Muridan S. Widjojo, Jakarta – The meeting between Vice President Jusuf Kalla, flanked by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo AS, Minister of Home Affairs Mohammad Ma'ruf and Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, and the official leaders of the province of Papua on Nov.

Slobodan Lekic, Jakarta – Indonesia's military acknowledged for the first time Thursday that its commanders in Papua had received "support" from a US gold-mining giant – responding to allegations that Freeport-McMoRan Co. gave the army millions of dollars to protect its facilities in the remote province.

Tiarma Siboro and Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Former Trikora Military Commander in Papua Maj. Gen. Mahidin Simbolon has confirmed direct payments from US gold miner Freeport-McMoRan to Indonesian military and police personnel guarding the firm's mine.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Jayapura Military Court on Tuesday sentenced a soldier to six years in jail for killing a civilian in Papua. The soldier was also dishonorably discharged from the Army.

Dorothy Kosich – It was only a matter of time until the New York Times "investigative" series on gold mining would highlight the track record of Freeport McMoRan's Grasberg operations in Indonesia.

Greg Poulgrain – Supporters of Papuan Governor Jacob Salossa have raised allegations of foul play over his sudden death last week. They are concerned that no autopsy was performed on the man who led Indonesia's easternmost province for five years.

Jane Perlez and Raymond Bonner, Jakarta – The closest most people will ever get to remote Papua, or the operations of Freeport-McMoRan, is a computer tour using Google Earth to swoop down over the rain forests and glacier-capped mountains where the American company mines the world's largest gold reserve.

Organisations campaigning for independence in the Indonesian province of Papua hope that a new umbrella body will help them gain support from governments in the Pacific.

Fabio Scarpello, Jakarta – A recently published Dutch-report has rekindled hopes of "correcting the course of history" in Papua, Indonesia's easternmost province and theatre of a struggle for independence ignored by most of the world.

Organisations campaigning for independence in the Indonesian province of Papua have formed a new umbrella organisation – the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation. Members of the armed wing of the Organisasi Papua Merdeka – the OPM independence movement – crossed into Papua New Guinea to participate in the founding meeting of the new coalition.

Jakarta – Indonesian police have seized dozens of atlases showing the flag of separatist rebels in Papua province amongst the banners of nations.

Fifty-nine atlases containing the Morning Star separatist flag were seized from bookstores in the resort island of Bali during a recent raid, Bali police spokesman Antonius Reniban was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying.

Jakarta – A high-ranking government official returning from Yahukimo regency in Papua denied on Thursday a famine was underway in the isolated region, describing people there as "fat".

Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie, who just returned from the regency, said "people in the area are fat, the pigs are big, and the corn and cabbage is growing well".

There are hopes that a coalition to be established in the Indonesian province of Papua will lead to a united self determination movement.

Spokesman Rex Rumakiek, says the West Papuan National Coalition for Liberation will be an umbrella organisation involving all stakeholders, including militant groups such as the OPM, political groups and NGOs.

An advocate for the self determination movement in the Indonesian province of Papua says the Vanuatu parliament's withdrawal of a motion in support of West Papua is shameful.

Dr John Ondawame had been active in rallying key support among Vanuatu's chiefs for the motion which called on Vanuatu's parliament to sponsor the push for self determination.

Jakarta – Widodo AS, the Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security, has said that the government has taken a rapid response to the hunger cases in Papua.

"I think that the government has already responded quickly to the situation in Papua," stated Widodo.

Olivia Ward – West Papua is one of the world's most obscure territories, a rain-forested land that is little known except for its exotic beauty.

But human rights lawyer Yan Christian Warinussy says its indigenous people mainly experience the ugliness of poverty and repression, as they struggle for independence from the ruling Indonesian government.

Jayapura/Jakarta – Stunned by reports of famine in a remote Papua district that has left 55 people dead, the government dispatched a military cargo plane on Friday night to carry food aid to the stricken area.

The effort came amid criticism from Papuan leaders that the central and regional governments had neglected their own people, leading to the disaster.

Jayapura – After a racial dispute delayed the process, the Papua General Election Commission (KPUD) officially named on Tuesday five candidates for Papua Governor.

The five candidates are incumbent Jaap Salossa nominated by the Golkar Party, Constant Karma (current deputy governor), Lucas Enembe, Barnabas Suebu, as well as Dick Henk Wabiser.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Breaking a long-held tradition of secrecy, the Indonesian Military disclosed on Tuesday that 48 of its soldiers in Papua had contracted HIV/AIDS since 2000, with 12 of them having died so far.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Although he spends his days and nights in a cramed prison cell, the spirit to fight for Papua's independence still burns brightly in the heart of convicted rebel, Filep Karma.

Ridwan Max Sijabat and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Papuans have continued protesting the presence of security forces in villages across their troubled province, which they say has caused them to live in perpetual fear, despite the four-year implementation of the autonomy law.

Nethy Dharma Somba and Andi Hajramurni, Jayapura – The police have foiled an attempt to raise the outlawed Bintang Kejora (Morning Star) flag, keeping pro-independence action planned for Dec. 1 low-key.

Jayapura – Security forces clashed with hundreds of rock-throwing protesters at an independence day rally Thursday in Papua province, police and witnesses said. There were no reports of injuries.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Papua Governor JP Solossa on Wednesday told residents not to celebrate the self-declared independence anniversary of Papua on Dec. 1.

"All residents should go about their day as usual. Do not be provoked by groups that are planning to commemorate Papua's 'independence'," Solossa said.

Amanda Freund, Newcastle – Newcastle City Council will fly the West Papuan flag from City Hall on December 1 as a gesture of support for the West Papuan people's struggle for independence from Indonesian rule.

Jayapura, Jakarta – The central government must consistently implement the Special Autonomy Law in Papua in order to help quell the demands for independence for the resource-rich province, provincial governor Jacobus Perviddya Solossa said.

He said that special autonomy was aimed at effectively restoring the dignity of the Papuan people.

John Aglionby – This Thursday, December 1, marks the 44th anniversary of the West Papuan people's declaration of independence from their Dutch colonial masters.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Vice President Jusuf Kalla has again proved himself to be a more than competent mediator, bringing together officials from Papua and the central government on Thursday and prodding them into an agreement on the legal basis for the controversial formation of West Irian Jaya province.

Malang, East Java – The Indonesian Army is to establish one Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) division in Papua. This is aimed at deterring separatist action and maintaining security in border areas.

Jakarta – The first ever direct gubernatorial election in West Irian Jaya, scheduled for Nov. 28, would almost certainly be postponed until the stalled establishment process for the new province was completed.

Jakarta – The government has been urged to open the way for broadest possible dialogue with various elements in Papuan society, such as the traditional communities, students, youth, NGOs and also the OPM.

Manokwari, West Irian Jaya – The West Irian Council insisted on Monday that the province should be allowed to hold regional elections on Nov. 28 as planned, saying that there was no legal basis to postpone them. "No matter what happens, we will still hold the poll. There is no constitutional reason to postpone it," said Council Speaker Jimmy Idjie.

Doug Lorimer – The Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) has called on the Australian government to follow the Dutch government's example and commission a study into Australia's involvement in the 1969 UN-organised "act of free choice" in West Papua.

Ivy Susanti, Jakarta/Jayapura – The government plays down the controversial study by Dutch historian Prof. Pieter Drooglever on 1969 vote in Papua, saying that his report was purely academic.

"We view the report as an academic study which is no different from other studies on Papua," Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Yuri Oktavian Thamrin said.

Jakarta – Indonesia dismissed Friday a Dutch parliament-commissioned study that cast doubt on the legality of its rule in the province of Papua, saying the report's "substance was no longer relevant."

Jakarta – Papuan people gave mixed reactions on Thursday to a Dutch government-commissioned study that found the 1969 vote on their territory's incorporation into Indonesia to be a "sham".

The Australia West Papua Association (Sydney) calls on the Australian Government to follow the Dutch governments example and commission a study into our own involvement in the so called 'act of free choice" in West Papua.

Lita Oetomo, Jakarta/Jayapura – The Papuan People's Council has threatened to reinstate demands for special autonomy if the Government delays the election of regional heads in West Irian Jaya scheduled for 28 November. The Council believes the election contravenes Government Ruling Number 54/2004 regarding the Papuan People's Council.

Anthony Deutsch, The Hague – A key 1969 vote on the future of the Indonesian island province of West New Guinea was "a sham" orchestrated by Jakarta, a Dutch government-commissioned study has found.

That vote, which made the province part of Indonesia, has been followed by decades of abuse at the hands of the Indonesian military.

The Pacific Concerns Resource Centre expresses alarm and disgust at recent news that Australia has signed a new Security Treaty with Indonesia.

PCRC calls on Australia to sincerely rethink the consequence this Treaty will have on indigenous Papuans.

Summary

The 1969 Act of Free Choice, intended to be an act of self-determination by the people of Indonesian-occupied West Papua, was doomed to failure from the outset suggests a Dutch government-commissioned report released today.

TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign, strongly condemns the decision of the police in Jayapura to ban an action planned for tomorrow, 15 November, to welcome the launch in The Netherlands of a book by Dutch historian, Professor Drooglever on the 1969 Act of Free Choice.

Yesterday [10 November 2005], on the 4th anniversary of the murder of West Papuan independence leader Theys Hiyo Eluay by Kopassus [Indonesian Special Forces], the West Papua Street Parliament led a protest involving over 300 hundred Papuan students.

A long-awaited report commissioned by the Dutch government into West Papua's controversial incorporation into Indonesia will be launched at the Institute of Dutch History in the Hague next Tuesday, 15 November.

Jakarta – Indonesia has greeted with a sigh of relief a decision by the United States Congress to omit references to Papua from the State Department Authorization Bill, saying it reflected the consistent support of both the US government and Congress for Indonesia's national integrity.

Papuans are reportedly forming their own assembly to counter the Papuan People's Council, or MRP, established by the Indonesian government to represent the province.

The 42-member MRP was set up last month despite strong public opposition to the election process.

By Richard Chauvel

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The newly elected members of the Papuan People's Council (MRP) took office on Monday in a ceremony that was notable for the heavy police presence.

Alastair Thompson – Timor-Leste Foreign Minister & 1996 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Jose Ramos-Horta knows more than most about independence struggles against Indonesian control.

Scoop took the opportunity of Mr Ramos-Horta's attendance at the 36th Pacific Island Forum to discuss the struggle for recognition by the independence movement from West Papua.