The West Sepik provincial police commander Sakawar Kasieng yesterday warned people in Vanimo and border villages not to travel to Jayapura in the Papua Province of Indonesia because of current unrest there.

Jakarta – Presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal stated here on Tuesday that no country supported separatism in Papua.

"Not a single member country of the United Nations supports separatism in Papua so that Indonesia's position in the matter is solid," he said at the president's office.

18 West Papuans were arrested on Monday the 20 October for taking part in a peacefully rally held in front of the local legislative council in Jayapura.

Anton Aprianto/Heru Triyon, Jakarta – Two Papua residents who had asked for political asylum in Australia came to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) office for protection.

Nethy Dharma Somba and Dian Kuswandini, Jayapura/Jakarta – Police on Monday arrested separatist leader Buchtar Tabuni as he was about to attend a massive rally in Jayapura, Papua, to show support for the newly created international parliamentarian caucus for West Papua in London.

Indonesian police detained at least 15 people and stopped over 2,000 people from participating in a planned independence rally in resource-rich Papua province on Monday, a Reuters witness said.

Jakarta – Two Papuan asylum seekers today said they travelled to Australia seeking a university education, rather than asylum for human rights abuses.

Hana Gobay, 23, and Yubel Kareni, 22, returned to Indonesian voluntarily last month, two years after they were granted temporary protection in Australia.

Tony Jones: The Indonesian Government has confirmed that almost 40 police officers have been interviewed about the shooting death of a senior tribal leader at a peaceful rally in West Papua in August this year.

Human rights groups say they suspect the man was murdered by a gunman working for the military or intelligence services. Jeff Waters filed this report.

Thousands of Papuans demanded a referendum on independence from Indonesia during a peaceful rally watched by hundreds of riot police.

At least 5,000 people gathered in the Papuan provincial capital Jayapura to denounce the 1969 referendum that handed sovereignty of the resource rich former Dutch colony to Indonesia.

Jakarta – About 2,000 people rallied in the Jayapura, Papua, on Thursday, calling for independence for the remote, resource-rich area in the far east of the country, Reuters reported.

Shouting "freedom", some protesters carried banners saying "Review the act of no choice in 1969", referring to a disputed vote that led to Papua being formally incorporated into Indonesia.

Bernarda Rurit, Jakarta – The Free Papua Organization flag the Morning Star reportedly hoisted in Yogyakarta on Thursday morning to coincide with a convention on West Papua held in London.

Jakarta Post, Jakarta – About 100 people from the Anti-Corruption Papuan Society Alliance Community (KAMPAK) rallied at the National Police headquarters in Jakarta on Wednesday, demanding the police clamp down on what they claim is rampant corruption throughout their region.

Jayapura – Police early Wednesday motning pulled down and confiscated four Bintang Kejora (Morning Star) flags of the separatist Free Papua Organization (OPM) which unidentified people had raised at four different spots in Nabire.

Timika – Five men have been arrested after an outlawed separatist flag was raised in Indonesia's remote Papua province, police said Wednesday.

A group of people unfurled the outlawed "Morning Star" flag early Wednesday at in four places including in front of the local assembly and government offices in Nabire town, local police chief Rianto Jatmono said.

Jakarta – Palm oil companies are clearing massive swathes of untouched forest in Indonesia's remote easternmost Papua region, environmental group Greenpeace said Friday.

"Palm oil companies have obtained the land conversion permits for tens of thousand of hectares," Greenpeace campaigner Bustar Maitar told AFP.

Jakarta – Indonesia must do more to save pristine rainforests in Papua from destruction, particularly with plans to open up huge tracts of land to develop palm oil plantations, environmentalists said on Wednesday.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says it won't resettle more than a hundred refugees from the Indonesian province of Papua to a third country.

Our PNG correspondent Steve Marshall reports the refugees are now living in Papua New Guinea. The Papuan refugees crossed the border into Papua New Guinea many years ago and settled in Port Moresby.

An international health NGO says the death toll from a cholera epidemic in Indonesia's Papua has reached an estimated 200.

Medecins du Monde says it has recorded 150 deaths from cholera in the Dogiyai and Paniai districts of Papua since April but estimates the actual toll could be towards the figure of 290 which local church groups are reporting.

Five Australians arrested after illegally landing a light plane in Indonesia's Papua province were charged with immigration offences and face seven years' jail, police said.

New York – The Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR)'s Commission I delegation visiting the US, called on US congressmen to help correct understanding on Papua issue as some Congressmen still considered the issue problematic.

Tjahjono EP/ENI, Timika – Provincial Police has named Paulus Kiwing and Matius Magai, residents of Kwamki Baru town as suspects for raising the outlawed Kejora Star flag last Tuesday. Both are now detained at the Mimika police headquarters.

Urgent Appeal General: AHRC-UAG-012-2008

Dear friends,

The Indonesia Human Rights Committee has sent Minister Goff about the latest arrests in West Papua – following attempts by the people to join together to raise the Morning Star flag. This flag is deeply valued by the Papuan people as it was their first national flag in 1961 and 1962 while the territory was still under the Dutch, before Indonesia took control.

The leader of a group of 43 Papuan asylum seekers now living in Australia says he has concerns for the long-term safety of two Papuans who have returned to the Indonesian province.

The Indonesian authorities must take immediate action to investigate the torture of Papuan prisoner Ferdinand Pakage, who is detained at Abepura Prison, Papua.

Two of the 43 Papuan asylum seekers at the heart of a diplomatic rift between Australia and Indonesia two years ago have returned to their homeland.

The Indonesian government said Hana Gobay, from Merauke in Papua, and Yubel Kareni, from Serui, returned to Papua on Wednesday morning, accompanied by Indonesia's consul general in Melbourne, Jahar Gultom.

Just days after the Australian Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon met with his Indonesian counterpart Juwono Sudarsono, 18 West Papuans are arrested in Timika for flag raising.

[The following statement was submitted by the West Papua Advocacy Team and the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network for the hearing on Extracting Natural Resources: Corporate Responsibility and the Rule of Law before the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law. <http://etan.org/news/2008/09freeport.htm>]

Markus Makur, Timika – The police have arrested 18 individuals for allegedly hoisting the separatist Bintang Kejora (Morning Star) flag Tuesday in Mimika Baru district, Mimika regency, an act which carries a maximum penalty of death under the articles of sedition.

[Submitted by the West Papua Advocacy Team and the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network for the hearing on Extracting Natural Resources: Corporate Responsibility and the Rule of Law before the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law.]

Timika – Eighteen men have been arrested after an outlawed separatist flag was raised in the Papua province, Indonesian police said Tuesday.

Local police chief Jasim Hoda said several people unfurled the "Free Papua" flag early Tuesday in front of a house in Kwamki Baru village in the Mimika district.

Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission, Komnas HAM, has sent an investigation team to investigate the incident on 9 August which led to the death of Opinus Tabuni.

The team is composed of five members, headed by Joseph Adi Prasetyo. The team visited the location of the incident last week and has inteviewed witnesses as well as members of the security apparatus.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The raising of a Bintang Kejora (Morning Star) flag by Papuans should be considered an attempt to seek attention rather than an act of separatism, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said in Jakarta on Thursday.

Markus Makur, Timika – In a bid to prevent further bombings at copper and gold miner PT Freeport Indonesia, Papua Police on Wednesday disposed of bags suspected to contain explosives near Freeport's power plant and water facilities.

Nethy Dharma Somba and Markus Makur, Jayapura, Timika – Members of the Papua Customary Council (DAP) on Wednesday demanded the Papua provincial police immediately solve the shooting of Opinus Tabuni.

Opinus was shot dead during celebrations to mark the International Day of the World's Indigenous People on August 9 in Sinapuk Square in Wamena, Jayawijaya regency.

Papuan nationalists have protested in Canberra against what they say is an occupation of Papua New Guinea territory by the Indonesian military.

About a dozen demonstrators, some wearing indigenous costume, chanted slogans and sang songs outside the Indonesian embassy against the alleged incursion.

Five Australians accused of illegally landing a plane in Indonesia's sensitive Papua province have been detained in a hotel for a fourth day on Monday, officials say.

The two women and three men were arrested on Friday when they landed at Mopah airport in Papua's Merauke district after a flight from Australia in a light plane.

Jakarta – A separatist group in Indonesia's Papua province claimed responsibility on Monday for a series of bomb attacks in the area and called for the closure of a controversial huge copper mine.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has confirmed that five Australians have been detained by Indonesian authorities after illegally entering the sensitive province of Papua.

Niniek Karmini, Jakarta – A bomb exploded Sunday near an airport built by a US gold mining giant in Indonesia's restive Papua province, police said. No one was injured and there was little damage.

Niniek Karmini, Jakarta – Two small bombs exploded early Friday on a road leading to a massive copper and gold mine in eastern Indonesia and a third unexploded mortar was found nearby, police said. No one was injured and there was little damage.

Repeated gunshots were heard seven hours before the blasts on Thursday night at a road in Timika, Papua, leading to a massive mine operated by Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., the police said.

The chairman of the MRP, Drs Agus Alua believes that the flag-raising incident that resulted in the shooting dead of Opinus Tabuni, a Papuan in Wamena was handled in a way that was in violation of presidential decree 77 (PP 77) about the use of symbols. 'The intention of the President with PP77 was that it should be used persuasively,' he said.

Analysts say a US federal court ruling involving energy giant Exxonmobil and Indonesia's military has major implications for international companies working in regions like Papua.

The court ruled that ExxonMobil has a case to answer in the suit over alleged killings and torture by Indonesian troops protecting the company's gas project in Aceh province.

The Australia-based Mineral Policy Institute is urging all multi-national companies which pay for military protection of vital assets in Indonesia's Papua region to be transparent about the arrangements.

Indonesia's ambassador to Papua New Guinea has praised PNG's Government for blocking the West Papua issue from being raised in recent meetings of the Melanesian Spearhead Group and Pacific Islands Forum.

Bom Soerjanto made these remarks at a reception to celebrate Indonesia's 63 years of independence.

New Zealand Green party MP Keith Locke says Pacific Islands Forum countries like New Zealand could do more to push dialogue with Indonesia about West Papua.

This follows the apparent absence of any discussion about the troubled Indonesian region at last week's Forum leaders summit in Niue. The Papua problem has featured at most recent summits, including last year in Tonga.

Hayley J. Campbell, Jayapura – A New Zealand MP along with Human Rights Groups are calling on Pacific countries to confront Indonesia on human rights abuses in West Papua.

Last week, the Forum leaders summit met in Niue to address key issues among the Pacific island countries. Absent from those issues, was the continuing unrest and protests taking place in West Papua.

The Pacific Island Forum (PIF) has been urged to raise the human rights situation in West Papua with Indonesia.

Joe Collins of the Sydney-based Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) told the Fiji Daily Post yesterday that the human rights situation in the Indonesian-ruled territory should be raised with Indonesia at the Post- Forum Dialogue.

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network, or ETAN, has welcomed the removal of Colonel Burhanuddin Siagian from his command in Papua.