Jakarta – Indonesian police routinely torture, rape and kill with impunity in Indonesia's easternmost Papua and risk fanning separatism there, an international rights group said in a report released Thursday.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Visiting US Congressman Eni Faleomavaega on Wednesday expressed support for Indonesia's efforts to empower Papuans, stressing a tangible developmental outcome and more autonomy to Papua.

Slamet Susanto, Yogyakarta – Police in Yogyakarta broke up a rally Wednesday by about 50 Papuan students after they unfurled a Bintang Kejora flag, the symbol of the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM).

Dikhy Sasra, Jakarta – Around 100 people who said they were students originating from West Papua demonstrated in front of the United States Embassy on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan in Central Jakarta on Thursday July 5. Some of the demonstrators wore traditional clothing and T-shirts with pictures of the Morning Star.

Muklis Ali, Jakarta – A visiting US congressman said on Thursday Indonesia had made progress in how it treats the people of Papua, as a rights group accused security forces of killing, torturing and raping civilians in the remote area.

Government should open Central Highlands to independent observers

Jakarta – In the Central Highlands of remote Papua province, a region closed to outside observers, police appear to be routinely committing serious abuses, such as extrajudicial executions, torture and rape, with impunity, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

The banning of US American Samoan Congressman Eni Faleomavaega, from visiting West Papua, strengthens the suspicions of the international community that Indonesia has something to hide in its territory of West Papua.

Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – Accompanied by the beat of drums, West Papuan students danced and sang following a protest in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta on Wednesday July 4 in which they rejected special autonomy saying it had failed.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Visiting US Congressman Eni Faleomavaega met Tuesday with leading Papuan figures in Jakarta after the government failed to grant him permission to enter the province.

The decision, announced yesterday, by the Indonesian government to prevent US Congressman Eni Faleomavaega from travelling to West Papua, will undermine efforts to promote human rights and democracy in the territory says TAPOL, the UK-based human rights organisation.

Muklis Ali, Jakarta – Indonesia has barred a US congressman who has been a critic of Jakarta's policies in Papua from visiting the area, but has denied the move is to cover up alleged human rights abuses in the remote region.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – US Congressman Eni Faleomavaega is expected to arrive in Jakarta on Tuesday but the Indonesian government said Monday it would not allow him to visit Papua because his presence in the province could encourage violence.

Step Vaessen, Papua – Culturally distinct Papua is rich in resources but home to some of the country's poorest people.

The governor of the remote Indonesian province of Papua is warning that the region could revive its push for independence. Barnabas Suebu has told Al Jazeera that the central government in Jakarta must act quickly to improve conditions in the province.

Crimes against humanity suspect a threat to Papuans

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Wanting to prove the human rights situation in Papua province has improved, Jakarta is considering allowing US Congressman Eni Faleomavaega, a Democrat from American Samoa, to visit the province.

Jayapura – The governor of Papua, fresh off a tour of remote villages, said past development efforts have failed to lift the majority of rural Papuans out of poverty.

Governor Barnabas Suebu, who visited villages in Supiori, Biak Numfor and Waropen regencies during his two-week tour, said more than 80 percent of people in rural areas were living in absolute poverty.

Jakarta – Nearly half the residents of Indonesia's remote Papua province have never heard of HIV/AIDS despite the virus' prevalence there being 15 times the national average, a new internationally funded research report shows.

Geoff Thompson – A special representative to the United Nations (UN) secretary-general says there are credible reports that human rights defenders in the Indonesian province of Papua are being held, tortured and harassed.

The secretary-general's special representative on the situation of human rights defenders, Hina Jilani, has just completed a tour of West Papua.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Indonesia's sovereignty over Papua and West Papua may face less of a challenge from the US Congress after a visiting delegation from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) outlined progress achieved in both provinces to congressmen.

Markus Makur, Timika – Papua has the seventh highest rate of illiteracy in Indonesia, with 200,000 people aged 12 to 45 years unable to read. In addition, more than 350,000 people over the age of 45 and living in rural areas in Papua cannot read and write.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Hundreds of Papuans rallied Friday in Papua and West Papua provinces during a one-day visit by special representative of the UN Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders Hina Jilani. In both provinces, Jilani was greeted with rallies.

Jakarta – Hundreds of people rallied Friday in West Papua, calling on the United Nations to put pressure on Jakarta to overturn a 1969 referendum that joined the territory to Indonesia, organisers said.

M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – The House of Representatives (DPR) Commission I on foreign affairs has commended the measures being taken by the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) in conducting a counter campaign against foreign parties linked to the issue of West Papua. These measures are essential to straighten out overseas opinions about Papua.

As leaders of churches in West Papua who are concerned about all aspects of our people's life, we are deeply concerned that the Special Autonomy which should have brought solutions to the Papuan people's problems, has, in fact, failed.

Jakarta – The government is not serious enough in settling human right violations in the country in general, in Papua in particular, a human rights observer said.

"The government has yet to show a sincere intention to settle a number of human right violation cases in Papua," human rights observer Jayadi Damanik said here Thursday.

The West Papuan representative in Vanuatu, Dr Otto Ondawame has raised concern over a recent incident in Port Moresby claiming the PNG government was allegedly working in collaboration with the Indonesian Embassy in PNG and pro-special autonomy groups led by France Albert Yoku to force the West Papuan refugees in 9-Mile refugee camp to repatriate to West Papua.

Pius Nimaepa inhaled his clove cigarette smoke deeply when Tempo visited him at the end of March. The 60-year-old Ayuka tribal chief sat cross-legged on a wooden chair under a tree in front of his house in Ayuka village, Mimika Timur Jauh district, Mimika regency, Papua.

First to the Indonesian province of Papua, where police armed with water canon and M16 rifles are occupying a Jayapura church at the centre of a dispute over the synod's independence.

Indonesian Police are maintaining control of the Kingmi Synod Church office in the capital of Papua province, Jayapura. Earlier today police arrested dozens of Papuans who were among up to five hundred Kingmi Church members protesting in front of the office.

Jayapura – The Regional Military Commander of 172/PWY of Papua, Colonel Kav Burhanudin Siagian stated that the main enemies of the state are those who have enjoyed the nation's facilities, but who still do actions against the stability of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. Traitors like them are the ones that must be destroyed.

[Merdeka: Artists from around the world unit in support of the independence movement in West Papua. Dancing Turtle Records, 2007. Only available from . Reviewed by Vannessa Hearman.]

Seby Sambom – The West Papua Highland Student Association is continuing its call for dialogue with the Indonesian government about Papua province's special autonomy status.

1,500 people took part in a student-led demonstration for Papuan self-determination outside the Provincial Parliament in Jayapura late last month.

A series of demonstrations in Indonesia's Papua province in the past week have called for an end to Special Autonomy, saying it hasn't worked.

Thousands of Papuan students attended two peaceful demonstrations, outside the provincial parliament capital Jayapura last Thursday, and then Tuesday at Manokwari, the second administrative centre in Papua.

Jakarta – More than 1,500 students on Friday gathered in front of the governors palace in Jayapura, the capital of the Indonesian province of Papua, demanding an end to the province's special autonomy status, which they say does not work.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The government has issued a regulation officially renaming West Irian Jaya province to West Papua province, a political decision that may not automatically settle the prolonged dispute over the new province's existence.

John Pakage, Timika – Thousands of workers at Freeport-McMoRan's Grasberg mine in Indonesia have ended a four-day walkout over welfare that had sent copper prices to seven-month highs, the head of a workers' group said on Saturday.

The mine on the island of Papua produces more than 500,000 metric tons of copper annually and is Indonesia's biggest source of tax revenue.

Jakarta – Thousands of mine workers in Indonesia's remote Papua province protested for a third day Friday as marathon talks with US firm Freeport McMoRan over pay and benefits showed signs of progress.

"We have reached agreement on several of the main issues," said Betty Ibo from the West Papuan Workers Union involved in the discussions.

Jakarta – Production at a giant US-run mine in Indonesia's remote Papua province has been slashed to 20 percent due to a protest by thousands of workers, a government minister said Thursday.

Jakarta – Lawyers of the six convicted murderers of PT Freeport Indonesia's employees Thursday submitted appeal documents to the Supreme Court over those sentences by lower courts.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jakarta – Papuan Muslims will hold an inaugural three-day congress in Jayapura beginning Tuesday, which is slated to attract 260 participants from 29 regencies and mayoralties in Papua and West Irian Jaya.

Congress steering committee member Sayid Fadhal Alhamid said the Papua Muslim Solidarity group was established on Nov. 21, 1999, in Jayapura.

Evidence of Indonesian military involvement in the deaths of two American citizens has been suppressed, according to a report released today by Joyo Indonesian News Service and Pantau Foundation.

Jakarta, The level of confidence of Papuan civil society towards the central government has declined as the result of a number of basic problems. despite the fact that improving confidence in the central government represents the most important aspect in achieving reconciliation.

[Reluctant Indonesians: Australia, Papua and the future of West Papua By Clinton Fernandes Scribe, $22.]

David Costello – The issue is on the backburner now but West Papua will inevitably blow up again and drag relations between Australia and Indonesia into crisis.

Yermias Ignatius Degei – Papuan students in Java and Bali who are members of Front Persatuan Perjuangan Rakyat Papua Barat (F-PEPERA-PB) or The United struggle front of West Papuan People held protest in front of the Netherlands embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday (5/4).

Governments of this country come and go but torture and human rights violations continue in many parts of Indonesia. In particular, the Papuan people have been the victims of various acts of terror, arrest, kidnapping and death, ever since the 1960s.

Cath Hart – A foreign policy expert has warned the Government that relations with Indonesia would be damaged if Australia ratified the Lombok Treaty without clarifying Jakarta's expectations.

Jayapura – After announcing the creation of Partai Kebangkitan Rakyat Papua (Papuan People's Awakening Party) on 8 March 2007 as a local political party, steps are being taken to complete the draft of a constitution and articles of association, to be used until the party holds its first congress.

Fabio Scarpello – The Reverend Socrates Sofyan Yoman is a soft-spoken man. But his voice turns firm when asked what is the way forward for Papua, the region where he lives and where most locals have been demanding independence for nearly four decades.

The Cultural Institute of the Papua People's Council or MRP in Indonesia says it fully supports the formation of Papua's first local political party, the Papua People's Awakening Party.

The MRP's Vice Chairwoman, Hanna Wikoyabi, says the movement that led to the new party's establishment could lift the indigenous Papua people's esteem and dignity.