Jakarta – Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said the recent shooting incidents in Papua were categorized as a public security threat and therefore were being handled by the police (rather than the military).

Brisbane's Catholic Justice and Peace Commission urged the Australian Government to take a stronger stand on killings and violence by Indonesian security forces in West Papua.

This follows a number of recent incidents in which Indonesian soldiers killed, injured and arrested Papuans who were engaged in peaceful political demonstrations and industrial action.

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The government does not intend to intensify security precautions in Papua following the recent fatal incidents allegedly linked to separatist movements in the region.

The Free Papua Organization (OPM) denies police allegations that the separatist group was responsible for the murder of Mulia Police chief Adj. Comr. Dominggus Awes on Monday.

Jakarta – Police said the man who shot to death the chief of the Mulia district police in Papua earlier on Monday belongs to a separatist group.

AWPA is calling on the CHOGM leaders (who will meet in Perth) to condemn the brutal crackdown on the West Papuan people.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) today urged the Indonesian Government to take urgent steps to address the grievances of the Papuan people after tension escalated in West Papua last week.

The US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta says Washington will continue to develop military ties with Indonesia but keep a watchful eye on human rights abuses.

Mr Panetta says the US supports Indonesias efforts against separatism – a reaction to last weeks Papuan Congress which led to its leaders being charged with treason.

Tom Allard – Indonesia's human rights commission has urged Jakarta to address grievances of indigenous West Papuans as it announced an extensive investigation into a crackdown by security forces that caused at least six deaths, following a protest rally.

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The National Police announced that six Papuans had been charged with treason and were indicted following the third Papuan People's Congress, which was forcefully dispersed by police on Saturday.

Six people reportedly died in connection with altercations surrounding the events.

Made Arya Kencana, Banjir Ambarita & Ulma Haryanto, Nusa Dua, Bali – Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro has explained away last weeks deadly crackdown on civilians in Papua as a separatist rebellion that had to be quashed, at a meeting with his US counterpart on Sunday.

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Police and military officers acted appropriately in the way that they dispersed the third Papuan People's Congress, Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said on Sunday.

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Faleomavaega announced today that he has sent a letter to Ambassador Dr. Dino Patti Djalal of Indonesia raising concerns about the safety and treatment of Mr. Forkorus Yaboisembut and many others who were arrested at the recent meeting of the Papuan People's Congress in West Papua.

The Third Papuan Congress was held from 17 October and attended by Papuans from across the territory of Papua. After facing difficulties regarding the venue of the Congress, the Congress was held in the Zakheus Tunas Harapan Padang field.

Jakarta – Human rights defenders and analysts have again raised their concerns over what they see as "excessive security measures" in the restive province of Papua following two recent incidents in Abepura and Timika that reportedly led to at least nine deaths.

Agus Triyono, Banjir Ambarita & Elisabeth Oktofani – The violent crackdown on a pro-independence rally earlier this week that left six people dead is indicative of the government's continued treatment of indigenous Papuans as no more than animals, an activist said on Friday.

Oktovianus Pogau, Jayapura, Papua – Anxiety was apparent among the participants of the Third Papuan People's Congress on Wednesday as they marched toward the event venue in Abepura, passing by lines of military and police officers in full combat gear and holding assault rifles.

Banjir Ambarita – A member of the US House of Representatives on Saturday sent a letter to the Indonesian ambassador to the United States asking to ensure the safety of those arrested at the Third Papuan Peoples' Congress on Wednesday.

Elizabeth Oktofani – Following Wednesday's violent government crackdown on a peaceful pro-independence rally in Jayapura, some pro-Indonesian Papuan activists are saying the rally's true purpose was a cynical push by its organizers for personal political gain.

International Lawyers for West Papua
http://www.ilwp.or
secretariat@ilwp.org

21 October 20

Inspektur Jenderal Drs BL Tobing
Papua Police Chief
Regional Head of Police (Kapolda)
JI. Samratulangi No. 8 Jayapura
Papua

Fax: +62 967 533763

Dear Kapolda,

The shootings and arrests of people meeting peacefully at the Third West Papuan Peoples Congress at Abepura this week are the latest instance of Indonesia's violent and repressive rule in West Papua.

Gunmen shot dead three people Friday at a strike-ridden gold and copper mine in Papua, its US operator said, raising the number of deaths this month at the troubled facility to eight.

Jayapura – The Jayapura police chief said that he would 'finish' those who support subversion in Jayapura.

"Whoever supports separatism or subversion activity, I will do the same as yesterday [forcefully dissolve the 3rd Papua People's Congress]. I'll finish [them]," Adj. Sr. Comr. Imam Setiawan said.

At least 10 lawyers have offered to provide legal aid to six suspects recently accused of treason in relation to a deadly police crackdown in Papua, a human rights watchdog says.

"There will be around 10 lawyers to assist [the suspects]," Olga Hamadi from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said Friday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Tom Allard, Dan Oakes – Claims by Papuan activists that Indonesian security personnel killed protesters gained credence yesterday after two bodies were found behind a military barracks a day after the bloody crackdown on an independence rally.

Banjir Ambarita, Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Ezra Sihite – Six people have been found dead a day after security officers fired shots while breaking up a pro-independence rally in Papua, a rights activist said on Thursday.

Jayapura – Imparsial had condemned the shooting that occurred on 19 October during the Third Papuan People's Congress which was held at the Zakeus field and has called on the president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to take measures to resolve the Papuan problem as quickly as possible.

The West Papua Advocacy Team and East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) are deeply concerned by the escalating violence in the area of US-based Freeport McMoran's massive gold and cooper mining operation located in the Timika-Tembagapura area of West Papua.

Hery Winarno, Jakarta – The House of Representatives (DPR) says it supports the firm actions taken by police in dealing with the Papuan People's Congress, which they consider to be subversive and threaten the integrity of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).

Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – Pro-Papua integration activists have urged the central government to fully implement the 2001 Law on Papuan Special Autonomy to settle various social and economic problems in the country's resources-rich but most-undeveloped regions.

Jakarta – Chief security minister Djoko Suyanto said that West Papua remains part of the Unitary State of Indonesia while the special autonomy status for Papua was something final.

So "any party proclaiming a new state, a new cabinet, a new president, a new government must be dealt with according to the law," he said in a conversation with Antara here on Thursday evening.

Banjir Ambarita – One person died in the chaos following the violent dispersal of the Third Papua People's Congress by security officials on Wednesday.

A university student named Melkias Kadepa was found dead at a plantation behind the 172 PWY Military Resort Command (Korem) in Abepura on Thursday morning.

Index: ASA 21/033/2011

Michael McKenna and Peter Alford – The military chief of West Papua's Jayapura district last night denied his troops had shot into a crowd of pro-independence activists and killed at least one.

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-213-2011

Dear friends,

Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara – Police dispersed the Papua People's Congress in Jayapura in Wednesday because they considered the gathering to be an attack on the government, a senior minister said.

AWPA has written to the Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd re crackdown by the security forces on delegates at the Papuan People's Congress.

Australian Greens Senator and spokesperson on West Papua, Richard Di Natale, is calling on the Australian government to suspend military cooperation with Indonesia.

PT Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary of Freeport McMoran Cooper and Gold – of which 90.64 percent of the shares are owned by Freeport CEO James R. Moffet – is the largest mining company in the world. Freeport contributes 95 percent of the entire production of gold by Freeport McMoran and a significant percentage of its copper production.

A joint statement by TAPOL (UK), the West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT, US) and East Timor Action Network (ETAN, US).

Warning shots fired by Indonesian soldiers were prompted by the reading of a declaration of independence by high-profile Papuan leaders in Jayapura on Wednesday, a regional military commander said.

Abepura – Indonesian Brimob Riot Police have forcibly broken up attempts to hold a memorial commemoration at the graveside of slain independence hero Theys Eluay today, where a prayer service was planned in remembrance of the first anniversary of a brutal crackdown by Indonesian security forces on the 3rd Papuan People's Congress.

Banjir Ambarita & Camelia Pasandaran, Jayapura – Dozens of people have been injured after Indonesian security forces pistol whipped or beat protesters with rattan canes and batons during a peaceful protest against Indonesian rule in Papua on Wednesday.

A local journalist at the scene of the "chaos" at the Papuan Peoples' Congress in Jayapura on Wednesday said shots from a nearby hill rang out as Papuan leaders declared their independence from Indonesia and began waiving the banned Morning Star flag.

Jayapura – Papua interim governor Syamsul Arif Rivai said that the third Papua people's congress, held from Oct. 17 to 19, was a form of democracy and guaranteed by the law, as long as it was not anarchic and its activities did not disturb others.

Participants of the Papuan Congress in the provincial capital of Jayapura were shocked at being greeted at the venue by five armored vehicles and hundreds of heavily armed police and military officers, an attendee of the congress said on Wednesday.

Jayapura – Scenes of jubilation and free expression have erupted in Jayapura, West Papua as over 20,000 delegates took part in the historic Third Papuan People's Congress.

Olivia Rondonuwu and Neil Chatterjee – When Freeport renewed its contract for one of the world's biggest copper and gold mines, some of Indonesia's top officials were on hand at the celebration, cheerfully applauding the CEO's impersonation of Elvis Presley.

AHRC-PRL-041-2011

Declaration – Forming Federal State of West Papua

On this day Wednesday, 19 October 2011 at the Third National Papua Congress, the people of Papua in Country of West Papua declare:

I. Proclamation recover and Restore the independence and sovereign of West Papua which was lost to Indonesia annexation on December 1, 1961.