These written warnings are a slap on the wrist. They do not provide accountability for the deaths of three people, or for the use of excessive and unnecessary force against a peaceful gathering. – Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Director for the Asia-Pacific

Jim Elmslie – NM has kept a close eye on West Papua as pressure in the breakaway Indonesian province builds. Long-time Papua watcher Jim Elmslie explains why the situation has escalated – and may get worse in coming months

Banjir Ambarita – Two people were injured on Tuesday in the latest ambush on a vehicle on the road leading to Freeport Indonesia's mining concession in Papua.

The incident occurred at 12:37 p.m. local time when a bus carrying military and police personnel was fired on by unknown gunmen at the Mile 51 point of the road leading to the Grasberg mine.

Jayapura, Papua – Chief of Staff of the Cendrawasih Military Command Brigadier General Indra Hidayat said National Defense Forces (TNI) personnel were in Papua for peaceful purposes.

Nethy Dharma Somba and Bambang Muryanto, Jayapura/Yogyakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI), lawmakers and experts all agree that Jakarta must directly talk with Papuans who have separatist aspirations to immediately end conflict in the province as the international community continues to urge Indonesia to respect human rights there.

Jakarta – The government's lack of supervision has knocked special autonomy in Papua and West Papua off track, leaving residents in the midst of poverty and a conflict that is seemingly never ending, experts say.

John McBeth – A three month-long strike has paralyzed Freeport Indonesia's giant copper and gold mine in the Central Highlands of Papua. It has so far cost the company and the Indonesian government an estimated US$1.3 billion (S$1.7 billion) in lost revenues.

Ulma Haryanto – Ten years ago today, a law was passed that was supposed to accelerate development in the nation's impoverished easternmost province and, consequently, address the simmering unrest there.

But few would argue that Papua is better off a decade after the passage of the 2001 Law on Special Autonomy for Papua.

Thousands of West Papuans have marched on the provincial capital of Jayapura demanding a referendum to declare independence from Indonesia, activists say.

Evi Mariani, Washington, DC – US President Barack Obama is expected to raise human rights issues in Indonesia's Papua during his second visit to Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy and a key US ally in the increasingly strategic region.

Manokwari – Shouts of "Papuan is independent" enlivened a peaceful protest action at the West Papua Provincial House of Representatives (DPRPB) on Thursday November 17.

Thousands of protesters took to the street and marched from Jl. Pahlawan Sanggeng to Jl. Yos Sudarso and then to Jl. Merdeka before eventually conveying their demands on the grounds of the DPRPB.

Timika – Police say gunmen killed a mining company guard and wounded two policemen in a patrol car near the large Freeport-McMoRan gold mine in eastern Indonesia.

Jacqui Baker, John Monash Scholar & Research Fellow, Centre for Transnational Crime Prevention at University of Wollongong – President Barack Obama is being urged to raise human rights abuses with the Indonesian President during his visit to Bali.

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – A former Papuan political prisoner claimed on Thursday that he and several others were assaulted and spat on by a senior police officer following last month's crackdown on a pro-independence rally in the province.

Jakarta – The United Nations has declared that Indonesia's detention of Papuan human rights advocate Filep Karma is an infringement of international law, New York human rights group Freedom Now says.

Nethy Dharma Somba and Tifa Asrianti, Jayapura/Jakarta – As the government drags its feet amid peace talks with Papua residents, two more shootings took place in the country's troubled, easternmost region.

The first occurred on Wednesday on Tembagapura-Timika Road, Mile 51, in Timika at 12:24 p.m. local time, injuring two workers of mining company PT Freeport Indonesia.

Esther Samboh, Nusa Dua, Bali – The government claims a compromise has nearly been reached between a striking workers union and the management of a local unit of US gold and copper mining giant Freeport McMoran.

Mark Colvin: As president Obama shifts his country's strategic focus towards our region, US eyes may eventually fall on the situation in West Papua.

Unlike Papua New Guinea, the western part of our nearest neighbour has never had independence. Instead, it shifted in the sixties from Dutch colonial rule to become the property of Indonesia.

Jakarta – The Papua Parliamentary Caucus called out to Papuans studying in Java, Bali, Sumatra, Sulawesi and Kalimantan to stay calm following the circulation of threatening text messages.

In response to a petition filed by Freedom Now and Hogan Lovells LLP, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has issued its opinion that the Government of Indonesia is in violation of international law by detaining Filep Karma. The Working Group calls on the Government of Indonesia to immediately release the human rights advocate.

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – Police said on Wednesday that a clash with a small armed group in a gold mine during the weekend was believed to have left one person dead, but activists claim the death toll could be as high as eight.

Jakarta – A member of the House of Representatives accused the government of conducting illegal military operations in poverty-stricken Papua, which has seen a spike in violence involving security officials.

Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) states that mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia (FI) has often incited tension and violence in Papua.

Jakarta – Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto said the Papua issue would not be discussed at the 19th ASEAN Summit and the 6th East Asia Summit, due to it being an internal issue that is to be resolved internally.

Michael Holtz, Papua – Indonesia, hosting President Barack Obama and other world leaders this week, has earned praise for democratic reforms achieved since longtime dictator Suharto was ousted a decade ago. A man serving 15 years in prison for raising a flag wants the dignitaries in Bali to know how far the nation still has to go.

Chronology of the Congress

A. Opening of the Third Papuan Congress

Karlis Salna – Human rights groups have called for Australia and the United States to use meetings at the East Asia Summit in Bali to press Indonesia into addressing concerns of ongoing abuse and violence in Papua.

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar/Jakarta – Amid growing protests over the government's apparent inability to resolve unrest in Papua, the National Police have carried out raids against Papuan students across the country.

Jerry Omona, Papua – Thousands of Papuans demonstrated in the Papuan provincial capital of Jayapura today demanding that a referendum or an act of self-determination be held immediately.

The protesters held a long-march from Abepura city towards Imbi Park in Jayapura, a distance of around 10-13 kilometers.

Nurlina Umasugi, Jayapura – Thousands of Papuans from the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) held a 15 kilometer march on Monday afternoon to demand a referendum for the Papuan people.

Chazizah Gusnita, Jakarta – Thousands of Papuans from the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) demonstrated in front of the Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) building in the Papuan provincial capital of Jayapura today. The protesters demanded an end to violence in Papua.

Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and several Papuan civil society groups have protested against raids on Papuan student dormitories in several areas in Jakarta and Denpasar, Bali, by Indonesian security forces last week.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The United States needs to get its own house in order before it can criticize Indonesia on rights abuses, a lawmaker said on Sunday.

Eva Kusuma Sundari, from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said American business practices were partly to blame for the problems in Papua.

Jakarta – A politician asks the central government to grant Papuan people requests as long as the easternmost island stays within the Republic.

"The government needs only to spare independence from the Papuans," People Consultative Assembly deputy head Lukman Edy said in a press release as quoted by tribunnews.com.

The government says that it will be more focused on the development of oil and gas reserves in Papua.

"According to the results of satellite photos, Papua has huge oil and gas reserves," deputy minister for energy and mineral resources Widjajono Partowidagdo said on Monday.

Jayapura – Thousands of protesters staged a pro-independence rally in Indonesia's restive and resource-rich Papua region Monday demanding a referendum for self-determination.

More than 3,000 native Papuans, some in traditional grass skirts, walked 13 kilometers from Abepura city to the provincial capital Jayapura to meet local lawmakers.

Faisal Maliki Baskoro & Ririn Radiawati Kusuma – The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry says Freeport Indonesia's union workers should be more reasonable in their demand for a raise.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – As tensions remain high in Papua, rights groups on Sunday said security forces in Jakarta and Bali had arbitrarily raided the dormitories of Papuan students.

"This is a form of intimidation and direct terror," said Haris Azhar, a coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).

Tjahjo Eranius, Kuala Kencana – After more than a decade of hard work and long hours driving a truck through the mountains of Indonesia's remote Papua province for US mining giant Freeport McMoRan, Nus Magay refuses to work for anything less than a hefty raise.

Indonesia is addressing problems in Papua without prodding from other parties, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Michael Tene told the Jakarta Globe on Friday after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized human rights abuses in the region.

Indonesia rejected allegations of human rights violations in Papua province on Friday, hours after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized abuses in the restive region.

West Papua will be given the opportunity to apply for observer status within the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

The Director General of the MSG secretariat in Port Vila, Peter Forau, has told Radio Vanuatu that this was agreed upon at last week's MSG Foreign ministers meeting.

Honolulu, Hawaii – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday voiced alarm about human rights conditions in Indonesia's Papua and called for dialog to meet the aspirations of the restive region's people.

Jakarta – Responding to mounting public concerns over a conflict of interests in its acceptance of US$14 million from US mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia, the National Police has again denied the issue.

Arientha Primanita & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Jakarta has said it is ready to open a dialogue with Papuans, providing that it is not based on discussion of self-determination, conforms to the rules of special autonomy and favors "accelerated development."

Jakarta – National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) chief Budi Susilo Supandji has urged the government to avoid using a military approach to managing Papua, suggesting that monitoring the implementation of special autonomy would be a good place to start.

Jakarta – Commenting on the recent government claim that it was unaware of escalating tensions in Papua prior to a bloody crackdown at the Third Papuan Peoples Congress, lawmakers say it was well-informed of the situation months beforehand.

Union workers at Freeport Indonesia Grasberg copper mine plan to extend a strike into a third month, which would make it the worst work stoppage in the history of the country's mining industry.

Jakarta – The government is playing down reports made by the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) that the police and the military may have committed human rights violations when they dispersed a Papuan congress last month, allegedly leading to the deaths of at least three Papuans.

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called for all law enforcement officials to settle security problems in Papua and West Papua firmly but proportionally and with full respect for human rights.