The death toll in several days of clashes in Indonesia's Papua province has risen to four, police said after the unrest prompted the central government to shelve controversial plans to split the province into three.
One man wounded early Wednesday has died in hospital, said Abdul Gani, a senior police officer in the town of Timika.
Jakarta – Chief of the National Defence Force (TNI) General Endriartono Sutarto has said his side will not yet launch a military operation in anticipation of possible security disturbances by an armed separatist group in Papua.
The Indonesian government has suspended plans to divide the province of Papua into three, after days of sustained street fighting. But Jakarta says it has not abandoned its plan to divide the resource-rich province, to improve administration. There are fears the real agenda is to undermine the long-running separatist movement.
Presenter/Interviewer: Sonya De Masi
Police reinforcements were being flown to the town of Timika in Indonesia's Papua province following three days of street clashes in which three people died and dozens were injured.
Jayapura/Jakarta – Pressure mounted on Tuesday for the administration of President Megawati Soekarnoputri to retract its decision to partition Papua into three provinces, following deadly clashes between opponents and supporters of the move.
Peter Cave: Despite claims that Indonesian forces have cracked down on Radical Islamists in the Indonesian province of West Papua, the separatist movement there says Laskar Jihad is still active and being supported by local Indonesian military.
Jakarta – Following fatal clashes between opponents and supporters of the establishment of Central Irian Jaya province, the government has come under pressure for its decision to partition the country's easternmost province, Papua.
Jakarta – The Indonesian government has cited the armed separatist movement in Papua as one of three threats against the perpetuation of the nation's existence within the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI). Therefore the government will soon [take action to] incapacitate the separatist movement in the province of Papua, or where ever such movements exist.
The death toll from three days of clashes in Indonesia's Papua province has risen to three and more than 50 have been injured, hospital staff said.
Timika – Two people have been killed and 18 wounded as rivals clashed with arrows and stones over the creation of a new province on Indonesia's remote Papua island, witnesses and police said on Monday.
Buried somewhere in the lengthy, state-of-the-nation speech by the President, made on August 15 to the House of Representatives, was a casual reference to the situation in Papua.
Jakarta, Kompas – Even though Aceh problem has yet to be resolved, the Indonesian military (TNI) is now categorising the province of Papua as a trouble spot [because of efforts] to separate the province from the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.
M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – A solidarity group for Papua demanded on Tuesday that the central government call off its plan to divide the province and keep its promise by immediately establishing the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP).
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Papua Indonesia integrated Papua into its sovereign territory 40 years ago, but most Papuans are still living in a state of poverty in remote areas, even though the province is rich in natural resources.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The troubled province of Papua was granted special autonomy in 2001 with around Rp 1.2 trillion disbursed last year to smooth its implementation, but life remains unchanged among the impoverished people there.
Jakarta – The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) has formed a Human Rights Investigation Team in [West] Papua. The team, which made up four members, is headed Saafroeddin Bahar, will begin work next August to investigate a number of reports which have been received by Komnas HAM of suspected cases of human rights violations in Papua.
Jakarta/Wamena – At least two of nine soldiers, charged with involvement in April's deadly raid on the Wamena military district arsenal in the troubled province of Papua, are threatened with the death penalty.
Dean Yates, Jakarta – FBI agents have taken evidence from last year's killing of two American schoolteachers in Indonesia's rebellious Papua province back to the United States, just as US lawmakers turn up the heat over the murders.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Hundreds of people staged a rally in the Papua capital of Jayapura on Tuesday to protest the annual progress report presented by Governor Jaap Salossa, citing alleged fraud and irregularities in the report.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The central government moved closer to creating a West Irian Jaya province in Papua on Monday, despite lingering controversies over the plan to split the troubled region into three – Papua, West Irian Jaya and Central Irian Jaya.
Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Papuans are growing increasingly concerned that the Indonesian military – boosted by its apparent success against rebels in Aceh – will crack down on Papua's independence movement.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The central government is accused of a lack of resolve in enforcing the special autonomy law for the troubled province of Papua, which was implemented two years ago to appease separatist groups.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Unlike the conflict-plagued province of Aceh, the central government does not have any immediate plans to impose martial law to wipe out the independence rebels in Papua, but is hoping for a peaceful solution instead, the chief security minister said here on Wednesday.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Chief security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono renewed the government's warning against separatists in the province of Papua on Tuesday. He said separatists would face tougher action from security forces should they go ahead with their secessionist campaign.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Following increasing allegations of torture and civilian deaths, the Army withdrew on Wednesday 98 of its 158 elite Special Force (Kopassus) and Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) soldiers deployed to crack down on separatists in Papua.
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri welcomed members of the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM) back to the fold of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), a day after they surrendered to the Papua Provincial Administration and pledged full unwavering loyalty to the state government.
Jayapura – Forty-two rebels in Indonesia's eastern Papua province surrendered Monday, vowing to end their struggle for independence, police said. It was not immediately clear what prompted the move.
Jakarta – More than 40 fighters of an armed separatist group in Indonesia's remote eastern province of Papua have surrendered to police and their immediate fate is – handicrafts training.
Papua police chief Budi Utomo told leading El Shinta radio that most of the 42 members of the Free Papua Organisation (OPM) had been living in the jungle, some as long as 10 years.
Jakarta – FBI agents have returned to Indonesia to investigate the killing last August of two American schoolteachers in restive Papua province, an issue Washington has said could seriously affect bilateral ties.
The disastrous failure of Indonesia's ad hoc human rights court for East Timor to provide justice for the victims of human rights atrocities in East Timor has heightened fears of increased military oppression in areas such as West Papua.
Jakarta – Indonesians might have forgotten the bloody attack at Tembagapura, Papua, 10 months ago. But Americans, or at least the US Senate, have not.
Rob Kerr – From the back seat, social studies teacher Steve Emma heard what he thought were rocks striking the Toyota Land Cruiser carrying Emma and his colleagues from the Tembagapura International School on a picnic outing through the rain forest of Papua, Indonesia, on August 31, 2002.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Indonesian security forces are claiming initial success on the front lines of its second war against separatists in Indonesia, Papua, but warn the worst it yet to come.
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The central government should intensify its communication with the international community and win the hearts of Papuan people, instead of employing a military approach, to crush the Free Papua Movement (OPM), according to community and religious leaders in Papua.
Jakarta – Two separatist guerrillas were wounded when an Indonesian military patrol clashed with rebels in Papua province on Tuesday, the military said.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) has allocated US$1 million (Rp 8.2 billion) to help cope with the high infant mortality rate and spread of HIV/AIDS in the resource-rich province of Papua.
Jakarta – Six activists in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua are facing up to 18 months in jail for holding a protest against the authorities, a report said Thursday.
Jayapura – Trikora Military Commander Maj. Gen. Nurdin Zainal who overseas Papua withdrew a defamation suit on Wednesday against EL-SHAM Papua for accusing the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) of involvement in the attack on a PT Freeport employee bus in Tembagapura last August. Two foreigners and an Indonesian were killed in the incident.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) has noted that as of Thursday, as many as 16 civilians have been killed or have died of starvation in the ongoing military operation in the Papuan regency of Wamena, strong evidence that the military have committed crimes against humanity.
Anna Peltola, Stockholm – Rebels in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua hope the separatist war in distant Aceh will bring their demands into the international limelight, a spokesman said Wednesday.
Jayapura – Indonesian military using flame throwers are burning houses, killing people and destroying livestock and gardens in the Kurawage district in West Papua, according to the human rights group Elsham.
Fifteen Papuans had been killed and several hundred others who fled into the forest were now starving, group spokesmen said yesterday.
Singapore – The United States said on Friday it had warned Indonesia "at the highest levels" that a failure by Jakarta to cooperate in solving the murder of two American teachers would seriously affect bilateral ties.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Three residents of Kuyawage village in the Papua regency of Wamena have reportedly starved to death after fleeing their homes to avoid a sweep by the Army for those responsible for last month's raid on the arsenal of the Wamena military compound. The identities of the three people were not immediately available.
Jakarta – Papuan tribal leaders and students from Greater Jakarta urged the government on Tuesday to revoke forest concessions given to dozens of companies that have failed to preserve the environment. They argued that a lack of government control has caused illegal logging and forest fires to increase in the country's easternmost province.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Compared to Papua province's population of 2.1 million, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS cases in the province has reached an alarming level with a total of 1,263 people with HIV, including 539 who have contracted the fatal disease.
[The West Papuan campaign against rule by Indonesia and corporate exploitation of the territory's rich resources is one of the world's most important and least known resistance movements.
Biak – Nine hundred inhabitants in the district of Kuyawage have fled their homes and sought sanctuary in Sinak district, Puncak Jaya, because Indonesian troops are conducting operations in their area.
Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) officers troops said Friday they had shot dead two suspected separatist rebels in the jungles of Papua province.
Jakarta – As war drums beat louder in Indonesia's rebellious Aceh province, momentum is building at the other end of the giant archipelago for tougher action against separatists in Papua.
Endy M. Bayuni, Jakarta – Trouble has been brewing in Papua, located at the other extreme of the Indonesian archipelago from Aceh where war with separatist rebels is imminent, but a US-based organization believes that the government in Jakarta could reduce tension in Papua, and use it as a model for conflict prevention in other regions.