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.

In an effort to accommodate fundamental rights for natives, the Indonesian government set up a people's assembly in the easternmost province Papua on Monday even though protesters say the body will only act as a Jakarta puppet.

Yogyakarta – Today, Monday 31/10 One hundred Papuan Students who called themselves the Alliance of Papuan Students (AMP) Jogjakarta took part in a long march [in central Java] to protest against the inauguration of MRP members in Papua by the Minister of Home Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The central government's plan to appoint all 42 members of the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) is against the law, undemocratic, and will create a puppet government of Jakarta, protesters in Jayapura say.

Lloyd Jones – Hundreds of people have rallied in Port Moresby to urge Pacific leaders meeting there to take West Papua's case for independence from Indonesia to the United Nations.

In Papua New Guinea, hundreds of people have rallied in the capital Port Moresby to call for independence for the Indonesian province of Papua.

Some Papuans have been campaigning for self rule since Indonesia's annexation in 1969 under the vote of free choice.

A rally will be held in the PNG capital Port Moresby tomorrow to highlight the push for independence in the Indonesian province of Papua. Papua was annexed by Indonesia in 1969 following the controversial act of free choice, and some Papuans have been fighting ever since for self rule.

The Australia West Papua Association (Sydney) believes it is now time for West Papua to be granted observer status at the upcoming Pacific Islands Forum in PNG.

AWPA congratulates the Forum leaders for admitting French Polynesia as a Forum observer at last year's meeting in Apia, Samoa

West Papua has always been considered part of the Pacific Community.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – A Dutch parliamentarian called on the international community to stop questioning the status of Papua as the territory's incorporation into Indonesia under the United Nations-sanctioned 1969 Act of Free Choice was final.

The Indonesia Human Rights Committee has sent an urgent fax to newly elected Prime Minister Rt Hon Helen Clark urging her to ensure that West Papua is highlighted at this year's Pacific Islands Forum.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The government has delayed indefinitely the establishment of the much-awaited Papuan People's Assembly (MRP), blaming a dispute among local religious leaders and local authorities over the composition of the assembly.

Pradana Boy ZTF, Malang – The factors that have caused Papuans' desire to be free from Indonesia cannot easily be determined. Papua's desire is rooted in many different factors ranging from the issues of race, culture and socio-political rights to economic reasons.

City Councillors took part in a protest on the steps of Oxford Town Hall to pledge their support for West Papuans fighting for freedom from Indonesian occupation.

The Oxford-based Free West Papua Campaign is calling for a referendum on the country's future.

Melanesian Solidarity National Facilitating Committee for Free West Papua, Papua New Guinea is calling on the Senior Official currently meeting in Suva, Fiji to put West Papua as a separate agenda on the Pacific Islands Forum agenda.

A delegation of Papuan church ministers is flying out to America this week to lobby the United States Congress to investigate Indonesia's legal claim over their province. The US House of Representatives has passed a bill questioning Papua's incorporation into Indonesia.

Green Euro-MP Caroline Lucas has joined calls for the UN to hold an independence referendum in West Papua after the Green Party adopted a policy motion condemning the UN-sponsored 'sham' Act of Free Choice which led to West Papua formally joining Indonesia in 1969.

36th Pacific Islands Forum, Papua New Guinea, 25-27 October 2005

Netty Dharma Somba, Jakarta, Jayapura – The ongoing formation of Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) has drawn strong opposition from Papuan tribal leaders and churchmen, who feel disappointed with what they say are the central government's confusing policies in the resource-rich province.

Indonesia's defence minister, Juwono Sudarsono, has denied media reports that Indonesia's National Defence Forces have deployed a large number of military personnel to Papua province.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The government promised on Monday to install the members of the much-awaited Papua People's Assembly (MRP) early next month and to refrain from making any strategic decisions on the troubled province pending the establishment of the local body.

A Swiss journalist who witnessed the Abepura incident in 2000 in Indonesia's Papua province says a police commissioner acquitted of charges in connection to the incident was responsible for fatal beatings.

Washington – Thirty-five members of the US Congress have called on Indonesia to lift travel restrictions to West Papua and halt the military buildup in the province where a rebellion has simmered for decades.

Australia West Papua Association (Melbourne) welcomes the National Party's Resolution No. 11 calling on the Liberal Party, its coalition partner in government, to investigate human rights abuses in West Papua. The motion was put to the National Party's national convention today in Canberra by Wendy Duncan, President of the National Party (WA).

The UK-based Catholic Institute for International Relations (CIIR) has denounced last week's ruling by an Indonesian Human Rights Court that ended up acquitting two senior police officers accused of serious human rights violations.

Jakarta – The acquittal of two senior police officers from all charges of gross human rights violations in Abepura, Papua province, drew public condemnation on Friday.