Papua is in a state of heightened tension following a series of events that culminated in a mass rally yesterday by thousands of Papuans at the provincial parliament, the DPRP, in Jayapura.

Indonesian police have been praised for showing restraint in their handling of a massive demonstration in the capital of Papua province.

At least 50,000 Papuans marched towards the provincial parliament in Jayapura yesterday, calling for formal rejection of special autonomy status.

Jayapura, the Baliem valley and Timika – The next trick is to find a way out of Wamena. The only airline with seats available is a company whose track record includes ten crashes and forced landings. Flying can be hazardous anywhere in Indonesia, and the same is at least as true of Papua. If I am to move on quickly, however, I have no choice.

Amnesty International has welcomed the release of an Indonesian prisoner of conscience jailed for his role in a peaceful flag-raising protest.

Jayapura – Thousands of Papuans rallied on Thursday to urge the provincial legislature to demand a referendum on self-determination, and reject the region's special autonomy within Indonesia.

1. June 9-10 2010 open forum convened by the MRP and Traditional Papuan people. Consensus reached that Otsus has "totally failed".

2. 15 June 2010 MRP publicise the results of the public deliberations and a list of demands.

A prominent Papuan activist jailed for raising an outlawed separatist flag has been released after Indonesia granted him a pardon, an official said on Thursday.

Neles Tebay – Last Friday indigenous Papuans – through the provincial legislative council – symbolically handed back the 2001 Law on Special Autonomy to the Indonesian government.

Bonnie Malkin, Sydney – Anthony Corbyn, who holds dual British and Australian nationality, was attempting to sail from Australia to the Philippines as part of a bid to circumnavigate the globe, when his yacht the Shiseido hit a coral reef ten days ago.

Dear Prime Minister,

Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – The Regional Representatives Council claims the government was too slow in helping victims of a 7.1-magnitude earthquake that rocked the Papua regencies of Yapen and Biak last week.

An academic in Indonesian politics says the United Nations approval of the referendum which incorporated Papua region into the republic makes it difficult to have it revised.

The Indonesian government has told the global rights watchdog group, Human Rights Watch, that it plans to address the mistreatment of political prisoners in Papua.

In its new report on freedom of expression in Indonesia, HRW found that jails hold at least 100 political prisoners from the Papua and Moluccas regions, and some are being tortured.

A Vanuatu member of parliament says he's not worried about reaction from Indonesia to Vanuatu's attempts to get the question of West Papua raised internationally. On Saturday, parliament unanimously passed a motion calling for the International Court of Justice to investigate the legality of West Papua becoming part of Indonesia in the 1960s.

Nivell Rayda – The government must release 100 political prisoners in Papua and Maluku if it is to make any headway in its upcoming human-rights dialogue with the European Union, says a leading rights group.

More than 2,500 homes were "badly damaged" and 17 deaths in Wednesday's 7.1-magnitude earthquake in Papua, Andi Arief, the presidential adviser for social welfare, said on Monday.

Vanuatu's parliament has unanimously passed a motion calling for the International Court of Justice to investigate the the legality of West Papua becoming part of Indonesia. The motion was jointly sponsored by prime minister Edward Natapei and opposition leader Maxime Carlot Korman.

Vanuatu's Prime Minister, Edward Natapei, has said he will sponsor the issue of Papua to the Melane sian Spearhead Group and Pacific Islands Forum meetings.

He will propose that the independent movement of West Papua be granted Observer Status within these two regional bodies.

A Vanuatu government MP says it's hoped that parliament's passing of a motion to raise issues around the status of Indonesian territories of New Guinea, at the United Nations, won't upset relations with Jakarta.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Around 2,000 Papuans went on a 20-kilometer march Friday to demand the Papua Legislative Council overturn the province's special autonomy status.

The protesters held a peaceful rally, some clad in traditional attire, and marched from the Papua People's Assembly in Abepura to the council building in Jayapura.

Banjir Ambarita & AFP, Jayapura – An estimated 2,000 Papuans took to the streets of provincial capital Jayapura to demand independence from Indonesia, days after a local council called for the province's special autonomy to be revoked because of its perceived ineffectiveness.

Two official Papuan representative bodies in Indonesia's Papua region have announced they're "handing back" Special Autonomy status to Jakarta.

Sali Pelu, Manokwari (Indonesia) – Three people were killed and hundreds of homes damaged Wednesday when a series of strong earthquakes hit eastern Indonesia, triggering a tsunami warning and widespread panic.

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – An officer of a police elite unit charged with hunting down members of the outlawed separatist group Free Papua Movement was shot and killed while on patrol on Monday.

Human Rights Watch Indonesia says a humanitarian crisis is worsening in Puncak Jaya in West Papua's Highlands amid escalation of military and police activity across the remote region.

Jakarta – Unidentified gunmen shot and killed a police officer in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua, state media reported Tuesday.

The incident took place Monday while the officer was on patrol in Puncak Jaya district, Papua police spokesman Wachyono said, according to the Antara news agency.

A Greenpeace forest campaigner says immediate action is needed to stop the destruction of forests in Papua.

The Papua Forestry Office last week told the Jakarta Post it believed forested areas of the Indonesian province are shrinking even further because of new infrastructure developments and are being threatened by plans to develop a massive food estate.

The chief editor of an independent newspaper in Indonesia's Papua region has denied a claim by Papua's police commander that journalists covering regional stories focus only on negative security issues.

Papua's Forestry Office says the forested areas in the Indonesian province are shrinking even further.

Jakarta – Due to a misunderstanding, a group of people in Nabire regency, Papua, vandalized Topo police headquarters on Monday. Papua Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Wachyono confirmed about the incident but said no casualties were reported.

Indonesia is a democracy. But many Papuans do not want to be part of it.

A Papuan church leader says creating another province out of the Indonesian half of New Guinea is not the answer to the ongoing conflict in Papua region.

A plan to create Central Papua as a new and additional province to the exising two, Papua and West Papua, appears to be gaining traction in the Regional House of Representatives.

The Hon Stephen Smith MP
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Parliament House
Canberra
ACT 2600

30 May 2010

Dear Mr Smith,

A project to create a large agricultural estate in Merauke in Indonesia's Papua province may still to go ahead despite the President announcing a two-year moratorium on new logging concessions.

Baudoin Koenig, a French independent TV documentary maker due to be expelled from Indonesia has today been allowed to stay in the country. However his assistant, Carole Liorthois, has been deported back to France for having overstayed her tourist visa.

Nurfika Osman – Little good has come of the special autonomy status conferred on Papua in 2001 with most people there left behind by the nation's push for development, activists and community representatives said at a discussion in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Papuan independence from the Republic of Indonesia remains a hot topic among Papuans, with many still struggling for a separate state, a discussion heard Tuesday.

Erwida Maulia and Nethy Darma Somba, Jakarta/Papua – When French journalist and lecturer Baudouin Koenig and his student Carole Lorthiois arrived in Indonesia a month ago, they thought Indonesia, the world's third-largest democracy, applied press freedom, as the government itself often claims.

Jakarta – A member of the Regional House of Representatives (DPD) fully supports a plan for the creation of Central Papua as a new province separate from the existing Papua provinces.

Markus Makur, Paniai (Papua) – The move to involve women in community development has gained momentum in Painai regency, Papua, with a training program specifically targeting women.

The Raising Her Voice program is run by the People's Welfare Development Foundation (Yapkema) in Paniai with Oxfam GB Papua.

Jakarta – A French journalist who was recently deported after filming a rally in Jayapura, Papua, is questioning his expulsion by Indonesian authorities'.

Nivell Rayda – Local members of the media have condemned Tuesday's detention of two French journalists in Papua, saying the move undermined freedom of the press.

Victor Mambor, chairman of the Papua chapter of the Independent Journalist Alliance (AJI), said the government had crossed the line.

Markus Makur, Timika, Papua – Police in Mimika regency, Papua, on Monday detained four people following a conflict stemming from the death of a resident in an attack on Mimika Baru district on Sunday evening.

Mimika Police chief Muhammad Sagi told reporters on Monday that security conditions in Timika, Mimika's capital, were still tense following the murder.

Two French television journalists were arrested by immigration officers in Jayapura, Papua on Tuesday.

Baydo in-Koeniag, a French television producer and her reporter Caroll were arrested at 1.30 p.m. when they were covering a rally held by the National Committee of Western Papua at Papua's Regional Legislative Council in Jayapura.

Timika – A violent tribal conflict in Timika, Papua, has prompted scores of women and children to flee their homes to the safety of a nearby military base, a witness said on Monday.

Markus Makur, Timika, Papua – A Papuan figure from native Amungme tribe, Silas Natkime, has secured support from influential Papua People's Assembly (MRP) to lead US-based gold mining firm PT Freeport Indonesia.

Silas, currently Freeport senior manager for Papuan affairs, will take over from the gold miner's current president director Armando Mahler, a local figure claims.

Markus Makur, Timika – Puncak Jaya Regent Lukas Enembe says that intellectual activists might be behind a series of attacks by armed civilians in the regency and has urged the military and police to arrest them.

Jakarta – A group of unidentified gunmen attacked police and military troops who were evacuating two injured soldiers from a military post in Yambi area in the Papua highland regency of Puncak Jaya on Saturday.

Radot Gurning & M Irham, Papua – Indonesia is often hailed as the country with the greatest freedom of speech in Asia. But while antigovernment protests are a weekly and colorful norm in Jakarta, it's a different story in the country's far eastern tip of Papua.

Nivell Rayda – Freeing political prisoners would not address the key problems in Papua, Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.

He was commenting on remarks by Justice Minister Patrialis Akbar that several Papuan political detainees would be pardoned by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.