People in over 80 countries in every region of the world have come together to demand the release of Indonesian prisoner of conscience Filep Karma, who is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence for taking part in a peaceful ceremony where a Papuan regional flag was raised.

Banjir Ambarita – The Free Papua Organization says 14 of its members died when the police raided one of its sites in the district of Paniai on Tuesday.

Jakarta – PT Freeport Indonesia workers have finally agreed to end their strike after the copper and gold mining giant decided to increase their wages by up to 40 percent.

Urgent Appeal Update: AHRC-UAU-049-2011

Dear friends,

Banjir Ambarita – It has been revealed that the officer who died after setting himself and part of a police dormitory in Serui, Yappen Islands, Papua, on fire had a history of mental illness and had previously attempted to set fire to the provincial police headquarters, Papua Police confirmed on Wednesday.

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura, Papua – Papuan police have lifted the Indonesian flag, replacing the Morning Star flag, at an office believed to be the headquarters of the Free Papua Organization (OPM) in Eduda, Paniai. The headquarters will be turned into a police office.

Jakarta – The Free Papua Movement (OPM) has said that it is waiting for instructions to strike back after claiming that three of its fighters were injured in an armed clash with the police on Tuesday.

A three-month labour strike at Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc's Grasberg mine in Indonesia looks to be nearing the endgame, after sources said the US-based miner and a workers union were expected to sign a pay deal on Tuesday.

Ririn Radiawati Kusuma – Tony Wenas, the vice chairman of the Indonesian Mining Association, said on Sunday that he was worried a union decision to extend its three-month strike at the Freeport mine in Papua would hurt the country's investment climate.

Arientha Primanita – Coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs Djoko Suyanto on Monday denied that there are political prisoners detained in Papua as alleged by human rights organizations.

Strikers at PT Freeport Indonesia in Papua say they will remain on strike into 2012 if no agreement can be reached with management on new wages.

"At the moment the strike is still on and has been extended until Jan. 15, 2012," Freeport Indonesia employee union spokesman Juli Parorongan said on Sunday, as quoted by kontan.co.id.

New resolutions on Papua by the Australian Labor Party have been described as a shift in discourse in Canberra on issues around Indonesia's eastern region.

Resolutions adopted at the ALP national conference include calls for independent observers, media and human rights NGOs to be allowed access to Papua.

Peter Alford, Jakarta – After months of delay during which the Papuan situation has sharply deteriorated, the Yudhoyono administration's last shot at bridging the chasm between Jakarta and its troublesome eastern-most region is finally about to be fired.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The government's initiative to accelerate development in Papua and West Papua through the establishment of a special unit led by Bambang Darmono has met with resistance from some Papuans.

Amnesty International is urging the Indonesian government to respect human rights when dealing with unrest in Papua.

Agus Triyono – Papuans from the Paniai district on Wednesday reported National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) for deploying 140 brigade mobile police officers to their district.

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – About 500 inhabitants of Dagouto village in Paniai Regency, Papua, have opted to leave their homes and seek refuge following the deployment of 150 Mobile Brigade officers to their area, Paniai tribe council chief John Gobai said Wednesday.

Last week thousands of Papuans rallied to mark the 50th anniversary of the first raising of the Morning Star flag. Alex Rayfield reports on a growing sense of defiance across the province

Jakarta – A police officer who was assaulted by villagers in Papua died after being treated in hospital, the police said Monday, two days after two other officers were shot dead by unknown gunmen.

Farouk Arnaz – Police officer Ridwan Napitupulu died on Monday morning, nearly four days after he was wounded during an attack in Jayapura, the capital of Papua.

Ridwan's death brings the total number of police officers killed this year in Papua to five, a painful reminder that violence is on the rise in the restive province.

Index: ASA 21/037/2011

In a meeting held today in Jakarta with Djoko Suyanto, the Coordinating Minister for Law, Politics and Security, Amnesty International urged the Indonesian government to integrate human rights in their efforts to address the situation in Papua.

Banjir Ambarita & Ulma Haryanto – Fighting in the violence-wracked district of Puncak Papua resulted in three deaths on Saturday, bringing the death toll from a long-simmering political feud there to 30.

Banjir Ambarita & Ulma Haryanto – The temperature in the restive province of Papua rose again after an armed attack over the weekend left two police officers dead and prompted villagers to flee as more security troops were deployed.

A member of the Jayapura police who was attacked by an unidentified group in Jayapura, Papua, died on Monday morning.

Second Brig. Ridwan Napitupulu suffered face and stomach injuries after being attacked by arrows on Thursday night. He had been hospitalized for four days in Jayapura and underwent jaw surgery.

Jakarta – The regent of Puncak Jaya wants to know who is supplying civilian groups with bullets in the wake of the fatal shootings of two police officers in the regency on Saturday.

Brigid Andersen – Reports from West Papua claim Indonesian anti-terrorist police have torched a remote village in the Papuan highlands amid clashes with guerrilla rebels in the region.

Activists say civilians have fled into the jungle in response to the unrest and there are now grave fears for their safety.

Jayapura – Security forces say they are hunting separatist rebels in Indonesia's restive Papua province after two police were killed in an attack.

National Police spokesman Maj. Gen. Saud Usman Nasution says hundreds of troops have been deployed in the separatist stronghold of Puncak Jaya since the attack Saturday on paramilitary police.

Adelaide – A media academic specialising in Asia-Pacific affairs condemned New Zealand news coverage on West Papua and other Melanesian issues at a journalism education conference in Australia this week.

Nethy Dharma Somba and Nani Afrida, Jayapura/Jakarta – The Jayapura Police have questioned four Papuan people in connection with the separatist flag-raising ceremony during the "West Papua Independence Day" anniversary celebration on Dec. 1 in Timika.

The four were identified as Larius Dolame, Nurbertus Timang, Marel Magai, Eli Maiseni and Marinus Pigai.

Laura Jones – Freedom campaigner Benny Wenda raised the West Papua flag with Lord Mayor of Oxford Elise Benjamin to call for independence.

The Oxford resident called for West Papua to break away from Indonesia, on the 50th annual West Papua Independence Day.

Two Indonesian policemen were shot dead on Saturday in the latest deadly attack in eastern Indonesia's restive Papua province, police said.

Provincial police spokesman Wachyono said that an unidentified armed group opened fire at paramilitary police in Puncak Jaya highland in central Papua.

Sean Parnell – The Queensland Parliament has called on Indonesia to investigate and act on humans rights abuses in Papua.

Retiring Labor veteran and Amnesty International advocate Judy Spence used the last sitting of Parliament overnight to call on Indonesia to act on allegations of human rights abuse at the Third Papuan Peoples' Congress in October.

Tom Allard, Jakarta – The man anointed as the leader of an independent West Papua, Forkorus Yaboisembut, says democratic countries that espouse human rights are hypocrites if they do not support the region's desire for self-determination.

Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, has denied reports that security forces conducted sweeps against Papuan students across the country ahead of the 50th anniversary of the declaration of West Papua that fell on Thursday.

Tjahjono EP, Jerry Omona Sunudyantoro, Timika – Four men who claimed to be trained by the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) were arrested in Timika yesterday. They said they were members of the Indonesia's Independence Pioneers (PKRI), namely Maj. John Lamera and Cap. Gerald Titalesi.

Jakarta – National Police revised its earlier report this morning saying a police officer was killed by a group of armed men in Timika, citing that the police officer had been left severely injured after he was brutally attacked by around 15 armed men in Timikia, Papua, on the day of the 50th anniversary of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) on Thursday.

Camelia Pasandaran – Four civilians were allegedly shot by police and military after conducting religious services in Timika Indah field to celebrate West Papuan independence on Thursday.

Timika, Indonesia – Security forces opened fire at a separatist flag-raising ceremony in Indonesia's restive Papua region Thursday, on the 50th anniversary of the region's claim to independence.

Elin Yunita Kristanti and Luqman Rimadi – Around 80 people calling themselves the Jakarta-Bali Papuan Society and Students held a protest action in Central Jakarta today demanding that the United Nations (UNTEA, United Nations Temporary Executive Authority), the United States, Holland and Indonesia immediately recognise West Papuan independence on December 1.

Prabowo, Yogyakarta – Students and people from Papua in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta commemorated 50 years of the Free Papua Organisation (OPM) in front of the Papua dormitory on Jl. Kusumanegara, Umbulharjo.

They called on the Indonesian government to acknowledge West Papua Independence day on December 1.

Edwin Firdaus, Jakarta – Hundreds of students originating from Papua held a protest action in front of the State Palace in Central Jakarta on Thursday December 1, again calling for Papuan independence.

Morning Star flag raising ceremonies have been held in Auckland and Wellington to mark a significant anniversary for West Papuans.

December 1st is the 50th anniversary of the declaration of independence from Holland by West Papua in 1961, a year before Indonesia annexed the territory.

Karlis Salna – Concerns are held for the welfare of a prominent Papuan leader allegedly beaten by Indonesian security forces in the aftermath of a pro-independence rally last month.

In a show of solidarity with the West Papuan people, Leichhardt and Marrickville councils will raise the West Papuan national flag, The Morning Star on their town halls in Sydney on the 1st December. AWPA supporters and West Papuan representatives will also be in attendance.

Life in the furthest recesses of New Guinea has not only been transformed but devastated by forces that originate at the core of global and industrial politics. The realities – and morality – of our world are to be seen starkly at work in one of the most spectacular, rich and yet remote corners of the world.

[Exclusive interview by Alex Rayfield (New Matilda) with West Papua Media.]

Despite a plan to deploy two-thirds of Papua's police force to ensure security on the anniversary of the Free Papua Organization on Thursday, police said on Wednesday that they love Papua.

Bagus BT Saragih and Nethy Dharma Somba, Jakarta/Jayapura – Authorities are beefing up security in Papua amid rumors of unrest ahead of events scheduled for the 50th anniversary of the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM) on Dec. 1.

Banjir Ambarita & Ulma Haryanto – A shootout between security forces and guerillas has rocked the restive province of Papua, already on high alert for today's planned demonstrations by pro-independence activists.

Statement to the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights 'Public Hearing on Human rights situation in South East Asia with special focus on West Papua' by Dr Neles Tebay. Coordinator of the Papua Peace Network and Rector of the 'Fajar Timur' Catholic School of Philosophy and Theology, Jayapura.