Nick Chesterfield – Concern is mounting in Puncak Jaya that an Indonesian military unit of "unknown persons" seeking to create a security crisis in Puncak Jaya may be behind the April 8 shooting attack on a Trigana Air Twin Otter aircraft in which a Papua Post journalist was killed.

Gunmen fired on a small plane after it landed in Indonesia's restive Papua region Sunday, killing one passenger and wounding four people including both pilots, police and a district official said.

Despite the threat of resistance from the KNPB in response to a summons from the police to its chairperson, Buchtar Tabuni, the police chief, Drs BL Tobing said that they will continue to issue the summons the chairperson of the KNPB to take responsibility for the demonstrations.

The Aliansi Demokrasi Untuk Papua – Democratic Alliance for Papua – has called on the Indonesian government and specifically on the police force to immediately arrest and charge the perpetrators of the serious bloody incident which occurred at the time of an attack on the ammunition dump of Kodim – district military command 1702 in Wamena on 4 April 2003.

The insistence by the chief of police in Papua that Buchtar Tabuni, the chairperson of KNPB – the National Committee of West Papua – be held responsible for the KNPB organising two demonstrations instead of just one has led to a response from the KNPB.

A former Vanuatu Prime Minister, Barak Sope, has condemned the growing links between Vanuatu and Indonesia, which he says ignores the plight of the Melanesian people of West Papua.

Ricky Binihi – A veteran Vanuatu politician who has relentlessly campaigned for the freedom of Pacific Islanders, former Prime Minister Barak Sope, is not happy with what the government is doing with West Papua.

While the Australian government is keen to hear about the present situation in West Papua and is hoping to get inputs from a number of sources, in believes in principle that Papua should continue to be a part of Indonesia.

There has been growing international interest in the situation in Papua. This is apparent from the fact tht two countries have instructed their embassies to visit Papua and West Papua.

A while ago, the Dutch ambassador made a visit there and then it was the turn of the Australian embassy to make a visit.

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – In the latest violence against soldiers in the restive province of Papua, an infantry soldier was fatally stabbed by an unknown assailant not far from his base in Skamto district after dark on Sunday.

The commander of the district military command in Jayapura denied that any military operations are taking place in Papua. Lieut-Colonel Rano Tilaar was speaking to journalists after taking part in a Joint Forum of the SKPD (Regional Government Work Unit) and the start of a Consultation on Development in Jayapura.

Alex Rayfield – Five West Papuans were given jail terms on Friday for peaceful expressions of political opinion. Alex Rayfield reports on a trial that will only amplify calls for independence

Natasia Christy Wahyuni – From charges of setting an irrelevant curriculum to corruption allegations, wide-scale cheating in the national exams and substandard facilities, Indonesia's national education system has long been a target of criticism.

Now a competency test carried out on teachers across the country shows they scored a paltry average of 42 out of 100.

From:

Forkorus Yaboisembut and Edison Waromi, in their own name and on behalf of the West Papuan people.

To:

IHRC is shocked that a West Papua court has decided to imprison five West Papuan leaders for their role in organising an entirely peaceful national Congress.

Index: ASA 21/011/2012

Indonesian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release five men who have today been sentenced to three years' imprisonment for taking part in a peaceful gathering in Papua province in October 2011. The court decision significantly erodes Indonesia's respect for freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

Levi Cunding – An Indonesian court on Friday sentenced five men to three years in jail in the restive Papua region for raising an outlawed separatist flag and declaring the region's independence.

The men had led a peaceful pro-independence celebration attended by 5,000 Papuans on October 19.

[Joint Press release by TAPOL, the Asian Human Rights Commission, the Faith-Based Network on West Papua, Franciscans International and the West Papua Network.]

Erwida Maulia – New York-based Human Rights Watch has condemned the Indonesian government for allowing the conviction of five Papuan independence activists on Friday, saying the prosecutions went against constitutional freedom of expression.

Michael Bachelard – Five activists fighting for an independent West Papua will immediately appeal their conviction and imprisonment on treason charges, handed down today.

If the Indonesian government wants to make an example out of these people, then it should free them as a symbol of its commitment to free expression. Instead, the legacy of the Papuan Congress crackdown will be five unjust convictions, while those responsible for the violence go unpunished. – Elaine Pearson, Deputy Director

Just prior to its Universal Periodic Review before the UN Human Rights Council, Indonesia's commitment to democracy and free speech has been questioned with the conviction of Papuan activists, Forkorus Yaboisembut, Edison Waromi, August Makbrowen Senay, Dominikus Sorabut and Selpius Bobii (the "Jayapura 5") for treason.

Timika – The Indonesian subsidiary of US mining giant McMoRan said on Monday it had resumed operations after a two-week suspension caused by fighting among workers.

Several thousand people crammed the grave site of murdered independence hero Ondofolo Theys Eluay on March 7, to hear resolutions from the Pacific regional Feb 29 launch in Canberra of the International Parliamentarians for West Papua (IPWP).

An Indonesia soldier shot Thursday morning during a firefight in Puncak Jaya, Papua has died, Indonesian Military (TNI) officials said.

Jayapura – In Papua, the Indonesian army, the TNI, always uses the welfare approach towards the Papuan people, including armed civilians who continue to create disturbances in Puncak Jaya and other places in Papua.

Mrs. Margaret Sekaggya
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders,
c/o Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – Palais Wilson
United Nations Office at Geneva
CH 1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland

7 March 2012

Dear Mrs Sekaggya

Indonesia: Threat to prosecute human rights defender, Mr Gustav Kawer

Bearing in mind the continual terrorising of defence lawyers during the makar (treason) trial [now under way in Jayapura] and of human rights activists as well as journalists covering the trial, the central executive of GARDA-P, the Movement for People's Democracy has called upon the security forces to put an end to all of their attempts to silence these people.

Cynthia Warwe – Concerns have been raised again over the health of internationally renowned West Papuan political prisoner Filep Karma, after a series of visits to hospital to treat his worsening health, amid atrocious conditions in the notorious Abepura prison.

At the latest hearing of the trial of Forkorus Yaboisembut, Forkorus announced that the proclamation of the Federal Republic of West Papua had been registered with the UN Security Council in order to receive international recognition.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – American mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia (PT FI) has donated Rp 58 billion (US$6.38 million) to the Timika-based Human Rights and Anti-Violence Foundation (Yahamak) to fund its programs.

West Papua Media and local sources – Confirmed reports have emerged from Fak-Fak, on the west coast of West Papua, that at least ten demonstrators were arrested by Indonesian police on March 1.

John Pakage – On Tuesday morning, 21st February, Courtroom 1A in Jayapura was peaceful but tense. Many soldiers were to be seen guarding the streets for a session of the trial of Forkorus Yoboisembut, Edison Gladius Waromi, Agustinus M. Sananay Kraar, Selpius Bobii and Dominikus Sorabut.

Soraya Permatasari – Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) said 32 shooting incidents in almost as many months have hampered operations at its Indonesian mine, which holds the worlds largest recoverable copper deposit.

Labor backbenchers have angrily defied a call by acting Foreign Minister Craig Emerson to boycott a meeting on the disputed province of West Papua so Indonesia is not offended.

A New Zealand MP is calling on the government to play a constructive role over dialogue with Indonesia about West Papua.

Catherine Delahunty attended this week's launch of the International Parliamentarians for West Papua group in Australia. She told parliament in Wellington that New Zealand has a proud tradition of standing up for its more vulnerable neighbours.

Hundreds of people have been calling for the unconditional release of Forkorus Yaboisembut and his four colleagues. A demonstration in Jayapura presented this demand to the Regional Director of the Department of Law and Human Rights on Wednesday.

The Australian government has denied any involvement in a regional forum supporting the independence of West Papua from Indonesia that was held in Canberra on Tuesday, saying it remains committed to the archipelago's territorial integrity.

Rangga D. Fadillah, Jakarta – PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) is temporarily halting operations at the Grasberg gold and copper mine in Timika, Papua, following a campaign of violence and intimidation by employees against workers who did not join last year's strike.

Jayapura, Papua – Unable to compete in the acculturation process with other groups, the Sebo tribe in Kayu Pulau, Jayapura, Papua, has become extinct, and two other tribes – the Tampoto and Dasim – are on the verge of extinction.

The sixth hearing of the trial of Forkorus Yaboisembet and his four colleagues took place on 21 February at which seven witnesses for the prosecution were called to give evidence.

Nethy Dharma Somba and Dicky Christanto, Papua, Jakarta – Maj. Gen. Erwin Syafitri, the former deputy chief of the Army's Strategic Intelligence Agency, assumed command of the Cendrawasih Military Command in Papua on Tuesday.

Erwin, a native of Cimahi, West Java, was assigned to posts in Papua between 1982 and 1991. "I've spent half of my career here," he said on Tuesday.

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – Two district head candidates in Puncak Papua were named suspects on Monday by the Papua Police for allegedly inciting a political feud that has killed at least 30 people.

Jayapura – Thousands of Papuans who are members of the National Committee occupied the building of West Papua People's Assembly in Kotaraja Papua, Jayapura, Monday, February 20, 2012.

Jayapura – Authorities in Indonesia's remote Papua province say they have no plans to make male circumcision mandatory, despite media reports to the contrary.

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar, South Sulawesi – Students from Papua and West Papua studying in Makassar, South Sulawesi, have protested the central government's decision to create the Special Unit of Development Acceleration in Papua and West Papua (UP4B), saying the institution would not solve problems, but would instead create new ones.

After President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono acknowledged that security forces have committed human rights violations in Papua, Amnesty International on Friday called on him to go further – not merely discussing the abuses, but taking action to end them.

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – The death toll from violent clashes between supporters of rival political candidates in Papua's Tolikara district now stands at six while the number of injured is nearing triple figures.

The contest for district head, initially scheduled for Friday, was postponed indefinitely on Thursday amid continuing violence.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., the largest publicly traded copper producer, will cooperate with the Indonesian government as it reviews the company's contract to operate the Grasberg mine.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The incidence of HIV/AIDS in Papua has become a general epidemic stage that requires immediate action to prevent the further spread of the disease into the wider community, according to the province's public health chief.