Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-047-2009

Dear friends,

The West Papua National Coalition for Liberation says a visit by Indonesia's Ambassador is unlikely to sway Vanuatu's support for West Papuan self-determination.

Primo Alui Joelianto has been in Vanuatu to present his credentials to the Head of State as Indonesia's newly appointed ambassador to Vanuatu, based in Canberra.

West Papua advocates have been urging the United States to apply meaningful pressure on Indonesia for internationally-facilitated dialogue between Jakarta and Papuan leaders.

A member of the West Papua Advocacy Team spoke before a US Congressional panel about threats to human rights and the environment in Indonesia's Papua region.

Jakarta – Agus Ohee, a resident of Harapan village, Jayapura regency, Papua, who was shot by local police during an attempted arrest, died in Sentani hospital on Wednesday morning.

Agus was reportedly shot at around 5 a.m. local time (3 a.m Jakarta time) on Wednesday and was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead at around 6 a.m..

Jakarta – A Papuan separatist group held a local police officer hostage for seven hours after confiscating his revolver, local police said Sunday.

Papua police chief Bagus Ekodanto said to kompas.com news portal that the incident occurred Saturday and the officer had since been released. He is currently at the Supiori police station.

Jakarta – Tension gripped the Papua regency of Jayapura on Wednesday when dozens of soldiers staged a rare protest, which soon turned violent.

Christian Motte & Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jayapura – Hundreds of soldiers went after senior officers on Wednesday and damaged their battalion headquarters in Papua after the family of a deceased soldier was told to pay half the cost of flying his body home.

Jakarta – Indonesian Military commander Gen. Djoko Santoso apologized to the public over the incident in Sentani, Papua, where soldiers staged violent protests against their commander.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Five Australians who illegally entered Indonesian territory through an airport in Merauke, Papua, in September last year have been banned from leaving the province until a Supreme Court verdict has been handed down.

Head of Merauke Prosecutors' Office, Sudiro Husodo, said the ban was issued by the Attorney General's Office (AGO) on April 2.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is extremely worried for the safety of a team of journalists in Indonesia, who tonight are reported to be in hiding in Jayapura, Papua Province, as hundreds of soldiers of the Indonesian army riot in the town.

Christian Motte & Nurfika Osman – Papua authorities have decided to close down an immigration post at Skouw-Wutung on the country's border with Papua New Guinea, due to the province's deteriorating security situation, an official said on Tuesday.

Two US organizations concerned about human rights in West Papua today urged the US government "to apply meaningful pressure on the Indonesian government and its security forces... to address long-standing Papuan concerns and grievances."

In the lead-up to the elections, Papua was hit by terror. The OPM was accused of involvement, but its leaders behind bars deny it.

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – Recent bomb attacks linked to the legislative elections in troubled Papua province may have been orchestrated by a single group, police said Friday.

They said a forensic laboratory report showed that explosive materials used in both bombings were the same.

The Indonesia office of the International Committee of the Red Cross says the request by Jakarta for it to leave the Papua region is not linked to visits by its officials to separatists in jail.

The foreign ministry in Jakarta says the government is offended both by the ICRC's practice of visiting separatists in prison.

In a response to American Samoa's congressman Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin, the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has signalled her support for greater autonomy for the Indonesian region of West Papua.

Lawyers for West Papuan activist Buchtar Tabuni claim he has been assaulted by Indonesian police and three public prosecutors.

Buchtar Tabuni was allegedly beaten and kicked as he refused to wait in a holding cell shortly before a scheduled testimony hearing for his trial on subversion charges in the Jayapura District Court.

Sunanda Creagh, Jakarta – Indonesia has ordered the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to leave the politically sensitive Papua region after its officials visited separatists in jail, the foreign ministry said.

Christian Motte – Police in Papua Province have arrested seven people in connection with the attack on the Abepura Police station in the provincial capital of Jayapura on the eve of the April 9 legislative elections.

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – The National Police is intensifying the search for those responsible for a string of violent events that rocked Papua around election day.

The police has named five suspects who were allegedly involved in the arson attack on the rector's building at the Cenderawasih University last Thursday, one of them identified by his initials as SW.

Sydney – The Australia West Papua Association, Sydney, has asked Australia's Foreign minister Stephen Smith to raise what it says is the continuing deteriorating situation in West Papua with the Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Nethy Dharma Somba and Angel Flassy, Jayapura – Churches and civil society groups asked security authorities to carry out a thorough investigation into the series of attacks and burning of vital assets, apparently aimed at creating political chaos during the legislative and presidential elections.

The Union of Papuan Baptist Churches has added its voice to claims that the Indonesian military is engineering attacks in the province and blaming them on Papuan separatists.

AWPA is calling on the Australian Foreign minister to raise the continuing deteriorating situation in West Papua with the Indonesian President and urge him in particular to control the security forces in West Papua as a way of avoiding further escalation of the situation and avoiding possible bloodshed.

Papua New Guinea's Police Commissioner says the situation remains tense in an area on the common border of Indonesia and PNG where reports say eleven people have been killed in fighting between Indonesian military and Papuan separatists.

Gary Baki says he is unable to confirm the deaths because the fighting occurred on the Indonesian side of the border

Erwida Maulia and Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said here Monday the police had named another suspect who could have masterminded the recent attacks in the country's eastern most province.

Lora Lini – The decision of the Minister for Foreign Affairs to look over to South East Asia is not just to strengthen diplomatic relations with the region but a door for Vanuatu to understand better the issue of West Papua.

Minister Kaltongga revealed that West Papua is included in the Government's plan for the region.

Jakarta – National Police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri said in Jakarta on Monday that police had arrested a man believed to be the mastermind of the attack on a police precinct in Abepura, Papua Province, last week.

Christian Motte – Police in Papua Province on Friday blamed the separatist Free Papua Movement, or OPM, for a series of attacks over the past few days, after finding a flier from the group on the body of one of the victims.

Slamet Susanto, Yogyakarta – Hundreds of Papuan students in Yogyakarta ran amok at the provincial general elections commission (KPUD) office after they could not find their voting booths.

Human rights organizations have urged the US government and Congress to investigate and act on the continued violations of human rights in West Papua.

The letter from the West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT), Land Is Life, and the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) highlighted the deteriorating security situation in West Papua.

Jakarta Post, Papua/Jakarta – Papua was on high alert Thursday as a range of incidents, including attacks on police stations, claimed 11 lives to mar voting day in the country's easternmost province, still plagued by separatist threats.

Abepura – Indonesian police shot a man dead Thursday when about 100 people armed with arrows and bombs attacked a police post in Papua province as the country held general elections, police said.

In all, five people were killed in violent incidents across the restive eastern province overnight Wednesday and early Thursday, police said.

Matt Brown – Human rights activists say a 10-year-old boy was among nine Melanesians shot after Indonesian paramilitary police broke up a pro-independence protest in Papua.

The ABC has obtained footage of the incident in the small town of Nabire on Monday, and Amnesty International is calling for an independent investigation.

The Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) Victoria is calling on the Australian Government to make an urgent diplomatic representation to its Indonesian counterpart over escalating violence in the lead up to the general elections taking place today.

At a time when the international media is focusing on today's Indonesian elections, little attention had been paid to the deteriorating human rights situation in West Papua. TAPOL is calling for an end to the violence and for the Papuans' democratic rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly to be guaranteed.

Kontras regrets the occurrence of several incidents of violence prior to the elections in Papua which have spread a sense of anxiety among Papuan people. The latest was an incident last night when eight students were arrested following an attack on the head office of the police in Abepura and a fire at the office of the Rector of Cenderawasih University in Waena.

Jakarta – Poverty, poor education, and a lack of health care continue to plague Papua eight years after centralized control gave way to regional autonomy in the province.

The current government in Papua is highly corrupt and entrenched in traditional values that do not necessarily benefit democracy or development, speakers at a seminar in Jakarta said Tuesday.

Jayapura – Papua Police have detained three activists of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), for their allegedly subversive activities.

As the situation deteriorates further in West Papua with more arrests and the shooting of protesters, the Australia West Papua Association calls on the Australian Government to send observers to investigate the human rights situation in West Papua.

Election tensions in the Indonesian province of Papua have boiled-over, with reports that police shot and injured 11 people at a pro-independence rally on Monday. Police deny any shootings took place.

AI Index: ASA 21/012/2009

Amnesty International urges the National Head of Police, Bambang Hendarso Danuri to initiate an immediate investigation into reports of police using excessive force to disperse a demonstration in Nabire, Papua. This is the third reported incident of such abuses by the Nabire police force since December 2008.

Amerindians in Guyana are supporting West Papua's calls for independence from Indonesia. West Papua is half of the island of New Guinea, which is located north of Australia.

The pledge of support came Friday at the launch of the International Lawyers Federation for West Papua in Georgetown.

Jayapura, Indonesia – At least four people were wounded when police opened fire on a protest in Indonesia's remote Papua region on Monday, demanding independence and a boycott of elections, an activist said.

Nabire, Indonesia – Indonesian police shot and injured 11 people on Monday at a pro-independence rally in Papua province, where demonstrators urged an election boycott and protested about a police raid, a hospital worker said.

Rallies and arrests in West Papua coincide with establishment of International Lawyers for West Papua

Reports from West Papua today indicate that 10,000 people are staging a rally in Nabire, while another rally planned for Wamena is occurring in the grounds of the Efata Church after a joint Police and Military security operation to block that rally.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Papua People's Council (MRP) proposed two ordinances in this week's plenary session to strengthen indigenous Papuans' basic rights and the principal of indigenous Papuan cultural unity, which have come under pressure from Papua's rapid economic progress and its open stance towards migrants.

Up to fifteen people were arrested near Jayapura after police raided the office of the Papuan Customary Council and in Wamena three people including one junior high school student were arrested after participating in a rally.

Christian Motte & Putri Prameshwari – Thousands of people took part in a pro-independence rally in Papua Province on Friday, calling for a boycott of the legislative elections.

The rally, in which students and activists from several universities and religious and social organizations took part, was held in the town of Nabire.

Thousands of people rallied in Indonesia's eastern Papua region on Friday to call for independence from Jakarta and a boycott of elections amid a police crackdown on dissent, activists said.