Maire Leadbeater – New Zealand's diplomacy with respect to Indonesian-controlled West Papua, especially in light of its aid to the Indonesian military and to the police in West Papua, has worrying aspects. The Indonesian military is not yet accountable to the civilian authority, and both the police and the military in West Papua have a grievous record of human rights violations.

The two sentiments that define the political impasse in Papua are frustration on the part of many Papuans that "special autonomy" has meant so little, and exasperation on the part of many Indonesian government officials that Papuans are not satisfied with what they have been given.

Nivell Rayda, Jakarta – The government must rethink its relationship with Papua as soon as possible if it wants to avoid further civil violence and more adamant calls for independence, activists and social scientists have said.

In the past decade, the combined population of Papua and West Papua has grown 64 percent, making them the provinces with the fastest population growth in Indonesia.

An Australia-based Papua specialist says it remains to be seen whether an increase in state funding for Indonesia's Papua region will have any benefit for indigenous people.

Indonesia's President has announced a 63 per cent increase of special autonomy and regional funds allocated to Papua, West Papua and Aceh for 2011.

The New Zealand Police says that its community police training-the-trainers in Indonesia's Papua region is making a positive impact.

New Zealand Police is the first foreign force to be invited into Papua and West Papua provinces to undertake this mode of practical training. This follows an Indonesian decree that community policing must be adopted by its force.

Jayapura – Local church leaders have called for an independent investigation of a series of church shootings in Puncak Jaya, Papua, that started in 2004.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
President
Republic of Indonesia
Istana Merdeka
Jakarta Pusat 10110 Indonesia
Via Fax, E-mail

August 16, 2010

Dear President Yudhoyono:

Jason Tedjasukmana – Rising tensions in Papua have Indonesian authorities worried about possible international intervention in the nation's easternmost province, reports the head of a government-funded study on how to solve the simmering conflict in the restive territory.

Jakarta – A legislator has called on the government to be more serious in curbing the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Indonesian province of Papua.

Yorris Raweyai made the remark in response to reports that 144 servicemen of the XVII/Cenderawasih Military Command had tested positive for the condition.

The death of a local journalist has increased concerns about a giant food estate launched today in Merauke, Southeastern Papua by Indonesia's Minister of Agriculture.

Daniel Flitton – Indonesian officials have tried to put a stop to a public lecture in Melbourne tonight to discuss the troubled province of West Papua.

Arti Ekawati, Indonesia – Indonesia on Wednesday launched a giant project to create a $5 billion agricultural estate spanning three districts in Papua.

The Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate program is the latest attempt by the government to gain self-sufficiency in food production, with a longer-term goal of someday becoming a food-exporting nation.

The Indonesian government has banned a Dutch funding agency, for allegedly supporting Papuan separatists and running a commercial enterprise.

The Jakarta Post reports there are concerns that this sets a bad precedent for the future of NGOs in Papua.

Banyan – Slowly but surely, Papua is emerging as a serious international problem for the otherwise well-liked Indonesian administration of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) today congratulated U.S. Congress members for their letter to Indonesian president, Dr. H. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urging him to work for the "immediate and unconditional" release of West Papuan political prisoners Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Papua Police were urged Friday to take serious action to solve several fatal shootings, with the latest incident took place in Puncak Jaya regency on Wednesday and killed a civilian.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Indonesia still opens its door to NGOs that want to operate in Papua, as long as they benefit the people without involvement in politics and commercial activities, an official says.

Farouk Arnaz & Banjir Ambarita, Papua – The National Police have denied allegations that officers disemboweled a Papuan detainee with a bayonet and taunted him, saying his injuries were caused by a gunshot wound sustained during a firefight.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Security in Puncak Jaya, Papua, continues to deteriorate with the latest incident on Wednesday resulting in the death of a civilian.

Atril Wahidin was reportedly shot in the head at 6:30 p.m. local time. He died instantly.

Dina Indrasafitri, Jakarta – Flexible policy implementation in the field is required to handle tension in Papua, a natural resources-rich province plagued by decades of separatist movement, a former minister says.

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang confirmed Thursday the video showing a prisoner lying in a jungle with his abdomen sliced open allegedly by a bayonet was intentionally made.

West Papuan activists have voiced disappointment that the issue of West Papua was not brought up at the Forum Leaders Summit in Port Vila.

The new chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, Vanuatus Prime Minister, Edward Natapei, indicated earlier this year he would pursue the issue at the Forum level.

No official decision was made at a special sitting of the upper house of the Papua provincial parliament to formally return special autonomy status to the Indonesian Government in Jakarta.

But an Australia-based human rights advocate, Nick Chesterfield, says the upper house and the Papuan Traditional Council have agreed to call for a Papuan Peoples Congress.

Robin McDowell, Jakarta – The jumpy video shows a prisoner lying in a jungle clearing in eastern Indonesia moments after troops allegedly sliced open his abdomen with a bayonet, sending intestines tumbling from his stomach.

Using the little life he has left in him, Yawen Wayeni lifts his arm into the air, and says weakly, "Freedom! Papua... Freedom!"

Jakarta – Ahead of an audit of Papua's special autonomy regional development fund, an NGO has urged the government to recognize that the root of problems causing resentment among Papuans is in fact a political, not an economic issue, an NGO says.

Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – The prevailing violence being committed by police and military personnel to quell separatist sentiment in resource-rich Papua would cease if the central government was committed to prosecuting those responsible for past human rights abuses, an NGO says.

The statement came on the heels of another show of violence in the restive province.

Rebecca Henschke, Jakarta – Papua's most well-known pro-independence leader, Filep Karma, is serving 15 years in jail for rebellion. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience.

In a rare interview with a local radio station, obtained by the BBC, he claimed he had suffered physical and mental abuse while in jail.

Nivell Rayda, Jakarta – The government must shift its policy approach on Papua away from the welfare model and toward one focused on resolving the political turmoil there, a leading security NGO said on Tuesday.

Fifty members of the United States Congress have called on President Barack Obama to hold Indonesia accountable for what they call slow motion genocide in the Papua region.

They have signed a letter to Mr Obama saying there're strong indications the Indonesian government has committed genocide against Papuans.

John M. Glionna, Jakarta – The video, shot in the jungle of Indonesia's restive Papua province, shows a wounded political activist lying face-up on the ground, surrounded by an armed national police tactical squad.

Jakarta – After a decade of implementation, the central government plans to thoroughly evaluate the special autonomy for Papua next year, an official says.

Director of regional administration and special autonomy at the Home Affairs Ministry, Sumarsono, said the central and Papua governments would determine parameters of the review.

Jakarta – A high-profile prisoner sentenced to 15 years' jail for raising a banned flag in Indonesia's Papua province returned to prison Saturday after surgery for a potentially life-threatening prostate ailment that had been denied for nearly a year.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – A planned dialogue between the central government and Papua to seek a comprehensive settlement to long-standing problems is in limbo because both sides still deeply distrust one another, researchers say.

Camelia Pasandaran, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday demanded an audit of Papua's special autonomous status following rising complaints that it had failed to improve the welfare of the people after nine years.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Papua's special autonomy fund should be kept separate from the province's budget and independently managed by a new institution, a DPR member says.

Indonesia Human Rights Committee,
Box 68-419,
Auckland, 1125
New Zealand

25 July, 2010

The Secretary General
Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat
Private Mail Bag
Suva, Fiji

2010 Pacific Island Forum

Dear Heads of States,

Dev Nadkarni – A push for independence in Indonesia's rich but troubled territory of Papua is set to become an issue for the Pacific Island Forum.

Vanuatu is leading the regional charge in lending open support for the long-standing cause of the territory's independence from Indonesia.

The decision of the Obama Administration to begin "gradual and limited" engagement with the Indonesian Special Forces (Kopassus) ignores more than a decade-old, bi-partisan, bi-cameral Congressional consensus opposing assistance to that organization.

Banjir Ambarita & Nurfika Osman, Jayapura – The separatist Free Papua Movement, which has been engaged in a low-profile armed resistance against the Indonesian presence in the province since the 1960s, on Thursday threatened to step up attacks against the government until Papuan independence was granted.

A decision that was adopted at a recent congress of the OPM (Organisasi Papua Merdeka) along with its armed wing, Tentara Papua Nasional/TPN, made it clear that the organisation would continue to struggle for independence, that is to say, for secession from the Republic of Indonesia.

The Industry Ministry said Tuesday that the government planned to expand the pulp and paper industry to eastern Indonesia, including Papua, because of its vast tracts of forest.

"Currently, only western Indonesia has pulp and paper factories," Industry Minister MS Hidayat said after opening the April Technology Center (ATC) in Pelalawan, Riau.

Re: Pacific Islands Forum

Dear Prime Minister,

Nivell Rayda – A report published by an Australian university this month warns that massacres such as those alleged to have occurred in East Timor are likely to occur in Papua.

Camelia Pasandaran & Banjir Ambarita – If the broad autonomy accorded to Papua had not raised the region's prosperity it was the local authorities' fault, government ministers said on Tuesday.

Dear MSG leaders,

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – Several correctional officers were injured when dozens of prisoners at Abepura Penitentiary rioted on Sunday in revenge for a previous incident in which officers beat up an inmate and took his money.

Jayapura – Tolikara district on Saturday afternoon succeeded in ending a tribal war that erupted in the small hour of the morning.

Jakarta – Most political prisoners in Papua refused to ask for a pardon from the President as they claimed not guilty for their separatist movement.

Kompas.com reported that there are 34 Papuan political prisoners who were involved in the Free Papua Movement in the 1960s.

Karishma Vaswani – Hundreds of protesters in West Papua have continued their demonstrations rejecting the province's special autonomy status.

The protesters, who camped outside the provincial parliament in Jayapura overnight, say they will not leave until their demands are heard by the government in Jakarta.