Nethy Dharma Somba and M. Aziz Tunny, Jayapura/Ambon – The Jayapura District Court in Papua province sentenced separatist leader Yance Hembring, 50, to 10 years in prison for treason.
The sentence, handed down on Tuesday, was heavier than the five years demanded by prosecutors. Yance said he would consider appealing against the ruling.
Neles Tebay, Rome – It was the first time in the history of Papua that the Government of Indonesia recognized the Papuans' need for democracy (The Jakarta Post, July 30, 2004). This recognition is fundamental, not only for the Papuans, but also for the government and the international community.
John Saltford, London – In his July 30th article in this newspaper, Foreign Affairs official Andri Hadi argues against any discussion of the 1969 Indonesian-organized act of self determination in West Papua known as the "Act of Free Choice".
An Indonesian independent rights watchdog has found evidence that the country's police and military were involved in gross human rights abuses in the troubled eastern province of Papua, a report said.
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has completed the report on its investigation into bloody incidents in the Papua towns of Wamena and Wasior, saying soldiers and police committed gross abuses in both cases.
A dispute over the killing of two Americans in a remote Indonesian province two years ago shows no sign of abating, despite a recent US indictment against an Indonesian man believed to have been involved.
John Roberts – US Attorney General John Ashcroft announced in late June that the Justice Department and FBI had indicted Anthonius Wamang over the August 2002 ambush of employees of the giant US-operated Freeport mine in West Papua that resulted in three deaths-two US teachers and an Indonesian colleague.
Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Three human rights groups in Papua province have accused the US Attorney-General, John Ashcroft, of withholding evidence of the Indonesian military's involvement in an attack that killed two American teachers in 2002.
Jakarta – Rights groups in Indonesia's Papua province Wednesday accused US Attorney General John Ashcroft of a cover up over the killing of two US teachers and an Indonesian near Papua's giant Freeport gold mine in 2002.
[This transcript was kindly supplied by Tony O'Connor as ABC TV no longer provides transcripts.]
Reporter: Anthony Balmain (AB)
Speakers: John Rumbiak (JR), Anthonius Wamak (AW), Spier (PS), Albert Kailele (AK)
Scene of Wewak beach and town
The eyes of world are far from the small coastal ton of Wewak on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea.
Antony Balmain – West Papuan leaders, including several from the Free Papua Movement, OPM, have decided to lay down arms and pursue self-determination from Indonesia through peaceful means.
Andri Hadi, Jakarta – Efforts by certain quarters, within and outside Indonesia, to question the decolonization process in Papua gain a momentum by the declassification of restricted documents in the US recently.
Alan Sipress, Jakarta – The new publication of declassified US documents by a private Washington-based research group, raising questions about Indonesia's takeover of disputed territory 35 years ago, has provoked charges in Jakarta that the US government must be behind the revelations.
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – religious leaders have urged the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) to reveal the findings of its probe into alleged human rights violations by soldiers and police in the troubled province.
Jayapura – One person was killed and another was severely wounded after ethnic violence broke out in the Timika district in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua on Friday morning.
Earlier today Mark Davis spoke to Indonesia's Ambassador to Australia, Imron Cotan, from Canberra.
Mark Davis: Ambassador, thanks for joining us. Were you surprised by the very strong nature of these documents?
Imron Cotan, Indonesian ambassador to Australia: I'm not surprised at all.
Jayapura – Trikora Military Commander Maj. Gen. Nurdin Zainal has filed a complaint against Latifah Hanum Siregar, the director of the Democratic Alliance for Papua (ALDP), alleging defamation.
Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – In its response to new questions over the legitimacy of Indonesia's sovereignty over Papua, it seems the government has learned little from the loss of East Timor in 1999.
Jim Lobe, Washington – On the 35th anniversary of the so-called "Act of Free Choice" (AFC) that resulted in West Papua's annexation by Indonesia, newly declassified documents revealed that the administration of the late US president Richard Nixon was unwilling to raise any objections to the process despite its assessment that the move was overwhelmingly opposed by the Papuan people.
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja & Netty Dharma Somba, Jakarta, Jayapura – The Indonesian government has brushed aside any questions about the legitimacy of the 1964 UN-sponsored self-determination vote in Papua, saying current standards should not be applied to past events.
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The central government's reluctance to implement Law No. 21/2001 on special autonomy status for Papua might incite a separatist movement in the province, a court was told.
Frances Evans – West Papua: where the second largest rainforest in the world is cleared for Freeport/Rio Tinto's gold and copper mines; where one of the world's most diverse marine environments is being polluted by BHP-Billiton's toxic tailings; where, for more than half a century, demands for self-determination have been met with mass human rights abuses; where a struggle has been
John Rumbiak is West Papua's most prominent human rights investigator. He led a 2-year investigation of the Freeport killings, in close cooperation with the FBI. Rumbiak now lives in exile after reports emerged of death threats being made against him by the Indonesian military.
Indonesia says it hopes to resume military cooperation with the United States after a separatist rebel leader was charged over the deaths of two Americans in Papua almost two years ago. A US grand jury in Washington has indicted Anthonius Wamang on two counts of murder and eight counts of attempted murder over an ambush at the Freeport copper mine, near the town of Timika.
The recent declassification of documents by the US National Security Archive pertaining to the 1969 referendum on Papua has put this vast and resource-rich westernmost province of Indonesia in the spotlight.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Timika – Two conflicting tribes, the Damal and Nduga, in Papua province have agreed to end the bloody clashes that have killed two tribesmen on each side.
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The Papuan people's campaign against the province's division has received a major boost after the State Administrative Court ruled on Tuesday against a law appointing Abraham Octavianus Atururi as West Irian Jaya governor.
With a long tradition of supporting independence movements in the Pacific, Vanuatu has taken the lead to support dialogue on the future of the Indonesian province of Papua. Last month, Vanuatu's Foreign Minister Moana Cacasses issued an invitation to the Government of Indonesia to participate in a roundtable meeting with representatives of the West Papuan movement.
Biak – Some 300 people in Biak Numfor district in Indonesia's Papua province staged a peaceful rally at the legislative council building on Tuesday to press for the discharge of police officers for beating a local official last June 9.
Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – A panel of judges dismissed on Monday defense pleas by two senior police officers charged with human rights abuses in Papua, ruling that their ad hoc rights trials must continue in Makassar, South Sulawesi.
Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pledged Wednesday to implement fully the special autonomy law for Papua by speeding up the establishment of the stalled Papuan People's Assembly (MRP).
Suwarjono, Jakarta – Opposition to presidential and vice-presidential candidates from the military are surfacing again. A coalition of West Papuan non-government organisations (NGOs) say that presidential candidates with a military background will make it difficult to uphold values of human rights in Indonesia.
Matthew Moore/Karuni Rompies, Makassar – The first member of Indonesia's notorious paramilitary police force (Brimob) ever to face trial for human rights abuses has appeared in court accused of allowing the killing of a Papuan student and the torture of dozens of others.
Matthew Moore, Makassar – The first member of Indonesia's notorious paramilitary police force Brimob to face trial for human rights abuses has appeared in court accused of allowing the killing of a Papuan student and the torture of dozens of others.
Jayapura – About 500 Papuans in the Coalition of Civilians for Human Rights protested at the province's legislative council here on Wednesday to oppose the May 1, 1963 integration of their territory into Indonesia.
Brian Toohey – The appointment of a new police chief in western Papua might seem of little interest to the British Foreign Office. When Timbul Silaen's appointment was announced on December 1 last year, however, the Foreign Office had good reason to take notice.
Jayapura – Most of people in Papua living with HIV/AIDS are between 5 years and 29 years of age, or in their productive years, numbering 746 or 51 percent out of a total 1,454 people with AIDS in the province, according to government data.
Alisa P., Jakarta – Scores of activists from the Papuan National Student's Front (Front Nasional Mahasiswa Papua, FNMP) held a demonstration at the United Nations offices in Jakarta on Tuesday 27.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Papua province now reaches 1,398 and has sparked concern among Papuans and local health officials.
Of the total, 912 people have been diagnosed HIV-positive and 486 have developed AIDS.
Counting continues after Indonesia's national elections in the world's third largest democracy. The remote province of Papua, formerly known as Irian Jaya, was the first place to vote in the Indonesian archipelago, which covers three time zones. However, Papua's remoteness has thrown up some challenges for local authorities.
Presenter/Interviewer: Sen Lam
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Police here said on Sunday that they had shot dead a suspected separatist in the troubled province of Papua for allegedly trying to discourage people from voting in the legislative election on Monday, while a policeman and an activist were reportedly missing.
Sentani – Less than three years after special forces troops killed his father, restive Papua's most prominent independence leader at the time, Boy Eluay wants to be an Indonesian politician.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – A key witness to the 2002 ambush in Papua that left two Americans and one Indonesian dead has changed his testimony that Army soldiers were responsible for the incident.
Jakarta – A human rights group in Papua province said Thursday it was being sued by Indonesia's powerful military for alleging that troops carried out an ambush which killed two Americans in August 2002.
Jakarta – Prosecutors have indicted two senior police officers on charges of allowing their men to torture hundreds of people in the eastern province of Papua, officials said on Thursday.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Political campaigning for the 2004 general elections in Jayapura, the capital of Papua province, is apparently not as lively as before, in 1999, as can be seen from the reduction in the number of those attending outdoor campaign rallies.
The following letter was sent today to Minister of State Douglas Alexander
29 March 2005
The Rt Hon. Douglas Alexander MP
Minister of State, Foreign Office
King George's Street
London SW1A 0AA
Dear Mr Alexander,
Military Build Up in West Papua
A leading Indonesia analyst says Jakarta has grossly mishandled the troubled province of Papua, and now seems to be stepping back to watch it disintegrate.
Presenter/Interviewer: Graeme Dobell
Speakers: Sidney Jones, the Southeast Asia director, the International Crisis Group
For the first time since it was called into the case, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is believed to be following several promising leads in the investigation into the slaying of two American teachers near the Papua mining town of Tembagapura in August 2002.
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The whole of Papua society could unite in a movement to secede from the Republic of Indonesia if the government insisted on splitting the province, a religious leader warned.