercial aircraft by an armed gang at an airport in the country's easternmost province.

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – Police and soldiers of the Indonesian Armed Forces are combing the hills in Mulia, Papua, after gunmen sprayed an incoming commercial flight with bullets, killing one passenger and wounding four people on Sunday.