Campaigners from Free West Papua Campaign in Melbourne have welcomed the decision by the Refugee Review Tribunal in overturning the original Immigration Department rejection of David Wainggai's application for Refugee Status.

Dimas Adityo, Jakarta – The Indonesian military (TNI) will continue to keep on guard against the Free Papua Movement (OPM) groups that are still exist in the Papuan interior, even though several members surrendered to the government late last week.

Markus Makur, Timika – Two tribes involved in a series of deadly clashes over the past week in Mimika regency, Papua, have sat down for peace talks, but no deal has yet been reached.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Papua's "special autonomy" status has not brought significant progress to the people because it has failed to address their fundamental needs, a survey suggests.

Jakarta – A court in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua on Wednesday jailed two people for five and six years each for taking part in violent protests against a US-run mine, a lawyer said.

Hundreds of protesters clashed with security officers in March near Papua's capital Jayapura over the mine run by US giant Freeport-McMoran, leaving six people dead.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Jayapura District Court on Monday sentenced 11 protesters involved in a deadly March 16 clash with police in Abepura to jail terms of between five and six years.

The meeting in the port city of Madang brought together commanders from six commands in the West Papuan National Army.

Meeting organiser Jonah Wenda told AAP most of the commanders had crossed the border from Papua to attend the meeting and they had pledged to continue their struggle for a free Papua through non-violent means.

Jayapura – During the reading of defense speeches at the Jayapura District Court on Wednesday July 19, four of the defendants charged over the Abepura riots that resulted in the death of four police officers and an Indonesian airforce officer have retracted the statements made in their interrogation reports.

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – The Central Jakarta District Court opened the trial Tuesday of seven Papuans charged with the 2002 murders of two American teachers and an Indonesian who worked for PT Freeport Indonesia in Timika, Papua.

The suspects were forcibly brought to trial by police after twice refusing to appear. The defendants demanded that the trial be held in Timika.

Alby Dallas – Hendrik Ervan Baldus from the People's Democratic Party of Indonesia is the chairperson of the Papuan National Student Front. He attended the 35th Resistance national conference, giving greetings from both organisations.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Istana Negara
Jakarta, Indonesia

19 July 2006

Dear Mr President,

We have received reports of serious human rights violations perpetrated by Indonesian police officers in West Papua and we urge you to address the situation ahead of your visit to the territory next week.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – A police officer who was allegedly drunk when he shot dead his female companion was mobbed and killed Saturday by hundreds of villagers in Tolikara, Papua. The dead woman has been identified as 20-year-old Selfi Kogoya.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – An ongoing dispute between the Papuan Legislative Council and the Papuan chapter of the General Elections Commission (KPUD Papua) over procedures in the handover of election results has delayed indefinitely the inauguration of the governor-elect Barnabar Suebu.

Jakarta – A comprehensive audit on the operation of PT Freeport Indonesia, which was initially expected to be completed last month, is not finished yet, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said.

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – The Central Jakarta District Court told prosecutors Tuesday to use force to get seven suspects in the 2002 killing of two US nationals and an Indonesian in Papua province to court for indictment.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Six of the seven Papuans charged with the premeditated murder of three teachers at the Freeport mine in 2002 are facing the death penalty merely for supplying the attackers with coffee and sugar, says one of their lawyers.

Jakarta – Seven suspects who face trial over the 2002 killings of two US nationals in Indonesia's Papua refused to turn up in court Tuesday, arguing that their case should be heard in the easternmost province.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Seven suspects set to stand trial over the killing of two American teachers and their Indonesian colleague in Timika, Papua province have refused to stand trial in Jakarta, their lawyer said Thursday.

As ceremonies marked the National Police's 60th anniversary Saturday, Papuans observed the moment uniquely, holding a bakar batu, or "burning the stone" thanksgiving ritual.

Residents from 42 villages in Jayawijaya regency's three districts prepared a communal meal, cooking it with hot stones before sharing it together.

Kenneth Davidson – The chief criticism of John Howard's decision to reinstitute the Pacific Solution to deal with the threat of hundreds of Papuans fleeing military persecution and economic dispossession is that, in his desperation for a friendly personal relationship with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, he is dealing with the symptoms of the problem, not the substance.

Jakarta – Indonesia plans to deport two US citizens after they were caught attending a meeting with separatist sympathizers in the country's eastern Papua province, an immigration official said Wednesday.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The National Police will take over security at US-owned mining company PT Freeport Indonesia from the military beginning in July, an officer says.

A Catholic human rights group has accused Indonesian police of torturing 23 Papuans arrested after violent protests in March.

The Peace and Justice Secretariat of the Catholic diocese in Papua's provincial capital, Jayapura, alleges cases of physical and mental abuse, and intimidation of prisoners.

Nurfajri Budi Nugroho, Jakarta – The 42 Papuan asylum seekers who obtained temporary visas in Australia are now biting their finger nails. Their dream of finding work in the Nation of the Kangaroo has run aground (sic).

Richard Kerbaj – Hundreds of protesters, including four Papuan refugees, yesterday rallied against the Howard Government's proposed migration bill that would lock asylum-seekers in offshore detention centres.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) says it will continue guarding PT Freeport Indonesia in the restive province of Papua, despite accusations of human rights abuses against local people.

A group of visiting Indonesian MPs say they are not concerned that Papuan refugees recently granted asylum in Australia don't want to meet them.

The 42 refugees had been frightened by a request to meet the Indonesian parliamentary delegation accompanying Indonesia's ambassador to Australia, Hamzah Thayeb, and had refused, their lawyer said on Thursday.

Brendan Nicholson – A new security treaty with Jakarta will include an assurance that Australia respects Indonesia's integrity – including its ownership of West Papua – says Prime Minister John Howard.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Papuan tribal leaders oppose a plan by local councillors to meet PT Freeport Indonesia bosses in the United States city of New Orleans to renegotiate the company's much-criticized working contract.

Maire Leadbeater – Two Herald contributors, John Roughan and Michael Richardson have now gone into bat for the virtues of a unified Indonesia. I totally agree that New Zealand should foster positive links with Indonesia. If that means a boost in Government funds to the tertiary institutions so that they can get their Indonesian language courses going again I am all for it.

Cath Hart – The only West Papuan refused protection in Australia among a group of 43 asylum-seekers could have the decision overturned when his visa to Japan expires in September.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Lawmakers should summon top Freeport executives to explain the alleged environmental damage and human rights abuses at the firm's Grasberg mine in Papua, a team of legislators says.

Rohan Pearce – While not many details about the "security treaty" being negotiated between Canberra and Jakarta have been made public, the Howard government has indicated that it will include an Australian commitment to Indonesia's "territorial integrity" – in particular, opposition to self-determination for West Papua, including the right of West Papuans to secede from Indonesia an

Sydney – Australia on Wednesday denied refugee status to the last member of a group of 43 asylum seekers from the restive Indonesian province of Papua.

Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone said the man's application was rejected because he was eligible to live in another country and had not exhausted avenues to seek asylum elsewhere.

Australia West Papua Association spokesperson Joe Collins expressed grave concerns at the proposed new security treaty with Indonesia and in particular at the Indonesian demand for a clause in the treaty urging Canberra to reject West Papuan claims for independence.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The government plans to issue a new regulation to ensure the trillions of rupiah entering Papua under special autonomy is being spent properly, the President says.

Jakarta – Two supporters of a former Jayawijaya regent died following a clash with the police in Papua on Monday, after they tried to prevent the police from picking him up to appear in court on charges of misappropriating the administration's budget.

Jakarta – Two people were killed and six injured Monday after police clashed with villagers defending a district chief charged with corruption in Indonesia's Papua province, police said Monday.

Police were questioning 139 people after the violence in Wamena, the capital of the mountainous district of Jayawijaya, said Col. Kartono Wangsadisastra, a police spokesman.

Scott Burchill – The arrival of 43 West Papuan asylum seekers in northern Australia earlier this year pressed the pause button on the cosy relationship struck recently between political elites in Canberra and Jakarta.

Despite their common opposition to separatism in West Papua, both governments bungled their responses to this latest challenge to bilateral goodwill.

Kylie Williams, Canberra – International human rights groups have lodged a formal protest over Australia's tough new immigration laws in a letter urging the government to adopt humane refugee policies toward Papuans.

Lloyd Jones, Port Moresby – A Papuan woman who says she fled to PNG after Indonesian intelligence officers forced her to plead for her daughter's return from asylum in Australia should be granted a protection visa by Canberra, Papuan independence activists say.

Cath Hart and Samantha Maiden – A Papuan student activist was allegedly stabbed to death by Indonesian police after he was caught trying to flee to Australia along with 21 other students last month.

Reporter: Steve Marshall

Tony Jones: Lateline can reveal disturbing claims tonight by a Papuan woman who says she was forced by Indonesian intelligence officers to make a public statement – or be killed.

M. Taufiqurrahman and T.B. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – The tailing system used by PT Freeport Indonesia in its operation in Timika, Papua, has caused severe damage to the environment, a House of Representatives-sanctioned team says, confirming earlier similar findings.

In a letter to Prime Minister John Howard, 47 organizations based in eight countries today urged the Australian government "to uphold its obligations under the Refugee Convention, to recognize the plight of Papuans suffering brutalization on your doorstep, and to adopt humane refugee policies in keeping with the widely recognized principles of the Australian people." The organizatio

Alex Bainbridge, Sydney – Sixty supporters of West Papuan self-determination held a flag-raising ceremony outside the Indonesian consulate in Maroubra on April 30.

John Kerin and Tracy Sutherland – The Prime Minister has faced a party-room backlash over planned migration zone changes designed to discourage Papuan asylum seekers, as three more were intercepted on a small island in the Torres Strait.

Reporter: Steve Marshall

Sarah Smiles – The Indonesian Government has accused two Deakin University academics of promoting separatism in West Papua and warned that the country's institutions will have nothing more to do with the university.

Indonesia has frozen ties with two Australian universities, accusing their academics of supporting Papuan separatism.

A spokeswoman for the Indonesian Education Ministry, Nur Samsiah said Deakin University and RMIT University in Melbourne had both been blacklisted, preventing the two institutions from having ties or pursuing contracts with campuses in Indonesia.